Light Houses Galore

york Me Lighthouses
Is the NHL the only professional sports league that has problems with "moving", so to speak?

A big issue in the NHL today is the Phoenix Coyotes and whether or not they will remain in Arizona or move back up to Canada. Another big problem is with the New York Islanders and the Lighthouse Project. I hear about these two current events all of the time, but how come I never hear about a team in the NFL or NBA getting ready to move to a different location? Is the NHL the only league where teams move around from area to area? And is this ever going to stop?

Hey Erin, one of my hobbies is tracking down the histories of every sports franchise in North American professional team sports. In so doing, I have found that the NBA has had the most franchises that have relocated with 15, followed by the NFL with 11, the NHL and NBA tied with 10.

In the case of the NFL, they had many, many teams change their names and suspend operations, revive, then disband in the 1920's. But those teams stayed in the same location except for the Boston-New York Yanks. It wasn't until the 1960's and 1990's that we saw teams moving around. That has since died down but Los Angeles has been said to be the destination of several teams. Stay tuned there.

MLB too had their flourishes of teams coming and going but still had some teams moving around the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. Then things settled down until the mid 1950's when the Athletics left Philly and the most famed move that saw the Dodgers and Giants go west, among others.

The NBA has had teams move throughout its history which started in 1946.

As for the NHL, and to answer your question, the reason why you hear so much about it is because negotiations are taking place in Phoenix and Long Island to secure the futures and locations of the Coyotes and Islanders. Plus, Canadian nationalism and the hockey traditionalist make so much of a great deal about the prospect of getting a new team - especially one that used to call Canada their home.

Keep in mind that in the NBA the New Jersey Nets are supposedly headed for Brooklyn, the Sonics just moved to Oklahoma City, and New Orleans nearly lost the Hornets. The Miami Marlins (they are dropping "Florida" from their name beginning next season) are moving into a new stadium but their future there is hardly certain. The Twins were crying poormouth and the Athletics are slated to move to Santa Clara because they have nearly the worst attendance in baseball.

So all in all, the NHL goes through its periods of shifting teams around but most of what you hear is the extrapolation on the parts of geography experts trying to play checkers with NHL franchises.

Franchise shifts are a part of American sports history and we have not seen the last of it. But the great thing about Gary Bettman that doesn't get enough air time is the fact that he wants to keep teams where they are. The chowderheads who try to alter history and give him credit for the movements of teams during the 1990's fail to understand that he isn't trying to deprive anyone of a team - especially those who are fans of teams that are functioning poorly in financial terms.

Discover Light Houses, Beaches, Vineyards And More - All On The Road To Montauk

If there's no traffic then it's about a two and a half hour drive from Manhattan to Montauk. And to everybody going there, it's well worth the trip.

Montauk is on the easternmost part of the South Fork of Long Island, New York. It's where New York State Route 27 ends. This can be especially true if you decide to take a detour or two along the way.

Although the beaches are beautiful, and the fishing is fine (Montauk's the fishing capital of the world), a lot of people seem to end up, at one time or another, at the Montauk Point Lighthouse.

Montauk Light House

Aside from the surrounding natural beauty, where else can you visit a lighthouse that was under construction when George Washington was president? New York's first lighthouse, completed in 1796, stands one hundred ten feet, six inches tall. And if you're in the area - or offshore - at night you'll see its beacons flashing every five seconds.

Tour the lighthouse on a clear day and you'll be able to see Block Island, Rhode Island, as well as nearby Connecticut.

Accommodations in Montauk

For a long, long time, if you wanted to spend the night in Montauk you could usually stay anywhere as long as it was Gurney's Inn. The original structure, nestled on Montauk's dunes, which can elicit visions of the era of the Great Gatsby, was pretty much the only game in town.

However, over the past couple of decades Montauk has become a much more popular destination.

From New Yorkers, who just want to take a break that sometimes comes with living and working in the city, to surfers from around the world who have heard of Ditch Plains Beach and want to experience the swells themselves, Montauk has become quite popular. As a result a considerable number of hotels have been built to accommodate them, so accommodations are not so hard to find.

However, especially during the summer, it could be a very good idea to call ahead and make reservations if you're planning on awakening to the sound Montauk's surf the next day.

Making Stops Along the Way

Now, even though most New Yorkers will probably just want to get there, a lot of people actually prefer to make it a more leisurely trip and they make a stop or two along the way. You know, to get off the highway and explore.

If this sounds a bit like you then you definitely will find a number of things are going to interest you along the way. And most will be nestled amongst the many beautiful towns and villages that you can find just off the highway, along the way.

Aside from the restaurants and shopping that you'd expect to find just about anywhere that people live, you can get off the Long Island Expressway in towns such as Peconic, where the climate and annual rainfall are the same as in Bordeaux, France. And while you're there, why not visit one of Long Island's many wineries? Enjoy the tour and maybe participate in a tasting. What better way to relax on your way to the beach?

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