Are the Avengers Three Games from Going Green?

Adam Markowitz
Friday June 6, 2008

I have officially found my newest favorite politician in these United State of America.  His name is Antonio Villaraigosa and he is the mayor of Los Angeles.

As many of you probably know, an NBA champion will be crowned in the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.  It is customary for the mayors of the two towns involved in any sort of championship situation to make a friendly wager.  I remember a few years ago when the Saints and Eagles hooked up in the NFC Championship game, the mayor of New Orleans bet a bunch of crawfish against the mayor of Philadelphia betting his cheese steaks.

This one takes the cake, though.

In a letter from Mayor Villaraigosa to the mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, Villaraigosa made the most peculiar of wager offers.  Here are clips from his letter.

Dear Mayor Menino:

Tonight is truly an historic night. It is hard to believe that it has been twenty one - long - years since the last time the Lakers beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Tonight we renew this great American tradition.

So to commemorate this historic event, I say we scrap the tired tradition of wagering regional trinkets or cuisine - and go big. Let's really put it on the line: jobs, tradition, pride.

So here's my proposal:

If the Celtics win, we'll send you the best professional football team L.A. has to offer: the Arena League's Los Angeles Avengers.

If the Lakers win, we get the Patriots.

I know what you might be thinking: "Villaraigosa must be nuts! Bostonians would make out like bandits in that deal! With an indoor arena team, the fans would not have to risk frostbite to see a mid-September game. And with the smaller field, our coaches wouldn't even need cameras to steal opponents' signals."

I'm sure my constituents might not be happy with this deal, but I am so confident in the Lakers' victory that I am willing to put it all on the line.

Oh, and to sweeten the pot, in the event of a Lakers victory you can keep the Patriots' coach. We have a pretty good guy down the street who might be interested in the job - and who probably still has the gear.

Good luck and Go Lakers!

Antonio R. Villaraigosa

(For the entire letter, please visit OurSportsCentral)

Now, I’m not one to usually put much credence into these types of wagers, but this is too hilarious to pass up.

The Avengers for the Patriots.  What a novelty concept!

Maybe Mayor Villaraigosa is onto something.  After all, the New England Patriots scored an NFL record 589 points in 16 games in the regular season.  Even with as pathetic as the Avengers offense has looked at times this season, they had that 589 points eclipsed in the third quarter of their 11th game of the season.

Tom Brady might have thrown an NFL record 50 touchdown passes in 2007, but between Tim Hicks and Sonny Cumbie, the two quarterbacks have a combined 73 touchdown passes!

Randy Moss was such a slacker last year for the Patriots.  Only 1493 yards and an NFL record 23 touchdown receptions.  The Avengers have three receivers this year that could eclipse that touchdown mark, and LaShaun Ward is already there in only 13 games!

What is Mayor Villaraigosa thinking???  All he wants are the lousy Patriots in exchange for his offensive juggernaut Avengers?  AND he’s going to let New England keep their head coach if the Celtics lose?

Can you imagine the stunts that Bill Belichek would pull off in the Arena Football League?  Belichek has to be a better game planner and manager than Ed Hodgkiss!

Besides, Mayor Villaraigosa is absolutely right.  It’s too cold in Boston to be playing football outdoors in the winter!  Wouldn’t a nice indoor team do the city wonders?  (Nobody tell the mayor that Massachusetts has already had the Marauders, Steamrollers, and Sea Wolves in life, and none of them fared too well)

Imagine the Patriots playing in great weather all season?  The biggest problems the perfect Patriots ran into in the regular season were when the weather was awful.  Let’s face it, playing in the 75 degrees and perfect weather of Los Angeles would be more conducive to the Patriots offense than 20 degrees below zero and the fans throwing snowballs all over the place.

I hope for Mayor Menino’s sake, his Celtics can find a way to win three of the next six games in the NBA Finals, so we can all see what the master mind of Bill Belichek can design when his Avengers go from wearing those powder blue third uniforms, to the green of the Celtics.

Cheers to you, Mayor Villaraigosa!