Not even a week following one of the greatest World Series in all of baseball history, the owners voted in favor of consolidating the sport by eliminating a team from both the American and National leagues. Already a judge has ordered that one of the teams picked to be eliminated, the Montreal Expos, to play through thier 2002 season, spurning what is sure to be a heated issue between players and owners for the upcoming offseason. There has been an ongoing debate in the annals of the National Hockey League, mainly from hard core traditionalists, who believe the sport has become too watered down, and that the recent expansions into markets such as Carolina and Atlanta are only hurting the NHL. Current commissioner Gary Bettman has continued to support the fledgling teams, touting the growth and expansion of the great sport of hockey, as well as being quick to point out the increased overall attendance in arenas across North America. Although these teams do get the local support they deserve, any team may have low attendance for any given game. Bettman should pay very close attention to the goings on behind the closed doors of the managers and owners of America’s pasttime to see how they deal with an issue that he may face during his tenure.
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