1988: The St. Louis Cardinals football team announces it will relocate to Phoenix beginning with the 1988 season. The Cardinals had played in St. Louis since 1960.
1988: Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder is fired  |
| Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder (left) talks to reporters during a meeting with Jesse Jackson on Jan. 17, 1988, a day after CBS fired Snyder for remarks he made about black athletes. |
as CBS football analyst for comments he made to a Washington, D.C., television reporter about African-American athletes. Snyder told the reporter: "The black is the better athlete. And he practices to be the better athlete, and he's bred to be the better athlete because this goes way back to the slave period. The slave owner would breed this big black with this big black woman so he could have a big black kid. That's where it all started."
1995: Palm Beach financier Malcolm Glazer purchases the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the Hugh Culverhouse estate for $192 million. Other bidders for the team included New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Glazer: "I sure as heck would rather own a team in Tampa than I would in Baltimore. ... The Buc stops here. Tampa Bay is going to have this team forever as far as the Glazers are concerned."
1995: The long-awaited announcement of the  |
| Georgia Frontiere moved the Rams to St. Louis seven years after the Cardinals left. |
Los Angeles Rams' relocation to St. Louis is made. Rams owner and St. Louis native Georgia Frontiere: "I'm so proud to be able to come home after this long journey in my life." Stan Kroenke, who bought 30 percent of the team for $60 million, was introduced at the announcement. The Rams had called Los Angeles home since 1946.
1996: MLB owners approve Walt Disney Co.'s acquisition of a 25 percent interest in the Anaheim Angels, effective March 18, 1996. Disney also assumes the role of managing general partner. The Angels become a part of Disney Sports Enterprises Inc., joining the Mighty Ducks, acquired by Disney in December 1992. Disney CEO Michael Eisner: "I just come from the theory that when everybody is talking bad about something that's basically good, it's the time to get into it."
FOLLOW-THROUGH: Despite winning a World Series, the franchise was sold in April 2003 to Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno for a reported $180 million.
1997: Indianapolis Colts owner  |
| Baltimore Colts owner Robert Irsay fires back during a 1984 news conference. Irsay, who that year moved the team to Indianapolis, died Jan. 14, 1997. |
Robert Irsay dies at age 73. Irsay, who had owned the team since 1972, was best known for moving the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984. New York Giants GM George Young: "I am aware of his public image, but there was a great deal of goodness in him that people didn't recognize."
1998: CBS returns to the NFL while NBC is left out as the NFL signs TV deals worth $17.6 billion over eight years, doubling the league's previous deals. CBS gained the AFC rights for $4 billion, while Fox retained the NFC rights for $4.4 billion. The Walt Disney Co. retained rights for ABC's "Monday Night Football" and the entire Sunday night package for ESPN for $9.2 billion over eight years. NBC had been an NFL partner for 33 years. NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol: "Winning is an extraordinary feeling, but we're paid a salary to make money, and there was no chance of making money on this deal."
1999: Michael Jordan announces his retirement, for the second time, from the NBA and says he is "99.9 percent" sure he would never return. NBA Commissioner David Stern, on the league's future without Jordan: "The NBA takes a hit every time it loses a big name, but I'm optimistic. See us in six months. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
