The Legacy of the LA Lions
The Legacy of the LA Lions
By Toronto Blue Jays
The LA Lions just officially became a dead team a couple days ago which makes it official. The team is no longer active. They were around from Season 44 all the way up to Season 88 where they were sacked for inactivity. This was not a surprise to most people though knowing a few seasons ago that the Lions were leaving. He announced that he was going to leave the game and everyone was surprised. You could not really play Franchise Ball without ever knowing this team. He made Franchise Ball News work writing those exceptional articles throughout his time at Franchise Ball. People would literally wait and anticipate his next article for they were always fun to read.
Being active for around 44 seasons he had a 683 win percentage which most teams in the game can never dream of having. He won the division 21 times throughout his franchise's history and that included the days of the toughest division in Franchise Ball history which was in Season 71. The active teams in the division were the Reds, Tomahawks, Bombers, Lions, and Kantai. “For me they were one of the teams to beat, it was a privilege to be in a division containing them, Bombers, Reds, and Tomahawks.” (Kantai-Shimakaze). The biggest accomplishment though for him as it would be for any of us, being crowned world champion in season 77. It was a thriller between the Lions and Oriole in Game 3 of the FB world series but the Lions ended up on top winning the final game 7-3.
Another thing about the Lions too was their humility. They were not out for looks and making news in the bids on bid day dropping 20M on one single player. “Their humility and how they put together their team. I do not remember them ever making huge splashes in bidding, so most of their players were brought up by scouting, and it is a doctrine I follow today.” (Kantai-Shimakaze). The San Diego Bombers also say that they were one of the nicest players. “He was a great player but an even better person.” (Bombers). We always saw him in the social feed talking and helping new teams build up and other things. He was the heart of the Franchise Ball community at a lot of different times in his career. “They interacted A LOT in their heyday, the only teams I could say used the social feed more were the Chicago Winners and the SD Bombers.” (Kantai-Shimakaze).
Nobody will forget him for a long time and the community will remember him. “His prestigious lineup, the consistency of it and his articles” (Hipponax). He was the best Franchise Ball player you could ask for. His style of play was great, he was a great person and contributed so much to the game. I asked Hipponax a question and he actually thinks he will be back at some point in time. “To be honest, I think he will come back at some point. I think a lot of us have those moments, even I left for a few months to focus on other stuff. I was pretty sad to see he was leaving, I was worried about the articles fading away and the game becoming dry at first but there are others that are interested too… he did the noble thing by trading his talent to others which gave us a good boost.” (Hipponax). Him trading his players struck me too in an exquisite way. Some teams that left just left and let their players go to waste with some still having contracts etc. and in a way hogging players when you are never going to use them again. The Lions and the Bisons were the two modern teams that left and traded their top players away. It really contributes to the community in an outstanding way. Especially what the Bisons did, specifically trading players first to younger teams to give them a huge boost for their team. It helps teams in such a gigantic way and it was extremely thoughtful for those teams who left to do that. Overall I think I can speak for everyone and hope the Lions at some point come back. If he does not he will be a Legend and he will be embedded in Franchise Ball history.
Thank you to Hipponax, Bombers, and Shimakaze for letting me interview them for this article.
