Josh C honored Griffey on his home turf - and earned himself a sweet tee for his efforts.

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Unfortunately we weren't able to actually set a record for our Griffey Day last month, but we did get some great pics uploaded and have selected a winner straight from Seattle.

Josh C sent in this gem of him at the Mariner's home park Safeco Field, rocking a backwards hat with his favorite beer-man (er, woman) in the stands - which we've deemed the best submission, meaning he's scored himself a free So Long Kid t-shirt from our Fan-Fits collection. And as a secondary bonus, he apparently ran into Griffey himself at an airshow near Seattle just a couple of weeks ago - although we can't take any credit for that serendipitous meet-up.

We also got some love from the Backporch folks at Fanhouse, who wrote a little piece hyping the day and helping to spread the Project Franchise gospel.

Although we are sad to see the end of the Griffey era, and it makes us feel really old, we do have a bunch of other fun fan-friendly promos and giveaways coming up so stay tuned - and if you have any ideas for stuff we should be doing to get fans more involved, just let us know.

That looks like a Gem Mint 10 to me...

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Tomorrow is the big day as we will honor the quiet retirement of this era's most universally fan loved baseball star Ken Griffey Jr by turning around our basbeall caps in unison and hopefully setting a record along the way.

Griffey broke on to the scene as a 1989 Upper Deck Rookie, rocking a ridiculously rad mini-fro under his Mariner's cap (forward facing), paired up with a sweet blue turtle neck and some exposed gold chains. The Kid went on to become the coolest athlete on the planet for most of the 90's, not named Michael Jordan. His sweet swing and knack for amazing catches made him a fan favorite from coast to coast.

After a move to the Reds, where a string of nagging injuries greatly hampered the second half of his career, Griffey returned to Seattle last season, eventually retiring as a Mariner earlier this year. I happen to have been at the A's Opening Day game last year when Griffey made his first re-appearance in an M's jersey and the crowd in Oakland gave him a full standing ovation. This is a guy who spent the bulk of his career playing for the rival and the fans in one of America's toughest cities, stood on their feet and applauded the visitor when he took his first at bat.

Its not surprising though, as Griffey stands out in an era of steroids and HGH as the guy who did it the right way - and was always cool about it. So, with that in mind, we will be honoring him tomorrow by attempting to set a world record for most backwards caps worn.

To join in simply turn your hat around and snap a pic - then upload it to our Flickr Page or just email it to SoLongKid@projectfranchise.org and we'll post it for you.

More photos » Elise Amendola - AP

Not sure LBJ's fellow skybox fans at Pro-Freight will include Dr Dre.

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Clearly we are big fans of the off-the-wall promotions minor league baseball squads run to put more butts in the seats, so we were particularly impressed by the Lake Erie Crushers who will hosting a "Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night" on June 30th. The reigning champions of the Frontier League are located in Avon, Ohio, just a stones throw from Cleveland where LeBron has played for the Cavaliers for the last seven seasons, and not much further from Akron, where he grew up.

With LBJ's status as the King of Ohio up in the air while he weighs his free-agent options, the team is definitely playing to its local base. The big night will include the Crushers offering Bron Bron a formal contract for $1,600 a month, which will include a host family in case the commute from his mega-mansion 30 minutes away is just too much to handle. In another genius marketing move, the team will wear special, Cavs themed jerseys with every player wearing LeBron's new number 6 - which will surely result in hundreds of new merchandise sales.

As a last effort to win James over, they will be renaming their Pro Freight Stadium for the superstar for one night only. And, just so that similarly named fans don't feel left out, anyone named "LeBron" gets in for free... genius.

And, since we're working on getting our own minor league squad and getting more butts in our seats (aka - sign up at ProjectFranchise.org!), we're running a fun stunt to try to get ourselves a Guinness World Record for the most fans wearing a backwards hat in honor of another great Ohio sports star - Ken Griffey Jr.

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If you didn't hear LeBron James and the Cavaliers lost to the Celtics yesterday ending their season and since then the rumor mill's been churning as to where LeBron is heading next year.  New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Miami have all been listed as possible landing spots for James, with Cleveland obviously still in the mix.  

I'm not sure what the other cities pitches are going to be, but I think Cleveland has taken the lead in the race for the King with this video.

So yeah.  New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Miami have their work cut out for them if they want to try to top that pitch and get LeBron this summer.

After being swept in humiliating fashion by the Orlando Magic yesterday in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals the Atlanta Hawks will be heading in to this offseason having accomplished no more than they did last year when they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers at the same stage of the playoffs.

During last year's series Atlanta's lack of bench depth was exposed and as a result the team traded for the streaky, but explosive Jamal Crawford who responded with a campaign in which he averaged 18.0 points per game off the bench in 79 appearances, good enough to receive the Sixth Man of the Year Award.  The Hawks also expected that another year in Al Horford, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams' development would elevate them to the level of a legitimate Eastern Conference power.  

However as we all witnessed the Hawks have severe problems that need to be addressed if they want to take the next step into the league's elite teams.The Hawks backcourt has not been built for the long haul with Mike Bibby manning the point and Joe Johnson starting as the two-guard for Atlanta.  Their frontcourt, while young and athletic is too small and gets overpowered by teams that have size down low and they could also use a little more bench depth.  They also severely need somebody to step up and become a leader after their no-show against Orlando.

At a time when point guard depth may be at its best in the history of the league, Bibby has become such a glaring defensive liability that whatever he provides offensively by helping to space the floor with his ability to knock down perimeter jumpers is offset by the dribble penetration he gives up on the other end.  He lacks the capability at this point in his career to keep up with quicker point guards and isn't strong enough to control physical ones.  

They drafted Jeff Teague in last year's draft to eventually replace Bibby, but in just over 10 minutes per game this year in 71 appearances, Teague shot an abysmal 39.6% from the field and just 21.4% from long distance.  Teague is still only 22, but in his limited time this year he inspired little confidence that he can take over the reins of the offense in the absence of Bibby.  

It's also been mentioned hundreds of times, but how good would the Hawks be if they had drafted Chris Paul or Deron Williams over Marvin Williams?  At the very least they would be the beneficiary of having one of the league's best young point guards that are having such an immense impact on the game.

The Joe Johnson conundrum has less to do with his production or play on the court, but his impending free agency this summer.  As it is the Hawks have never been a franchise willing to dole out the big bucks, but Johnson's case presents a unique situation.  Johnson is the team's best perimeter scoring option, has good size, length, speed and agility and plays solid defense.  The problem is that he does none of these thing well enough to warrant the max contract he'll be looking for this summer and that some dimwit team (please don't be the Knicks) will be stupid enough to hand him.  

Therein lies the problem though, because Atlanta can't afford to lose Johnson and certainly not with recouping anything in the process.  At 29 years old, Johnson is in the final years of his prime and a lengthy contract could end up being a messy affair for the team who signs him when he enters the fifth and sixth years of his contract in his mid-thirties.  Atlanta should also consider whether they want to make a heavy financial investment in a player who was supposed to be the leader of the team and when adversity struck instead decided to talk about his lack of care about fan support.  

If I'm the Hawks I try and swing a sign-and-trade deal with the Mavericks for Rodrigue Beaubois, Erick Dampier and a future first round pick.  I'm not sure Dallas would accept this trade, but it would sure help show Dirk that they're willing to do anything to help him win a championship and make them a more formidable team immediately. Johnson would ease the pressure on Nowitzki offensively and would give them a much needed perimeter defender that they could even plug in at small forward when they want to play small.  

For Atlanta the benefits would be twofold.  First of all they'd be trading for an exciting young point guard who's speed would fit in perfectly with the rest of the Hawks' personnel.  They'd also get to take a flyer on Dampier who would give them somebody who could at least make Dwight Howard work for his baskets in the post without getting dominated physically.  The best part is that it will be Dampier's contract year which in the past has resulted in career years for Dampier.  Even if he flops his expiring contract will be attractive to teams looking to cut payroll next season. 

Josh Smith and Al Horford are keepers, but the Hawks just cannot afford to stand pat with what they have in any aspect of their team.  Smith and Horford are very good players, but for a team in the same division as Orlando it's imperative they find a solution to at least limit Dwight Howard who had his way with the Hawks.  Dampier would be a nice stop gap solution, but the Hawks need to think long term and find a big man who can defend and rebound either via draft, trade or free agency.  They may be able to lure Brendan Haywood by offering him the full mid-level exception.

Outside of Jamal Crawford, their bench produces little offensively.  Zaza Pachulia's purely an energy guy, but his production dropped this year and Maurice Evans simply doesn't have it anymore.  This draft is deep and they may be able to pluck a player late in the first round like Dominique Jones of South Florida, Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson or even Devin Ebanks from West Virginina that could all give them some offensive punch off the bench and contribute immediately.  

The most important thing Atlanta must do this summer is look at its team as currently constituted and ask themselves an honest question - Is there a guy on this team that can be the best player on a championship team? In other words do we have somebody on this team that is or can become a top-5 player in the NBA?  Looking at their roster currently it certainly doesn't seem so which why Atlanta should actively look to sign and trade Joe Johnson this summer, rather than overspending to keep a core together destined for second round exits. 

Every team with true championship aspirations must have a top-5 NBA player on its roster and then must surround him with very good complementary pieces.  Atlanta is in a position in which they have a No. 2 and No. 3 option, but until they land a superstar they have maxed out the potential of this squad.  After three consecutive playoff appearances with virtually the same roster, the Hawks will need to shake things up this summer and find a new identity if they hope to emerge as true title contenders.

We sent out an e-newsletter update this morning with some new info on our new site and new plans - check out the text version below or to see the full html version go to http://tinyurl.com/28epsjx

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The New Website Is Up!

After months of hard work, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our full proper site - in beta form. ProjectFranchise.org (you can get there at .com too) now has a new and improved look and feel that makes it much easier for our Fans to join the team and have their voices heard by voting on all team decisions and submitting nominations for the next big vote. Technically, we're still in 'beta' over the next few weeks while we work out all of the kinks, but check out the site at www.projectfranchise.org and let us know what you think, what doesn't work and what we could be doing better.

Front Office Fans Keeps Growing

We launched our blog on SB Nation in late October and so far its going tremendously well. The blog is the place where we post updates on our progress, as well let the voice of the fan be heard giving our take on the top sports stories from the view of a 'Fan in the Front Office'. Our audience has continued to grow each month and we are getting heightened levels of reader feedback from the comments and polls.

If you haven't already, be sure to stop by www.frontofficefans.com and join the community.

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They have cheerleaders and everything.

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If you could have bought or invested in a professional sports franchise in any league in the entire world two years ago, which one do you think would have given you the greatest return on the investment?  

The NFL or NBA?  Not likely with both leagues looking at possible work stoppages as they look to address issues necessary to reach new collective bargaining agreements.  

Back to the question at hand though, which league would you choose?  I'm assuming nobody is picking baseball as every year the sport seems to wane in popularity.

Hockey's popularity is pretty stable with it's following in Canada, but significant growth is unlikely until Americans start to care, which doesn't seem to be the case even after a wildly successful and exciting Olympic hockey tournament.  

Sidenote: How much of a nightmare would that be if both leagues had stoppages in the same year?  We'd be stuck watching college football and basketball from the end of October until April.  The biggest winner in all that coule end up being the NHL as fans looks elsewhere for entertainment.

You can also go ahead and cross out any international soccer leagues like the EPL, La Liga or the Bundesliga.

The answer, that I'm sure you're all waiting for with baited breath, is the Indian Premier League (IPL).  The IPL is a cricket league that was formed in India two years ago in 2008 and currently consists of 8 teams.

Before the advent of the IPL most players played their club cricket in their own country's domestic leagues.  With the creation of a league in which players command multi-million dollar salaries and businessmen and movie star owners willing to shell out the money, the IPL has created a global market for itself.  It has also capitalized on an endless demand for cricket in India as stars from across the world ply their trade in front of sold out crowds.

Toronto Globe and Mail:

Bollywood starlet Shilpa Shetty acquired an 11-per-cent stake in the Rajasthan Royals in 2009 in a deal that valued the team at $140-million.

That's more than double the $67-million the owners originally paid for the team.

India's largest private company, Reliance Industries Ltd., paid $111.9-million for the Mumbai franchise, an investment that has returned about 230 per cent in two years, based on bids for new teams.

Business experts in India say the soaring valuations are justified despite the fact that the league and most franchises have yet to turn a real profit.

Kishor Orstwal, managing director of Mumbai-based CNI Research, expects the value of an IPL franchise to rise to $500-million next year when two more teams are added, for a total of 12 clubs. That would make an IPL team more valuable than the most expensive NHL franchise, the Toronto Maple Leafs, which is worth an estimated $470-million.

Last Sunday, two more cities were awarded franchises in a bidding process, with Pune getting one for $370 million and Kochi for $333.33 million.  Pune's franchise is more valuable than 19 NBA franchises, 9 MLB franchises and all but 2 NHL franchises according to Forbes' rankings.

There's a reason why a country with a population of over a billion only sent 3 athletes to the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Cricket in India isn't king, it's more like a totalitarian dictator wiping out all competition from other sports it faces and it's popularity can seen in the rapid growth IPL franchises have experienced and the ballooning valuations of its franchise.

The IPL has reduced the length of the game to a three hour experience similar to a football or baseball game by implementing a format known as Twenty20.  Other forms of cricket can take anywhere from 8 hours, or in the test format, days and are experiencing a decline in viewership and popularity.  Twenty20 in the meantime is experiencing an enormous boom in its popularity with the IPL being the main cause behind its rise.

The IPL has already entered into numerous broadcasting, licensing and sponsorship agreements, including a $1.026 billion, 10-year deal for global media rights with Sony Entertainment Television and World Sport Group.

If you plan on investing in a professional sports franchise anytime soon, you might want to consider taking a look at the IPL as it continues to rise in the face of a global recession.