Sports are a business. Sometimes teams have to move from division to division for competitive reasons. Usually, they move in order to go to markets that will help make more money. However, division lines set up by professional teams lead to illogical results.
When I was younger, playing the video game “ESPN Baseball Tonight” for the Sega CD, I had trouble looking for the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta is in Georgia, a state that borders the Atlantic Ocean and is clearly on the East Coast. When I tried to pick the team, I checked the American League East and the National League East for the team. To my surprise, I couldn’t find the team. What I found out later was that the Atlanta Braves were in the National League West.
In 1994, Major League Baseball re-aligned its divisions and amongst other things, fixed this problem by putting the Braves in the NL East, where they geographically belong. Currently, the MLB has a reasonably accurate (according to geography) division alignment. However the divisions and conferences still have laughable entries in the other major professional leagues.
NBA (Basketball)
The winner in the NBA is the Memphis Grizzlies squad of the Southwest Division. However, honorable mention goes to the New Orleans Hornets, also of the Southwest division and the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the Northwest Division.
NFL (Football)
There is no clear winner here but the Dallas Cowboys (NFC East) St. Louis Rams (NFC West) or Kansas City Chiefs (AFC West) are equally ridiculous.
NHL (Hockey)
The most ridiculous example and the overall winner of the Atlanta Braves Memorial Award can only belong to one lost team. The Winnipeg Jets of the Southeast division is the most ridiculous of them all. First, Winnipeg is in Canada. The Jets are further north than all but 3 teams. Also, Winnipeg is in the middle of Canada. It would easily be further west than any other team in the Eastern Conference. With all due respect to the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference, the Winnipeg Jets win the Atlanta Braves Memorial Award by a landslide.
**I realized that explaining the occurrences might be helpful. Some of the division mistakes happened because of a team moving from one city to another. I alluded to it in the 1st paragraph, but I figured that it might be a good idea to mention the specific situations that apply to the teams here.
OKC Thunder – Formerly the Seattle Supersonics
Memphis Grizzlies – Formerly the Vancouver Grizzlies
STL Rams- Formerly the Los Angeles Rams
Winnipeg Jets- Formerly the Atlanta Thrashers
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