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Good post, and I agree with the whole capitalism vs. communism thing. But keep in mind that "competition" from the standpoint of sports is often at odds with the basic idea of capitalism because fans pay to see the competition on the field. As industries mature, it is natural for competitors to merge, disappear, enter new markets, change their focus, etc. Look at the auto industry or the North American railroad industry as perfect cases in point.

If you try to translate that into a world of competitive sports, you couldn't even get the industry off the ground -- because in sports, the competition is the product. How many people would be watching games in a 30-team league if the same three teams always finished at the top of the standings? Who would ever follow a team passionately if they knew that it could disappear overnight by getting run out of business or merged into another team with little advance warning? What if a team like the Florida Marlins decided one day that they'd be better as basketball players and move into a new "industry" (the NBA)?

The whole thing falls apart when you try to apply economic principles to professional sports. This is because a sports league is socialist by its very nature to a certain degree. "Managed competition" is what keeps a sports league in business, because when the product is the competition it's important for a league to have enough competitive teams to keep fans interested.

I don't see how sports is at odds with capitalism. In the game excellence is rewarded. How you achieve excellence doesn't always equate to how much money you had in your pocket to begin with. If that were the case, we'd be handicapping skaters from Canada on Hockey teams, or swimmers from California at the Olympics: both had an unfair advantage. The Yanks run a good ship, and the Mets don't. Same market, same potential.

Small market teams can win: see the A's, Marlins, Diamondbacks, and Rays. They just have to find their competitive advantage. Billy Beane found his with his analysis, and it worked.