But if you look at this from a business sense as Denis pointed out, then why should I as a business owner share all my revenues and hard work with a team that has not marketed itself very well. As ugly as it sounds I have to side with the George Steinbrenners of the world. They've worked hard to get their teams to a competitive level because they understand that is what sells tickets and merchandise (and thus profit). If the other teams can't make it, so be it. It just means the market is too saturated and should be culled anyway. I've always thought the current NHL playoff system was a joke since there are so many teams that make the playoffs now with sub .500 records (baseball and football are falling into this trap as well).

And I like Denis's idea of starting a new league to get back to the "old" ways but unfortunately in todays age where are you going to find great players that just want to play for the "fun" of it. Those days are long gone my friends. The only areas that you see this happen anymore are in sports that are relatively new (i.e. skateboarding, windsurfing, paintball, etc.). And one could argue that once these new sports obtain a following the need to capitalize kicks in and everyone from owners to participants to businesses that want the advertising exposure want to get what they consider their fair share.

My $0.02...