This is just another reason we love college sports

If you have been reading Bill Simmons recently, or paying attention to the NBA at all, you probably know that the Seattle Supersonics are most likely on their way out of town, and the residents of Seattle are beside themselves. This is a truly terrible situation, and we certainly don't intend to make light of it. However, this does serve to highlight just one more difference between college and professional sports. True, sports at both levels are certainly a business, but life as a sports fan at the collegiate level at least guarantees that your team won't pack up and leave town. If your favorite pro team suffers through years of inept management, and the corresponding losing seasons, ownership might just see fit to tuck tail and run for the next green pasture with a shiny new publicly funded arena. At the college level, the Athletic Director feels much more pressure, and much more quickly if his teams don't perform, and he is much more likely to make a change in staff than his professional counterpart might be, especially since his job may be the next one on the line. For all of the criticism that boosters take for tainting the "purity" of college athletics, they are the ones who are primarily responsible for your favorite team remaining competitive, or for the rebuilding efforts put forth by your university of choice. After all, without these boosters, collegiate athletic programs would be largely unable to build state of the art facilities, recruit prized blue chip athletes, and secure the large paydays that come with playing on national t.v. or in bowl games. Yes, sports at this level are very much a business proposition, but at least you can rest easy knowing that as long as your favorite university exists, they'll never flee their home city. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for your local professional team.