There are generally not too many comparisons to be made between the more traditional American sports and the lovely world of soccer.
The very structures of the games are quite different, and it is extremely hard to compare one football team from one league in one country to a squad of a completely different sort.
However, one can see a noticeable similarity between the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball and Arsenal FC of the Barclays Premier League, despite the many differences in how they entertain and their considerable geographical distance.
Most notably, both clubs have recently seen a change in ownership, and the results of the transitions have been generally fruitful.
The Rangers have been to the World Series during each of the past two years after their purchase by legend Nolan Ryan, elbowing away my beloved New York Yankees in the process, despite having never made an appearance in the Series since their conception.
While the Gunners have not seen quite the same level of success since the takeover of Stan Kroenke last year, their fortunes have improved since Kroenke and Arsene Wenger finally loosened their purse-strings and invested in the squad on Deadline Day last summer.
Arsenal have since had their abysmal form rise, and they are now on the brink of fourth place, and the coveted Champions League place that will define their season.
Both teams are self-sustaining and are fiscally responsible as well. The Rangers, despite their continued success on the field, had only the 13th-highest payroll in the major league last season and have resisted giving enormous contracts to free agents.
Elvis Andrus is a symbol of the Rangers' success in youth development
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
The Gunners operate in much the same fashion.
Instead of contracts to free agents, Arsenal are frugal with their distribution of transfer fees. Wenger holds his wallet as tightly as any manager in the world, and his sometimes infuriating austerity has been a hallmark of his managerial career.
Both teams can take this approach to managing their respective finances because of their most clearly similar and defining characteristic: the development and nurturing of young talent.
The Rangers have an absolute abundance of young talent flourishing in the majors and coming through their farm system right now.
Such precocious talents include the lightning-quick Elvis Andrus, rocket-armed Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando, as well as surprisingly young but established stars such as Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler.
Arsenal, meanwhile, need no further plaudits in their development of youth. Arsene Wenger, specifically, has made his side into arguably the greatest and most consistent developer of young talent in all of sports.
Seemingly every world-class player got his start at and flourished in North London, including Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas and now Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.
The promotion of youth is not merely a temporary strategy at Arsenalâ€"it is a permanent modus operandi.
While the Gunners have started to reach their tentacles into America through a partnership with the New York Yankees, the Texas Rangers are a more analogous team to the more successful half of North London.
The two teams have found â€"and look to continue to findâ€"success due to their very similar operating strategies, despite the differences of their respective leagues and sports.
In the world of professional athletics, winning is a universal strategy.
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