Of the four major pro sports Hockey, Baseball, Football, Basketball in the United States and Canada only eight teams actually have a color as part of the mascot. Soccer was not included because it is lower than bowling and poker on the sports food chain in America. Simply looking at the four sports and the 122 pro sports teams there is one thing obvious, if you are a team of color you better have "red" in the name.

  Teams with the name "red" include the Redskins, Red Wings, Red Sox, and Reds. These teams comprise 50% of the list known as the "A list". The Browns, White Sox, and Blue Jays represent the other 50% of the list known as the "B list".

  The Red teams have a combined 27 Championships between them. The Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, the Red Sox have won 6 World Series, the Reds have won 5 World Series, and the Redskins have won 5 Super Bowls. This is why they are the "A list".

  The other colored teams have only 12 combined Championships. That is why they are on the "B list". They are not new franchises either. These teams have been around a long time. In fact every team of color has been around a long time. The newest team on the list is the Toronto Blue Jays whose franchise began in 1977 which is relatively young in comparison to the other teams on the list.

Teams of color are old school. You will probably never see another team name including a color as part of the name. But if your city gets one, they better make the name have "Red" in it!

 The entire list of most championships by pro teams of color:

Red Wings 11

Red Sox 6

Reds 5

Redskins 5

Browns 4

White soxs 3

Blackhawks 3

Blue Jays 2


The Breakdown:

4 teams were from MLB

Zero teams were from the NBA

Chicago has 2 teams on the list

2 teams with Indian names on the list and 2 about colors of Sox.

2 teams of color left off the list the St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets have never won a Championship.

Of all teams "Blue" only a combined 2 Championships

 Here is a the rest of the story. He was raised in a small town in Michigan. He was the all American kid. He served his country during Vietnam. He later married, helped raise two kids, and worked a lot of hours. He believes in doing things right and doing the right thing. He cares about other people and loves to talk to people every where he goes.

 As his son got older and started getting into sports he supported him all the way. He went out of his way to be involved with his son and his teams. He coached him in almost every sport. He usually spent most of his free time throwing a ball around the yard with his boy than anything else. One time he tore his ACL. It happened in the 80's when arthroscopic surgery was still somewhat new. During October, football season for his son and for NFL, his son's birthday fell on a beautiful October Saturday. He spent almost the entire day playing all time QB and throwing passes to all his son's party guests as they played two hand touch football, all while having a cast from his foot to his hip on. It is these days that are always remembered so fondly.

 His son was a wrestler as well. He wrestled for so many years it was a second family. In wrestling there is a lot of travel involved much like hockey parents. The weigh-in times are always very early so it meant getting up even earlier on Saturday's and Sunday mornings. The thing was he was a truck driver who had difficult hours. He was very low in seniority so he had the toughest of everything. Some days on call he would go back 8 hours after his last shift. This means he somehow found a way.

 He went to the practices, went to every tournament, and coached all the other kids as well. He made it so many times without any sleep but never complained once. He was very vocal and passionate as a coach as well. All the other wrestlers liked him. Almost twenty years later his son still gets asked how his dad is doing every time he runs into someone from the past. He has left an impact on so many lives and doesn't really know it directly.

 Earlier this year he was diagnosed with Cancer. But like the man he has always been he kept his head up. Instead of saying "why me!" he said "Why not me?". He had insurance, some money, a good job, a supporting wife, a supporting family, and he isn't very old. He has chemotherapy every other week and they only get harder as they go. The chemicals really impact the body. The numbness in the fingers and extreme sensitivity to the cold and touching colder objects along with the laundry list of other side effects. 

He has always been there for smart advice, coaching his son, keeping his class clown of a son in line, supporting his family, and is now a very proud grandpa!  He is my father Dan Green!  I wanted to put this out for Fathers Day because I go to wrestling camp on fathers day and I know I will be thinking of many fond memories on the mats as I now take his place in kids lives through coaching. Thank you dad for making me the man I am today!

Happy Fathers Day Dad!

  In the fews years I have been writing I have never written off sports topics.  But with the extreme prices in gas these days I have unearthed some information that will help you and everyone you know get the most out of every gallon you pump.  Make sure you read it all because this all should make a big impact!

  It isn't what you know but who you know.  This is just another example of that simple life lesson.  The information was passed along from someone who works in the business of gasoline and oil.  Here is what they said:

"Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.
                 
Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.
                 
A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.                     
                 
When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.                     
                 
One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount. 
                 
Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being
delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.
                 
DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!
                 
WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON
                 
Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.
                 
An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.
                 
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.
                 
Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.
                 
I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.
                 
These companies import Middle Eastern oil:   
Shell...........................205,742,000 barrels   
Chevron/Texaco.........144,332,000 barrels   
Exxon /Mobil...............130,082,000 barrels   
Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels
                 
Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel
                 
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
                 
Sunoco..................0 barrels
Conoco..................0 barrels
Sinclair.................0 barrels
B P/Phillips............0 barrels
Hess.......................0 barrels
ARC0....................0 barrels   

If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you. All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state
where they get their oil and how much they are importing. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do.


pass this page along to everyone you know so they too can get the most out of the pump and to try to reverse trend of dependence on middle eastern oil.

One subject that many, including myself, have done for so long is give top ten lists of pretty much everything under the sun. Sports fans really like to make these lists. But what many readers don't realize, unfortunately, is that 99% of top ten lists are nothing more than an opinion.  Some of the writers don't realize it either though.

Some of the more popular lists I have done would include the top ten baseball players of all time, top ten hottest WNBA players, and the big one, the top ten most overrated sports moments which I wrote earlier this year.

A marketing firm compiled data and fan feedback from all 122 pro sports franchises. With this list it is based on many items. This list is not my list. This list was done by two companies as well.

The list is called the "Ultimate Standings" by Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon and Markitecture INC. The list was published in the May issue of ESPN the Magazine.

The data used to figure all this out was put together with these factors included. Most of these factors included: Ownership, Coaching, Players, Fan Relations, Affordability Stadium Experience, and Bang-for-the-Buck.

So who are the Top Ten Franchises and who are the Bottom Feeders? Here are the lists.

Top Ten Sports Franchises:

10. Arizona Diamondbacks

9. Jacksonville Jaguars

8. Detroit Pistons

7.Detroit Tigers

6.Los Angeles Angels

5. Anaheim Ducks

4. Green Bay Packers

3.New Orleans Hornets

2. San Antonio Spurs

1. Indianapolis Colts

 
The Bottom Feeders:

113. Memphis Grizzlies

114. Baltimore Orioles

115. Cincinnati Bengals

116. Seattle Supersonics

117. Oakland Raiders

118. Minnesota Timberwolves

119. Atlanta Falcons

120. Detroit Lions

121. Toronto Maple Leafs

122. New York Knicks

 Notables and other numbers:

The city of Detroit had three teams in the top 12 and one in the bottom. The Detroit Red Wings came in at 12th.

No New York team ranked higher than the Giants at number 48. New York has seven pro sports franchises which is more than any other city.

The New England Patriots were ranked as the 11th best franchise.

The Chicago Cubs were ranked 95th. I guess without any living fans from the last World Series it is hard to rank higher. The Cubs have only won two World Series' and they were back-toback in 1907-08.

The number 100 team is the New Jersey Nets.

The Indiana Pacers just missed the Bottom Feeder list at number 112

In MLB the Boston Red Sox ranked 89th while the New York Yankees ranked 65th. The Tampa Bay Rays ranked 75th while the Toronto Blue Jays ranked 67th and the Baltimore Orioles were ranked 114th. The AL East is not a good franchise division apparently.

Surprises on the list were the Milwaukee Brewers who were 13th and the St. Louis Blues were 14th.

  The NFL has operated far too long with the current type of Collective Bargaining Agreement. The most obvious problems involve guaranteed contracts and ridiculous rookie contracts. These two issues will be at the forefront of the next contract as negotiations at a snail pace toward 2011 as well as revenue sharing between players and owners.

  As it stands now NFL owners can pull out of the present collective bargaining agreement with the players on November 8, and it appears that the owners are heading in that direction. If the owners pull out of the CBA, there is no salary cap the final year of the agreement (which is in 2010). If the players pull out, players would only receive free agency after six years of service - not four. In 2010 the NFL could operate without a cap. But that would not remain for long. Teams looking for one year success could reap big rewards if they target that year for a run. It would be a big year for one year contracts and the best teams would have the advantage because they would already have the incentive for veteran players looking to win a Super Bowl.

  The first obstacle is a must for NFL players. Get guaranteed contracts. It is amazing in a league that has the highest revenue and has the highest risk of injury that there are not guaranteed contracts. What the owners may want in place to cover the expenses is two more regular season games. They would likely change two preseason games into regular season games. Every other sport has guaranteed contracts why doesn't the NFL?

  The second change is another glaring need in the NFL. A rookie salary cap like the NBA has. The guaranteed money to top tier rookies has been insane for a number of years now but has taken an even bigger jump over the last four years. Teams with high draft picks are already bad teams, they don't need to pay top dollar to players that have not even played yet. If a player is a bust it cripples teams for many years. Matt Millen is an easy target for this issue.

Some other needs in this deal are better pension plans with health insurance for former players. How can a league discard the players that made the league what it is today.

According to a story from ESPN.com there is a lot more to what the owners want as well-"Beneath the surface of this increasingly rancorous dispute is the bargain the players and the owners made in March 2006, an agreement that provided significant increases for players in salaries and bonuses. Instead of 55.5 percent of NFL revenues, the players now are entitled to 60 percent. The salary cap has jumped from $85.5 million per team in 2005 to an expected $123 million per team in 2009, an increase of 43 percent.

Although the owners agreed to those increases, they are not happy about their decision. A number of owners claim their profits have dropped from 10 percent each year to only 4 percent since the 2006 bargain was struck." - Lester Munson ESPN.com

Also of note from the ESPN.com article from Lester Munson: "Upshaw and others involved in NFL labor issues expect the owners to announce that the players will be locked out of training camps, putting the 2011 season in jeopardy. An NFL lockout would come six years after the National Hockey League locked out its players, which killed the 2005-06 NHL season.

The NFL's union, according to Upshaw, will counter with decertification, which means it will give up its role as the official labor organization of NFL players and become a trade association.

"How can they lock us out if we are not a union?" Upshaw said.

Jeffrey Kessler, a union attorney who was a leader of the court fight that led to the 1993 restructuring of the NFL, added: "If you lock out players who do not have a union, it is an antitrust violation."

The battle will lead to the same kind of litigation that began after the players' unsuccessful strike in 1987 and led to the 1993 settlement that allowed owners and players alike to prosper for 15 years. It will be a high-stakes struggle, as the players will seek to duplicate their triumphs in the early '90s with demands for triple damages and injunctions."

This does not look like it will be pretty if this is already starting. With all the egos involved the only real losers will be the fans who are treated to court room drama, lawyer speak, and replacement players. There really isn't anything like Billionaires arguing with Millionaires!  It doesn't look good but there is still hope that this can be taken care of before doomsday in the NFL.  This may come down to the final hour.  There are a lot of layers to this and one can only hope that they will make sense of all this and get the new deal done.