Know what really grinds my gears? The expectation that fans should come to games regardless of how good the team is. In what other industry is a good product dependent on consumer support? Imagine if APPLE released a bad IPHONE and demanded people buy it, and then they would make a good one. Yet, this is a constant problem in sports. I've covered the METS, where ownership said payroll (and implicitly its desire to pay for talent) would follow attendance. College fanbases are too-often blamed for not showing up when times are bad. And then told that lack of enthusiasm is why their basketball program isn't winning enough games. I went to RUTGERS -- trust me, I've heard this argument before. Nonsensical, isn't it? Sports inverts traditional business expectations in a lot of ways but guilting consumers into a better product is perhaps the most perplexing. The recent tanking trend will put these expectations to the test. Why pay for the bottom and be priced out of the top? Fandom should be earned by teams every year, not expected... The 2018 WINTER OLYMPICS, playing out in the unpredictable shadow of NORTH KOREA, might be unlike any other Games. But don’t let geopolitics steal the show. The Games will be as exciting as the politics. SportsSET: "The 2018 Winter Olympics Will Be on Thin Ice"... Now you know who to blame... SALT LAKE CITY nightlife remains undefeated... Sometimes we need to ask the deep questions... RIP OSCAR GAMBLE... A personal note: This is my last newsletter. It's been a pleasure curating SportsREDEF for the last 14-plus months and getting these issues to you five times a week. It was a lot of pressure taking what JASON HIRSCHHORN has done for years and doing it for a sports-devoted audience -- I hope you all enjoyed it. SportsREDEF will go on a brief hiatus starting today but it will undoubtedly return better than ever. In the meantime, subscribe to MusicREDEF, FashionREDEF, and MediaREDEF, and remain curious.