packsyD22 wrote:I have never really looked into fixing sports I just don't understand how shel always talks sample size but names just two teams that have done it in the last 20 something years.

I think you're really missing the point here. Since the NBA became a big business in the 80's how many non-large market teams have won a championship? San Antonio, Detroit, and.....? It's been LA, Boston, Chicago, and Houston, three of which are among the four largest cities in the country and the four largest TV markets. I'm not sure about Boston's population or market share but their tradition and name alone brings in a ton of viewers. And then you have the Knicks who the league is dying to make competitive again, to the point that from time to time things happen that seem pointed towards helping them, like the Patrick Ewing draft and the aforementioned playoff help. Invariably, when a small market team does make noise and threatens to possibly derail a large market team fishy things happen unless that small market team has a superstar or two who are exceedingly marketable i.e. Stockton and Malone from Utah, Shaq and Penny in Orlando, Payton and Kemp in Seattle, or Barkley when he was in Phoenix. It doesn't take a giant leap of faith to see that the NBA and it's "competitive balance" are driven by who can bring in the most money for the league. For all the talk of how the lack of a salary cap hurts baseball they're really not that far behind the NBA in regards to creating a balanced, fair league where everyone has a chance to win.