--Written By: Devin Dombrowski--

With the news yesterday that Manny Ramirez is the latest star to get suspended for a banned substance; I finally realized that I just don’t care about baseball anymore. I was nearing a sports crossroads and this latest news just shoved me over the line.

To get the full picture, I feel the need to explain a little about myself in terms of the teams I root for. The most obvious is my Buffalo connection. I love the Bills and Sabres more than any other team and I follow those respected sports more than all the others. If Buffalo had a MLB or NBA team, I’d be fully into them as well. Explaining my history with the Buffalo teams would basically just waste everyone’s time, so I’ll skip right past them.

When it comes to NCAA football, I follow the Miami Hurricanes, which is actually an easier explanation than one might think. I’m only 24 years old so in my youth Jim Kelly was huge in Buffalo and was easily my favorite player. One of the first real books I read was his biography “Armed & Dangerous”. So being young and impressionable, I chose to follow Miami because that is where Kelly attended college. This was without knowledge of their past championships and I’ve followed them since then, witnessing the Ken Dorsey led Hurricanes win another Championship. I’ve also been privy to their epic downfall under Larry Coker and their subsequent revival with Randy Shannon. Can someone say ACC Champs for this season? Yes, I’m pumped.

In MLB baseball, I’ve always followed the Atlanta Braves. It was during their second consecutive World Series loss that I was watching Toronto celebrate and distinctly heard the announcer say “The Braves are the Buffalo Bills of baseball”. I was in either first or second grade at the time so I had no idea that it was most likely meant as an insult rather than a compliment, but it didn’t matter to me. Since that day I decided the Braves were my team. One could argue that I hopped on their wagon because they had just won the NL twice, but I swear on my future child’s grave that this isn’t the case. It was really as simple as that. They are the Buffalo Bills of baseball? Cool, I think I’m going to root for them.

Baseball was never that big for me in comparison to the other sports. I could always watch the games on TBS and often did, but I was never fully invested in them. When they were in the playoffs I always watched all the games and usually shut the television off in disgust as they choked away yet another division title. Even through the steroids scandal, I didn’t let it really bother me. I read Jose Canseco’s book “Juiced” and none of it shocked me. Then the news broke about Ramirez yesterday and I took some time to really think about it (along with deciding what to do on my fantasy team). I have finally had enough.

I finally realized I just don’t care that much about baseball. I love the statistical portion of it and I’m currently running four different fantasy teams, including two keeper leagues. I did quite a bit of research on it and for the most part I know what I’m talking about. That isn’t going to change anytime soon. I caught the two Braves games that ESPN has shown, but other than that I just get the scores text messaged to me and that is that. It’s nothing like the other sports. Not only do I watch every single Bills and Sabres game, I go absolutely crazy if I don’t know what is going on with them at all times. The comparison between those teams and the Braves is night and day.

I thought about the Braves winning the World Series this season… I’d watch, I’d root and I’d be happy if then won. But it wouldn’t alter my life. Then I thought about either Buffalo team finally capturing a championship. I literally got goosebumps on top of goosebumps at the mere thought of them winning. Like I said, the difference is night and day.

(Quick Rant: Hey, I like the Braves, but could the fans in Atlanta be more annoying? Nobody shows up to games anymore and when they do they just sit around lifeless until the scoreboard tells them to do that horribly annoying tomahawk chop. Good lord, knock it off people. One reason I rooted against the Rays last year was the annoying bandwagon fans and you guys aren’t doing much better. Ok, I’m done ranting for now.)

When listing my teams/sports I follow in order it always went like this:

1(a). Bills

1(b). Sabres

2. Miami Hurricanes

3. Atlanta Braves

4. --Insert NBA Team--

What, no NBA team? Let me explain. When I was much younger I wanted to get into the NBA. I refused to root for the Bulls because I was literally surrounded by kids wearing Michael Jordan jerseys and I wasn’t about to hop on that wagon. I decided to root for the expansion Charlotte Hornets because I took an interest in Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, Dell Curry and Mugsey Bouges. Plus they were an expansion team so nobody could really accuse me of just picking a winning franchise (Like LA, Chicago or Boston).

Then the Hornets took off for New Orleans and I was left without a favorite team. I refused to root for New Orleans and was left without a team. I decided at that time I would just follow the sport half heartedly for a little while. Then the Bobcats came to Charlotte as an expansion franchise. Perfect. I was a fan of Charlotte basketball and they now have another team. I tried my hardest to get into them but I just couldn’t do it for the long haul. It was at this point that I read this little passage from Bill Simmons:

19. Once you choose a team, you're stuck with that team for the rest of your life ... unless one of the following conditions applies:

The owner of your favorite team treated his fans so egregiously over the years that you couldn't take it anymore -- you would rather not follow them at all then support a franchise with this owner in charge. Just for the record, I reached this point with the Boston Bruins about six years ago. When it happens, you have two options: You can either renounce that team and pick someone else, or you can pretend they're dead, like you're a grieving widow. That's what I do. I'm an NHL widow. I don't even want to date another team.

(Link: Rules For Being A True Fan)

So this is what I did. I divorced from the Charlotte Bobcats before this season and I’ve been an NBA widow since. Not only do I think the ownership in Charlotte is doing NOTHING to build a winning franchise, I fully expect that team to be gone in the next 3-5 years. The only way I’d root for them now is if they moved to Buffalo (not in a million years will this happen).

But lately I’ve been watching quite a bit of NBA. It somewhat stemmed from me capturing the championship in my fantasy NBA league and partly because of the Celtics/Bulls first round series. It was in that series that I watched more basketball than I have all season. I started getting that itch like I enjoy watching basketball and could keep doing this. It continued into the second round as I’ve caught several different games so far. I started getting that itch that I should have a team to root for. Am I allowed to pick another team? How do I pick that particular team without hopping on the wagon?

I will in no way root for Lebron and the Cavs. In fact, I hope they lose the Finals to Kobe and the Lakers. For one, I like Kobe better, and two, I don’t want Cleveland winning a championship because that will leave Buffalo as probably the most depressing sports city in America.

I then stumbled upon the fact that Bill Simmons is petitioning to become the GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the most irrelevant franchises in the NBA right now. I think this is a great idea. Consider the following:

- What better way to put yourself back on the map then make a splash in the hiring of a GM. That would no doubt be the leading story on Around the Horn, PTI and Sportscenter. From obscurity to national spotlight in seconds.

- Simmons has said he will work the first year for free as long as he can write a book about his experience. So Minnesota is hurting in this economy and now they can save themselves anywhere from 5-10 million next season just by doing this.

- Simmons just got finished writing a 600+ book about basketball so simply put, the guy knows what the hell he is talking about.

- This would finally make writers responsible for what they write. How many times has someone within a front office said that the media really doesn’t know what is going on and the media has acted like they know it all? Well, this is putting their money where their mouth is. Hire a sportswriter and see how much he really knows.

I sent the Sports Guy this e-mail but in case it never sees the light of day, I want to put this in writing on a more open forum.

I have no NBA team right now. I want an NBA team. I want to become more involved in the sport. If the Minnesota Timberwolves hire Bill Simmons for the GM, I will fully throw myself into Minnesota Basketball. I’m talking about buying merchandise, attending games when they are in the area and possibly even purchasing the NBA package to watch their games.

I’m sure I’m not the only person with these thoughts. This could quite possibly be the smartest thing Minnesota could do as an NBA franchise to salvage what is left of a dying product.

If this happens, my sports list will now look like this:

1(a). Sabres

1(b). Bills

2. Miami Hurricanes

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

4. Atlanta Braves

I think this would finalize my list for a good portion in my life. The only way it would possibly change is if Buffalo either gained another professional franchise (not likely) or they lost one (very likely). If that happens, a definite re-order will be needed.

What was the point of the article? Well quite simply I wanted to vent a little bit about how MLB baseball has been sucking my will to live lately and I don’t see it improving anytime soon. I also wanted to discuss how the NBA is definitely coming back strong and has the potential to attract a ton of new fans. I’m one of them. Of course, the odds of Minnesota hiring Simmons are a bigger longshot than Trent Edwards leading Buffalo to a Super Bowl this season, but anything can happen. If they hire someone else, I’m back to the drawing board. I might be stuck without a team for the upcoming season, which will suck, but it’s the way it goes.

Hey, maybe someone will move to Buffalo. (Yeah right)

Some relative links in regards to this article:

- The Book of Basketball (Facebook Group)

- Simmons for GM (Facebook Group)