Owner Swap?

Check out this article on DCist that proposes the solution to at least half of the Washington sports woes is to switch the team ownership: Trading Places: Sports Ownership Edition

The author makes a very good point, proposing this scenario of an owner swap, Snyder leaving the Redskins and taking ownership of the Nationals. I can only imagine how good ole Danny Boy would drool at the thought of no salary cap. He could throw all the money he wants at old, difficult, controversial, and worthless players and not have a league telling him he needs to stop. Now... "buying" a championship is the main reason so many people (myself included) hate teams like the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Yankees. But it is clear that the reason we hate them is because they aren't our team and we have this feeling of "That's not fair. They shouldn't be allowed to just buy a trophy like that." But a championship is something DC sports fans haven't seen in a while (sorry DC United, I wish you were a legitimate sport consideration in this city and country too, but the truth is we don't care about your MLS Cups). DC is a city of "what have you done for me lately?" and a city caught up in what's going on politically that supporting sports teams is done on special occasions, not as a way of life. But would this change if Snyder owned the Nationals and was paying big money for big names? If it comes down to the highest bidder, we all know Snyder has the bankroll to land names like A-Rod, Soriano, Sabathia, maybe even Pujols... Just think how different the concept of Washington Nationals baseball would be if you had some big time players at the plate every night?

And that's why baseball is a totally different playing field for the team owners. Now, would the opposite work in the favor of the Redskins, to whom I devote my loyalty? Well, as the author notes, Ted Lerner is pretty new to this ownership thing, so how could we know? But, considering the track record of Daniel Snyder, his over-involvement, his poor decision making, his seemingly indifferent disposal of NFL Draft picks year after year, his financial investments in NFL fossils.... I can't see how Lerner would be worse than Snyder is. Perhaps his lack of experience as an owner would be to the advantage of the Skins organization because he would be forced to keep his mouth shut and let other people do the thinking and deciding for the team's best interest. A novel idea for an NFL owner...

So, would it work? For the Nationals, potentially yes. They could go from the worst team in baseball to the best in a matter of a couple years. Would they be vilified by the rest of the MLB fan base? Probably. No one likes a team that buys a championship. Unless that team is your team. So I think the DC fans would be fine with it and would pack the Park in Southeast every night for years to come. So that would be good for DC sports in general. For the Redskins, it is possible it could be a good thing too, hinging on the question of exactly what kind of owner would Ted Lerner be and would he let the coaching staff build a championship caliber team without his interference?