 rjonas, Fri, February 6th, 2009 So, the Continental Basketball Association has decided to end its 2008-09 season early. Smart move. Too bad there had to be a 2008-09 season to begin with. In its infinite wisdom, the league decided to carry on with only four active franchises this year. That's right -- a four-team league. Usually if a league is down to four teams, it looks to expand, merge or disband before scheduling another season. Not the CBA, though. It carried on with its four teams. Not only did it decide to carry on with four teams, but it carried on with four teams separated by hundreds of miles. To compensate for the distance, the league scheduled four-game series between the teams so they didn't have to travel to any one city more than once. But what the schedule couldn't compensate for was the fact that the league was too far flung for it to work. Certainly, the CBA didn't work well in Albany. Whenever I saw highlights of a Patroons' home game on the TV news, it looked like there were only a couple hundred people in the stands. It wasn't that the team was bad (the Pats made the CBA finals, after all). It was the fact that area sports fans aren't interested in seeing a team play in a joke of a league. If the Patroons were competitive in a league that engenders some respect in the average sports fan's mind (e.g. the NBA's developmental league), the fans would flock to the Washington Avenue Armory. But being competitive in a four-team league is like coming in second in a four-person race -- you're not the worst, but you're still only two places away from being the worst. Whether the Patroons or the CBA exist after this year is another matter. The four owners will meet this weekend in Albany to discuss the 2009-10 season. More than likely, the question will be whether to have a 2009-10 season. Frankly, if it's still going to be a four-team league with franchises as far away as Kentucky and Oklahoma, the answer should be no. The only way the CBA should be allowed to come back is if it can double its size through expansion this spring and place teams between Albany and Kentucky to cut down on travel. That should be the only way it returns. Frankly, I don't see it happening. Not this spring, and not in the near future. In today's business climate, no one wants to join a sinking ship, and the CBA has barely been able to stay afloat for several years now. Hardly a fact that would impress a potential team owner. They'd want assurances that the league would still be around a decade from now, and the CBA can't even promise it will be around after this weekend. So, what should be done? The CBA should just fade off into the sunset, and the Patroons should look to join another minor league. If the Pats could latch on to a league like the American Basketball Association, they might gain some additional fan interest around here. At least, it would give the impression that the Pats plan on sticking around for a while, which is usually enough around here to pique some fans' interest. If the Pats decide to follow the CBA into the sunset, though, it's the team's own fault. No one said the Pats had to join the CBA or stay with the league when it started falling apart. They could have jumped ship at any time, and no one would have faulted them for doing so. There's still time for the Pats to swim to shore. As for the CBA, it should just sink to the bottom of the sports ocean. CATEGORY: Basketball
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