Buy the Expos, please!

Responding to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's efforts to buy a stake in Liverpool FC , the International Herald Tribune has a tongue-in-cheek piece suggesting other sports clubs suited for takeover by a foreign government:

It is too bad that many European governments other than the Netherlands now have budget deficits that would make overseas investments difficult to finance within European Union guidelines. Think what it could do for the strained trans-Atlantic alliance to have France buy the New York Yankees, with President Jacques Chirac cheering wildly as the Yankees won another championship. For the first time, the World Series might even live up to its name.

Honoring the cities to which so many of their citizens emigrated, perhaps Ireland could buy the Boston Red Sox, and Germany could invest in the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that could use an infusion of capital. Recalling history of a different sort, Russia might be interested in the Cincinnati Reds.

A few such purchases might arouse European interest in baseball, a sport that mostly confuses people from countries that never had a strong American presence. And surely if Europeans understood baseball better, they would also understand America better.

A compelling analysis, I'm sure you'll agree.