Share the Wealth: Teams That Should Be Broken Up

In every sport, there’s at least one team that seems to “stack the deck,” meaning rack up all the talent so that no one else can have any. The stacked team wins championship after championship.

Sometimes, the team has so much talent, that great players languish on the bench, and they could be starring someplace else. When I say “broken up,” I mean that the teams should get rid of some of their talent, so other teams have a chance at having a good team. McMullen’s Musings takes a look at teams that should do just that.

New England Patriots

The Patriots proved last year that they are stacked in most positions when injuries forced Bill Belichick to look toward his bench. Not only that, they always seem to trade up to get just the player they need to make them look even more stacked.

Meanwhile, other teams, if their good players get injured, cannot find decent players to replace them. If the NFL does not want another 0-16 team, maybe the Patriots should share their wealth instead of trying to go 19-0 again.

Manchester United

The Red Devils are so stacked, they are usually 10 points clear of anyone else by mid-season if they are on form. They could easily have enough top players to fill a second team and win the Premier League with them.

Everybody likes a winner, but everybody also likes competition. With Manchester United so stuffed with talent, I don’t foresee that happening any time soon.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics showed during this year’s playoffs that they don’t need a "Big Three" to get things done in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Garnett had to sit out with a knee injury, and the Celtics still held their own with some very stiff competition.

They have enough good players sitting on the bench to do very well without any of them. We may see this in a couple years, however, as some of the Celtics are getting on in years, including all of the aforementioned "Big Three."

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol. Gasol might have blossomed just as well with the Grizzlies if he had stayed there. Not only that, they lured Lamar Odom from across the road and got some rising stars in Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum.

Certainly, trading a couple of these players would not hurt their chances of winning more championships.

USC Football Team

I know we can’t do anything about this, but because the Trojans have an immense amount of coverage (they somehow seem to get in a major bowl every year, even with two or three losses, it seems), they are able to recruit more "Blue-Chip" athletes. That just makes the Pac-10 even more lopsided.

If we break USC up and spread the wealth amongst all of the Pac-10 teams, it might bring about the parity that the NCAA is so proud of.

New York Yankees

This is the team that everybody thinks should be broken up, and rightfully so. They are probably stacked three-deep on their depth chart with pure talent, while teams like the Blue Jays have one aging star who is probably on their last legs.

Because they are in a convenient market, they are able to jack up the price for free agents, driving all other suitors else away. Unfortunately, all the Yankees get for hoarding all that talent is a little lighter in the wallet by way of the MLB’s luxury tax. If there is anyone that should be broken up, it is definitely the Yankees.