tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90623141592748476552024-02-18T22:10:41.563-05:00The Thinking Man's GameViews Of The Sports Landscape From 30,000 Feet :: Est'd. 2010 goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-64204924780407282602023-06-18T23:00:00.034-04:002023-07-05T22:21:41.079-04:00Expansion Provides An Opportunity To Deploy The Latest MLB Playoff Format Correctly<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Major League Baseball needs to close up a tunnel to their Postseason — the very one I hope my Cleveland Guardians utilize this October.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Rd9nhQ-VAyxVzZPC62j6RVOTMb2MnUf-_cFq9ZcmNBZgh3SCC19JYbsrKQv0dDLWOkphwuWBnRZnHP-G1ktX4wzROr_DqOr9dqfnba8-EkyeInzuWqqM8R84rBqAvXp2Bqp319EjSCmMI4iepDrlssSup7taCNV6qvNzKlMsQjb4Y3h8u9fuhZSV/s889/Central%20Division%20Champs.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="888" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Rd9nhQ-VAyxVzZPC62j6RVOTMb2MnUf-_cFq9ZcmNBZgh3SCC19JYbsrKQv0dDLWOkphwuWBnRZnHP-G1ktX4wzROr_DqOr9dqfnba8-EkyeInzuWqqM8R84rBqAvXp2Bqp319EjSCmMI4iepDrlssSup7taCNV6qvNzKlMsQjb4Y3h8u9fuhZSV/s320/Central%20Division%20Champs.png" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Over the past few years, the American League Central might as well be known as the "Loophole Division." Play your home games in this particular region of the country and you could conceivably be the AL’s tenth-best club (based on win percentage) and get included in the top six. Worse, the potential exists for a bottom-half team to masquerade as worthy of the playoff bracket's 3 seed — recognized with hosting a Wild Card Series. Undeserving Postseason insertion is bad enough; up to three home games (and a favorable match-up) are a bridge too far. </span><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Remember, this is a diehard Cleveland baseball fan telling you this. One that witnessed his team regain the AL Central's top spot this week, for the first time since April 6. The Guardians were 5-2 way back then. Today, they only have 34 more wins that that. And yet, the playoffs will be a very real possibility at the All-Star Break. On an annual basis, not many teams ranked 21st in </span><a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37928280/mlb-2023-power-rankings-week-13-mets-giants-rays-braves" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">MLB's Power Rankings</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> on the Fourth of July feel that optimistic. That's the tell-tale sign something with the system is fractured. Sure, I'll do as I did last year: Drive up to Cleveland for the Wild Card and any subsequent ALDS home games. But it's on pace to be very different. Even when it benefits my happiness, I won't admit that it's right. October baseball is a collision course for being unwarranted in Cleveland. You know it's a big problem when.</span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbwkBZCeWDtjM7oPkwEIqdzbfmUDziqythjWv6_gQqcznUxmH21qqmzPpttcis_daIxO18o4rvqTgfjvVO4PmTJJZfLRYqt-eAQHFzlXGX27uaSBlNVWZeWQ09S2cz2fVtEIIqrcxvUvWxfhr6dCI4-LNhdS9iOuR90OROhzDuiAD0FXWXOF_YP2ONoE/s738/Division%20Leaders.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="660" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbwkBZCeWDtjM7oPkwEIqdzbfmUDziqythjWv6_gQqcznUxmH21qqmzPpttcis_daIxO18o4rvqTgfjvVO4PmTJJZfLRYqt-eAQHFzlXGX27uaSBlNVWZeWQ09S2cz2fVtEIIqrcxvUvWxfhr6dCI4-LNhdS9iOuR90OROhzDuiAD0FXWXOF_YP2ONoE/w358-h400/Division%20Leaders.png" width="358" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Everything surrounding current Postseason access is the crux of my "Send Tito out to pasture" frustration. If he can’t take full advantage of the modern rules this year — with a current division leader sitting at 41-42 — then he's not the proper caretaker of the youth movement in Cleveland. It’s the lowest barrier to entry on the game board at present. 87 wins might just hang a banner that doesn’t say "Wild Card"! If you can’t compile that bare minimum body of work — a season after 92 wins, a 2-1 series lead in the ALDS, and the 2023 roster only getting better and more established — then you should be gone. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Okay, enough about my personal reasons for therapy and more about Major League Baseball's issues. Each member of the AL Central, including those Twins, would currently fall below the Red Sox for fifth place in the American League East. Framed using this context: The Central's automatic qualifier, comparable to another division's SIXTH PLACE team, would punch a ticket to compete for a World Championship. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This is a gift from baseball heaven. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">But... it's also one I believe should not last. We're not dealing with March Madness, where the story of a .500 team getting hot in its conference tournament makes for a fun First Four anecdote. This is Major League Baseball and the 119th playing of the Fall Classic. The stakes are a little bit higher here. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For proof the format is creating unfit Postseason candidates, look no further than the National League Central to find [checks notes] the EXACT SAME scenario. One pilgrim alone is a zealot. But two pilgrims together; that's a pilgrimage. Baseball Reference's Detailed Standings of all 30 teams is the perfect visual for these wild times. Names in bold denote division leaders. Look at just how many better records are above those Brewers and Twins:</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2C7BFS2gqE6yIaZo7sN-W5N3ffg4pmtxDFqtUF1-IW64dmhQ9suoS40Zp-_tIb4UuWgeg9OpzLTgt0ZLwxD-BrOfmUddMW_oO1SHAb6Tupqwc_wAu0_587VOIVRXQyz8FgcB87ZhU04tSqgLAfMUEzdgKjXq9HELkwBZ7cSWTbxKyAhe31ZHF1Cx/s570/2023%20MLB%20Standings.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="570" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2C7BFS2gqE6yIaZo7sN-W5N3ffg4pmtxDFqtUF1-IW64dmhQ9suoS40Zp-_tIb4UuWgeg9OpzLTgt0ZLwxD-BrOfmUddMW_oO1SHAb6Tupqwc_wAu0_587VOIVRXQyz8FgcB87ZhU04tSqgLAfMUEzdgKjXq9HELkwBZ7cSWTbxKyAhe31ZHF1Cx/w400-h350/2023%20MLB%20Standings.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><p style="text-align: left;">If the unspoken rationale for a Major League Baseball season being <i style="background-color: transparent;">this</i> long is to provide ample runway for the best teams to identify themselves, then the system has routinely failed. And the current playoff format, in just its second year of existence, is on an all-too-familiar path toward snubbery. Someone deserving is going to be left out in the cold; perhaps multiple someones.</p></span><p></p><div><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Stealing their seat at the table will be at least one "unqualified" franchise, afforded house money to shock the world. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">After all, a mediocre 13-9 Postseason record (.590 winning percentage) is enough to raise the Commissioner's Trophy </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— provided the losses do not come in bunches. Tampa Bay almost navigated this minefield to perfection in 2020, the Covid-necessitated precursor to the modern format. The Rays were a pedestrian 11-9 overall that Postseason, but that it was </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2020/10/from-wounded-wood-duck-to-thoroughbred.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">good enough for an AL Pennant</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> and forcing a Game 6 in the World Series. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Point being: Get in and all bets are off; the hot streak necessary isn't as scorching as one might expect. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">By not being among the 18 clubs eliminated on the final day of the regular season, the harder work has arguably been done. House money kicks in. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">And that's the issue. If geographical alignment protects a club that should be watching the playoffs at home, seeing it through to a fluky Championship is no worse than +3000 odds. They've fallen up this far, what's another four weeks?</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I have a big problem wrong with this. Because of how short the playoffs really are, I want only the best teams vying for the title.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Let's say a "good but not great" NFL team hits the 10-win plateau in the new 17-game schedule. Undoubtedly not earning a bye, they would need to produce 40% of their regular-season win total </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">without a single loss mixed in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">to lift the Lombardi Trophy. An NBA team of comparable middle-of-the-standings resume amasses ~45 wins on an annual basis. T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">he 2022-23 Miami Heat team, which appeared in the Finals as an 8 seed, only got to 44</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. With four rounds of four wins, their playoff run required a 36.3% reprise of what was accomplished from October-April. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The World Champion Denver Nuggets posted a formidable 53 victories in the regular season and got their 16 (30.2%) in the playoffs. Similarly great baseball teams have to do a third of that work. It's really the only way to explain the success of teams like the 2000 Yankees, 2006 & 2011 Cardinals, 2014 Giants, and 2021 Braves. Each won it all despite having 90 or fewer regular-season wins. Arguably, the entire 21st century has been more flukes than #1 overall seeds. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It's due to the fact that the sport is overly front-loaded: Six months to thin the herd and only play one more.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">87 regular season wins in any other sport is literally impossible. It's </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">more than the 2023 Eastern Conference Champions (Miami Heat and Florida Panthers) combined. But such a season </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">falls into the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">"good but not great" category for Major League Baseball. In a vacuum, the quantity and frequency of winning that much/often is commendable. In this year's loaded American League East, it might not be good enough for third place. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Should a playoff team sneak in with 87 wins, they only need to come up with 14.9% of their regular-season win total during the playoffs. Win 105 ballgames and bypass the Wild Card round? You only have to "prove it" by recreating 10.4% of the completed work featured in the portfolio. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This could all change in an instant, however. The year that MLB ultimately expands to 32 clubs is the year that this mess of a bracket could start to make sense; start to require a larger percentage of the regular season's elite play be matched. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">-----------------------------------</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Growth To 32, Yet Maintaining The Status Quo On Playoff Quantity</b></span></span></p><p></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">The days of three divisions in both the American and National League are clearly numbered. Major League Baseball expansion is </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2023/05/10/mlbs-2022-26-labor-deal-allows-for-expansion-to-32-teams-but-likelihood-thin/?sh=539bb2936ba6" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">coming during Rob Manfred's time as commissioner</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. And, in that, everyone with a basic understanding of arithmetic knows clubs will be grouped into either twos, fours, or eights. Three and six ain't going into 32 smoothly. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The solution is sitting on the table, but it isn't a guarantee that league executives don't muck it up by tweaking too many variables in the equation. Should "the smart guys" decide to abandon all AL/NL ways of life </span><span style="color: #222222;">— now that the designated hitter and persistent Interleague Play are universal — they will lose this fan for good. I'm clearly receptive to a little change, but not prepared to get The Bends. </span></p><p style="color: #222222;">I've already had to [begrudgingly] give up what I call my favorite team since 1993. 12 year-old me: The Indians play at Jacobs Field. 36 year-old me: The Guardians play at Progressive Field. Somehow, I'm supposed to pretend both of those statements have always said the same thing. Reconditioning my brain to embrace this was plenty; "up" is already "down" in enough ways. For several close friends, these semantic adjustments were enough to make them divest all MLB passion.</p><p style="color: #222222;">Relaunching a "National Conference" — containing Cleveland, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minnesota and both Chicago teams, as an example — bastardizes the very framework of this game's great past. It might make logistical sense, but that will be the day I'm officially comfortable no longer following along. That's much more than a name change; it's <i>Etch-A-Sketch-</i><span style="color: #222222;">ing everything drawn heretofore and starting over. I don't feel I'd be alone in using that as </span><i>the</i><span style="color: #222222;"> moment for a clean break. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222;">I don't truly remember the Brewers ever being in the American League, but I definitely recall </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0rIco_X6kw" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the Astros playing in the NL</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. A one-off League transfer like that was unsettling enough for my OCD desires for continuity. Swapping the affiliation of a dozen is an inflection point in baseball's timeline that would literally kill me. With a rare exception (perhaps a Colorado to the AL), the sanctity of the American League and National League <b>must</b> survive this next wave of expansion. </span></p><p style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Like many of the best football (soccer) strategies throughout the years, you sometimes have to go backwards to go forward. In this context, it means a pre-1994 look to the standings, but with the playoff entry mechanisms of today. My proposed realignment looks like this: </span></p></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceBptWtPxDI0WEaIxT97Pu5n5GMJS-UHg5ijBIANq4p_1WHhgPcN81fFVcORjvncsRGZvab10N5zbhFOsGe6bTmH6J5vAY_AFLNzv0LtydIfLzxySL5UxBcWZSQcdjmtoOVXcQIpt3MCFKTV2MM5Zap7YueZnfSPoQLqQhsVjPd4vSZBaPfySfGOA/s2816/Reshuffled%20MLB.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1308" data-original-width="2816" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceBptWtPxDI0WEaIxT97Pu5n5GMJS-UHg5ijBIANq4p_1WHhgPcN81fFVcORjvncsRGZvab10N5zbhFOsGe6bTmH6J5vAY_AFLNzv0LtydIfLzxySL5UxBcWZSQcdjmtoOVXcQIpt3MCFKTV2MM5Zap7YueZnfSPoQLqQhsVjPd4vSZBaPfySfGOA/w640-h298/Reshuffled%20MLB.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Playoff expansion should not come with any league expansion. I'll scream it until the day I die: An eight-team bracket in both the American and National Leagues would take too long, negate the need for any regular-season game quantity beyond 150, and also water down the exclusivity of Postseason qualification. Keep it simple, stupid. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">Six participants per league, two byes, and two best-of-three "play-in" series need to be locked in as the constants. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The craziness surrounding 2020's Covid year gave us a glimpse at what a 16-team MLB bracket could look like full-time. And, while I understood the competitive balance need for it </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— in an abbreviated 60-game regular season — I never want to see the likes of it again. That wasn't baseball. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaojVcT8FeVh7GYWOq2oUzVGsH-TK29mn9IFGzYB3rSC3eu2nH_-H08DuMPPaBFQXhc1uqt1RcP8Opx5a3CP0GkWnwh3i4Nmu3MWNTJmFCXdRsNx9TmQU1LBvQT77hrJnMXXF533f-BTodhe914jsPZXM7lLHjtIJTdeSE2iYfvpE9WmzWJOu4nHF23o/s1006/MLB%20Postseason%202020.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1006" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaojVcT8FeVh7GYWOq2oUzVGsH-TK29mn9IFGzYB3rSC3eu2nH_-H08DuMPPaBFQXhc1uqt1RcP8Opx5a3CP0GkWnwh3i4Nmu3MWNTJmFCXdRsNx9TmQU1LBvQT77hrJnMXXF533f-BTodhe914jsPZXM7lLHjtIJTdeSE2iYfvpE9WmzWJOu4nHF23o/w640-h424/MLB%20Postseason%202020.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><p>The whole ordeal ran from September 29 to October 27. If that fell on the heels of a 162-game schedule, even this MLB junkie would be saying "No Más!"</p></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I'm here for Cinderella showing up in certain sports, but baseball has a unique limit on parity, in terms of fan appetite. The explanation is quite simple: What's the point of playing 27 days a month from April-September if an 8 seed can knock you out in two days? There's no tolerance for a mini losing skid. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Worse, the 2020 Brewers were 29-31 and made it in, suggesting sub-.500 clubs would show up for Postseason play on an annual basis. Leave that nonsense for the small sample size of the NFL.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Allowing half the field to make The Dance isn't baseball's M.O., either. That's the NBA and NHL's schtick. B</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">oth leagues opened the floodgates to 16 participants in the '80s. Slowly but surely, expansion has brought down the percentage of those that <i>do </i>make it versus those that don't, but not to a point where any casual fan overly cares about the regular season. "Wake me up when we're in."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Now, with completed expansion, hockey is finally back down to 50% inclusion (16 out of 32). Much better than the 76.2% (16 of 21) first introduced in 1980, but still not my ideal. Fundamentally, a regular season doesn't accomplish anything if a majority advance.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In recent years, basketball has gone the opposite direction. With a new play-in tournament, 20 out of 30 NBA teams qualify for some form of the postseason bracket. Giving two-thirds of the league a chance at a title is a monstrosity.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Remember, we're talking about baseball. The 1968 pennant winners </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— didn't receive a hat and t-shirt for winning a Wild Card Series; didn't strap on the ski goggles and soak the clubhouse in champagne and beer. They just went directly to the World Series. Ho hum. That was <i>only </i>55 years ago. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">A life without any playoffs in Major League Baseball is not exactly ancient history. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Hell, the first Division Series didn't take place until 1995.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Suddenly, we're talking about adding a full round in advance of that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— in which no one gets a division-winning exemption</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">? <i>That's gonna be a "no" from me, dawg.</i> Growing the playoffs from ostensible nothingness to 16 participants, inside of two generations, is a pendulum swing too extreme. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">The Goldilocks Principle asserts people of my father's age are equally wrong in the opposite way. Having no playoffs wasn't pinnacle baseball either. True, the objective was clearly understood by all parties on Opening Day: Finish atop the AL or NL and you earned that World Series berth. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But old timers yearn for a return to this way of life because of selective memory. It's easy to look upon the format fondly in the glow of Championship years, when playing for a trophy meant there was no multi-round gauntlet to endure. What happens to that logic when the local ball club is 9.0 games back by the end of May? How quickly we expunge those occurrences from the mind. With only one way in, that is a real possibility. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Thus, I'm proposing we turn back the clock, but not <i>thaaaaat</i> far. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black;">Impartially, many things have changed for the better since 1968. The Wild Cards are a beautiful blend old-school and new. They keep more teams in the hunt, deeper into the year </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— making a better on-field product. Teams like the 2023 Seattle Mariners aren't on life support, 8.5 games behind the West-leading Texas. Flip over to the Wild Card Standings tab and the GB shrinks to 3.0. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyaymHqZzwbNybYzSWi48igq2AgIYL_zSQCqE6-Bjevg-zly_MCCewPEcLkz8-mKziAeJff2YSDH7MZg-QSLGXldhRm34J-wWIO1TKpa0vQ5RL2k5VMOEt5c1iVUFGOHKChPP-CP3BB3LQP_BzHK8ZGGZyy-CL9bFBbSDvwo-E8M4yCl40rvBliwIBRo/s2823/Mock%20Standings%20-%20MLB%20Expansion.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="2823" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyaymHqZzwbNybYzSWi48igq2AgIYL_zSQCqE6-Bjevg-zly_MCCewPEcLkz8-mKziAeJff2YSDH7MZg-QSLGXldhRm34J-wWIO1TKpa0vQ5RL2k5VMOEt5c1iVUFGOHKChPP-CP3BB3LQP_BzHK8ZGGZyy-CL9bFBbSDvwo-E8M4yCl40rvBliwIBRo/w640-h368/Mock%20Standings%20-%20MLB%20Expansion.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This arrangement feels so organic to me. The fundamental building blocks to the plan have been living (albeit dormant) inside the sport all along. It is a Base Eight league; always has been. For 59 seasons of Major League Baseball, a fan/player/manager/owner could open up the newspaper to find their ballclub sitting in 8th place... and be none too pleased about it. And it may sound strange or sadistic to want to see this scenario make a comeback, but the context around cellar dwelling has changed. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="color: black;"></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Using present-day wins and losses, the Chicago White Sox would be dead last in my proposed American League East. In the past, a 31-42 record deemed the product "impossible" to sell to fans beyond the Fourth of July. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Those that fell to a depth of .425 this late in the season were viewed as too far gone, with too many teams to climb over; all-but mathematically eliminated by the All-Star Break. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is why, from 1923 to 1985, the Trade Deadline was June 15. Fire sales could begin much sooner. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Unlike your grandaddy's eighth place, however, the White Sox wouldn't have to catch the 51-24 Rays. They'd have the "modern luxury" of needing only to run faster than the slowest — Houston's 39-33. After all, h</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ope is a powerful economic driver. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">A last-place club potentially buying at the Deadline? What are world. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div></span></div><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">The glowing example of how my proposal rights wrongs can be found in the San Francisco Giants from 1993. That club won 103 games, but did not qualify for the NLCS that year </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">— still the only round of the playoffs at that time</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">. It could be argued that denying the second-best team in all of baseball a spot in the playoffs played a role in everything that transpired over the 18 months that followed. This list includes the establishment of the Wild Card and six divisions, labor unrest over a salary cap and revenue sharing, and a vacant commissioner's chair.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmQJuukXZ0Y5TxcbvkHX_ZA1FV0muQQl_u8cG3XTJ0oguMGvT4FbKH20QtCFktdbZjLySb2cabsZpb54bShwKVZR8RE-Ir34WSJ4TMX9FT4xIzqbQRtqC65ifm8K6ApcwDbwnUIC0RHrGWdcFpk3rRz40Byz6wgHDdKYRec_ZGxzFKQ2crD-bn9SQ/s726/1993%20MLB%20Standings.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="726" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmQJuukXZ0Y5TxcbvkHX_ZA1FV0muQQl_u8cG3XTJ0oguMGvT4FbKH20QtCFktdbZjLySb2cabsZpb54bShwKVZR8RE-Ir34WSJ4TMX9FT4xIzqbQRtqC65ifm8K6ApcwDbwnUIC0RHrGWdcFpk3rRz40Byz6wgHDdKYRec_ZGxzFKQ2crD-bn9SQ/w640-h524/1993%20MLB%20Standings.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Compositionally, those '93 standings were so clean </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">— (4) seven-team tables. Picture that setup with one more in each. Offer up a "Best of the Rest" lifeline to those Giants, Expos, Cardinals, and Astros in the NL; Yankees, Rangers, Orioles, and Tigers in the AL. That's perfection. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Unknowable for absolute sure, but my proposed game board would have provided that year's World Champion Blue Jays with equal (or better) shot at winning it, even with more challengers. That's because the <i>Chutes & Ladders</i> nature of the bye would have allowed them to skip an entire round. The survivor pool is down to eight before a division winner arrives. Dispatch of an 85-win Wild Card winner and the ALCS would have been the very same Toronto vs. Chicago it was in real life; perhaps an easier foe for the reigning champs.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Winning a division would return to its pre-1969 perks. For those that think the 1970s and 1980s were the best decades in baseball history, you'd be hard-pressed to find many World Series showdowns that weren't like it was back then: AL East <i>or</i> West Champion vs. NL East <i>or</i> West Champion. When implemented correctly, the byes are that powerful a chip to hold.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">That's my hope for the next 4+ decades of pro baseball. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">The difference: San Francisco would have gotten scooped up and invited to the Postseason. And they wouldn't have stolen the 2 seed away from Philadelphia (that year's NL East Champ). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">We're not abandoning all old ways and turning this into a selection show, nor a BCS-style algorithm. We wouldn't need the playoffs if laying out the bracket becomes a "Tell me who the best teams are in order" exercise. October n</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">eeds a little unpredictability or else why have a Postseason at all? It could run like most European football leagues or the NHL's Presidents' Trophy </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"> reward being the best of the regular season. </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>Those saying "The more Wild Cards the merrier" should be satisfied with my modifications, too. For the first time in baseball history, a fifth-place finisher in a division could potentially make the playoffs. Think about that. Very progressive and growth oriented.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 17px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;">-----------------------------------</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>The Future of Major League Baseball Visualized</b></span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2022/08/handicapping-mlb-expansion-nashville.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">In a previous piece</span></a>, I outlined how a Nashville MLB franchise (that feels inevitable) <i>must</i> belong with the National League. A simple map bears this out. Tennessee doesn't do anything to the American League's geography, other than keep Seattle on an island, and firmly place an expansion team on a new one. </p><p>Nashville in the AL would also make the NL break up the Brewers and Cubs, which doesn't make much logistical sense. They are on the same longitude — the west coast of Lake Michigan — and less than an hour from one another. If that's not a division rival, what is?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUz7Qi72qRLd1X9oZCZBPryNPlzWcHGUu54GcdZ3tSVjzPnTKb1XUgn7viod8H-KlHZ-B8430AtjHvZhfBcyGYvmBk9s0FSzDEvOoTbwLTXxhov5LKUEAVemLEB7Euw2evNqTZJ5s545FY3wEuvoZqJSsYUXaYbsFq2Rir20Bd0v-q8tCCzw9vaxZ/s577/2028%20National%20League.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="577" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUz7Qi72qRLd1X9oZCZBPryNPlzWcHGUu54GcdZ3tSVjzPnTKb1XUgn7viod8H-KlHZ-B8430AtjHvZhfBcyGYvmBk9s0FSzDEvOoTbwLTXxhov5LKUEAVemLEB7Euw2evNqTZJ5s545FY3wEuvoZqJSsYUXaYbsFq2Rir20Bd0v-q8tCCzw9vaxZ/w640-h448/2028%20National%20League.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJH8HUBNuU0jr-RArLaR622Hua2XTz8gU8EsXNGmvZGe8CRvIQxgnTpxgwMccLAu3e1_8Ltpz4QpYeIGCAV8VZYWt-n03y9Qir1Kd4a1mxg81Vk_F7bQ5fLc142-F_294PsTUq6_Dj19hp-Os6NyswrHozCjEIXqfF6sMXSB3e1XTGDGEms6PRpOP5/s577/2028%20American%20League.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="577" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJH8HUBNuU0jr-RArLaR622Hua2XTz8gU8EsXNGmvZGe8CRvIQxgnTpxgwMccLAu3e1_8Ltpz4QpYeIGCAV8VZYWt-n03y9Qir1Kd4a1mxg81Vk_F7bQ5fLc142-F_294PsTUq6_Dj19hp-Os6NyswrHozCjEIXqfF6sMXSB3e1XTGDGEms6PRpOP5/w640-h448/2028%20American%20League.png" width="640" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></span></p><p>Relocating Tampa Bay is not something I want to do. But it becomes really enticing when you look at my AL East map. It's already so northern based; Montreal would do so well in that cluster. Even Charlotte brings up the epicenter over 500 miles. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 17px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;">-----------------------------------</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 17px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 17px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><b>Addressing 162 (And The Best-Of-Five Division Series) While We're At It</b></span></span></p></span></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span>My proposal starts with a slightly shorter regular season. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana;">Now a "good but not great season" dips to 83-85 wins. The number of victories in the playoffs would conversely increase by one for everyone </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— 14 for Wild Cards and 12 for those with a bye. Requiring more of our Champions, I promise the best team in baseball wins the World Series more often. And isn't that the goal?</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhovX_JsfTB9fAcyi3txgnSk1Y2hq9TGyIWK4lefiulZuobfoN1d9N_Gagoekv_i8g4QdiWANP8f0ieNtVH0FMbYISiaNIN1ibcyQ4GerhlzFwwsQThJ3JhH6yynNqhyUe6J1pfJAx13lUb_telkIfugzLhcwVNc6s0waBye08dplnw_d7rW1xJPqyU/s1581/MLB%2032%20Team%20Schedule.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1581" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhovX_JsfTB9fAcyi3txgnSk1Y2hq9TGyIWK4lefiulZuobfoN1d9N_Gagoekv_i8g4QdiWANP8f0ieNtVH0FMbYISiaNIN1ibcyQ4GerhlzFwwsQThJ3JhH6yynNqhyUe6J1pfJAx13lUb_telkIfugzLhcwVNc6s0waBye08dplnw_d7rW1xJPqyU/w640-h338/MLB%2032%20Team%20Schedule.png" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That was certainly the intention of the bye. The star actor was to show up for a brief portion of the audition and land the part with ease; the resume was supposed to take care of the rest. The psychology of sports fans is at constant odds with its desires: We love/hate dynastic franchises, but the ratings prove we need them. Cinderella is both fun, but then undercuts the value of everything that occurred during the marathon that precedes the sprint.</span></div><div><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">My only qualm with the current configuration is a five-game Division Series. Baseball's </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">an odd duck in many departments, including this one. Applying the NHL's "Second Season" rationale, a 162-game regular season should be met with a 55-game playoff.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Instead, the maximum length is a modest 22 games.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Since the NBA switched its first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven in 2003, Major League Baseball has become the one applicable holdout in North American sports. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The only issue with such a plan for baseball is time. We're already creeping deep into the frigid November calendar as is. However, watching a team with a bye get eliminated after three losses doesn't seem right either.<b> </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">There's also the issue of rest/rust in which the five-game Division Series turns a bye into an unwanted reward. The risk is high of running into a buzzsaw with the margin for error limited to two slip-ups. A third </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">clunker can end an incredible season before it ever really begins. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">I certainly had my </span><a href="A third ends your incredible year before it ever really begins." target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">speculations going into the 2022 Postseason</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. And the predictions turned out to be spot on, as the National League's #1 (Los Angeles) and #2 (Atlanta) both lost their first match-ups. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">This round </span></span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">has to</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> morph into a best-of-seven, to let the cream rise to the top. If nothing else, the bye should earn these teams an extra loss to play around with. With eight days between games (final regular-season game on October 2, ALDS/NLDS Game 1 on October 11) they deserve a chance to get their feet back underneath them. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Some leagues view playoff duration as a point of pride. It is a grind that always crowns the most-deserving champion. The NHL not only embraces its "Second Season" nickname, but markets it as such.<b> </b>While the playoff quantity never truly comes close to a second full helping of 82 games, teams </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i>could</i> end up playing a schedule that is 34.2% the length of the regular season.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">With a new play-in game for the NBA, an 8 seed could end up playing 30 games after their traditional 82. That is an insane 36.6%. Baseball is a relative sprint by comparison; a maximum of 13.6% for those that require the Wild Card Series. Is the answer more playoff baseball games? The fan appetite and weather don't seem to suggest "yes." </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This isn't to say that the general public finds Postseason baseball games less exciting than playoff NHL match-ups. More of the former is definitely welcomed by all; October baseball is high drama and fun to be a part of. The key difference between sports is in total quantity of games from Opening Day to trophy presentation. Even with four full rounds </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">and a maximum of 28 additional games </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the NHL's potential total can only ever get to 110. Baseball's 162 plus 21-23 (depending on bye status) teeters on excessive. No one is here for watching/playing 185 games a year. Perhaps it is the regular-season quantity that needs the change.</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">-----------------------------------</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Analyzing The Future System Using Today's Data</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The standings as of June 18, 2023 are impeccable at depicting my point. I literally could not ask for a better real-world example to show the differences between the current format and my proposed. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Huge caveat: The records will undoubtedly change come September. We're not likely to see preseason contenders such as the Mets, Mariners, Padres, and Guardians stay buried in the middle of the pack all Summer. Similarly, there's a chance the Twins and Brewers start to pull away and make the records of the Central Division Champions respectable. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">The following is the crapola that would be bestowed upon baseball fans, if the season ended tonight. Ya know, after the city of New York hosted ESPN's <i>Sunday Night Baseball </i>for what felt like the </span><a href="https://theathletic.com/4619565/2023/06/18/red-sox-yankees-sunday-night-baseball-alex-cora/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">19th time this season</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">: </span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60mkzSE-VtLeQZJsgXdZqo6dc25WdCcDl36dvoOZRWsevS6G5a3-_v5tgoTC-F9P0ljmlqxoKF3l7e5EOa0_W_opiv_JboUZ3NiklRFRszuLjX5k8GrjNnvlIHAxOju9deg12H7Kgfv2SYpK72OQwoMR06PlDOHwSEQDRpu27nZCUhH1YBkEHfxXzOUQ/s2392/Expanded%20MLB%20Standings%20and%20Playoffs%20-%20Current%20Format.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="740" data-original-width="2392" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60mkzSE-VtLeQZJsgXdZqo6dc25WdCcDl36dvoOZRWsevS6G5a3-_v5tgoTC-F9P0ljmlqxoKF3l7e5EOa0_W_opiv_JboUZ3NiklRFRszuLjX5k8GrjNnvlIHAxOju9deg12H7Kgfv2SYpK72OQwoMR06PlDOHwSEQDRpu27nZCUhH1YBkEHfxXzOUQ/w640-h198/Expanded%20MLB%20Standings%20and%20Playoffs%20-%20Current%20Format.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Here is what my proposal would turn the bracket into:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigttaQI9hAc0VeGEBH-v-c3jf1359MATd47p1-bOZAlR5qSbVLnflgwnzVMDJWQ9anrvGgASra36-xEHkCQpA8PptCOp3eiSnCsj0jAyfWC8ic4GMzK1mYqNHTsHoI9zapT0AelmRZeJejcYrVg6H73d6qcMonkwA3yF_P-dXcIaFC73eJSVuL49oCS28/s2392/Mock%20Playoffs%20-%20MLB%20Expansion.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="740" data-original-width="2392" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigttaQI9hAc0VeGEBH-v-c3jf1359MATd47p1-bOZAlR5qSbVLnflgwnzVMDJWQ9anrvGgASra36-xEHkCQpA8PptCOp3eiSnCsj0jAyfWC8ic4GMzK1mYqNHTsHoI9zapT0AelmRZeJejcYrVg6H73d6qcMonkwA3yF_P-dXcIaFC73eJSVuL49oCS28/w640-h198/Mock%20Playoffs%20-%20MLB%20Expansion.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This feels like an eye doctor's "Which is better: 1 or 2?" refractive exam. I'm biased, but how could anyone not say Option 2? Well, Yankee and Dodger fans would certainly detest me for taking away their free ride to the Division Series. That would pale in comparison to the hate mail I'd receive from supporters in Minnesota and Milwaukee. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The Twins AND Brewers would go from protected 3 seeds to </span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">completely left out of the playoff picture! </b></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Sorry, not sorry. Minn</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">esota and Milwaukee are not playoff teams. Forget the eye test, anyone watching the game on a nightly basis knows neither 2023 roster would pass the smell test. A combined 73-70 record does not belong. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Sometimes weak divisions shouldn't get to send a representative. This season is providing a shining example in both Leagues. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's how it should be. If we had a Major League Baseball system that was this "cruel," it would be a rarity in the league's history that it graded out at 100% A+ for inclusion and seeding. It's not happened near enough in the past. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">So let's analyze the match-ups and how they improve.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">People in Baltimore would be cheering the loudest; justly compensated for the sneaky third-best record in baseball. In reality, the Orioles' renaissance season is currently on pace to meet Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout in a short series. That's not fair at all. Only four MLB teams are currently playing .600 ball and Baltimore is one of them. The #4 spot in the AL bracket is commensurate with that level of production?</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Those Los Angeles Angels have an equal gripe for being in that Wild Card Series with Baltimore. It's akin to</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> that 6 vs. 11 match-up in the NCAA Tournament where you want both exciting mid-majors to advance. "It's a damn shame they have to play one another." A ripple effect of Minnesota's guaranteed 3 seed is the loss of a home series for both Baltimore and Los Angeles. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Yankees comes out smelling like a rose. [Eye roll] So typical. They were going to have a road series either way, but New York is slated to</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"> get the weakest possible opponent (in terms of win percentage </span><i style="color: #222222;">and </i><span style="color: #222222;">the strength of the division they hail from) in Minnesota. It's also a team </span><a href="https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/yankees-record-versus-twins-in-the-playoffs#:~:text=The%20New%20York%20Yankees%20have,in%20the%20postseason%20all%2Dtime." target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">they own in the playoffs</span></a>. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Dating back to 2004, the Yankees have won 13 consecutive Postseason games against the Twins </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">three sweeps and a Wild Card Game victory. Who wants to see another trouncing? And why is it New York, the last ones in, that is provided the most favorable match-up? Playing Minnesota would arguably be more conducive to a deep playoff run than a bye, because the wins carry momentum instead of rust building up.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Since there is no re-seeding of Round 2, like the NHL did from 1994 to 2013, New York would also avoid playing Tampa Bay until the protection of a best-of-seven series (ALCS) existed. With one mild upset, the Yankees would circumvent the team with the best overall record altogether. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For compiling the best overall record, The Rays' reward is looking like a best-of-five series against the team nipping at their heels in the AL East.<b> </b>Some prize. And the ridiculous part about this scenario is Baltimore and Tampa Bay wouldn't have been able to square off in the ALDS 15 years ago. The Orioles would have earned the one and only Wild Card, but divisional restrictions would have bumped them to a Central or West opponent. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">To be fair, Major League Baseball should have always allowed these intradivision meetings to occur, but now it comes across as hypocritical. Thus, one of the three teams in the objectively weaker side of the bracket (Texas, Minnesota, and New York) would play in the Championship Series, while either a Tampa Bay or a Baltimore would miss out. Strike one.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The bigger travesty, from Major League Baseball's popularity/image/branding point of view: The reigning champion, Houston Astros, would not be able to defend their title. Courtesy of a head-to-head tiebreaker I gave to New York (the Yankees and Astros haven't played any of their six scheduled games yet in 2023), Houston would miss the playoffs. They would do so despite being t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">hree games clear of Minnesota at present.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Love 'em or hate 'em, the Astros has become a must-watch Postseason television. And Minute Maid Park has become a staple October backdrop for dramatic theater over the last seven seasons. Instead, treating fans to games in blustery Target Field sounds like a ratings swing and a miss. Strike two.</span></div><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Change the names on the seed lines, but </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the exact same scenario is playing out in the National League.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As punishment for underachieving, the 6-seed Los Angeles Dodgers would get to beat up on the Milwaukee Brewers </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; font-size: 16px;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">while their division rival San Francisco Giants would have to fly to Miami to take on a gritty, up-and-coming Marlins squad. How does that make any sense? The better finisher in the NL West would draw the tougher out. Conceivably, the Giants could tank the last few games of the regular season to back into that sixth spot. Strike three. Laugh and dismiss, but it's a plausible strategy; one that shouldn't have to ever be entertained. </span></p><p style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Part of the reason San Francisco would even consider it is because they, like the Angels in the AL, would be forced to travel when they shouldn't have to. So, if you're already destined to play a Wild Card Series on the road <span style="font-size: 16px;">—</span> with a ceiling that is the 5 seed <span style="font-size: 16px;">—</span> why wouldn't you play the match-ups and seek out the 6?</span></p><p style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">My proposal also allows the Phillies to sneak in and provides a glimmer of hope for repeat magic to their 6-seed World Series appearance last year. Having both of last year's pennant winners watching from the couch isn't right. Sure, they could be playing better baseball. But they're definitely playing better than Minnesota and Milwaukee. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvmsT1Y_nOe6PbAhEx6nqFXJd-XRMqkEZKamWLJjQjHgPGAD5pc-21C-hTKyk3-d0IodjOX6Y_f0tWJjvQEmlMeEthoONz0AbS-E_7LvKVYwRh9QEIhrcIWVapEXth2HF83WHDnB8qnrcvMA5jFksF-aWXSSvYr2nS0tlrxohNkVo8hVRPZBQhAMgea4/s2823/Mock%20Standings%20and%20Playoffs%20-%20MLB%20Expansion.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2289" data-original-width="2823" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvmsT1Y_nOe6PbAhEx6nqFXJd-XRMqkEZKamWLJjQjHgPGAD5pc-21C-hTKyk3-d0IodjOX6Y_f0tWJjvQEmlMeEthoONz0AbS-E_7LvKVYwRh9QEIhrcIWVapEXth2HF83WHDnB8qnrcvMA5jFksF-aWXSSvYr2nS0tlrxohNkVo8hVRPZBQhAMgea4/w640-h518/Mock%20Standings%20and%20Playoffs%20-%20MLB%20Expansion.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><p><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Admittedly, the September standings won't look much like they do mid-June. However, seeing all five teams from the AL East do what they've done so far perfectly illustrates some hypothetical possibilities that the contemporary structure would be ill-equipped to handle. In other words, the wrong teams would be included and much of the seeding would be incorrect </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— undermining the whole purpose of the regular season</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. </span></p></span></span></span><p></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In short: A three-division format will always be broken if one isn't treated the same as the others. Having more division winners than byes works for the NFL, because it's not just a singular odd duck per conference. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I'd be the first to admit the 2022 Cleveland Guardians didn't do enough in the regular season to earn a home series against Tampa Bay. They were the fifth-best win percentage team in the American League. Their geographic alignment earned them protection. Which begs the question: Why are we treating some division winners differently? We're half in and half out. Either rank it 1-6 solely on merit or eliminate all rewards for sitting atop a column in the standings after Game 162. This in-between is asinine. And the ripple effect runs all the way down the bracket. Every match-up dynamic changes because of it.</span></div><br /><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">If you get down to brass tacks in regards to the intention of subdividing into (2) three-division Leagues, it was solely to protect owners. Smaller groups keep more teams closer to the top for longer. It was nothing more than a raise of the net below the trapeze; franchises couldn't fall too far out of contact with the leaders. More buyers at the Trade Deadline. More "We're still in this race!" More butts in seats around the time kids go back to school.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">But then in the last two years, the expanded quantity of Wild Cards doled out rendered this ideology moot. Who needs the floor to raise if you have three additional Postseason spots that could care less what division you come from? Last place is no longer a death march. Real world example: There's not a single Boston fan paying any attention to the GB column (which stands at 14.5) in the AL East. With the Rays playing .700 ball, the only thing that matters from now until October 1 is the horizontal line separating sixth from seventh in the Wild Card standings. It's the cut line in a golf tournament. Unless you're playing them directly, Tampa Bay's record means nothing to you. </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;"></div><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Scoreboard watching would transition from games containing geographic rivals to those in places like Houston and Los Angeles. That doesn't seem totally right, either. So why not blend a little bit of the regionality back to this contemporary open access (i.e. college football independent status) to the playoffs?</span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7wJ1ysCalPL-HGjRbanF9zwgUPuDKhmDEAD2B5Y9JTtiO7WSVqQhtziiC-5U1Xd65Vuft_MdXvi2KaImFNo7BCP7hPeUcTXacT5mICQhzGhq4E2q_K6hWGfIccq332B1Dm9DQ52LRZ34FWAeD3muCZQXvJK-Ot76DmUUK8bMRUCv5FgcDMGdBxb6/s1856/MLB%20Opening%20Day%20Scoreboard.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1856" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7wJ1ysCalPL-HGjRbanF9zwgUPuDKhmDEAD2B5Y9JTtiO7WSVqQhtziiC-5U1Xd65Vuft_MdXvi2KaImFNo7BCP7hPeUcTXacT5mICQhzGhq4E2q_K6hWGfIccq332B1Dm9DQ52LRZ34FWAeD3muCZQXvJK-Ot76DmUUK8bMRUCv5FgcDMGdBxb6/w640-h294/MLB%20Opening%20Day%20Scoreboard.png" width="640" /></a></span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">That's the modern concept we'll keep. We'll now graft it off and stitch it up to the old ways. The <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2021/09/the-st-louis-cardinals-are-clearly-out.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">current format has never worked quite right</span></a>. But I believe it was simply ahead of its time. It needed the right divisional breakdown for it to really show off its capabilities. </span></p></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><p style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Go back to two divisions with byes the reward for winning. There would be fewer occurrences</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> of a second-place team finishing above everyone else in the league. That, or seed every single playoff team on overall record and be done with it. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Beginning two years ago, the NBA rescinded a vow it used to make to division winners </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— no longer guaranteeing them seeds 1-3 in each conference. The Utah Jazz, winners of the Northwest Division in May, were the West's 5 seed. </span></p><p style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Point is, even in a lopsided/topsy-turvy year, you could never call anyone that stands atop a division with <u>seven</u> names below theirs a fluke. The same isn't true in clusters of only four. Sure, there's a "Group of Death" every World Cup, but there's also a group that </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> purely on merit </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> shouldn't see any of its members advance to the knockout round. Only having to be better than three others leads to weak resumes slipping through. Over the course of the division's realigned history, winning the NFC [L]East has had folks questioning "Why do any of these four teams get to play football in January?" </span></span></p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">-----------------------------------</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>What Works For Football Doesn't Always Fit With Baseball</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Undeniably, there will be some folks calling for an identical 8x4 structure of the National Football League. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Not trying to sound 85 years old with this commentary, but a shift in rewarding mediocrity (i.e. making sure everyone leaves a winner) has been palpable in recent years versus youth sports in my day. Forget any separation between Generation X or Y (Millennials); as parents, they've blended together into Generation Participation Trophy. For Major League Baseball, handing out eight division titles on an annual basis would walk a fine line near that ideology. If everyone's accomplishments are special, then no one's are. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Plus, outcome be damned, the optics of a 7-9 Carolina Panthers team</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><i>hosting</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> an NFC Wild Card match-up with the 11-5 Arizona Cardinals, back in 2014, aren't great. Sometimes over dividing your total into too small of clusters is a problem.</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">My next challenge to that 8x4 plan: What in the world would you call these divisions without it sounds hokey or college conference-esque? Watching a pregame ceremony on Opening Day where a team raises a "National League Heartland Division Champions" banner (for an 84-76 record) is as ridiculous as it sounds. You don't have to be a baseball purist to your core, like me, to say that. In fact, it is the casual fan that would take the entire operation less seriously </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— should the watering down of </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. </span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Before you say "Use the cardinal directions like football," of course I tried that, too. Grab a map and give the futile exercise a go. How quickly we forget the NFL's setup doesn't "work" either; they simply prey upon old rivalries (Dallas being "East") and/or beat us into submission (Indianapolis being "South"). Baltimore is both south and east of Buffalo, yet the former gets to play in the AFC North. It's maddening when you really dissect it. To align under these monikers, Major League Baseball would have to perform similar Jedi mind tricks. </span></div><div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">It's reminiscent of </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLECCmKnrys" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Gary Gulman's state abbreviations bit</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. The task starts off so promising that it seems like it'll be buttoned up in five minutes. Working your way down the Atlantic coast, the AL East would consist of Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay. Done. Easy. Even if Tampa Bay has to leave town for Montreal or Charlotte, the geographic cluster would remain the same. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Similarly circling teams in the Pacific Time Zone, your AL West would be Seattle, expansion </span><span style="color: #222222;">Portland (or Salt Lake City), Las </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Vegas</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">, </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">and Los Angeles. Neat and tidy. Next. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Clubs around the Great Lakes, east to west... </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Ope.</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> What do you do with Minnesota? Which of those clear-cut Northerners are you throwing in the South with Kansas City, Texas, and Houston? It's a non-starter; all five cities are above the 41st parallel. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The same problems occur in the National League. An East with New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Miami (straight down I-95) is nearly identical to its American League counterpart. It works too well to not press on, right? The trouble is you run into all sorts of ways to conveniently cluster NL teams in threes and fives, but not fours. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, and Colorado </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— our contemporary NL West </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">are so isolated that dropping one is illogical; exacerbating an island effect. Colorado ain't exactly "North." Furthermore, Pittsburgh and Colorado being division mates would create one hell of a competitive/travel distance imbalance. Toss the Rockies in the NL South and you turn your back on a delightful 300-mile-radius circle you could draw around expansion Nashville that encompasses Cincinnati, Atlanta, and St. Louis. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The solution is so much easier. American League cities west of the Mississippi [River] are West; east are East. The same is true-<i>ish</i> of the National League, with the exception of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Milwaukee and Chicago. I picture that little plastic piece that's used in the grocery store's checkout line </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> separating our belongings from that of the next customer. North America's longest river has conveniently split our country down the "middle" for centuries. It can continue to do so in the AL; divider just needs nudged over to Lake Michigan for the NL. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">-----------------------------------</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>History Lesson: The Greatest NL West Team That Never Was</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">St. Louis, Missouri was the westernmost MLB city from 1892 </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">when the Perfectos joined the National League </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">up until 1955 when the Athletics moved to Kansas City. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Baseball certainly lagged behind western population growth in America. As recently as 1952, half the National League could be found inside the states of New York and Pennsylvania.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Because of its seclusion, and the onset of radio's vast reach, the "Gateway to the West" built up a gigantic geographic fan territory. Despite its small-market status, the results at the gate are </span><a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2022" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">still being felt today</span></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My self-imposed research assignment: </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">What if (2) four-team divisions had existed in both Leagues since day one?</i></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If the long-standing MLB era of 16 total teams (1903-1961) had been broken into divisions, St. Louis would have played in the National League West — with Chicago, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, you read that right. Post-World War II baseball was still treating its map in colonial ways; Western PA was the Wild West/frontier compared to its Atlantic epicenter. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Boston would have constituted this revisionist historian's NL East. Ironically, of that group, only the Phillies still reside where they used to call home. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Life would have carried on without any disruptions for half a century. Only when Boston moved to Milwaukee (1953) would any type of division juggling have occurred — Pittsburgh to the East and the Braves to the West.<br /><br />Here is the shocker: Even when the Dodgers and Giants jumped to the Pacific Coast, for the start of the 1958 season, the Cardinals still would have been in a four-team NL West (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milwaukee, St. Louis). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">As expansion and further relocation entered the foray, this setup would have remained the case up and through 1969 </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— the year MLB divisions were formally created. The expansion Mets and Colt .45s (1962) wouldn't have tipped the geographic scales in any way to make St. Louis "East." The same is true of Milwaukee moving to Atlanta in 1966. Both events did nothing but cement the Cardinals were members of the National League crew "out west." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For much of the late '50s and early '60s, <i>the </i>battle in the Senior Circuit was waged between St. Louis, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The NL pennant winner hailed from one of those cities eight times from 1959-1968. The Giants/Dodgers rivalry was clear and obvious, but those Giants/Cardinals and Dodgers/Cardinals affairs were just as deep-seeded and real. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then, in 1969, the story took a turn toward lunacy. St. Louis and Chicago were shipped to the inaugural NL East Division, while Cincinnati and Atlanta were gobbled up by the West. Huh? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Back in 2019, Creg Stephenson wrote <a href="https://tht.fangraphs.com/when-east-was-west/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the best article on this topic</span></a> for <i>The Hardball Times</i> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— part of the FanGraphs family</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. The <i>CliffsNotes</i> version goes a little something like this: The American League owners had a conscious geographic plan for growth to 12 teams, split into two. Meanwhile, the anti-playoff National League owners got caught in an 11th-hour scramble to make sense of their new expanded map. After a compromise was struck on regular season length (162 games), the latter opted for the <a href="https://bigten.org/news/2011/3/30/Legends_and_Leaders_Divisions.aspx?path=football" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Big Ten's [failed] Legends and Leaders</span></a> approach. Commissioner Spike Eckert scorned natural order, as well as several requests by clubs to either associate or disassociate with certain "neighbors." If you can't make everyone happy, make nobody happy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">"If expansion was to come about, as it was, then this seemed to be the logical thing to do," St. Louis general manager Bing Devine told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "And although the Cardinals won’t play teams such as Los Angeles and San Francisco as much now, we won’t lose contact with them for good. In our division, we will have Chicago, and the rivalry between the Cubs and Cardinals has always been a good one… I recognize that from a rivalry standpoint, a division with St. Louis, Los Angeles, and San Francisco could have been the most interesting."</span> </span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In my humble opinion, grouping in this manner was a monumental mistake. A National League West, comprised of Los Angeles, San Francisco, expansion San Diego, Houston, St. Louis, and Chicago would have made an impeccable division from 1969-1992. With the NL's expansion to 14 franchises in 1993, the quality would have only increased with the inclusion of Colorado.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Note: This arrangement would have left New York, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, expansion Montreal, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia in the East. Florida was their 1993 addition. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">By my calculations </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— scanning National League standings for second- or third-place finishes behind "Eastern" teams </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the Cardinals would have won an astonishing <b>20 National League West titles</b> prior to 1969's divisional establishment. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">1914, 1917, 1936, 1941, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952 would have been added to the 12 pennants they won outright: 1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, and 1968.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Revise a little bit more history </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> "keeping" St. Louis in the West from 1969 through the creation of the Central (1994) </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> and the Cardinals would have added four more banners: 1971*, 1982, 1985, and 1987. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In reality, the Cardinals won the NL East in 1982, 1985, and 1987. In a standings swap of St. Louis/Chicago for Atlanta/Cincinnati, the Cardinals' record in each of those years would have also won the West. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">* In 1971, with equal 90-72 records, St. Louis and San Francisco would have played in an exciting "Winner Takes the West" Game 163. It would have been the first-ever division-title-deciding contest in history (fifth win-or-go-home tiebreaker overall). My assumption is that Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton would have outdueled Gaylord Perry or Juan Marichal. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">With 1994, Major League Baseball found itself in uncharted waters. There was labor unrest (not new, but the first time it rose to the level of canceling a World Series), and a fresh new division/playoff structure. Though six divisions were implemented in '94, the awarding of baseball's first-ever Wild Cards (each League's best second-place club) and Central Division Champions would have to wait until October the following year. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">St. Louis shifted to the NL Central and has lived in that division every year since. In those 27 full seasons, the Cardinals have won 12 more titles (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All told, that equates to <b>36 Division Championships </b></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">using my pre-1969 rationale. That number is good, but is a distant second all-time to </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">New York's [adjusted] 57 American League East crowns. For reference, the Highlanders/Yankees would have initially been in a foursome with the Senators (Washington), Americans/Red Sox (Boston), and Athletics (Philadelphia). This would have lasted up until 1953, when the the St. Louis Browns' relocated to Baltimore and rebranded as the Orioles. The move would have conveniently swapped an East for a West, as </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the A's relocated to Kansas City the following year. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">When the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels created a ten-team American League in 1961, both would have gone to the West, forcing Cleveland to become the East's fifth member. American League executives clearly passed all geography classes in elementary school. Their institution of divisional play (in 1969) was right on the money. And they haven't looked back since. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The randomness surrounding alignment and the St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Atlanta does present some wild opportunities, however. If Major League Baseball subscribes to my (2) 8-team division proposal, then some anomalies come into play. Because of their poorly placement in the East, the Cardinals and Cubs would have a chance to become the first team to have an East, Central, and West Division Championship on their resume. They would simply have to win the new NL West before the Reds snag the NL East </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— last one missing in their collection. What a race amongst rivals that would be.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Also in contention for that feat, under very different circumstances, is the Chicago White Sox. Now, Chicago has always been a swing city in professional sports. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Chicago Fire have practically skipped rope with Major League Soccer's geographic line: 1998-1999 Western Conference, 2000-2001 Central Division, 2002-present Eastern Conference.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Bulls (NBA) currently play in the Eastern Conference, but they entered in 1966-67 as members of the West Division. It was 1980-81 before the lasting switch occurred, precipitated by a flurry of new franchises west of Chicago — Buffalo relocated to San Diego, New Orleans relocated to Utah, and Dallas came in as an expansion team over the course of three seasons. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Meanwhile, the Blackhawks/Black Hawks have played in the National Hockey League's Western Conference each and every season since its 1993-94 birth. True, there was a West Division from 1967-1974 </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> which didn't include Chicago straight away </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> but that doesn't really count. "West" was a catch-all designation for the <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2019/05/the-blues-first-stanley-cup-final-since.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">six lumped-together expansion clubs</span></a>, opposite the established "East." It had nothing to do with regions of North America. On top of that, four of those "Original Six" weren't charter members of anything. The label is a modern creation; a clever marketing trick to put some PR spin on contraction that occurred during WWII. Prior to the '40s, the divisional split was simply American and Canadian, ranging between 8-10 teams in a given year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Everything in between was <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/05/how-nhl-gift-wrapped-cup-contender-to.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">squirrely and geographically amorphic</span></a>. As recently as 1981, the Hartford Whalers and the Los Angeles Kings played in the same division. Enough said. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sidebar: What the hell were commissioners doing in the '70s and early '80s?! The Cincinnati Reds were busy dominating the National League West. The NFL's Atlanta Falcons called the NFC West home; Tampa Bay Buccaneers grouped in with four Upper Midwest teams (Chicago, Green Bay, Detroit, Minnesota). In the NBA, my Cavaliers had three divisional foes over 1,000 miles away from Cleveland </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">New Orleans, San Antonio, and Houston. And, as noted, the geographically-challenged NHL was up to things like placing the California Golden Seals in the Norris Division with Boston, Buffalo, and Toronto. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let this be a lesson to modern executives/caretakers of professional sports leagues. Popularity rose for all these sports as some semblance of order was restored. And, to me (former Chief Operating Officer for a <a href="http://lewisandclark.pointstreaksites.com/view/lewisandclark/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">summer collegiate baseball league</span></a>), the correlation begins and ends with organization in the table/standings. Better logistics lead to more efficient traveling. More efficient scheduling leads to lower operating costs and better competitive balance. Ultimately, that translates to a healthier league. Lay out a game board that's orderly and make the rules easy to understand and the casual fans will stick around much longer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The NHL was a chaotic mess, loosely structured under placeless (and noncongruent) headings </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Clarence Campbell Conference and Prince of Wales Conference </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— for nearly two decades</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. The divisions didn't add much clarity on the "Where?" of it all: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">geography-bucking Adams, Norris, Patrick, and Smythe Divisions. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Back to the point at hand: Chicago, in particular, is a geographic alignment coin toss. You simply can never tell where the rest of a league's expansion/relocation targets are going to spring up. Try pitching Nashville, Tennessee as a pro sports town 40 years ago. But when these unexpected hotbeds burst onto the scene, the Windy City is traditionally an easy choice to swap divisions for better balance. </span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In that, Chicago </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">was</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> an American League outpost in the West for a long time. Fun fact: They were the only AL team playing home games outside the Eastern Time Zone back in 1954. But, of course, that's ancient history; before the U.S. had population booms in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Dallas/Arlington, Oakland, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Portland, and Salt Lake City to support MLB clubs. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Houston shifting from NL to AL (2013) was another wrinkle that affected the League's center of mass. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Very few sportswriters from the 1940s would have believed Chicago could someday be on the right side of the nation's geographic East/West dividing line. Alas, here we are. The irony lies in the 1968 grievance appeal made by White Sox owner Arthur Allyn:</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px auto; max-width: 600px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Allyn was enraged at both the idea of being in the AL West and having fewer games against the likes of Detroit and New York — teams he considered traditional rivals — as well as with later start times for games his team played on the West Coast. Shortly after Eckert announced the decision on the divisional alignments, Allyn called his own press conference in an adjacent room at Houston’s Shamrock Hilton Hotel. He told the Chicago Tribune, "We took a shellacking. We are strongly opposed to the makeup in our division. We plan to appeal to the commissioner and join our fellow clubs in the East."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If I had my way, Allyn's wish would come true, some 44 years after his death (59 years after selling the team in disgust over this singular decision). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">How about those other current Central Division teams?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">American League Expansion in 1969 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Major_League_Baseball_expansion" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">was quite the spectacle</span></a>, complete with Congressional threats to MLB's antitrust protections and kickback promises that bumped up previously-agreed-upon timelines. Seattle selecting the Pilots as their nickname seemed to be fateful in retrospect, rife with "failure to launch" and "ran out of runway" puns. And not much of it was their own fault. Ownership was rushed to take a product to market that didn't have all its kinked worked out, so one season is all baseball lasted in the Pacific Northwest (until a second attempt in 1977). The remnants of Seattle's carnage relocated to Milwaukee (vacated by the Braves four years prior) and called themselves the Brewers. The club continued to play in the American League West for two seasons, until they flipped to the AL East in 1972. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">They are already the quirky record holders as representatives of four MLB divisions (AL West, AL East, AL Central, NL Central). Adding the National League West in 2029 would leave them one away from playing in all six to have ever existed! Oddly enough, a future switch to the NL East isn't completely absurd to propound. It's t</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ough to definitively say 32 will be the end of MLB expansion in my lifetime. Should an Austin and Salt Lake City someday find their ways into the fray, then Milwaukee would suddenly fall east of the corresponding cut line. If the sport has taught us nothing since 1961, it is that all boundary lines are drawn in sand and not stone. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Four more AL West Championships for the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Minnesota Twins would give them an impressive eight in both the West and Central. One more in the East would give the Detroit Tigers four and four. My Guardians would close the book on the AL Central Division as the most decorated team in its history (11 and hopefully counting). They'd also be granted another crack at notching their very first in the East. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Atlanta skipped right over the Central in 1994 and have dominated the NL East ever since <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> 16 titles in 27 years. They get to stay put.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I understand how this can feel like a slippery slope for some Cleveland folks older than me. Those East years were lean, to the point of mockery; quite literally the butt of the joke in <i>Major League. </i>With the creation of the AL Central, the tides did turn rapidly. The Tribe rolled out a new building (Jacobs Field), new uniforms, and a new roster of homegrown talent. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Spanning eight glorious seasons (1994-2001), the perfect storm led</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to 718 victories (.585 win%), 455 consecutive sellouts, six AL Central titles, and two World Series berths. Even though a World Championship painfully eluded them, I don't know if any future era watching my beloved team will ever match that high. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">To a superstitious bunch, "going back" runs the risk of going backwards. Then again, they're not the Indians anymore. Everything related to the club feels different and new as it is. Now would be the time; if we're down to the studs on an image overhaul, we might as well make a sweeping change to our divisional affiliations, too. Indians = Central, chapter closed. And boy was it a fun read. When I get nostalgic, I'll dust it off to remind myself how good the good times were. Guardians = East, yet to be written. Personally, I take on all shots at redemption and/or exorcising demons, so bring it on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On the opposite side of the spectrum one can find the Pittsburgh Pirates. The franchise amassed nine NL East titles in their illustrious-to-lackluster history. As of publishing date, they are still zero-time winners of the NL Central... completely falling apart after their 20-8 start of the season. Moving to the East in 2029 would be a fitting way to eliminate their roughest era from the memory bank altogether. A clean slate and picking up the greatness where they left off </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">back-to-back NL East champions in 1991 and 1992, right before the massive overhaul. With the Mets coming to town this weekend, it would exciting to see this series become a high-stakes divisional showdown once again. That, and the Pirates/Phillies need to mean more than it currently does. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Similar story for the Kansas City Royals. T</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">hey have only one AL Central Division title in 27 years. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">If feels safe saying they won't add another Central banner before the decade is out. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Getting reabsorbed into the AL West would be a welcome opportunity; a chance to add to the six division titles won in the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">heyday of the club (1976-1985).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Oakland has been raked over the coals for months about their pace to be the worst team in MLB history. To their defense, they've also been mired in ownership and relocation dram every single day of the season. You could argue management has been purposely tanking the on-field product </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— a real-life plot of <i>Major League</i> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— to lessen the blowback of skipping town. Yet, here we are: A Royals team that's now 18-50, percentage points behind the A's. Where is that incessant coverage? What is their excuse? Their rebuild and young core is going backwards. And now that <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-06-15/kansas-city-royals-accused-of-stalling-deal-that-would-secure-worker-benefits-for-new-stadium" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">downtown ballpark plan has stalled</span></a>. Yikes.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">-----------------------------------</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>The Postseason Bracket Has Been Flawed A Majority Of Modern Times</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">From 1997-2012, there were eleven division winners that jumped over at least one team from their respective League, with better record, that didn't make the playoffs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">1997 - Houston Astros (over the New York Mets)<br />2000 - New York Yankees (over the Cleveland Indians)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2001 - Atlanta Braves (over the San Francisco Giants)<br />2003 - Minnesota Twins (over the Seattle Mariners)<br />2005 - San Diego Padres (over the Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins, AND New York Mets)<br />2006 - St. Louis Cardinals (over the Philadelphia Phillies)<br />2007 - Chicago Cubs (over the San Diego Padres and New York Mets)<br />2008 was so broken I have to stop this list and detail the travesty in more detail.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Talk about a poster child for Postseason reform. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the West, but had a worse record than 14 other teams in baseball. Since there was still only one NL Wild Card slot to be had, which went to the 90-72 Milwaukee Brewers, there was no more room at the inn for the New York Mets, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, and Florida Marlins. Four snubs in one League. Yeesh. And to top it off, the AL had an occurrence, too. The Chicago White Sox were a lesser team than three members of the East, but took the final playoff spot over the New York Yankees by virtue of a Central title.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwg4oL-1SZZqOqgsJy0rHta-3umNu99c3NBdP-n5vBF3MR9y4iMrx0yCEUMrWNXYK1czavLgTfEEOvuRa6032yfvCkYc435QAuvnKmqbrJ2_wgXoeQjE-0g3klE3_Zy-vx6gWK7-CwBLcfE9tvOpg6dT2gc8dlXw5eKA3oqZmWo7JoLfvtzFpYJdT/s570/2008%20MLB%20Standings.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="570" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwg4oL-1SZZqOqgsJy0rHta-3umNu99c3NBdP-n5vBF3MR9y4iMrx0yCEUMrWNXYK1czavLgTfEEOvuRa6032yfvCkYc435QAuvnKmqbrJ2_wgXoeQjE-0g3klE3_Zy-vx6gWK7-CwBLcfE9tvOpg6dT2gc8dlXw5eKA3oqZmWo7JoLfvtzFpYJdT/w400-h350/2008%20MLB%20Standings.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Alexa, resume my list...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">2009 - Minnesota Twins (over the Texas Rangers)<br />2012 - Detroit Tigers (over the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels)<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Seven out of those eleven times, it was a Central Division winner. It's <i>always</i> the Central. And that's certainly the case here again in 2023. We're trending toward a full-blown 2008 debacle. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So what can Major League Baseball do between now and whenever expansion inevitably takes place (2029 in my estimate)? Conceitedly I say, nothing but my proposal fixes it outright. But, until we get there, the Band-Aid is to amend the playoff seeding process. It's the low-hanging fruit to evolve the incentives; same as the NBA recently did. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Using my current standings from above, this would be the National League side of the bracket. All the participants are correct, but the order isn't. Pittsburgh would slip down out of a #3 seed and a Wild Card Series at PNC Park. I don't think anyone would have an issue with this. I sure didn't last year <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2022/09/mlb-postseason.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">with my Guardians in the exact same boat</span></a>. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ultimately, Cleveland turned it on down the stretch and would have captured the 3 seed in any format. Their 92-70 record matched Toronto's, but the Guardians won that season series 2-1. Note: What a Game 163 that would have been. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The bracket does not seem like it will "correct itself" in quite the same fashion this year. Part of that reason is because of the regular-season scheduling tweak </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— all 29 possible opponents getting played each and every year. This means Cleveland (and Minnesota) can't get as fat and happy off their own division anymore. September isn't overloaded with cupcakes Kansas City, Detroit, and Chicago any longer. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">That, and the top two (or three) teams in the other divisions are leaving the Central leader in their dust.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSc7MjMVcKOOPm5FeZQ9lg3Jzw3HG9szkne02fVNfFrckXjngk0lEYzMlZjy7gtE1dM5bYUwwfJwRPy0QCLKemoQXuGvdC2q13eapipB_Y3iMyERqb_gCNd5PFhfeqp8QcaD8oiXIr7MBJHi9hJmnukTioC_vPQykWZIxf2LUAZZdLMpxeBMcpun6a/s798/2022%20Rewritten%20MLB%20Playoffs.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="798" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSc7MjMVcKOOPm5FeZQ9lg3Jzw3HG9szkne02fVNfFrckXjngk0lEYzMlZjy7gtE1dM5bYUwwfJwRPy0QCLKemoQXuGvdC2q13eapipB_Y3iMyERqb_gCNd5PFhfeqp8QcaD8oiXIr7MBJHi9hJmnukTioC_vPQykWZIxf2LUAZZdLMpxeBMcpun6a/w640-h188/2022%20Rewritten%20MLB%20Playoffs.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mark my words: Wild Cards (plural) </span><i>will be</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> better than a division winner in <b>both </b>leagues this year. This means a 3 seed should get bumped to the 5th or 6th spot and will not. Such a scenario would be unprecedented, albeit the contemporary format is only a year old. </span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last year's National League was the only side of the bracket that needed reshuffling, and only by one seed line. Because of the rules, the 101-win Mets were branded the 4 seed and had to play San Diego </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> instead of the 87-win Philadelphia. One would imagine that, if roles were reversed, a miracle World Series run by the 6-seed Phillies wouldn't have lasted more than two days at Citi Field. Instead, the Phillies went into Busch Stadium </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— and because of the protected division status </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— preyed upon a non-division rival that was far inferior. That 93-69 Cardinals club was propped up by not one, but two 100-loss members of the NL Central (Pittsburgh and Cincinnati). Momentum, that was likely not to exist, carried the Phillies the rest of the way through the NL. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Much like the NCAA Tournament, match-ups and seed lines are everything. The Selection Committee can end a Cinderella story before it ever begins, for "styles make the fight." It's not hard to see how a 2022 would have been different for an Atlanta and New York if the Postseason was seeded properly.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then again, we are hardly living in the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/baseball-postseason-format-changes" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">worst era for playoff pairings in the sport's history</span></a>. From 1969-1997, home-field advantage was predetermined and there were no seeds at all. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Without Interleague Play of any kind, there was no way to know for certain if one League's best record was a mirage. But the alternating home/road split also (oddly) trickled down to the internal playoff format.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">How does anyone involved with Major League Baseball explain the 104-win Oakland A's opening up the 1988 playoffs in Fenway Park against the 89-win Red Sox? Didn't matter much (4-0 sweep), but the principle of a club with 15 fewer wins "earning" Game 7 at home was a joke.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The World Series venue arrangement somehow devolved into further mockery in the not-so-distant past. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">From 2003 through 2016, home-field advantage in the World Series was awarded to the team hailing from the league who won that summer’s All-Star Game. Prior to that, it simply flipped back and forth from League to League depending on the year: Odds (AL), evens (NL). The solution </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— better regular-season winning percentage </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— was sitting there the whole time; finally instituted as Interleague Play scattered throughout the entire calendar became a thing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Much was made of Don Denkinger's blown call at first base during Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. From where I sit, the bigger umbrage can be found in the four home games granted to the 91-71 Kansas City Royals, including pivotal Games 6 and 7. The 101-61 St. Louis Cardinals only had three. All because of some mandatory back-and-forth rhythm. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I hate being a wet blanket, but one of the most memorable games of my youth </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> 1995's </span><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=FpidH3w6QhA" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">11-inning Game 5 thriller at the Kingdome</span></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">should never been played in Seattle... nor involved the Yankees at all. In traditional terminology, the Mariners were the AL's 4 seed. New York was the #3. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was a day-and-age where Division Series gave the better club three consecutive home games, but only after starting Games 1 and 2 on the road. That same season, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the National League's #1 (Atlanta) and #2 (Cincinnati), both began their best-of-five series on the road, all because of a random rotation. Quite literally, the proper people were on the bus, but not a single one was sitting in the right seat. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is partly because the original rule surrounding inclusion of a second-place finisher was that they could not meet their division's winner in the first round. This was asinine and extended all the way through the creation of the Wild Card Game in 2013. It potentially cost some great Indians teams more October victories. In 1996, the Tribe was the reigning AL Pennant Winners and top winning percentage in baseball. They properly matched up against the Wild Card Orioles. However, they began the ALDS in Baltimore and fell into an 0-2 hole they never could dig themselves out of. What good is that home-field advantage of Games 4 and 5 if you're backed up against it long before that? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Same story in the NL with 4-seed St. Louis jumping out to a 2-0 lead before San Diego (with a better regular-season record) even had a chance to play at home. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1997, the 92-win Marlins were the betting favorites to win an NLDS against San Francisco. Rightly so; they swept a much weaker Giants squad en route to an improbable (and first-ever) Wild Card World Series Championship. However, my heart wouldn't have been ripped out of my chest </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— over the outcome of t</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">hat year's Fall Classic </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> if Florida played #1 seed Atlanta (101-61) in the first round. The inconsistency of treating the Wild Card as each league's worst seed,</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> but not when geography got in the way, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">was maddening. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For instance: The Red Sox and Yankees should have met in the 1995, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010 American League Division Series. Obviously, they did not. Sure, this would have taken away the drama of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLY16wmHdUk" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Aaron *<i>Bleeping*</i> Boone</span></a> and the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/best-3-0-comeback-attempts-in-postseason" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">3-0 Comeback the following year</span></a>, but so be it. The rules would have been evenly applied to, and understood well in advance by, all parties. #1 plays the best second place finisher, period. There should have never been any wait and see. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now, the language needs to be different, but that sentiment of absolutes is what a 32-team Major League Baseball needs. Cherry picking Final Four match-ups to include darling Yankees/Red Sox is great for the ratings but terrible for the other clubs competing just as hard. There cannot be anymore "Yeah, but" when it comes to arranging the bracket. This summer's Central Divisions are going to make that abundantly clear. And when the storyline of the 2023 Postseason is written, and it's not the way it <i>should have</i> been constructed, don't come crying to me. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It doesn't take much to see how vital it is for current commissioner Rob Manfred to finally get this rectified. It's a sport that is a marathon until the very last mile, where it stylistically shifts to a sprint. Everything managers preach during the Dog Days of Summer is thrown out the window in October. Have your favorite team catch fire at the right time and you could watch them the Commissioner's Trophy and attend the parade. We'll never know who would have won some of those mid-'90s titles if the system provided proper order. Here's to hoping my children never have to speculate in this same way. All the logistics, right down the Minor League ladder, are already sorted: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sqgvYv3uoeVA_vZEJQ5iIRxKHVJD9aU4xR6rQgRmb_CjPKpSIfHhPFhq2Z1q1AM5U5ICfUpQsan29fWOlSv514P_4KxwyYloA1RG_Y1bHWuOTU2gZhMpNQvnVG3TxGeYCsWqwyl5rkGI-SGkAhi6bp72jS43vDvInYV1C_gpGX5HMIxBKRssP-kpZfc/s2776/List%20of%20Reshuffled%20MiLB.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="2776" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sqgvYv3uoeVA_vZEJQ5iIRxKHVJD9aU4xR6rQgRmb_CjPKpSIfHhPFhq2Z1q1AM5U5ICfUpQsan29fWOlSv514P_4KxwyYloA1RG_Y1bHWuOTU2gZhMpNQvnVG3TxGeYCsWqwyl5rkGI-SGkAhi6bp72jS43vDvInYV1C_gpGX5HMIxBKRssP-kpZfc/w640-h424/List%20of%20Reshuffled%20MiLB.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p></div></div>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-15761968662007717822023-04-29T22:09:00.328-04:002023-05-19T10:19:21.052-04:00An Early Look At Vegas' New Ballpark: Design Considerations, Part II<div style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">How would the Vegas ballpark's centerfield shot rate against all others in the league? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXb2qYvDoOUcsoTYtbvRKvhQ1XqvYxgV8Bw_SxATSbLnE4Nt5ZrB9Wy9kjWCjHAQdNGQnw-jcYz72Vz3Zz5_Ii4YQpyVa4Xi81PxKqp87fljCWwqEkrq2SOr_oGXEAq7f19ClIaYR26yYt-b3lbgGWDyY-D83EKpj6Z75nW3yZC9uiWKAJoPB2QZ3/s1794/Coliseum%20Attendance.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1794" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXb2qYvDoOUcsoTYtbvRKvhQ1XqvYxgV8Bw_SxATSbLnE4Nt5ZrB9Wy9kjWCjHAQdNGQnw-jcYz72Vz3Zz5_Ii4YQpyVa4Xi81PxKqp87fljCWwqEkrq2SOr_oGXEAq7f19ClIaYR26yYt-b3lbgGWDyY-D83EKpj6Z75nW3yZC9uiWKAJoPB2QZ3/w200-h117/Coliseum%20Attendance.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2023/04/vegas-ballpark.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">As outlined in Part I</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, Las Vegas has a real opportunity to stand apart from the pack when it becomes a Major League Baseball city. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The following grades are not for the ballpark as a whole, but strictly the view of its surroundings from a second-deck, day-game view. The goal was to standardize a perspective. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The search was to find something as close to directly behind home plate that matched the above criterion. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I also wanted a middle-tier ticket price; not the noseble</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">eds, but not the comfy chairs that get seen on TV every pitch, either. This represented the average line of sight.</span></span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The caveat is that the following images discredit the peripheral vision and capable legs most humans possess. The entirety of the in-person experience is unarguably cropped out of each photo. And I'll be the first to admit: Sitting at a few of these locations wouldn't take much more than a 30° turn of the head to catch glimpse of an A+ skyline. With relative ease, a concourse stroll to the outfield sections would also change a few letter grades. But that's not the contest here, is it? Grant you, it is not anyone's fault the orientation of a ballpark doesn't "work" facing west. Build where you have the land; that centerfield view is secondary to playability. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">While </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I do make mention of a few venues that have a much better shot, sitting right off camera, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">don't expect a sympathy reward in this poll. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Similarly, the last row at nearly every single MLB park </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">does</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> open up its respective city to really incredible architecture and/or natural beauty. But we cannot forget the main reason, the primary theater, a fan comes to witness. No bonus points for what a $5 ticket can see ten miles away. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Beyond all the previously-stated issues with prominence in big cities, the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles markets also have populations that require more seats than most. Even without bandwagonners from across the country, the Yankees are in an MSA with 20 million people. If a mere 0.5% of that number constitutes demand for tickets on a given night, they could fill a 100,000-seat stadium. 0.5% of my Cleveland Guardians' fan base wouldn't fill a lower bowl.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">With that disparity comes some architectural trade-offs. High volume denies opportunities for many "peekaboo" moments beyond the outfield fence. To accommodate larger-than-average attendance potential, these first six facilities are some of the largest in the league (each 40,000+ seats). Four of them are</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> as close to the Oakland Coliseum as modern ballparks get. The other two have </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Yankee Stadium kicks us off with a C- grade. Like most things about the new version, the old building somehow did it better </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">despite every attempt to transfer over a carbon copy. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vyyztg4cIHPIOGQZknvRX2TWCuYpQ71J9F2ETPIrsieq_gpsc-0NVIs-KAB_cAu8_iARpoUUfU30hL8A6-lcgQhNPW4BSvEPoKmS3Tb8_o1a_kyoCx2_UjnvoO9TUJ_qFN8tk5PEYu915ZcMCxTu3Pr77mVGNj4zgNKsTDaqNmuWNzMNhJOdYMSY/s1440/Yankee.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1440" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vyyztg4cIHPIOGQZknvRX2TWCuYpQ71J9F2ETPIrsieq_gpsc-0NVIs-KAB_cAu8_iARpoUUfU30hL8A6-lcgQhNPW4BSvEPoKmS3Tb8_o1a_kyoCx2_UjnvoO9TUJ_qFN8tk5PEYu915ZcMCxTu3Pr77mVGNj4zgNKsTDaqNmuWNzMNhJOdYMSY/w400-h205/Yankee.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Citi Field </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">is</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"> better than Shea, but not when applying this one measuring stick (D). And the </span><a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/24/mets-to-unveil-humongous-new-scoreboard-at-citi-field/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">scoreboard has only gotten bigger</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> than this outdated photo; thing could blot out the sun. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCARW0AudzVj2t3dcwbnLm8OTcipuhDPm26zQB1J1z9ZIn3ekZ1AQEBTsah7OE5fXlxV1LDqeXmMbGLVvgw9jtWzESQnjchVqyL8e0kxA0Ad7nyMwI3lQq8myowztUaMr_e2NSeEWuGAusL5xEFTuh7aG3PyIUhc4xbzHeoqfDCCEsYKzaMEl_gWO/s1410/Citi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="1410" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCARW0AudzVj2t3dcwbnLm8OTcipuhDPm26zQB1J1z9ZIn3ekZ1AQEBTsah7OE5fXlxV1LDqeXmMbGLVvgw9jtWzESQnjchVqyL8e0kxA0Ad7nyMwI3lQq8myowztUaMr_e2NSeEWuGAusL5xEFTuh7aG3PyIUhc4xbzHeoqfDCCEsYKzaMEl_gWO/w400-h213/Citi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">What is there nice to say about Guranteed Rate Field? Even if the White Sox tore down a small portion of the Brutalist infrastructure encasing the place, all fans would be treated to is the traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway. At least Old Comiskey had a northeast orientation toward town, which today, would provide </span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/galpc1/oc_while_were_dreaming_of_baseball_heres_dreaming/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">this unforgettable scene</span></a>.<span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3h2RA7KzKrrNWSfuFtIeMkZByCtA69LcKjG1qYAYxt3lSF-puUlkwnp-HuWKhRUMbskybSj5JTpf1yKOgxhNNkQTVNVgcxwBhB4xXb3JmEoC3ushVfWItxbzBg-cIG3jrwFi_HYwS1ML1JdGEfKZBk7oiUQgPhdj7yMD-kFcnD6ToWtY3iL9MM_p-/s1024/Guaranteed%20Rate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="1024" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3h2RA7KzKrrNWSfuFtIeMkZByCtA69LcKjG1qYAYxt3lSF-puUlkwnp-HuWKhRUMbskybSj5JTpf1yKOgxhNNkQTVNVgcxwBhB4xXb3JmEoC3ushVfWItxbzBg-cIG3jrwFi_HYwS1ML1JdGEfKZBk7oiUQgPhdj7yMD-kFcnD6ToWtY3iL9MM_p-/w400-h208/Guaranteed%20Rate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The antithesis of its Southside counterpart, Wrigley Field has managed to remain the "Friendly Confines" even into its second century in use. However, the most-recent renovations took away a lot of the Wrigleyville rooftop charm. And there's never been much of Chicago's epochal skyline to observe from this far north (C+).<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXQqWUDI7qxAtbE0j1gjuCBUtIVOGy0-4YQvoLX4xY0v_Gv4tYNxqrz8BTLZh38ITFgG0HH8pfA5KY1QqDtsd0q0htQcU01usBlWsDkEndWfAUU5kxagswNef9TbwGW3OuwXMyK4LrGUwiUVoLTbGYx7YhhdfBGU0vJL9Qii4VdwkWSVJvLoYXs7y/s1415/Wrigley.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1415" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXQqWUDI7qxAtbE0j1gjuCBUtIVOGy0-4YQvoLX4xY0v_Gv4tYNxqrz8BTLZh38ITFgG0HH8pfA5KY1QqDtsd0q0htQcU01usBlWsDkEndWfAUU5kxagswNef9TbwGW3OuwXMyK4LrGUwiUVoLTbGYx7YhhdfBGU0vJL9Qii4VdwkWSVJvLoYXs7y/w400-h178/Wrigley.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Now we're talking. Oriole Park at Camden Yards (A) gets love from objective voters and it’s mainly because of what the ballpark contractors </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">didn't </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">build. Coming out of the Concrete Donut Era, a focus was placed on volumetric restraint. The parks of yesteryear never built tall enough to block all 360° of sight lines to the outside world. And this was the first aesthetic callback to that Golden Age. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Camden Yards officially launched a Renaissance we're ostensibly living in to this day. From the moment of its completion, sports architects stopped designing baseball stadiums as if they were pools or bathtubs </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— one extruded mass, set to equal height, encircling the space within. I guess you could retroactively spin it to a positive that, at this time, many NFL franchises had begun moving out on their own; saying "goodbye" to their long-time MLB roommate(s). From 1982 to 1997, ball clubs in Oakland, Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Houston watched their cotenant skip town completely. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">With those devastating losses came a "glass half full" outcome, however. No longer being required to house crowds of 70,000+ people </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">(</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">or </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">a large grass rectangle somewhere on the playing surface)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">translated into a more intimate style. And w</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">hat steel the Orioles chose not to erect left a pretty darn good view of what was already there. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1PDa3djMJTqLtvV0raxeLfHNvd9o5iFgo88hu7WpdRZpc1QK94wr_Wggs-LtVQ7-f3Imevnry37H-H1XhpV3Hoj6iF0SQAy1GmLsmzbiGLTHGLQtYBC3aX922hU2FDVjojfr_X8f9sj1v6bgKubfiN3Zijg44gOkDy9lmjYM93k5XmrJlplbfrw0/s1440/Camden%20Yards.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1440" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1PDa3djMJTqLtvV0raxeLfHNvd9o5iFgo88hu7WpdRZpc1QK94wr_Wggs-LtVQ7-f3Imevnry37H-H1XhpV3Hoj6iF0SQAy1GmLsmzbiGLTHGLQtYBC3aX922hU2FDVjojfr_X8f9sj1v6bgKubfiN3Zijg44gOkDy9lmjYM93k5XmrJlplbfrw0/w400-h225/Camden%20Yards.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Similar story a decade later in San Diego (Petco Park: A). This time, though, it was the baseball team that moved out on the football team. </span><i style="color: #222222;">*</i><span style="color: #222222;">Chef kiss</span><i style="color: #222222;">*</i><span style="color: #222222;"> for inviting one lucky member of their neighborhood (</span><a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/western-metal-supply-co-building-at-petco-park-history" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Western Metal Supply Co. Building</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">) to take part in the game action.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7OgWGn_x-Erhq8VMSz417a7-qi9qLX5JmfD7ZTGljMMRyKVIVVbO0WWvXXBrBNdUMwFClyw-jkTTu1z7c7ZszWcbI2mUVhMECZ1VTQy6xBAi1VdkB7Zlx-WCPRpg4G32Ig3jViIweqNnmuMIuaRIyEvv06U_kByxPI6hdIjpamdti_hyhAzNFuE9/s1440/Petco%20Park.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1440" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7OgWGn_x-Erhq8VMSz417a7-qi9qLX5JmfD7ZTGljMMRyKVIVVbO0WWvXXBrBNdUMwFClyw-jkTTu1z7c7ZszWcbI2mUVhMECZ1VTQy6xBAi1VdkB7Zlx-WCPRpg4G32Ig3jViIweqNnmuMIuaRIyEvv06U_kByxPI6hdIjpamdti_hyhAzNFuE9/w400-h249/Petco%20Park.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Cincinnati botched the assignment nearly every possible way one team can (C-). And they had such an envious canvas in which to paint. In developing that late '90s master plan for life after Riverfront Stadium </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in separate venues </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the Bengals and Reds should have swapped locations. Great American Ball Park could have been situated facing northeast, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">back toward the skyline. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">That sounds like the field would have "turned its back" on the Ohio River, but not really, given how the southern border of the state bends. And the gain would have been </span><a href="https://www.stadia-magazine.com/news/communications-infrastructure/cincinnati-bengals-add-state-of-the-art-fiber-wi-fi-technology-at-paul-brown-stadium.html#prettyPhoto" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">shots of downtown beyond centerfield</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, with the iconic John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge (a former world record holder that predates the Brooklyn Bridge; same engineer) in right.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Instead, what we're treated to is frustratingly banal. You don't truly see the water, there's nothing of visual interest in Northern Kentucky, downtown Cincinnati is sitting tantalizingly close but directly behind most fans' heads, and nothing of a landmark bridge in is view. That's strike one, two, three, </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">and </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">four.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigN0SA_FzSmlY6Nt7fgWJS_WfARCiwwJM_XhVdigbvtBzK6yEfsF5mgBEXISfacqYlnDrLz-VirXto9Wr1cKsZasWcoHvXxnxNnJt5Jpbd9riVW6Oy1jl1VyTm0-kIeFEm-90YhsGkekPIqPG9mxYJqCcXULrn5z6CJ-W1arsSGSZgWLTdfcch8u8R/s1920/Great%20American.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="1920" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigN0SA_FzSmlY6Nt7fgWJS_WfARCiwwJM_XhVdigbvtBzK6yEfsF5mgBEXISfacqYlnDrLz-VirXto9Wr1cKsZasWcoHvXxnxNnJt5Jpbd9riVW6Oy1jl1VyTm0-kIeFEm-90YhsGkekPIqPG9mxYJqCcXULrn5z6CJ-W1arsSGSZgWLTdfcch8u8R/w400-h215/Great%20American.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">You either "waterfront" like San Fran (Oracle Park: A-) or you "skyline" like San Diego. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihdXtJVIUttmmwBkw4cuF_ND2u_S_ziwfah6k05U5fQ6_gkEZLW8PvcqpLfqw9HUACYk7vvB-9ZhqRVmAI8JqJQ8oCR_spRtaS6DfZWiGMo23rtpWItaH0V2-tVB5Zdggp1tBfQo_YlCYrLsglRS_kjxsbVR8J29raLbo6rQ2gvIrsO5V5DuH5dBW/s2000/Oracle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="2000" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihdXtJVIUttmmwBkw4cuF_ND2u_S_ziwfah6k05U5fQ6_gkEZLW8PvcqpLfqw9HUACYk7vvB-9ZhqRVmAI8JqJQ8oCR_spRtaS6DfZWiGMo23rtpWItaH0V2-tVB5Zdggp1tBfQo_YlCYrLsglRS_kjxsbVR8J29raLbo6rQ2gvIrsO5V5DuH5dBW/w400-h173/Oracle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Only the best can "skyline" <i>and</i> "waterfront" </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— PNC Park </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">(A+). </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0ag_7o6_7j9jfwc44ty9GVGZIYjz9d_JA_pFOVLseOloB6ms774KdJuZru65j8yUPwMwHe_yETmOIp173jERzeJmnC2Ew0ALXFvYWWurLBwtfdVrUHVXiJRcYvQ2ATf_RkHNt5KWvYFvNCGF9a9D9KhcQQuCoWbyDCs7ZMhLZgb1eqW7GdM7xTVP/s706/PNC%20Park.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="706" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0ag_7o6_7j9jfwc44ty9GVGZIYjz9d_JA_pFOVLseOloB6ms774KdJuZru65j8yUPwMwHe_yETmOIp173jERzeJmnC2Ew0ALXFvYWWurLBwtfdVrUHVXiJRcYvQ2ATf_RkHNt5KWvYFvNCGF9a9D9KhcQQuCoWbyDCs7ZMhLZgb1eqW7GdM7xTVP/w400-h194/PNC%20Park.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div>Coors Field tried to frame in the mountains, but they are just too far away (C-). Same grade as Cincinnati for equally scorning a Central Business District that's sitting right there behind home plate. </div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLQuMBhhjv3q_B4mHgvq4FrBZHnx4cwtkq17Np1w29LlSQ-dhLRUy_oV7Y2CoEWPw6ZqTS4jPjq0kouCe2O3Om4-acHdNmJiN91gtG-7ow-GtNd25NUw0n203Gmka2vrV9sHBDSQqT-YMB4-jb5Y8a97Sco1Sx6PS3XuqZ_QFdkI23J2MICyF5fBB/s1986/Coors.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1986" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLQuMBhhjv3q_B4mHgvq4FrBZHnx4cwtkq17Np1w29LlSQ-dhLRUy_oV7Y2CoEWPw6ZqTS4jPjq0kouCe2O3Om4-acHdNmJiN91gtG-7ow-GtNd25NUw0n203Gmka2vrV9sHBDSQqT-YMB4-jb5Y8a97Sco1Sx6PS3XuqZ_QFdkI23J2MICyF5fBB/w400-h174/Coors.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">If you're going to completely </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">buck the skyline trend </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">aiming for a scenic landscape instead </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">you've got a long way to go to match the G.O.A.T.,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Dodger Stadium (A). </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0LlQz9uyoK093B0jU54dJvt2oaHSS8ynhtGByinBCX-HH8McpJsVl8IxROv-cH29V6CxopcEa8P6NfSCiHb5asQQDOq20O2vQC73UIg1kdZLThSvmZRngCbqmIsuoIoEI8SotlqgNHIKoWR99o5PLxsOM2R_Z4nLWgCAJV6ViqUPuUlzU6bJ7Bpe/s1023/Dodger.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1023" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0LlQz9uyoK093B0jU54dJvt2oaHSS8ynhtGByinBCX-HH8McpJsVl8IxROv-cH29V6CxopcEa8P6NfSCiHb5asQQDOq20O2vQC73UIg1kdZLThSvmZRngCbqmIsuoIoEI8SotlqgNHIKoWR99o5PLxsOM2R_Z4nLWgCAJV6ViqUPuUlzU6bJ7Bpe/w400-h253/Dodger.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Results in Los Angeles are not typical (Angel Stadium: D+). At least the mountains are closer than they appear in Denver.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bAE6Zn2_XG7kKmAm36rE5HwhI1mPN7YAGwosu6Eb02vtwXzn3uVHrYve0Ua6A_LkCVKtqX98F9uOn9Nk1f2tqGdJZKZ-FxCODIRiOiBYDyIj6YkZcW-CIzrEz1TEoTAAjvS9MkRFqA5m1gyAWxT3naXe3oyldUEcwZu8j_aDc3R9jIIzaWPpPXsM/s1854/Angel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="1854" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bAE6Zn2_XG7kKmAm36rE5HwhI1mPN7YAGwosu6Eb02vtwXzn3uVHrYve0Ua6A_LkCVKtqX98F9uOn9Nk1f2tqGdJZKZ-FxCODIRiOiBYDyIj6YkZcW-CIzrEz1TEoTAAjvS9MkRFqA5m1gyAWxT3naXe3oyldUEcwZu8j_aDc3R9jIIzaWPpPXsM/w400-h205/Angel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Speaking of distance being an issue: Citizens Bank Park gave a valiant effort at framing in the city skyline. Sadly, the town's pro sports complex happens to be five miles south of City Center. The result is a swath of skyscrapers that look like they got hit with a shrink ray. They are beautifully aligned and perfectly placed in left center, which is why I still give the stadium a B+. Bumping up that score a tad: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It is also my favorite batter's eye and bullpen arrangement in the league </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> stacked and slightly tucked behind the out-of-town scoreboard.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Philadelphia did everything they could possibly do correctly </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in terms of the scoreboard and light tower placement </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> to give it the essence of what Baltimore or Pittsburgh has. The architectural restraint and open corridor are on display. The subject matter of interest is just too far away. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgT5OkaQ4f5fV3f5QaAqf6ekeonbEuTJio4Elcazz_oKcwoWUnGZ0NiRCLqyHuxo-YTDq8vu-9BXxuq10s49IzbH7qkF9jgmywJMk6J2dt8mOCQg4ls2bY-DsvH8-fbXtxR4ML3SZKASTiFFHF9p_K7hbjkaP4R30F43GktdaeSX3jgX6_7QegcZLL/s1438/Citizens%20Bank.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1438" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgT5OkaQ4f5fV3f5QaAqf6ekeonbEuTJio4Elcazz_oKcwoWUnGZ0NiRCLqyHuxo-YTDq8vu-9BXxuq10s49IzbH7qkF9jgmywJMk6J2dt8mOCQg4ls2bY-DsvH8-fbXtxR4ML3SZKASTiFFHF9p_K7hbjkaP4R30F43GktdaeSX3jgX6_7QegcZLL/w400-h230/Citizens%20Bank.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">And that’s the story in a lot of Big League cities. Las Vegas is being given a rare gift here. Places like Kansas City, Arlington, Anaheim, and now Atlanta have absolutely no downtown shot at all. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Atlanta loves it, with its white flighting out to the ‘burbs. Sure, their Battery Park <i>does</i> fill the void in the sky beyond the outfield wall and bleacher seating. But that "skyline" is too corporate, too contrived. They are the stock images of generic buildings that come in a brand new 16x20 frame from HomeGoods. The Home of the Braves has the same amount of grit and authenticity as a shopping mall food court </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— which is essentially what the adjacent plaza has become</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">.<br /><br />I also don't like the scale in which those sleek new midrise buildings appear in the composition; too close to the field. Their color and proximity is ominous, like the evil tycoon's headquarters from a James Bond flick. Gimme the tenacity of a city skyline over a Fortune 500 tax haven (Truist Park: C). </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLa2eY-Jk3WXRiMWYlLkyzQ-SRn_RJv-0knFBboBmKZ_EU_cim8TuYuGkPZdUMwSxv7JrnYKYc6ErLw5c189HQW7CnihA_MmFRHWEkhK1CLWAR1dVOaYvWzIeff24mGq9gif0R1tU3MuzCghhIH3mYfRUF6YyIMHzvvdyQ8ZyfLuexl6UfjocuJwy/s1262/Truist.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1262" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLa2eY-Jk3WXRiMWYlLkyzQ-SRn_RJv-0knFBboBmKZ_EU_cim8TuYuGkPZdUMwSxv7JrnYKYc6ErLw5c189HQW7CnihA_MmFRHWEkhK1CLWAR1dVOaYvWzIeff24mGq9gif0R1tU3MuzCghhIH3mYfRUF6YyIMHzvvdyQ8ZyfLuexl6UfjocuJwy/w400-h185/Truist.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">I really enjoy Kauffman Stadium but this is its one downfall (D). And it's not really the fault of the architects. Unlike Atlanta, Kansas City is desperately trying to get a </span><a href="https://www.kq2.com/news/royals-narrow-list-of-potential-sites-for-new-stadium/article_15f78f5e-bf83-11ed-af81-f72266078047.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">new stadium built</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> in its urban core. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXRzBkrvcGrMqhNTiiyOLtqz40KXPaPoeezilrZoqtkPORH6naWimSq0zySC16NczKhuZkl5t69NPaUJCMSC1IVyWoselS5AoVR4PlNJQFDFz52KKRiapjB35_y6vWcocTM1sY2RvJgiNQwBOnq83_naUEgRKkbuWm9-Y19hdCYzMB2KbwkMpLlhn/s1440/Kauffman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1440" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXRzBkrvcGrMqhNTiiyOLtqz40KXPaPoeezilrZoqtkPORH6naWimSq0zySC16NczKhuZkl5t69NPaUJCMSC1IVyWoselS5AoVR4PlNJQFDFz52KKRiapjB35_y6vWcocTM1sY2RvJgiNQwBOnq83_naUEgRKkbuWm9-Y19hdCYzMB2KbwkMpLlhn/w400-h195/Kauffman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Tall buildings are a point of pride. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Seeing them from the stadium, even if it’s </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">famously “both of our buildings”</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> in the case of Cleveland, is still something. It is my favorite team, but not my favorite stadium. And on this purely centerfield sightline rating system, "The Jake" scores quite low. Everything of visual interest (Quicken Loans Arena, Key Tower, Terminal Tower, 200 Public Square) <i>is </i>visible from most seats in the ballpark. But absolutely nothing is framed into the open area of the stadium from centerfield to that wonderful jet stream in right center (Progressive Field: C). They would have had to swing the orientation of the field to the west and that's a big no-no, so I get it.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLIrSAiW_Mkt1nbeaaYdqsGInKxUN33JgVoMNoei64yv_P9y466yb_Ag4BxA42QAQxj94dmi1w2E8PMWGwEmqzf-yKht_WathgpN-g5CRvXjpMrx3ppimeDqE9w3fK_wmrCVqfYAf_RiBw1Sl4mDGMSTfe45Fyy27g0rkkkqWI8WItu4yp5DhJoLE/s1395/Progressive.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1395" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLIrSAiW_Mkt1nbeaaYdqsGInKxUN33JgVoMNoei64yv_P9y466yb_Ag4BxA42QAQxj94dmi1w2E8PMWGwEmqzf-yKht_WathgpN-g5CRvXjpMrx3ppimeDqE9w3fK_wmrCVqfYAf_RiBw1Sl4mDGMSTfe45Fyy27g0rkkkqWI8WItu4yp5DhJoLE/w400-h238/Progressive.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Seattle's T-Mobile Park is another casualty of orientation. If you sit high enough or far enough down the first base line, you can see a the entire downtown skyline. And at some point, Utilitarianism can be appreciated as beautiful. The roof's profile, while open, is still an impressive sight to behold. But for the purposes of this exercise, it cannot score higher than a C-.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvx-4HP78GPRyS1JJH1UsrzD6jbo1Kd9WObg9wwgz90iAaTgZyiHKcTWXG8_cr65PrgyAiWZQVDhd9Sb-0rZMY7B0TQqHxxjWANsKTJJKKmmTX1sG8_Dlx7UEjsCIroOEL8_julbtWN3wZETtFN4fUB67RnCVZ7hC0lWJi2UJF8ORdKzp1e4m-CE6/s1250/T-Mobile.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="1250" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvx-4HP78GPRyS1JJH1UsrzD6jbo1Kd9WObg9wwgz90iAaTgZyiHKcTWXG8_cr65PrgyAiWZQVDhd9Sb-0rZMY7B0TQqHxxjWANsKTJJKKmmTX1sG8_Dlx7UEjsCIroOEL8_julbtWN3wZETtFN4fUB67RnCVZ7hC0lWJi2UJF8ORdKzp1e4m-CE6/w400-h296/T-Mobile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Toronto fits this bill as well. The Western Hemisphere's tallest freestanding structure (CN Tower) is literally next door, but you have to sit down the third base line to catch a strained-neck glimpse. See previous installment about being too close to be properly admired. Rogers Centre has an even more impressive dome when fully retracted. And it has </span><a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/bluejays/news/blue-jays-new-rogers-centre-outfield-dimensions-wall-heights" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">recently upgraded</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> much of what is in centerfield below it (middle of the pack C). </span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTiFI4UDcetgM6zmOPzLnWTgaAYI-2QlEKCDg2tT7tjUruiDEaZBjuLcFqMaFTv3UhPLZV-SJUmXFmYnKyA4TB71HnR-_IjUp8kG4Izx49Ixu7edYr9sqt84UnkZYZRW8J7rYaj7j8zuYF4PeJ7o9E0uaEyqTYyRydpVWi9v9dq9ifxcudHNqTT9s/s866/Rogers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="866" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTiFI4UDcetgM6zmOPzLnWTgaAYI-2QlEKCDg2tT7tjUruiDEaZBjuLcFqMaFTv3UhPLZV-SJUmXFmYnKyA4TB71HnR-_IjUp8kG4Izx49Ixu7edYr9sqt84UnkZYZRW8J7rYaj7j8zuYF4PeJ7o9E0uaEyqTYyRydpVWi9v9dq9ifxcudHNqTT9s/w400-h281/Rogers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">St. Louis has a decent-enough view of the Arch, which is what the people "need" to see (Busch Stadium: B-). The city's taller buildings are found northwest of this view corridor, though. Since the old stadium's demolition, the current centerfield skyline has been fairly empty. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Most of what can be seen today has been built by the organization over the last decade. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Sadly, two of the buildings in view (Millennium Hotel and Railway Exchange Building) remain entirely defunct/vacant. <br /><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioqEFwrHfdK1TJaplYpI-CEBxJiRhX422QAN79gn1u0qN1EWerW6YxrccO-a_DnASsKUyzoXnYN2ZVpEuoLJjFvbTR_Ml1egKT6zDJV0N1sDD2gAI8gCEttwfljaBerUFsAIvnX2AEvsfAhYmXjwMsbWSnljPuU_OFwbWfiamhlJfjr_WWPE3witf/s1796/Busch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1796" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioqEFwrHfdK1TJaplYpI-CEBxJiRhX422QAN79gn1u0qN1EWerW6YxrccO-a_DnASsKUyzoXnYN2ZVpEuoLJjFvbTR_Ml1egKT6zDJV0N1sDD2gAI8gCEttwfljaBerUFsAIvnX2AEvsfAhYmXjwMsbWSnljPuU_OFwbWfiamhlJfjr_WWPE3witf/w400-h213/Busch.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Living there for ten years, I always wondered what a due north ballpark view would have done to enhance this park. The Arch would have stayed in sight </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— directly above the right field foul pole </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> while some more attractive architecture would have panned into the shot. <br /><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0rtv0UpY5XsrTKxcsHHU4nbDumgOXrLY6h9V6-XeQWFzMvVjyRJAzH_DqnRp_s3pbv6SkezdlEhDtXpWA7ezUQJ8Ab2ErmTxG30iTLZr-4GX7J248zzjx346-Rioo47E_lmA5EEVvN9JSn6zQGILxpC1-ddLLRaoBeWymncy4WFogqPdrvsKkSq4/s1520/Busch%20Facing%20North.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="1520" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0rtv0UpY5XsrTKxcsHHU4nbDumgOXrLY6h9V6-XeQWFzMvVjyRJAzH_DqnRp_s3pbv6SkezdlEhDtXpWA7ezUQJ8Ab2ErmTxG30iTLZr-4GX7J248zzjx346-Rioo47E_lmA5EEVvN9JSn6zQGILxpC1-ddLLRaoBeWymncy4WFogqPdrvsKkSq4/w400-h122/Busch%20Facing%20North.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Target Field has also had a new building in straightaway center built after its completion, bumping it from a B- to a "good... solid... seven and a half." In my book, that Willie Conway reference means it's a B. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYB-pT1i4VFZKpjXrnyqUxxfrghrawcRLREhaGpkmAFk0qpMTvp6CSz5i8A1jbxWDX65HdEfGf9etgm-GXEUsA3P4RfWwASN4B4NCO7cakDYrIq8qlGvKrzmxf7ZuNgBCezrSttOczSYoH8k-VmhVOJvwoOvNKcogN0Hq3UHIG_zBJdyQ8W1QQ7nlc/s1440/Target.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1440" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYB-pT1i4VFZKpjXrnyqUxxfrghrawcRLREhaGpkmAFk0qpMTvp6CSz5i8A1jbxWDX65HdEfGf9etgm-GXEUsA3P4RfWwASN4B4NCO7cakDYrIq8qlGvKrzmxf7ZuNgBCezrSttOczSYoH8k-VmhVOJvwoOvNKcogN0Hq3UHIG_zBJdyQ8W1QQ7nlc/w400-h228/Target.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This is becoming a trend and Vegas wouldn’t have to do it out of order. Everyone else in the league is realizing how important it is to have a tower there and it's contrived. The A's have options for genuine. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">A solid comp for this is Detroit… big check mark for Comerica Park. The scoreboard stays out of the way. The buildings came first, in some cases 100 years prior. It's a rough-exterior skyline that matches the ballpark (and city) ethos. The </span><a href="https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/whale-building-to-be-covered-with-temporary-mural-by-detroit-artist-garnering-mixed-reactions" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"Whale Tower"</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> was infamous among the avid MLB fans since its 2000 opening. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBvFXVoUs8K4nDoRWxUTRo8M43xuj2JLne2nQYYIh39kRfpw-QUDJ3ewQoj7leBofOcVYwBUFh5f56wpPHIIYAzbTJDtPAdl14j7I64__R0M1fCGVk7v4nk8lnzeGGhnjZCfADWHcq8noG2X2FG2hNRb7Srg1dqpsObhpk5LJjn1QoYPXECZbR_QA/s1361/Comerica.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1361" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBvFXVoUs8K4nDoRWxUTRo8M43xuj2JLne2nQYYIh39kRfpw-QUDJ3ewQoj7leBofOcVYwBUFh5f56wpPHIIYAzbTJDtPAdl14j7I64__R0M1fCGVk7v4nk8lnzeGGhnjZCfADWHcq8noG2X2FG2hNRb7Srg1dqpsObhpk5LJjn1QoYPXECZbR_QA/w400-h205/Comerica.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In my opinion, Washington is a missed opportunity on a lot of fronts. The name should’ve been National (not <i>Nationals</i>) Park. Can’t see anything iconic about D.C. and there are countless opportunities and scripted view corridors for that (C-). </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYe7i4bmmKRSFqkaljiwDvUV1kjoJKNcMn4sGQpFdsijfW_mJsDc9l07gtO8F70Khb7qHfp6xio_OenkvFefm-LR5wpK4sjfruZyod3be_9LXnrUAAfgBevDyim6ArwVw-gMryon3PhCT2Vk-_cUaBRGZwFti6e27CWd0oMpTfePQdSXDbcV1q4xIT/s1918/Nationals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1918" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYe7i4bmmKRSFqkaljiwDvUV1kjoJKNcMn4sGQpFdsijfW_mJsDc9l07gtO8F70Khb7qHfp6xio_OenkvFefm-LR5wpK4sjfruZyod3be_9LXnrUAAfgBevDyim6ArwVw-gMryon3PhCT2Vk-_cUaBRGZwFti6e27CWd0oMpTfePQdSXDbcV1q4xIT/w400-h208/Nationals.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I hated grading Fenway Park. It is unequivocally Boston's worst view of anything not named Fenway (F), but the world's most amazing excuse for why that is (A+). It is an icon <i>and</i> a nothing burger </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">with a side salad of obstruction </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> so that averages out to a C. Go ahead, send the hate mail now. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCMR3TsYflco4axX6oZJS3YAFhIer6uFgcW9tkbzRukn4_f9SKAi0AXMwiVApLIy05s6eMKwDlIHN689r25vu9FuvXL9vLQDXoyw8aWt7PKW2qm9z0Fsw4gkzdyeB-t3C9kyu9lUvS1YA5-_ZcVufa01TB4Wn9_33K6AZ6zzB6ZhQA22ks1G20bYk/s3264/Fenway.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1572" data-original-width="3264" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCMR3TsYflco4axX6oZJS3YAFhIer6uFgcW9tkbzRukn4_f9SKAi0AXMwiVApLIy05s6eMKwDlIHN689r25vu9FuvXL9vLQDXoyw8aWt7PKW2qm9z0Fsw4gkzdyeB-t3C9kyu9lUvS1YA5-_ZcVufa01TB4Wn9_33K6AZ6zzB6ZhQA22ks1G20bYk/w400-h193/Fenway.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Texas, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, Arizona, and Miami really need not apply for this discussion. They vary in degrees of attractiveness beyond the home run fence. But aside from a view windows here and there, anything of beauty is found <i>inside</i> their back walls. Since those are aesthetics created by the stadium's architects and constructed in conjunction with the field, they cannot be judged apples-to-apples in a centerfield skyline contest. <br /><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85XL40fU0hYXhs_7RHt2o7XnmHOCZbrtC8RANOmAEyWsBrUap8L-zxtbjNi45CKpOtuZRr4pIOj_TxLbI0bGd20_dkeN9IdQQBI94gaY1Q7fRvFbEvI4Aa_VYdQZLhyzAI0NMut4HtJPFrtOllktAaFFuCmpaXAneGH6rW0yGV8GN17_BNyqllJ1d/s1347/Globe%20Life.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1347" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85XL40fU0hYXhs_7RHt2o7XnmHOCZbrtC8RANOmAEyWsBrUap8L-zxtbjNi45CKpOtuZRr4pIOj_TxLbI0bGd20_dkeN9IdQQBI94gaY1Q7fRvFbEvI4Aa_VYdQZLhyzAI0NMut4HtJPFrtOllktAaFFuCmpaXAneGH6rW0yGV8GN17_BNyqllJ1d/w400-h249/Globe%20Life.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGd1j5vs-VGHQi_7c97mLkm-sH2_5cLsOqVzRGwn0AIFLbq882Yk-IiiIupuppvt4fk8LbqM_s_6gMOLC5NBN5q0a7Vjaz0qXPYbdPJ2hBmSbnCZPXyPQ6ufXdx1I-doRocY6wy4y3GbqAnWh3bHbG0LeKg4WoJ_7DFZR7Cm5TRz_rMTcQgKejDgga/s1386/American%20Family.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1386" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGd1j5vs-VGHQi_7c97mLkm-sH2_5cLsOqVzRGwn0AIFLbq882Yk-IiiIupuppvt4fk8LbqM_s_6gMOLC5NBN5q0a7Vjaz0qXPYbdPJ2hBmSbnCZPXyPQ6ufXdx1I-doRocY6wy4y3GbqAnWh3bHbG0LeKg4WoJ_7DFZR7Cm5TRz_rMTcQgKejDgga/w400-h208/American%20Family.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzmiJRPgjhE73VFgc2nXP1dMRAA2oXNCfFXvOO86e8e3ZtbufQ6hAu-9vm2LR8WnCF4U7V3ygpV7EETeTA2z65uI-vPoPp9Nj0UWYU7ccAEXQw2KNwVwb1rcR_VQNltwsAug2j11Q0KVu3WfRyoIBSGbryntrT90TzFFXMUIxD2aFh8392i03KsGV/s1256/Tropicana.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1256" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzmiJRPgjhE73VFgc2nXP1dMRAA2oXNCfFXvOO86e8e3ZtbufQ6hAu-9vm2LR8WnCF4U7V3ygpV7EETeTA2z65uI-vPoPp9Nj0UWYU7ccAEXQw2KNwVwb1rcR_VQNltwsAug2j11Q0KVu3WfRyoIBSGbryntrT90TzFFXMUIxD2aFh8392i03KsGV/w400-h211/Tropicana.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Sl_PLtjq9MLgoYX_SyhUQrTW84RHtZ55MuNstbg717OoE8xstmLAChcDihhof1HEq2sQycDUzfUZm17sILWf2oFObIcYPPG_JrTUMkWcm5szYtNkytt-fwYedBEttffXIYr2Iee-w1mf3SRcgKszfgfTPnrMVom4S-B4Nk8rmxkd98ijqTgqDdaU/s1920/Chase.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="1920" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Sl_PLtjq9MLgoYX_SyhUQrTW84RHtZ55MuNstbg717OoE8xstmLAChcDihhof1HEq2sQycDUzfUZm17sILWf2oFObIcYPPG_JrTUMkWcm5szYtNkytt-fwYedBEttffXIYr2Iee-w1mf3SRcgKszfgfTPnrMVom4S-B4Nk8rmxkd98ijqTgqDdaU/w400-h310/Chase.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hOf36O0lsN02O9H6l0vJM9eXTZwcmg6tup9I63VOOxM-xoWDunzA_OPo6kca6CR1G7xgt3w4dn1h9gL_7J3bXs1C9ig9qZYbsVh__IfmfLT72X-2baS4UGWvCYz_DXmPQUjjBi424_MQOzzqF-ZMgdjMh9izciua2otK9ZWlT8CjifOa9COkTl6Y/s1574/LoanDepot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1574" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hOf36O0lsN02O9H6l0vJM9eXTZwcmg6tup9I63VOOxM-xoWDunzA_OPo6kca6CR1G7xgt3w4dn1h9gL_7J3bXs1C9ig9qZYbsVh__IfmfLT72X-2baS4UGWvCYz_DXmPQUjjBi424_MQOzzqF-ZMgdjMh9izciua2otK9ZWlT8CjifOa9COkTl6Y/w400-h220/LoanDepot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Do you agree with my grades?</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">1. PNC Park (Pittsburgh, PA): A+</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">2. <i>Future A's Ballpark (Las Vegas, NV): A</i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">3. Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore, MD): A</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">4. Petco Park (San Diego, CA): A</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">5. Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, CA): A</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">6. Oracle Park (San Francisco, CA): A-</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">7. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, PA): B+</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">8. Comerica Park (Detroit, MI): B</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">9. Target Field (Minneapolis, MN): B</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">10. Busch Stadium (St. Louis, MO): B-</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">11. Wrigley Field (Chicago, IL): C+</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">12. Truist Park (Cumberland, GA): C</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">13. Fenway Park (Boston, MA): C</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">14. Minute Maid Park (Houston, TX): C</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">15. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Progressive Field (Cleveland, OH): C</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">16. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Rogers Centre (Toronto, ON): C</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">17. Coors Field (Denver, CO): C-</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">18. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati, OH): C-</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">19. T-Mobile Park (Seattle, WA): C-</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">20. Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY): C-</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">21. Nationals Park (Washington, DC): C-</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">22. Angel Stadium (Anaheim, CA): D+</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">23. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO): D</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">24. Citi Field (Queens, NY): D</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">25. Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago, IL): D-<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">26. Chase Field (Phoenix, AZ): <i>Incomplete</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">27. LoanDepot Park (Miami, FL): <i>Incomplete</i></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">28. Globe Life Field (Arlington, TX): <i>Incomplete</i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">29. American Family Field (Milwaukee, WI): <i>Incomplete</i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">30. Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, FL): F </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Note: Vegas at the Tropicana site would be a C- (17th in the league). If the Charlotte Knights' Truist Field were in Major League Baseball, it would be an A (2nd behind PNC Park). </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;">---------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Final Thoughts</b></div></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This Vegas ballpark design is also ripe for "aftermarket modifications" galore. The site has acres to the northeast along this corridor under Athletics' ownership control. If they wanted to add three-story restaurants with rooftop bars, they could inject some of that nostalgic neighborhood ballpark feel around the perimeter without blocking out this amazing skyline view. After all, what would Vegas be without cheap/fake/kitschy clones of some other part of the world's greatest architectural triumph? Faux Wrigleyville it is!</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Bellagio is in left centerfield. So the A's better have a fountain in the ballpark that aligns with it from behind home plate. And above that air space is the shortest portion of the Vegas skyline. It leaves an opportunity to build tall enough to be seen; namely the vacant </span>land next to Trump Tower. From that distance, however, it would require a height north of 750 feet. Topping out above the Don's fragile ego would be the most fun part of that development. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Cc_TBQXwxoAA9pY9b4s7s_C7VZkcWIwnSxa-q73cPUq3WZ99tqbZjskdBysQ92EKlFtILjSfoGiwebkBAzKDTNWqdLOhllRVIzECL9qsTUqMbuLcBAwIyW1zNgFg_js5xXMuQzXsgwwc3ZeZY7QonRyeq_k66RPiJ6U3ATDP1AA9RaM6XvZqUXBh/s2176/Las%20Vegas%2012.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="2176" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Cc_TBQXwxoAA9pY9b4s7s_C7VZkcWIwnSxa-q73cPUq3WZ99tqbZjskdBysQ92EKlFtILjSfoGiwebkBAzKDTNWqdLOhllRVIzECL9qsTUqMbuLcBAwIyW1zNgFg_js5xXMuQzXsgwwc3ZeZY7QonRyeq_k66RPiJ6U3ATDP1AA9RaM6XvZqUXBh/w640-h238/Las%20Vegas%2012.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If a straight line from home plate to centerfield continued on through the city, it would bisect the MGM Sphere. Fashion me a little like the map makers from <i>Raiders of the Lost Ark</i>. There are no accidents in my designs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5u5mBHXljhiHNwq2oH5si9Nuu3yDc1rMni9fAEgzcNQxfQMyE4eiUsk55NLsl17Z5vmnf3j2Kef0JzOpKUA9oVEOsmvrCnYl-wnJZ5xvQNFQQAxA9oMQgmQr6X8txFI8hzjccLGajdYb9N7tYFAIwcTiatkioSDWBGRcDbpyy5HpqCCWCUJdt9pXh/s1343/Las%20Vegas%207.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1343" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5u5mBHXljhiHNwq2oH5si9Nuu3yDc1rMni9fAEgzcNQxfQMyE4eiUsk55NLsl17Z5vmnf3j2Kef0JzOpKUA9oVEOsmvrCnYl-wnJZ5xvQNFQQAxA9oMQgmQr6X8txFI8hzjccLGajdYb9N7tYFAIwcTiatkioSDWBGRcDbpyy5HpqCCWCUJdt9pXh/w640-h406/Las%20Vegas%207.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As for a critique on the interior, I've been playing around with some fun home run dimensions and unique quirk to reinject into Major League Baseball. Trying out some new things like the accordion left field corner and a centerfield where you have an overhang that rewards with home runs but also triples that can't get up high enough. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpAjxmuv-5cIft0VvSm-ffK9uuQXd5gI11kUIaBWQebP9Jxoiqt72L9pbXYcFG06Ohlbq_DceNELsXZEQ1qfHCRxpppAzsmXoVgHelDJNB-3-ywZWCObnI59FUANMSgcNcY0tmFtpCJ1ctMbTdAjKjqwzwrtpfB1QtN_2m6K4h7UVjbDZZbtnl3N1/s1696/Las%20Vegas%208.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1696" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpAjxmuv-5cIft0VvSm-ffK9uuQXd5gI11kUIaBWQebP9Jxoiqt72L9pbXYcFG06Ohlbq_DceNELsXZEQ1qfHCRxpppAzsmXoVgHelDJNB-3-ywZWCObnI59FUANMSgcNcY0tmFtpCJ1ctMbTdAjKjqwzwrtpfB1QtN_2m6K4h7UVjbDZZbtnl3N1/w640-h286/Las%20Vegas%208.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><br />goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-73161186968720569152023-04-23T09:15:00.121-04:002023-06-09T15:08:34.271-04:00An Early Look At Vegas' New Ballpark: Design Considerations, Part I<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">The Las Vegas Athletics appear to officially be a thing; hopefully not carrying that mouthful of a moniker in the moving vans from Oakland. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxu_I1HzbcoNZ925XxN-rj56wNLkJrPcNq7Fo9hfsYX1QDEsqMEJ0ESvEJ0m-sDQHILKmfOcYvpoAcQ6-A0Va-FbOIV4mobsEZBHF3dGVjOU-XNsx8FpJ_XiVjNcGxB4d8sCaLgcBymUBriPBkNgA-AecPY7WJd-Njhk7aQNixw2H9Tle6Z9_PuDo/s1902/Las%20Vegas%202.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1902" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxu_I1HzbcoNZ925XxN-rj56wNLkJrPcNq7Fo9hfsYX1QDEsqMEJ0ESvEJ0m-sDQHILKmfOcYvpoAcQ6-A0Va-FbOIV4mobsEZBHF3dGVjOU-XNsx8FpJ_XiVjNcGxB4d8sCaLgcBymUBriPBkNgA-AecPY7WJd-Njhk7aQNixw2H9Tle6Z9_PuDo/w400-h179/Las%20Vegas%202.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="color: #222222;">With a new </span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/athletics/2023/04/20/oakland-athletics-sign-purchase-agreement-land-las-vegas/11701958002/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">land deal inked</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, we can infer the </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2022/09/what-this-all-means-for-oakland.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">long-speculated relocation</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> will indeed happen. </span><span><span style="color: #222222;">The Vegas A's (that's better) will likely play their first MLB season in 2025, but it'll likely take two additional years before their brand new home is complete. Until then, they will be vagabonds up there with the 2005-06 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. For starters, they have a super awkward bed to sleep in next season. They'll have to see out the lease of RingCentral (Oakland-Alameda County) Coliseum in front of a betrayed fan base. Sounds like going on a non-refundable vacation with an ex the week after the breakup. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #222222;">My hope is both sides agree to terminate that final year and avoid the confrontation. It won't be the celebratory send off ("Thanks for the Championship memories") anyone in the front office currently expects it to be. Not that they do; </span><a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/04/06/athletics-attendance-guardians-approaching-record-lows#:~:text=The%20A's%20hosted%20the%20Guardians,fans%20%E2%80%9Cfilling%E2%80%9D%20the%20stadium." target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">attendance figures</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> and </span><a href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/the-as-start-has-been-historically-awful-three-things-to-know-as-oakland-threatens-wrong-kind-of-mlb-records/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">on-field performance</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> are currently both on pace for historically-low values. Fans are protesting with their wallets, and the team appears to be purposely assembling a roster no one in the Bay will miss. It's ugly on both sides. Thus, any plans for a nostalgic Farewell Tour will likely play out as a sparsely-watched, 100-loss sour note. Might as well get out of there before more damage to the brand is done. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">Whether that is next May or the following, there is going to be a need for a multiyear bridge. These interim seasons <i>could</i> be played at Las Vegas Ballpark </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222;">— ironic home of Oakland's Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators. The stadium is gorgeous and new, but it's also in the suburb of Summerlin and only seats 10,000 people. Not exactly the inaugural buzz one would hope to generate. It also doesn't have near the amenities Big Leaguers expect when visiting town. To go full Arizona Coyotes mode (</span><a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/coyotes-arizona-state-mullett-arena-home-games/af5njdu16e9xki7w7tlidf3s" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">currently playing in a college rink</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">) is a bold strategy. It's also like living in your parents' basement; it has some money-saving front end pros, but stretching it out for three loooonnnnnng years might drive someone past their limits. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">The A's can't really go to any other Major League city and split residency (Jets/Giants), in my opinion. At least with those two it was understood going in, and it's a measly eight or nine home games. This is 81. And it's potentially three full years. That's too long to crash on somebody's couch, bruh. BC Place in Vancouver? Fun for Seattle trips. Weird international logistics. Their Spring Training facility </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— 10,500-seat Hohokom Stadium </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— in Mesa, Arizona? Possibly. It is what the Blue Jays did in Dunedin, Florida during that abbreviated Covid season. But that wouldn't move the needle on capacity or getting Summer games out of the excruciating heat. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">My bold plan would be to send them up to Portland for the duration. I want </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2022/08/handicapping-mlb-expansion-nashville.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Portland as an expansion team</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> and I think that would be the perfect way to beta test the market, while keeping the club geographically in the AL West. The question is: Could you put a ballfield back into Providence Park </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— already retrofit once, from baseball-specific to soccer-specific? That's a real Michael Scott "Snip snap, snip snap, snip snap" situation there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWHLy965XYdRyU5bcjucnShrioeS3b5O1gOPQ8wphI9kWDUHPGnCq9ZhtC_XsnLNe-trNFDUvtDjZntFKLajSiT0EGIqSuAi0q56JvYCPx1bpLPOETGobyUvquq5zLOdqsr_N63Jb0R_IWkEATlBCA0r_lCeB8Ba_vjQ4xII1h_iEOjFyp0LncpF-/s721/Master%20Plan.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="721" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWHLy965XYdRyU5bcjucnShrioeS3b5O1gOPQ8wphI9kWDUHPGnCq9ZhtC_XsnLNe-trNFDUvtDjZntFKLajSiT0EGIqSuAi0q56JvYCPx1bpLPOETGobyUvquq5zLOdqsr_N63Jb0R_IWkEATlBCA0r_lCeB8Ba_vjQ4xII1h_iEOjFyp0LncpF-/w400-h310/Master%20Plan.png" width="400" /></a></div>Despite all that, it is never too early to throw a design for the future ballpark out into the public sphere. There's plenty to go off already: We know the size, boundaries, and price tag of the lot in question. We know that the team desires a 30,000-35,000 seat stadium and we know that'll cost about $1.5 billion. Of that hefty financial commitment, owner John Fisher is asking the city to pony up $500 million. Lastly, we know the club fancies a retractable roof. And that is where I really begin to question the aesthetic </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">before there even is one. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">You’ll never find a bigger Jewel Box Romanticist than me, but this thing better not be Shibe Park 2.0. There’s enough kitsch on display in that town. Pocketed with T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium, this thing better be slick and 21st century through and through. I choke down a little vomit designing something that looks like this, but this stands as proof I don't force my preferred style on everyone. It wouldn't be right for </span><i style="color: #222222;">my </i><span style="color: #222222;">team in </span><i style="color: #222222;">my </i><span style="color: #222222;">town, but this is exactly what Vegas needs. And if the </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/sports/baseball/globe-life-field-world-series.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">critical success of Globe Life Field in Arlington</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> has taught us nothing, it is that you can design an awful exterior </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— like </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">an Amazon warehouse, a mid-tier mortgage company's HQ, and a toaster had a 24 million-pound baby </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> and make up for it with exquisite attention to interior detail. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVc2wx8vzu8Bv9qkP2c5RxZNPwz65o9RtCJWxdjuDhxioCT4lSynjTH4MtMz1ZKIYqWFzt3TROxE_VHr10ou5jdLWynYDnX8KQj-yQJLO48rK93zlLS6rYSevxKR8hR0-ahMYItsGEqL7mCQgpgauP_TXPnWV9AOcondCHFfcLavCuxUFXUZZ-JmBx/s1330/Globelifefield_june2020.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1330" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVc2wx8vzu8Bv9qkP2c5RxZNPwz65o9RtCJWxdjuDhxioCT4lSynjTH4MtMz1ZKIYqWFzt3TROxE_VHr10ou5jdLWynYDnX8KQj-yQJLO48rK93zlLS6rYSevxKR8hR0-ahMYItsGEqL7mCQgpgauP_TXPnWV9AOcondCHFfcLavCuxUFXUZZ-JmBx/w200-h107/Globelifefield_june2020.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Wild times in sports architecture. Not to sound like an 85 year-old shaking his fist at the clouds, but I personally can't stand it. 1992-2006 was the heyday. Yet here I am, throwing my modern minimalist hat in the ring. Eh, I don't have to like it to know that it's right for this circumstance. Shows I'm flexible, adaptable, and tailor space for each client; Vegas ain't getting my retro-classic, brick-clad design for the Richmond Flying Squirrels nor my steel clam shell for the Chiba Lotte Marines. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">They have a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Las_Vegas" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">pyramid</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. Their </span><a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/msg-sphere-aims-for-fall-opening-but-secrecy-remains-2726567/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">sphere is nearing completion</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. In my opinion, now they need to complete the set with a cube.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeksOQ0JNOFU54221iBZ6iOYtHIXNT6OrLPolPTF0kF_JMMa3di98EpAhq44X9GAr0S-33ZpOe9nKsUTX49tKNjE-DUkwfHkZXnUAqJ6QmU3PcuCK8upSPaT_ZwK1Ll9gqHG_iCp1EM6Yjf299VVdDGV3nJWXZ0RuUZe7fcl1EuUQX6XqiRanLztJ/s1264/Field%20Orientation.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1264" data-original-width="908" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeksOQ0JNOFU54221iBZ6iOYtHIXNT6OrLPolPTF0kF_JMMa3di98EpAhq44X9GAr0S-33ZpOe9nKsUTX49tKNjE-DUkwfHkZXnUAqJ6QmU3PcuCK8upSPaT_ZwK1Ll9gqHG_iCp1EM6Yjf299VVdDGV3nJWXZ0RuUZe7fcl1EuUQX6XqiRanLztJ/w144-h200/Field%20Orientation.png" width="144" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">One thing is undeniable: Based on where Fisher & Co. has secured land, the sight lines of The Strip are going to architecturally make or break the success of this facility. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">When we talk about orientation of a ballfield, we essentially mean the catcher and plate umpire's point-of-view. An imaginary line runs from the tip of home plate straight out toward centerfield, through second base. Not widely known, Major League Baseball's Rule 1.04 suggest northeast is best. This is due to the counterclockwise nature in which the bases are run, paired with the position of the evening sun in our Northern Hemisphere sky. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Designers, such as myself, aim to protect as many players from receiving throws or catching batted balls that could align with sunset. A northeast-facing alignment offers up the least amount of affected people. It truly is ol' reliable. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now, stadiums with roofs (shown in the diagram in red) have a ton more leeway with this. The sun can easily be shielded by the very infrastructure that keeps the indoor temperatures controlled. No eye black or sunglasses necessary in a dome. Additionally, the entire "rule" is nothing more than a centuries-old preference. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">By going indoors, Vegas <i>will </i>have its pick of any quadrant on the compass. But I'm here to lay out all the reasons why it should stick with the herd and select northeast just the same. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7-vR_Uw7fM2KEA_LXIjoo6TtiDLnXFUOzh_HCcF7FA6zXOkCHpUY_JiuWfESa5jCP4Up5wsIhsJmwATC-hdt-26o52HNTLDO2lzqvuoBL6w9t1I2vgiW_8aYPJsv1tYlIOvtGB4bpGkLDqCknkkSEQjzriyIw6HjZzZiHsBPHkci3H1KuF-gIrNI/s717/Las%20Vegas%2014.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="717" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7-vR_Uw7fM2KEA_LXIjoo6TtiDLnXFUOzh_HCcF7FA6zXOkCHpUY_JiuWfESa5jCP4Up5wsIhsJmwATC-hdt-26o52HNTLDO2lzqvuoBL6w9t1I2vgiW_8aYPJsv1tYlIOvtGB4bpGkLDqCknkkSEQjzriyIw6HjZzZiHsBPHkci3H1KuF-gIrNI/w200-h195/Las%20Vegas%2014.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For starters, you'll never be able to be taken seriously as a legitimate American League contender if you have the New York City skyline in every fans' face </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— even if it is some </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York-New_York_Hotel_and_Casino" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">chintzy, smushed-together impostor</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> In my opinion, that rules out any stadium that faces directly east. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Early findings show that the best view corridor runs </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">parallel to the little bend in Dean Martin Boulevard. They'd be fools to try to find better anywhere else in town. Trust me, I've looked at every viable lot from every possible angle.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I was recently in Las Vegas, with a list of the top three land candidates in mind; casing the place for the best view corridors. I ranked them as follows:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNk4NPJwA8YDpeuZ2d0LKWTNpBV2PmEfDpUKQWTOLHTtP60UTSu1HEyH6eaP6DhPnWfT8lcgK9M0_k5zWWyNZPjfzz9Vletfm8NHE07zzMcCPfJumbUMOl5AzSuCG5B9_ijrjauJpl-8h9DS_XitOYEf_1zKX1mxeVGnY-nIKKEgs2hr1vZs-bfDh/s1797/Rio%20Site.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1797" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNk4NPJwA8YDpeuZ2d0LKWTNpBV2PmEfDpUKQWTOLHTtP60UTSu1HEyH6eaP6DhPnWfT8lcgK9M0_k5zWWyNZPjfzz9Vletfm8NHE07zzMcCPfJumbUMOl5AzSuCG5B9_ijrjauJpl-8h9DS_XitOYEf_1zKX1mxeVGnY-nIKKEgs2hr1vZs-bfDh/w640-h248/Rio%20Site.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>#1 - Site of the Rio (looking southeast)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVplPVC5_CJJXYLLVMBbt9qzZrojNgRe4Im5MXK5HGWJv8cb9muogjjr1e3rDB6RUrgUZ6oeklKIOl786vREKtfVnW2_K1TKFsfllbu0N4KGyAZjgD9L0ErnwlzGkJs_yiD7nI4u76hvWMnhH7Tnn6ubINdimIGD6duN9rUbrowL5e6zpRk9K4mZG/s1524/Fairgrounds%20Site.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1524" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVplPVC5_CJJXYLLVMBbt9qzZrojNgRe4Im5MXK5HGWJv8cb9muogjjr1e3rDB6RUrgUZ6oeklKIOl786vREKtfVnW2_K1TKFsfllbu0N4KGyAZjgD9L0ErnwlzGkJs_yiD7nI4u76hvWMnhH7Tnn6ubINdimIGD6duN9rUbrowL5e6zpRk9K4mZG/w640-h278/Fairgrounds%20Site.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">#2 - Fairgrounds Site (looking northeast)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHcl7q19gC2JFLuV0sYDcivtw5D8qerHfdNeNAvgowP-pEayEOKlSchiSzTonq-RpkHyPOJYIaAZ6D38YdZOJG0QC4HrzkXNHSKnemwPMB7IARIp7EdTx5F2JLaQ7MMNKpjVwaGUYijD52XRqegK28n45C8Q1yDcD3CUU5TYMd3NneCqmKxTQJTVk/s1524/Tropicana%20Site.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1524" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHcl7q19gC2JFLuV0sYDcivtw5D8qerHfdNeNAvgowP-pEayEOKlSchiSzTonq-RpkHyPOJYIaAZ6D38YdZOJG0QC4HrzkXNHSKnemwPMB7IARIp7EdTx5F2JLaQ7MMNKpjVwaGUYijD52XRqegK28n45C8Q1yDcD3CUU5TYMd3NneCqmKxTQJTVk/w640-h278/Tropicana%20Site.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">#3 - Site of the Tropicana (looking northwest)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">My hierarchy was solely based off the best view of the city. Seeing the High Roller Wheel broadside is a nice angle. I fear The Strat is too tall from the proximity of the fairgrounds (more on that later). The last one is comically bad </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— with its Statue of Liberty in left center and seizure-inducing lights from the MGM sign in a batter's eye. It's not the most flattering look for The Strip. And the playing field would sit less than 3,000 feet from Harry Reid International Airport's highly-active runway 19R; screeching tires of a 737 full of tourists every six minutes.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">And then... and then... the A's completely went off-book. It's impressive that ownership was able to keep so many of us internet sleuths off the scent. I was not prepared to analyze the lot that appeared in every headline last week. The curveball forced me to pivot quickly; adjust the detailed 3D models to the unexpected. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19u4SeVaPrlexia2eJaHR5aNoeCpOdIxZ5qGaiDCwvHH0Wc0D6iOf9Ur5r6bTjkOqKO6baVUC2wnqk0tNYmnu_i_EZgbLz5eEruyRaBzVd8E4yHPuCsF4KyWwJ_gmpew6wM4pZu4aV5J3jBkgrAgpIVoudg-dYFR7sr_0KU1JicESHOZGlW3VrpwG/s2400/sherwin-williams-coil-coatings-t-mobile-arena-stadiums-archello.1616146777.2796.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="2400" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19u4SeVaPrlexia2eJaHR5aNoeCpOdIxZ5qGaiDCwvHH0Wc0D6iOf9Ur5r6bTjkOqKO6baVUC2wnqk0tNYmnu_i_EZgbLz5eEruyRaBzVd8E4yHPuCsF4KyWwJ_gmpew6wM4pZu4aV5J3jBkgrAgpIVoudg-dYFR7sr_0KU1JicESHOZGlW3VrpwG/w200-h106/sherwin-williams-coil-coatings-t-mobile-arena-stadiums-archello.1616146777.2796.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Should the Vegas <i>Swingin'</i> A's agree with my desired orientation (of this new dark horse location), t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">hey'll be no waiting for an impeccable shot of The Strip to fill in over time. A top five Major League backdrop comes stock with these 49 acres. Unlike Las Vegas Boulevard's neon underbelly, this "outsider" P.O.V. features a more elegant side of The Strip. Even the west side of T-Mobile Arena </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— just off screen </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">adds to a curvilinear windswept aesthetic.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That Tropicana site, in particular, is a hodgepodge mess of eras, colors, sizes, and styles. Dean Martin Boulevard provides a beautifully-proportioned composition and consistent blue glass/bronze metal/sand stone palette. The A's organization has it up on tee; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">a chance to make the ballpark feel deeply rooted/established/organically-grown amongst its desert surroundings on Day 1. Don't miss.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGyFVtsngX9-DKivemCln4-paP4XIk9lXoQnuN7dboHg4ZprJQEUTsDklvWKy-0WwzlW6FnT1crXxJaqLV-IIHrhB5A32xKJBAr1n4ZP6iqkB5IQhKnK17F8Olo-dwg6SHXanqybPLMw9846627StsMXfyBgYq6UJrrHHJDBINnIC05P_GhcPT9if/s1303/Las%20Vegas%2010.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="1303" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGyFVtsngX9-DKivemCln4-paP4XIk9lXoQnuN7dboHg4ZprJQEUTsDklvWKy-0WwzlW6FnT1crXxJaqLV-IIHrhB5A32xKJBAr1n4ZP6iqkB5IQhKnK17F8Olo-dwg6SHXanqybPLMw9846627StsMXfyBgYq6UJrrHHJDBINnIC05P_GhcPT9if/w640-h285/Las%20Vegas%2010.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;">-----------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span><b>Let's Talk About This Roof</b></span></span></div></span></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222;">We can crack the windows in our car, but we don’t have a comparable roof setup on a ballpark… yet. </span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Let's create the sport's first 65/35 fixed/retractable hybrid dome. If executed properly, it would condition the space where 80%+ of the fans will be. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Unlike the basis behind a retractable roof in Toronto, Milwaukee, and Seattle, Vegas is not going to have to prevent snow, rain, and the cold from postponing a quarter of their home schedule. You'll notice those are the three lowest roof usage percentages in the league; combined to play 66.3% of their home games under sunny skies in 2022. Crazy concept: They <i>want to </i>play baseball outside. Their locations simply require a hedging of that bet. Constructing a roof was merely the gameday insurance policy; a metal umbrella exception to the rule... err, public desire. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">The other stadiums are clearly calling upon their roofs differently </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">as a way to condition space into something comfortable for fans. This is the dome rationale in Tampa Bay, Miami, Arizona, Texas, and Houston, where it is as hot as hell. In those cases, the juice is definitely worth the squeeze (great pun with Tropicana and Minute Maid in the group). </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">The question in Vegas is “Why and when would you ever need it to open? Isn’t a permanent roof the way to go?” After all, we're talking about a place that erected a </span><a href="https://www.thed.com/blog/what-did-fremont-street-look-like-back-in-the-day/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">quarter-mile-long shade structure over Fremont Street</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> to make downtown tourism bearable</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">MLB Roof Usage Rates (2022 Data):</span></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Tampa Bay - 100.0%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Miami - 96.3%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Houston - 91.4%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Texas - 80.2%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Arizona - 72.8%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Milwaukee - 44.4%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Toronto - 34.6%</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Seattle - 22.2%</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's hard to envision that Vegas wouldn't slot into the rankings on roof usage <i>(above) </i>any lower than Arizona's 72.8%. So, what are we building a fully retractable roof for </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Texas' whopping 16 home games under the stars? Miami's three?! </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">The four high-temp and/or high-humidity locations of Miami, Houston, Texas, and Arizona (</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">tossing out Tropicana Field for not being retractable)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">played only 48 games in "unconditioned air" last season. Spending top dollar on engineering for the 14.8% outlier seems to be a mistake. This is especially true when Texas, Miami, and Arizona now have synthetic turf for everything green </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">i.e. no need for the sunlight to promote grass growth. The latter two have converted from natural grass since their buildings originally opened; all but admitting regret for splurging on that retractability of the roof. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I love baseball outside and I love it more on natural grass. But if you’re really going to host Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, Nevada, then you have to follow this modern formula: Plastic green carpet, DuraEdge infields and mounds, and a side of conditioned air. In that, we don’t need a roof to open… at least not all the way.</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_ku9Dt-P6kCKPAI7vzl0a2HGTw__m7boM83lZlRE6aUZMoBclUk0xUQka-yjO8o3V9Vnh6m7F2zlXk79kMvkv1wlQvScpdSllz7Z9omtnpDtn7fBhC7qyZCpZk0DVupC4HYLjsq3NUQOAZ0wkyxdbIvuy3MvvwheG_dp3bk9qWk5OAVfMtIyNqPh/s1280/FW_Fallingwater-A-Closer-Look_Image_Summer-Slider-5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_ku9Dt-P6kCKPAI7vzl0a2HGTw__m7boM83lZlRE6aUZMoBclUk0xUQka-yjO8o3V9Vnh6m7F2zlXk79kMvkv1wlQvScpdSllz7Z9omtnpDtn7fBhC7qyZCpZk0DVupC4HYLjsq3NUQOAZ0wkyxdbIvuy3MvvwheG_dp3bk9qWk5OAVfMtIyNqPh/w400-h225/FW_Fallingwater-A-Closer-Look_Image_Summer-Slider-5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>If you're no longer worried about shade/shadows being cast on your immaculate Bermudagrass, then the necessity of the entire span of the building goes away. The "why" in terms of going the route of retractable can become far more playful, experimental, artistic, and (most notably) spectator-centric. The intent behind planes moving out of the way would be to increase sight lines vs. create a full-field <i>Open To Below</i>. Thus, the static portion of the roof can hang far deeper into the playing surface than ever before. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3O8qmG3fAJBrylNeaQ5HtbyKNQFj2XVdOckk06TZxR7i_uu5mkYCzOEdIa6txmvDoAUaAgjh3mX8-i42fsUAGQtD0VXPWROvFYCg1F_ev_O-lTOLf2jUXBy3kXF8svnRbXePM8uZjqVlqSd2LdRnEzMtWzHvW9_U2CH1l0b689OJLNblnmSxQ3zf/s549/550c62b3b57a987c566d2a9e206a3811.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="549" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3O8qmG3fAJBrylNeaQ5HtbyKNQFj2XVdOckk06TZxR7i_uu5mkYCzOEdIa6txmvDoAUaAgjh3mX8-i42fsUAGQtD0VXPWROvFYCg1F_ev_O-lTOLf2jUXBy3kXF8svnRbXePM8uZjqVlqSd2LdRnEzMtWzHvW9_U2CH1l0b689OJLNblnmSxQ3zf/w400-h271/550c62b3b57a987c566d2a9e206a3811.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">My inspiration was born out of two things — Fallingwater and Bravo's <i>Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles</i>. One near and dear to me (figuratively and literally); the other, a guilty pleasure with my wife. Frank Lloyd Wright’s telescoping glass box that covers the staircase down to the iconic water is my favorite element of the house. It’s a very nautical way to think about making horizontal and vertical elements “disappear.”</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Our very first project in architecture school was to make a cube without making a cube. The lesson surrounding the assignment was of the human psychology variety. Our minds tend to complete geometric shapes and order even if pieces of the complete set are missing. We can read wrds evn whn a few letrs ar mising. There's an autocomplete feature embedded in all our brains. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMRHgWzsSOMV_mc46voWHXEL6wldIve4ktxP8zWQR7lhg0B5xjylYl78eWAGSaPT5wVPtx3LdGZW_sfDO_Lnuv5ctqK6EnrwOmIoriv24pWXs4F8T12yKm81X0AABhJ5AnVKoQv0BxVfvw3eJ8eO-qI7I8_6RjDRIBkpBqH-EQ_6dAC5ik43K5n-V/s1206/Deconstructed%20Cube.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1038" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMRHgWzsSOMV_mc46voWHXEL6wldIve4ktxP8zWQR7lhg0B5xjylYl78eWAGSaPT5wVPtx3LdGZW_sfDO_Lnuv5ctqK6EnrwOmIoriv24pWXs4F8T12yKm81X0AABhJ5AnVKoQv0BxVfvw3eJ8eO-qI7I8_6RjDRIBkpBqH-EQ_6dAC5ik43K5n-V/w172-h200/Deconstructed%20Cube.png" width="172" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">In that vein, architects have spent decades trying to deconstruct the modern box; </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">tell the same story in fewer words than ever before. The words, in this metaphor, are expressions of support and surface. <i>Can you create a volumetric form that holds space with a majority of it stripped away? </i><i>Can you articulate that all eight sides of a cube are equal in size even though none of the interior elements are? </i>Like a figure-ground exercise, the mind can spin the voids into solids and complete the shape. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">I had t</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">he following vision of this stadium pop into a dream the night after the Athletics' signed their binding land agreement. </span><span style="color: #222222;">What you'll see is a very crude initial SketchUp take on that dream. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The disappearing corner trick is no longer a corner. It’s a vertical back wall and horizontal roof connection. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Something unique to sports architecture is a must for this particular clientele. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For starters, the stadium will cost over a billion dollars. At that price point, the industry needs to move the needle forward on innovation. The second reason is because it's Vegas. This is an American institution in exporting "wow" factor. Lastly, and more pragmatically, the roof plane does need to slide to the southwest or else half the spectators will not get to view the full height of the skyline. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoJQ_BFtcI23Pv7drY8j_ystyEb8RXBmUk2txcLB--0RAAKr2868obdUnvZRDWIfqpLGD03oufA2aEbine0Wkmt8Xs0Vell5F6TxdyvkywSgDbI9wxe38Sf2eNkqYNFN3Nsa_QOI6S-jQuDwPIYXQ_e2if3hkkYLXhJtG7amd2gEsAN0XxeY8Is8H/s1204/Las%20Vegas%204.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1204" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoJQ_BFtcI23Pv7drY8j_ystyEb8RXBmUk2txcLB--0RAAKr2868obdUnvZRDWIfqpLGD03oufA2aEbine0Wkmt8Xs0Vell5F6TxdyvkywSgDbI9wxe38Sf2eNkqYNFN3Nsa_QOI6S-jQuDwPIYXQ_e2if3hkkYLXhJtG7amd2gEsAN0XxeY8Is8H/w640-h452/Las%20Vegas%204.png" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvz4cEWoplXZdsl64DdXFlIWGPAAi7_d6uiz-9dItG8Cw7SGWCphNpPXlKBIM4hdPBGCb1IvH17ZZjv4X7Iwt5Pca9PjvB-9CsyN8g4H6xn5YY3oIE191VvE2GpmnssoXrF_x0MNIjigwNaQSIxcaZJtFyr5aqTVb5XUeqp8GT2Yl3ppcZefuyF-M/s1204/Las%20Vegas%205.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1204" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvz4cEWoplXZdsl64DdXFlIWGPAAi7_d6uiz-9dItG8Cw7SGWCphNpPXlKBIM4hdPBGCb1IvH17ZZjv4X7Iwt5Pca9PjvB-9CsyN8g4H6xn5YY3oIE191VvE2GpmnssoXrF_x0MNIjigwNaQSIxcaZJtFyr5aqTVb5XUeqp8GT2Yl3ppcZefuyF-M/w640-h452/Las%20Vegas%205.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3sV0wL2SbxRWNGNjqF_yfGALBOz7dmm7CCihZLvG_WEA6odjPi6OOqqs1oKmDYmU8-Cvq_XInqQ-iiJdjzrY5pixEGSeUUMyp6TFAlhaoDn3QHjvPADT4MkCn8vmtFYs3qzMgUla61iwh2j-JBvwGMBr5URhQSa3AO1sPWbyP069MoUCkf9mP5S5/s1204/Las%20Vegas%205b.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1204" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3sV0wL2SbxRWNGNjqF_yfGALBOz7dmm7CCihZLvG_WEA6odjPi6OOqqs1oKmDYmU8-Cvq_XInqQ-iiJdjzrY5pixEGSeUUMyp6TFAlhaoDn3QHjvPADT4MkCn8vmtFYs3qzMgUla61iwh2j-JBvwGMBr5URhQSa3AO1sPWbyP069MoUCkf9mP5S5/w640-h452/Las%20Vegas%205b.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWlI6euwiFdE0mxxPlcEYvy6t_FbXYpWyToks9WHKtQBw0iBXMGAeYVCww-sSm3FiZrbUtpuSWDFGH_SFYODy2dXW82tZmpv-bYnbiFc9yiyQtwBMTlLxRca0JSvQzkuhnjOBXGGdJTyeeqQZArMEl3Ko28M8WxHyHUZKHITpur9NHmOaMI9otTTcw/s1204/Las%20Vegas%206.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1204" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWlI6euwiFdE0mxxPlcEYvy6t_FbXYpWyToks9WHKtQBw0iBXMGAeYVCww-sSm3FiZrbUtpuSWDFGH_SFYODy2dXW82tZmpv-bYnbiFc9yiyQtwBMTlLxRca0JSvQzkuhnjOBXGGdJTyeeqQZArMEl3Ko28M8WxHyHUZKHITpur9NHmOaMI9otTTcw/w640-h452/Las%20Vegas%206.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">By modeling a majority of The Strip in 3D, I can note that the bottom of the stadium’s roof would have to stand some 400’ feet above playing surface — and terminate immediately at the deepest home run dimension </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"> to not have the top floors of the hotels blocked off. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Mind you, this would mean little to no outfield seating (picture Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City). It would also make the roof the tallest in professional sports. And even then, this would only create unobstructed sight lines for those in the lower seating bowl behind home plate. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">If the venue possessed a retractable roof that mirrored the total acreage of the playing surface below, an additional run of track </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">to house the roof when it’s open </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">would likely make the problem worse. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This is the situation in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Houston, Seattle, Miami, and Arlington; more than 4.5 acres of "in case of pristine weather" void space counting toward each stadium's overall lot size. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2AfEEK-Sc8ouQ95H81j8EzV9TMf7mVE7rmTd-yYUwxNivVDJgPpmcMtbqF-gHnV7GFjd3_sdxioYozVRjTh4ZFmhxzOZ-CV1fbbTRDE80ZNqp2vJW58uO9vFer_f2jc9mj1yqPis1gJkQbLXFCfaJBhmh2WJAQWJv3bbumERxkOWMZr3iAAvLxOw/s3326/Retractable%20Domes.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="3326" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2AfEEK-Sc8ouQ95H81j8EzV9TMf7mVE7rmTd-yYUwxNivVDJgPpmcMtbqF-gHnV7GFjd3_sdxioYozVRjTh4ZFmhxzOZ-CV1fbbTRDE80ZNqp2vJW58uO9vFer_f2jc9mj1yqPis1gJkQbLXFCfaJBhmh2WJAQWJv3bbumERxkOWMZr3iAAvLxOw/w640-h138/Retractable%20Domes.png" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In my design, there are 261,590 SF (6 acres) of static roof and "only" 145,464 SF (3.33 acres) that can open to the sky above. And, better yet, the discarded panels don't shift off the perimeter of the building itself, hanging as dead weight in no man's land. Vegas' would slide inward. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Again, we're not trying to punch a "hole in the roof, so God can watch His favorite team play." -- Dallas Cowboys linebacker D.D. Lewis, regarding the design of Texas Stadium. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This is a paradigm shift on those types of designs. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Covering the opening is not about rainout prevention. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">We are catering to the audience's sight lines and not the players or blades of grass down below. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTdZvVIUfESJ_oRvgIxrcqwmJhO-W7YX-iIOxK29nmvR7RzMa0w4nCBDXOyn_rSd5HYXn5AyLRNwQP4ianIZ9tBttPlURU9XhSIYaBloL-GeaRzHzLQLPorXozCL-y0dxq0NEYoWVCVutUcPqX9QhoQ08Ku9DuwrMKcNIMdYrBLKbmanPsAUsyF9z/s691/ldp-main.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="691" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTdZvVIUfESJ_oRvgIxrcqwmJhO-W7YX-iIOxK29nmvR7RzMa0w4nCBDXOyn_rSd5HYXn5AyLRNwQP4ianIZ9tBttPlURU9XhSIYaBloL-GeaRzHzLQLPorXozCL-y0dxq0NEYoWVCVutUcPqX9QhoQ08Ku9DuwrMKcNIMdYrBLKbmanPsAUsyF9z/w200-h136/ldp-main.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>On the flip side, if a dome was statically closed all the time (like at Tropicana Field), the neighboring towers could only be observed through some sort of glass curtain wall. This is a nice theory, but glare, high-contrast "wash out," or precipitation typically prevent the requisite transparency. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Thus, Vegas <i>needs</i> to build a partially-fixed, smaller-than-full-footprint retractable roof. And it should stay open most home games; talking Seattle levels of roof usage (22%) or less. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Should any of those 4.19 annual inches of Las Vegas rain show up, I say "Keep the roof open!" Drops wouldn't fall on any players in traditional defensive alignment, nor affect the key areas to keep dry (infield, mound, boxes). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The skyline is too remarkable to miss out, and yet too close to prevent cropping issues. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In essence, it's akin to those $30 million dollar glass box homes in the Bird Streets of West Hollywood </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> sliding walls and television screens that disappear into the floor with the push of a button. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Present a consistent stage experience for your paying customer, first visit on through to their hundredth. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Now we’re taking Las Vegas, baby!</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrE1kmpSE0P1YE1U3j7aVDt2ViJu3QKAm2y3FSxwNYF0M98bd4qHQmKpOBknEtg1X2KTvPvySwrR4X6VBk_bLhHtzFdAr6ATC9H8nQl3peW3u9oTNhnhmthiod182WAW8PG_yn1GN_36kzDub01ePPwjtJBubKuRwvlLalktPUmhMzUqI5PnBKHtQe/s1902/Las%20Vegas%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1902" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrE1kmpSE0P1YE1U3j7aVDt2ViJu3QKAm2y3FSxwNYF0M98bd4qHQmKpOBknEtg1X2KTvPvySwrR4X6VBk_bLhHtzFdAr6ATC9H8nQl3peW3u9oTNhnhmthiod182WAW8PG_yn1GN_36kzDub01ePPwjtJBubKuRwvlLalktPUmhMzUqI5PnBKHtQe/w640-h286/Las%20Vegas%203.png" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzalwXVaRGCnRwuCmiTrmGNGJBCzsW7pDK8Jppb51yFTz4z4gtLk5wxpy7CaEGNtUnkiuLD_QVyAcyvfoR0SDgkHCKc4zvsuthGBYJUAFpAdRErT5xeXInIOJl9dthsfivjj9Pl3wMs5FxO-xdPkOw5L9q785y6ubteJFpylTwt85paG-37sQ68guC/s1902/Las%20Vegas%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1902" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzalwXVaRGCnRwuCmiTrmGNGJBCzsW7pDK8Jppb51yFTz4z4gtLk5wxpy7CaEGNtUnkiuLD_QVyAcyvfoR0SDgkHCKc4zvsuthGBYJUAFpAdRErT5xeXInIOJl9dthsfivjj9Pl3wMs5FxO-xdPkOw5L9q785y6ubteJFpylTwt85paG-37sQ68guC/w640-h286/Las%20Vegas%202.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The roof that is currently the highest above the playing surface is in Houston's Minute Maid Field. The bottom of their steel supports are 242' feet above the infield grass. This Vegas model surpasses that number by a few feet, just to have the record. #Pettiness and #Progress</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhij33gOJDg0WXwF7VwcobQurkjVT7Yb1dMn_22qRTR0f60cAmEuAevjb59X1v3_Ewy0K_Zz4fTfiCqnayK0avGXmLhu-qyZ_w4L8ODkpRBOkFxYLC7CFQvbsNozqEOHt_JqS2ddWgGZaW2RNU370WUmlDXHJbomi9xepWIqXRkpX6Wv-6SqvbqefUt/s1388/Las%20Vegas%2013.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="1388" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhij33gOJDg0WXwF7VwcobQurkjVT7Yb1dMn_22qRTR0f60cAmEuAevjb59X1v3_Ewy0K_Zz4fTfiCqnayK0avGXmLhu-qyZ_w4L8ODkpRBOkFxYLC7CFQvbsNozqEOHt_JqS2ddWgGZaW2RNU370WUmlDXHJbomi9xepWIqXRkpX6Wv-6SqvbqefUt/w400-h210/Las%20Vegas%2013.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The entire design is a 638'L x 638'W x 638'H cube. Now, that last measurement isn't accurate at all, but the mind will assume it is. By that I mean, the structure will only rise some 270 feet out of the Las Vegas ground. But because of the geometry of it, the trick of the mind is that there is an iceberg situation created; that the rest of the complete cube is down there somewhere. In reality, it is not. The field of play is 20 feet below grade, which is comfortably clustered with Camden Yards and Yankee Stadium (16 feet), Coors Field (21 feet), and Chase Field (25 feet). The new MLB outlier is Globe Life, with its 70(!) feet sunken in the Texas ground. Vegas doesn't need to go down that far to complete the box aesthetic. It i</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">s the first of many illusions in a town known for slight of hand.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzebkMWxEbx68va_kJoD5a_8ChrbcqA3WIntCO7jkc_6Ip6nlL7nIO2OTbXjIW-7cb-Hr_mtudeeeRsVeKxngk9LZSDj-Zbk57FA1wO__TUeplJathj6K2rAy6iYGhsKhHrI2tKeYeL5L-NMeJRdjcjuJoIuHklXHq68qPoRr8mXrI9RvHFwiHy0n/s848/Las%20Vegas%209.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="848" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzebkMWxEbx68va_kJoD5a_8ChrbcqA3WIntCO7jkc_6Ip6nlL7nIO2OTbXjIW-7cb-Hr_mtudeeeRsVeKxngk9LZSDj-Zbk57FA1wO__TUeplJathj6K2rAy6iYGhsKhHrI2tKeYeL5L-NMeJRdjcjuJoIuHklXHq68qPoRr8mXrI9RvHFwiHy0n/w200-h183/Las%20Vegas%209.png" width="200" /></a></div>As for the facility's footprint, this proposal would carry that same 638' x 638' (407,044 SF; 9.33 acre) square all the way up. No</span></span> air rights will be necessary beyond the foundation of the stadium<span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. For context, American Family Field in Milwaukee (with fan-shaped roof that is equally "self-contained") is 10.5 acres in size. Open-air Target Field in Minneapolis sits on the smallest plot of land in all of Major League Baseball </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— 8.5 acres.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><div style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">What I've made is now not a stadium; it's a pavilion. The intention of the roof is to operate more like a </span><a href="https://sportsmatik.com/sports-corner/sports-venue/hard-rock-stadium" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Hard Rock Stadium in Miami</span></a>. I<span style="color: #222222;">nstalled during a major renovation in 2015, the objective was to </span></span><span style="color: #222222;">address spectator comfort and not on-field weather delays. We're providing a shelter to keep fans out of the sun, but we aim to let the breeze still blow in from the outside world. It's more about passive air cooling than busying up the space with jumbled ductwork. This isn't an arena meant for hockey (and its consistent ice temperatures to maintain). </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The internal track system for my roof pays </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">homage to the X and Y shapes of so many iconic hotels in town. It's also a unique way for a stadium to shoulder the weight of a moveable roof. As panels shift to the center, and add load to the track system, the span between the two is narrowing. Envision the difference between lifting kettle bells with arms fully extended vs. closer to the ears. </span></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4BVTyAw33gcmtTEOyJ6g5Kbr3yCncaQLmhkLX8rLB8FlqzZQTNuHSJV8mYAKm_4hSkZBWR6LO5D48ruXoFfvrIjd260jgs5XOVZO2l8fTNoMwhOUoLp7GTknW3aAUyeibfmd7uLvNX4ZCkdWZA38CmxgEsJOPufTHm0ZxEin0ExDKg0dumN0pEfK/s585/Water-Cube-in-Beijing.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="585" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4BVTyAw33gcmtTEOyJ6g5Kbr3yCncaQLmhkLX8rLB8FlqzZQTNuHSJV8mYAKm_4hSkZBWR6LO5D48ruXoFfvrIjd260jgs5XOVZO2l8fTNoMwhOUoLp7GTknW3aAUyeibfmd7uLvNX4ZCkdWZA38CmxgEsJOPufTHm0ZxEin0ExDKg0dumN0pEfK/w200-h101/Water-Cube-in-Beijing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As for materiality, modern advancements are going to give this building a chance to really shine </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span><span style="color: #222222;">— figuratively and literally. I could see this whole thing glowing like the famous "Water Cube" (National Aquatics Centre) that stole the show at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The translucent façade is made of </span><a href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/09/05/Insiders/Facilities.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">ethyl tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE)</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, which also shows up in the sports industry at U.S. Bank Stadium (Minnesota Vikings), SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Rams and Chargers), and, of course, Allegiant Stadium (Vegas Raiders). It feels like a no brainer to stitch the two "West of I-15" facilities together thematically. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">In a town of glitz and glam, the A's are going to have to embrace that metallic Vegas gold. The green is already a perfect emulation of the felt on all those casino tables. That apostrophe on the hat is going to turn into a </span><a href="https://cms.nhl.bamgrid.com/images/photos/337060930/2568x1444/cut.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Golden Knights-esque star</span></a> and/or silhouette of Nevada. Cue up the new trend of LED shows in between innings and during the A's home-run trots. <span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> <br /><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluzSJ73YHthS4JOMDbp2fRvUs4DLDY_8n2egKVHtTgzKitenODRoifZshpbeGsGVrP3fY6Dg06qv432zrY6_guLJt1GB2MR91cwuVlH6XaPjdXgfKSx9ZRWZFCWsd_AvpM0yjfC60GfWjodJ8cbRJMVDg7vFb0los1H1a964KNP6ZKSuWG09We0qu/s3228/Vegas%20A's%20Logos.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="3228" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluzSJ73YHthS4JOMDbp2fRvUs4DLDY_8n2egKVHtTgzKitenODRoifZshpbeGsGVrP3fY6Dg06qv432zrY6_guLJt1GB2MR91cwuVlH6XaPjdXgfKSx9ZRWZFCWsd_AvpM0yjfC60GfWjodJ8cbRJMVDg7vFb0los1H1a964KNP6ZKSuWG09We0qu/w640-h198/Vegas%20A's%20Logos.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">------------------------------------------------</span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>How Important Is The Centerfield Skyline Shot?</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Truist Field in Charlotte, NC (Triple-A Charlotte Knights) has twice won the </span><a href="https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-124444690" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">honor of Minor League Ballpark of the Year</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> in its brief nine years of existence. Out of 120+ options (depending on the year), that's really saying something. It's a nice-enough 10,000-seat stadium </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">with a 360° concourse</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">... like dozens upon dozens of others scattered throughout various levels of MiLB. </span><i style="color: #222222;">There's a fun party pavilion in left.</i><span style="color: #222222;"> Okay, cool. It's not all that pretty of a building when </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BaseballPilgrimages/photos/a.10152717062988969.1073741825.131066283968/10152717064398969/?type=3&theater&paipv=0&eav=AfY5py_UVPPNHtY5LPoimJMKVWAVxM7VP_YMH8dCWc-2akJRQXuTWsg9mmIvMNsGRA8&_rdr" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">viewed from the street</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. What am I missing? </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">It's almost as if the fans are responding so positively to something correlative that isn't actually part of the stadium's construction. Hmm, what could that be?</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqBjj-HZLF7ntAt0NbzM8B3Y6beEohPaVbFfcXdzNst4K30A4hVtF9XlXLXI96O4nVssU7VkdExKYDvRh9C3DSqELFA5hfroMTKEcqucn6WyHr9LcSsb60xZJQHOBJvyXCe2wg7-wz2jKY2W-kqLfSmnISdl4cwb0jTPO0NsQ74IBbeBMOcKUBLNP/s805/Charlotte.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="805" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqBjj-HZLF7ntAt0NbzM8B3Y6beEohPaVbFfcXdzNst4K30A4hVtF9XlXLXI96O4nVssU7VkdExKYDvRh9C3DSqELFA5hfroMTKEcqucn6WyHr9LcSsb60xZJQHOBJvyXCe2wg7-wz2jKY2W-kqLfSmnISdl4cwb0jTPO0NsQ74IBbeBMOcKUBLNP/w640-h432/Charlotte.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In the second half of this piece, I rank all 30 MLB ballparks strictly on the basis of this exact vantage point. If they could somehow qualify in an All-Professional Baseball list, they would be number two (such a tease for the top spot). Truist Field is a masterclass in allowing the city itself to be the fourth wall; a backdrop that would make a Broadway set designer blush. As you'll find with the still images I've captured, more ballparks should have considered the impact such a skyline can have on fan approval.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">There's a term in mountaineering called prominence. It's a topographical relation between the top of a mountain and its surroundings. When you're a summit that is an impressive 14,000 feet above sea level, but there's a range that stretches for miles of similar-sized apexes, you don't really stand out. Hence, Pikes Peak is the only mountain in Colorado inside the U.S. Top 100 Most Prominent, way down in 89th place. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">Conversely, Mt. Haleakala in Hawaii was so spiritual and </span><a href="https://www.nps.gov/hale/planyourvisit/sunrise.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">awe-inspiring to visit</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> on my honeymoon. This was mainly because of its isolated prominence, 10th largest in the United States. The shield volcano is the only thing on its contour line for thousands of feet, making it visible from any portion of Maui at all times. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i>So, what does mountain prominence have to do with this discussion on ballpark sight lines?</i> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQI_FQm3i5-2xV49s2x_fVs88vgDsK1l8B8lGg2wFyLHkn2-JjdkUFAuO7USte2nJdwSDAYP6v3ToHTdTQImuipKP6dr65yOWpcOp6zPK8v-XikekMuFoQRPF8tF8zfqquhYoK_1mjpzoUlqj4vt_RxdXGKfm_9pQXupJoIozU7ov-je-R1F2RnbRx/s1359/tree%20heights.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1359" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQI_FQm3i5-2xV49s2x_fVs88vgDsK1l8B8lGg2wFyLHkn2-JjdkUFAuO7USte2nJdwSDAYP6v3ToHTdTQImuipKP6dr65yOWpcOp6zPK8v-XikekMuFoQRPF8tF8zfqquhYoK_1mjpzoUlqj4vt_RxdXGKfm_9pQXupJoIozU7ov-je-R1F2RnbRx/w200-h126/tree%20heights.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Well, prominence is nothing more than a combination of height and proximity to the source object that would make Pythagoras proud. In ballpark design, placing it too close to an extremely tall building can ruin the entire experience — a real "can't see the forest through the trees" scenario. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It's what makes the design of PNC Park in Pittsburgh so effective. The scale of the entire backdrop is perfection due to a) the modest size of the towers, and b) the water that disconnects downstage from up. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">True, the decision to grid and arrange the city this way was done by Mother Nature and colonial city planners. But the decision to place the ballpark in this North Shore location and orientation was genius. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The move even presents glimpses of the Three Sister bridges; the real cherries on top. </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The two tallest buildings in Pittsburgh are U.S. Steel Tower (840') and BNY Mellon Center (725'); set the furthest away from the ballpark. The next tier of skyscraper </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> One PPG Place (635'), Fifth Avenue Place (616'), Gulf Tower (582'), and K&L Gates Center (511') </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— stand much closer to the Allegheny River. F</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">rom this perspective, all appear at roughly the same height in the sky. Dumb luck for the stadium's architects; not like they had any say on where the city's much-older buildings were placed, nor the height they were constructed. However, they seized an opportunity to make it all seem calculated. </span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Much like driving anywhere on Maui, with its inability to lose sight of Haleakala, it's impossible to move about PNC Park and not see the <i>UPMC</i> on top of U.S. Steel, the <i>Highmark</i> on top of Fifth Avenue Place, or the fanciful glass merlons of One PPG Place. Isolated prominence. Great product placement and brand association, by the way; better than any advertisement on the scoreboard or outfield wall pad. </span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In my preliminary research, I've found this same type of "wow" factor can be achieved in Las Vegas, but not many other places. And it all comes down to the same real estate word said in triplicate: Location, location, location. If those same Pittsburgh buildings existed where the river is, the success of the ballpark's design would have taken a serious hit. </span></span>The illusion of the three tallest towers appearing equal in height would evaporate. And worse, the trio would ruin the scalar relationship between ballpark and its surroundings. PNC Park suddenly feels like a Little League field juxtaposed with edifices of steel and glass <i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">that much</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in your face. Spectators would have to crane their necks to see all the way to their tops. It </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">proves how delicate and dependent the balance between cityscape and stadium is.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span> </div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKNe-WF6TCdJSvRxqSj2y4zTzXPdLhON3ymF8an1U9P1B3Rq1IqeQFZ8NEZ4nRgycUd7QbxjFbdHY9R5uRWVOW7csOfHGLfE7AOB9OrN7Zt_jNQEgsZwUrYbz3-AnSkRCJjrHIhnDEXrs3Z9uvXuWcu8cL9fYpU30vNOnbsORy5mZlGdJFiaM2v-6/s2212/PNC%20Park%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="2212" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKNe-WF6TCdJSvRxqSj2y4zTzXPdLhON3ymF8an1U9P1B3Rq1IqeQFZ8NEZ4nRgycUd7QbxjFbdHY9R5uRWVOW7csOfHGLfE7AOB9OrN7Zt_jNQEgsZwUrYbz3-AnSkRCJjrHIhnDEXrs3Z9uvXuWcu8cL9fYpU30vNOnbsORy5mZlGdJFiaM2v-6/w640-h244/PNC%20Park%203.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Due to the ideal recipe of isolation, height, density, and orientation, PNC Park tops my list for </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Most Prominent Skyline in Major League Baseball</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. Las Vegas is on the fast track to position #2.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As you'll see in Part II, Cincinnati fell into the trap of thinking it was views of the water and "splash hit" home runs that the people coveted. PNC Park's water is only cool because it pulls the skyline back from the viewer. Well, that and the Roberto Clemente Bridge. The Reds don't have a skyline on the opposite shore. And while they do have a cool bridge, it's downriver and out of sight. Vegas can learn from both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh; opting for the same effect as PNC </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> buffer between park and tall buildings. It just won't be as naturally beautiful of a divide (I-15).</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHCm1vIAnJKs0Ol3nvZCJ-TlBM-0er7MnwPS9aQcSNjFi1yj9y2W780c3UJq63KaCllP5OxN8kH3F3nkjGilGyzVC7XDnY69fw7sgv0-BsJnKPxQu1FODuqvmGgb7_wF1zMJMRkxuW164h4Lisw08ie9O--azI5BfZOoL9u6nGVlW9dLVtacMuO5i/s1440/PNC%20Park%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHCm1vIAnJKs0Ol3nvZCJ-TlBM-0er7MnwPS9aQcSNjFi1yj9y2W780c3UJq63KaCllP5OxN8kH3F3nkjGilGyzVC7XDnY69fw7sgv0-BsJnKPxQu1FODuqvmGgb7_wF1zMJMRkxuW164h4Lisw08ie9O--azI5BfZOoL9u6nGVlW9dLVtacMuO5i/w640-h480/PNC%20Park%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">There is little prominence available for skyscrapers in the central business district of a New York or Chicago. After all, they are called "concrete jungles" for a reason. And it's tough for ballparks to play off the majesty of these thousand-foot-tall structures while standing in their shadows. If in the vicinity, you could not frame the neighborhood skyline into a singular view, especially if the stadium had a roof. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lVuPwJNxdWrYXFq5hQH5iDs7sjpSm-C_OFS2njir3wlmvIBBUP4-4TY_nCI0qwMSTSSN1K0pK8Pw9Jr1L3WMRFu1DMCX0WvuHAwqT_iE73sImEf7hre1PDf915EImT7SrPXYTNp5xfOplqrh6ACoB_BWAefeAoIunfcsoPi5Mkivz6YTSgTh_7F9/s1127/Yankee%20-%20Empire%20State%20Building%20Vegas.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1127" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lVuPwJNxdWrYXFq5hQH5iDs7sjpSm-C_OFS2njir3wlmvIBBUP4-4TY_nCI0qwMSTSSN1K0pK8Pw9Jr1L3WMRFu1DMCX0WvuHAwqT_iE73sImEf7hre1PDf915EImT7SrPXYTNp5xfOplqrh6ACoB_BWAefeAoIunfcsoPi5Mkivz6YTSgTh_7F9/w400-h296/Yankee%20-%20Empire%20State%20Building%20Vegas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For example, if the Empire State Building (the real one, not New York-New York's shorter facsimile) was set at the same distance from home plate as the Aria, you'd only be able to see up to the 67th floor. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Anything above that would be cropped by the 245' tall roof, even if the glass portion were completely retracted. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This means anyone sitting in the stadium's premium seating area would only be able to view 809 of the skyscraper's iconic 1,454 feet; nothing of the dramatic observation deck or spire. And that unobstructed floor count would shrink rapidly as the spectator's seats got higher and higher in the ballpark. In other words, sometimes smaller is better. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">And that is the crux of our Vegas discussion, since the A's will undoubtedly need a roof: They clip a person's sight line triangle. "Peeling it back" is the only way to extend the height in which a static item can be viewed. It is the very reason why New York instituted its </span><a href="https://fontanarchitecture.com/nyc-zoning-setback/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">infamous "setback laws"</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> in the 1910s — adopted by nearly every major city on Earth shortly thereafter. </span><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">So how could Vegas become the second-most prominent skyline in MLB if you can only see up to 809' of a building? Well, you can either be shorter or be further away.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7EFRJ-5PHlmPlaU7ZeQU_3gUMNB5Zi6sMt1FGm6ltcN-Pj30TjhXumHbvee7lYrmCHSCcj0SwaEctCnzqQ0GfEfNTxHTLd1-12A9cseQejbBXnHr28_uTuajV998-hqd0k5i6M07-GAudn1pYsT8Rhp1-IFbOWNgl0KyS7mhuI1y1uoAWpyPRSjo/s616/line-of-sight.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="616" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7EFRJ-5PHlmPlaU7ZeQU_3gUMNB5Zi6sMt1FGm6ltcN-Pj30TjhXumHbvee7lYrmCHSCcj0SwaEctCnzqQ0GfEfNTxHTLd1-12A9cseQejbBXnHr28_uTuajV998-hqd0k5i6M07-GAudn1pYsT8Rhp1-IFbOWNgl0KyS7mhuI1y1uoAWpyPRSjo/w200-h114/line-of-sight.png" width="200" /></a></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">To be seen in totality, that same Las Vegas Empire State Building would have to be set 1,500 feet northeast of the Aria. In a place like Midtown Manhattan, good luck trying to get six blocks away from a tall object without something slightly smaller eclipsing it. This foreshortening effect proves it's better for the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, and White Sox to exist in pocket neighborhoods/boroughs devoid of the super tall skyscrapers.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Las Vegas' best friend is oddly going to be the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), which will prevent excessive verticality in future construction. In fact, the FAA is responsible for many height caps in cities you may not realize. San Diego could certainly justify a skyscraper greater than 500', but you won't find one there; the airport is simply too close to the urban core. Here's y</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">et another prominence-related calculation affecting architectural design. In this case, the angle of elevation is a jetliner's angle of descent. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Similarly, Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas was built at a time where there wasn't much to speak of in that particular part of Nevada. It <i>was</i> far away from downtown. However, The Strip blew up into a modern metropolis and now the airline infrastructure cannot be undone. On the bright side, Vegas will take over the Major League's shortest Uber ride from terminal to stadium gate (10 minutes; besting LaGuardia to Citi Field).</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmB9Ezu2Uzh2bYQ5xu70JIgZAMLfsfGrMKud_JjArFFFh0ToouHxlul9Wc66RQV4jt0AEHfXrfH-svWR-sOvUchPk4mf6NceAN0iujall-4ble_2Y2S9TAIEUH7TM0XovJX3Iv5f89Dp3u-0GHg41SDJ6AC8uP99r7oFhg9nPBYLRfIQkE5QMKs1EM/s1558/Las%20Vegas%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1558" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmB9Ezu2Uzh2bYQ5xu70JIgZAMLfsfGrMKud_JjArFFFh0ToouHxlul9Wc66RQV4jt0AEHfXrfH-svWR-sOvUchPk4mf6NceAN0iujall-4ble_2Y2S9TAIEUH7TM0XovJX3Iv5f89Dp3u-0GHg41SDJ6AC8uP99r7oFhg9nPBYLRfIQkE5QMKs1EM/w640-h350/Las%20Vegas%201.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The flight pattern's proximity also means the current record for building height is a modest 735' </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Fountainbleu Las Vegas, which is <i>still</i> under construction. Second place goes to Resorts World (673'), completed in 2021. Both were only allowed to go above 650' because of how far north they are. Closer to the runways, 600' is about as tall as a hotelier can build. This is where we'll find the A's ballpark and its huge zoning perk: No one can exceed what is already in the neighborhood. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Note: If you're wondering about The Strat and its U.S. record-holding 1,149 feet of observation tower not being considered Las Vegas' tallest building, it does not meet the threshold for habitable floors. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />I would argue Las Vegas has one of the most notorious and easily-recognizable skylines in the world. And if we're repurposing the ideology of topographical prominence for tall buildings, with isolation being a key determinant of high status, then there is no American equivalent. It is an oasis like no other; there is literally nothing more than five stories around The Strip for hundreds of miles. And it will always stay that way; cheaper to grow out than up in the desert Southwest. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Though the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is 29th in the country, warranting a few super tall buildings, Las Vegas is more of a skyline comp to a smaller city like Milwaukee or New Orleans. </span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiScRWrk1-OmfcfSGz4YZuys_g7FnLEcP7RAGkSPorj1Mw9Dh0MQO24ksgWpZiO3KwP-uIOEfdi7iYuEmWBuDvOujjiaZhmWlqsQvTB5VNBwOJAeC-3lUXOyD46MbdgDymG4TKXZFVeARsH5OWvvbfN5yju-jT7q9lvaYDbCuNCBUVacOkkWvdpp_yQ/s1227/Las%20Vegas%2011.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1227" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiScRWrk1-OmfcfSGz4YZuys_g7FnLEcP7RAGkSPorj1Mw9Dh0MQO24ksgWpZiO3KwP-uIOEfdi7iYuEmWBuDvOujjiaZhmWlqsQvTB5VNBwOJAeC-3lUXOyD46MbdgDymG4TKXZFVeARsH5OWvvbfN5yju-jT7q9lvaYDbCuNCBUVacOkkWvdpp_yQ/w400-h255/Las%20Vegas%2011.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Like any team photo from your childhood, it's smaller folks in the front and tall guys in the back. The </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Cosmopolitan towers (Chelsea and Boulevard) each top out at 610', </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Aria at an even 600', Planet Hollywood is 597', Vdara is 556', Waldorf Astoria is 539', Bellagio is 511', and The Martin is 483'. That's seven of the city's top 14 tallest buildings all within a stone's throw from the Vegas ballpark site. But the beauty is none of them are in the 900'+ range. You wouldn't be able to see their entire heights if they were. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;">It helps that the centerpiece of the entire backdrop is the newest, sleekest, and starchitect-studded complex in Nevada. CityCenter really is the who’s who (Libeskind, Vinoly, Foster, Gensler, Arquitectonica, et. alia). These buildings ain’t your grandfather’s Fremont neon oasis, nor the hokey Epcot-esque replication of Paris, New York City, Venice, Rome, or Egypt. The skyline that ownership has at its disposal is some of the city's only authenticity. </span></span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This portion of The Strip is a contemporary supergroup, and this stadium needs to fit in with the neighborhood's quality. Step one is to block out the plasticity that's lurking in a pan shot. Looking at you, Excalibur (or, as I call it, <a href="https://puppet.fandom.com/wiki/Eureeka%27s_Castle" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Eureeka's Castle</span></a>).</span></span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2023/04/vegas-part-ii.html"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Continue reading the next installment</span></a>, where I </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">rank each stadium currently in the Bigs.</span></div></div>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-29239968263733753612022-09-24T09:56:00.016-04:002023-06-09T14:42:36.560-04:00MLB Postseason: Will First-Round Byes Hinder The Title Chances Of The Favorites?<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">AS IT STANDS TODAY, the Cleveland Guardians and the St. Louis Cardinals would both be protected 3 seeds, while their respective league's top Wild Card holds a better record.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCEsl90DwCoSPzgnCw5lF23dz_dr8ifxjhWrnZrXbr6rCIQcq0HLbMEj9ToMI0c853lsWvLE6fiP5fKUmkt0MOuBxmELoTKlN_K0jxDjEyYZT1dtoGsuVc7qGw94llk_NYi7rJAJ39oHsBb9ZZCfiL6AD7rWFrSsv8UkAaSmVn3UixT9p25bz9f86/s660/Yankees%20Eliminated.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="660" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCEsl90DwCoSPzgnCw5lF23dz_dr8ifxjhWrnZrXbr6rCIQcq0HLbMEj9ToMI0c853lsWvLE6fiP5fKUmkt0MOuBxmELoTKlN_K0jxDjEyYZT1dtoGsuVc7qGw94llk_NYi7rJAJ39oHsBb9ZZCfiL6AD7rWFrSsv8UkAaSmVn3UixT9p25bz9f86/w400-h274/Yankees%20Eliminated.webp" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the case of Cleveland, <i>every</i> Wild Card team would have a higher winning percentage. However, the Guardians and Cardinals would be able to avoid a head-to-head clash with their league's top seed until the ALCS/NLCS. Major League Baseball's new Postseason arrangement is slotted so division winners are 1-3 regardless. And the brackets do not re-seed </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— serving up the "worst" remaining team to the best </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">after the Wild Card Series. </span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">With an ALDS/NLDS upset, Cleveland and St. Louis might not have to play the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers at all. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">If the far-and-away favorites somehow fail to reach baseball's Final Four, the Guardians and Cardinals would </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">snag home-field advantage by beating their 2 seeds. Should this scenario ("Doomsday" if you're in the league office) play out, the question of why a 3 seed gets to host a 4 or 5 with a better record will arise. But that scrutiny will pale in comparison to the criticism facing the byes, and their commensurate days off. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Rest v. Rust </i><span style="font-family: verdana;">debate is as old as time. But solid empirical data on what to expect when baseball employs "byes as a reward" can be found in the sport that lives right next door. From 1991 to 2021, the National Football League provided two byes per conference (four total). This is a direct comp for the setup Major League Baseball has laid out for 2022 and beyond. Bonus: It's a statistical sample size that cannot be ignored.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 31 years of this 12-team bracket, only eight seasons saw all four teams that received byes advance. That's only 26% of the time. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">From 2006-2009, in particular, the underdogs greatly outperformed those coming off a week of rest.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> The AFC/NFC 1s and 2s posted a cumulative 6-10 record over that three-year span; meaning you were statistically better off not being a division winner.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The numbers are especially unforgiving to the 1 seeds: 18 losses out of 64 games. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">For being the best teams all year, you'd expect better than a .719 winning percentage in that early round. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">What's worse, both top seeds <a href="https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/01/22/both-no-1-seeds-lose-in-divisional-round-for-first-time-since-2010/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">lost their first playoff game last season</span></a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">in the inaugural run of seven participants per conference, but only one receiving a bye. That's a glaring 0-2 for the only teams that didn't play a competitive game the week prior. It really calls into question whether or not byes are a blessing or a curse.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In other words, despite all the regular season success, the Astros, Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets will not be the last four teams standing. The numbers say one or two of them won't even win a single series.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If parity does reign supreme, is that such a bad thing? Would that oddly be a sign that the byes are "working"? After all, what's the point of the Wild Card Series </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— and the inclusion of all these new teams to the party </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> if it's always going to be the 1s and 2s in the Championship Series?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">For that comp, we turn to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, a.k.a. the <i>King of Parity Being Good for Business</i>. With its most-recent format change, y</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ou could argue that the Big Dance is now a collection of 60 teams that receive first-round byes. They can dress it up with fancy graphics and names, but that's what it is.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">What the First Four has confirmed: Momentum is one hell of a drug. Excluding the two 16 seeds that come out of them annually, the play-in games sure create dangerous opponents for higher seeds watching from the couch. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">An additional game has quickly become a ramp-up rather than a performance-draining layover. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's the list of those who left Dayton, Ohio as First Four victors and followed it with a First Round upset days later: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />2011: 11 VCU (advanced to the Final Four)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2012: 12 South Florida <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2013: 13 LaSalle (advanced to the Sweet Sixteen)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2014: 11 Tennessee (advanced to the Sweet Sixteen)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2015: 11 Dayton <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2016: 11 Wichita State <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2017: 11 USC <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2018: 11 Syracuse (advanced to the Sweet Sixteen)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2019: Only year with no teams advancing <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2020: - </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">No NCAA Tournament - <br /></i><span style="font-family: verdana;">2021: 11 UCLA (advanced to the Final Four)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">2022: 11 Notre Dame <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />If you're an at-large team on the bubble, it's tough to ignore the data: You'd prefer to be sent to UD Arena prior to the "real" First Round. T</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">he schools that share the same seed line </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">have a much lower chance of making a deep run. Since the First Four's inception, the "other" 11 seeds </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— whose </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">tournament begins on Thursday or Friday </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">have a .517 winning percentage in the tournament. Conversely, the 11s that open up on Tuesday or Wednesday have a March Madness record of 32-16 (.667). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It's proof that the probability of winning a race dramatically increases with a running start. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Playoff tournaments, in every sport, have a rhythm that is atypical of the regular season. Those that can settle into the groove/pace of it sooner is going to be better off. Sometimes it is the very format </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— billed as a hindrance to long-term success </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— that actually emulates normalcy the best. In that, an overloaded postseason calendar might feel more like midseason; thus taking the pressure/magnitude of the moment off. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In the case of the First Four, the volume of games within a single week mirrors November-February. Teams like 2011's UCLA squad unlocked something early and never went long enough without a game to cool down. They could've played every single day and been fine. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Fatigue is not a factor when the slate is leisurely compared to the grind. The NHL and NBA play more games in a week during the playoffs than the regular season. Everyone else slows the frequency way down. And that's what makes sitting around for more time than you've sat in months that is unique. NFL teams that rested their starters in Week 17 go two full weeks without feeling contact and running routes against an opponent's scheme. This is going to be something to watch with Major League Baseball's Postseason. The sport that routinely plays 12 games in 13 days all Summer suddenly gives five consecutive days off to a division winner as some type of "you're welcome." </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />You could also argue that the Selection Committee is also steering into the skid. These types of teams popping up annually are ratings gems. They are the darlings that make casual fans tune in that Tuesday prior to the "start of the tournament." </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Who could it be this year? </i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span><span style="background-color: white;">Throw a team that has no business slipping down as far as the 11 line and all but assure a First Round upset.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>Like a 6 seed in March Madness facing an 11 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1987587-relive-vcus-incredible-ride-from-first-four-to-final-four" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">that just won in Dayton two days prior</span></a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> you can run into a team that's been playing far more meaningful games for weeks in advance of your first. That's an ambush waiting to happen for anyone coming out of a bye week, across the entire sports landscape. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span><span><br /><span style="color: #222222;">Should a Wild Card team advance all the way to the World Series, while getting pushed to the brink each round, they would play 22 games (3, 5, 7, 7). </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The record for most games played by a team in a single Major League Baseball Postseason is 20 </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— set by the Tampa Bay Rays, in that quirky 2020 precursor to the current format. That quantity proved to be a little too much to overcome the mighty Dodgers, who set the record for most wins (13) in a single Postseason. With the injection of byes to this newest equation, seeds 3-6 will now need to match those 13 total wins in order to be crowned World Champs; the top two seeds require only the "traditional" 11. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">We'll have to wait and see if that disparity prevents Cinderella from ever capturing another one of these titles. In a short race, it <i>is</i> quite the head start for the favorites. Or, like Atlanta last season, perhaps a longer track grants a "meh" team the chance to </span><a href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/1/3/22762098/atlanta-braves-2021-world-series-championship-oakland-as" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">catch fire and never cool down</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span>The key difference is the win-or-go-home nature of both football and basketball vs. best-of-five series in baseball. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Needs to be a </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2022/08/handicapping-mlb-expansion-nashville.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">best-of-seven Division Series</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">.<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span>One would assume the greater assurance of games will allow the cream to rise to the top; with 1 seeds making it out of that round at clip better than 72%<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Another factor that isn't apples-to-apples is the concept of a pitching rotation. Same point guard, same quarterback game to game. Those receiving byes in Major League Baseball are going to get to stack the deck with aces </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">while those surviving the Wild Card Series purposely limp in with several cards burned. <br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Hungriest dog gets the biggest piece of meat. If all of September felt like a must-win proposition, then it should equate to a few Division Series upsets.<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />One aspect of this 2022 Wild Card weekend </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> with four telecasts required in four cities on the same days </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> is that there could be a huge overload of same-time-zone teams. In the old days of the MLB Postseason, you likely had at least one series that shifted to the West Coast that you could naturally start at 9:40 p.m. EDT. Since the Wild Card teams can all hail from the same division, like they essentially do this year, it's going to be a logistical mess.<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Cleveland and Atlanta are locks to host games Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8. Toronto or Tampa Bay will be the third location. St. Louis will be the western-most city that'll be a part of this group, and they're only as far west as the Central Time Zone. So they'll likely be the de facto late game. I can already hear their fans complaining over that 8:40 p.m. CDT first pitch </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— nearly two hours after their home regular-season games. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />And even with that one match-up (Cardinals vs. either Phillies or Brewers) set as the nightcap, what do you do with the other three? Are Cleveland and Seattle going to play just past noon on a Friday? Or do they even care if all the games are thrown on the board at the same time?<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />No one in the West bails out Major League Baseball by being good enough to host a Wild Card Series, nor bad enough (Astros and Dodgers) to slide down to this play-in round. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Momentum will be something interesting to look out for in Year 1 of this new format. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Unpopular hot take: Every single MLB regular season should end on a Wednesday and not the traditional Sunday. Such a shift is happening this year, solely because of the early-season lockout. My proposal is to permanently push the excitement of these four Wild Card Series to a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It puts baseball in a better spot to challenge weekend football, thanks to it being Postseason and not games 161 and 162. They don't mean what they used to. And if there are any meaningful last-game-of-the-season milestones, records, ties in the standings, then they'll have all the spotlight on them on a Wednesday evening. There's no football of any kind to compete with. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Dodgers haven't played a meaningful game in the ten days since they clinched the West. Will be the longest layoff between competitive games since last year's World Series and the first game of this year's Spring Training. It's a day longer than the All Star Break.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Part of me goes "Toughen up. Handle your business. You're favored for a reason despite any length of lay off." It should provide plenty of Ace vs. Third Starter scenarios. That was the entire push toward the Wild Card Game following the 2011 Postseason. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The other side goes full Robin Williams in </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Good Will Hunting</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">: "It's not your fault." Perhaps the the system is to blame and needs a change. If the disadvantage truly is in getting the bye, then that shouldn't be the reward for having the best regular season moving forward. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />I would bet every penny in my bank account on the American League and National League Championship Series </span><u style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">NOT</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> being two match-ups of 1 vs. 2. In fact, I'd go as far as stating: The likelihood of all four bye recipients being eliminated in the Division Series is greater than all four making it through. I feel like the data supports such a bold claim, because the NFL and NCAA hoops comp is too strong. </span></div>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-62329968046420922572022-09-17T23:29:00.026-04:002023-04-23T23:50:13.839-04:00MLB Relocation: What All This Means For Oakland & Tampa Bay<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">THE LATEST ODDS I saw from a sports book had Athletics relocation at -260 and moving to Las Vegas at +150. So there's hope. Not exactly a line I'd be willing to wager $100 on, but they still appear in my Option 1 above for a viable reason. </span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVYpbmjddEtwTXlvJgUkamX2ZC4hcS7SixN8IuMgDf9A7PzvGA1a2AC8dTv0xHHauB0TEn2DTwGbcct81Q32X2X-ld5aVlkP_yw4gt3xrLKzDRFSX0rpWJTSrXZdtb2g6VOqD7PIc1LhjyIp585s5gavs9UKIn6HeBgC5X5CwrHT-Vg9wO_G5c7aq/s2000/Coliseum%20Attendance.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVYpbmjddEtwTXlvJgUkamX2ZC4hcS7SixN8IuMgDf9A7PzvGA1a2AC8dTv0xHHauB0TEn2DTwGbcct81Q32X2X-ld5aVlkP_yw4gt3xrLKzDRFSX0rpWJTSrXZdtb2g6VOqD7PIc1LhjyIp585s5gavs9UKIn6HeBgC5X5CwrHT-Vg9wO_G5c7aq/w400-h266/Coliseum%20Attendance.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I feel bad penning a requiem for the Oakland Athletics in any of the other hypothetical scenarios. There are hundreds of California-based jobs on the line. At this point, with the NBA's Warriors and the NFL's Raiders already outta there, there's an entire community's livelihood at stake. The acreage around RingCentral Coliseum and Oracle Arena will begin to look like one of America's ghostly <a href="https://www.alltherooms.com/blog/abandoned-amusement-parks/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">abandoned amusement parks</span></a>. Even if the Warriors' move was only 17 miles away, the two organizations </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">left the A's holding the bag. Sure, <a href="https://www.athleticbusiness.com/facilities/stadium-arena/news/15149775/raiders-will-face-awkward-interim-years-before-move" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">their owners faced backlash</span></a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/2019/06/25/andre-iguodala-we-priced-our-real-fans-out/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">internally as loud as the outside noise</span></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Then again, they also weren't the last to leave; the ones "responsible" for Oakland having nothing. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Any relocation fallout should not fall on the A's brass, though. They have been playing catch-up on a series of mismanaged events </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— some of the wo</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">rst financial decisions made in Major League Baseball history </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— since Hall of Famer Connie Mack's death in 1956.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It is almost unfathomable today, but the A's are an O.G. of the American League. We're </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">talking 1901 when Cleveland was the Bluebirds and the Yankees were the Baltimore Orioles (no relation to present-day). We're talking <i>all </i>the way back. The Athletics were the pride of Philadelphia up until 1954; Hall of Famer Connie Mack managed them for 50(!) of those years, winning the World Series five times (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930). </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The 1902 club embraced an insulting comment made by legendary manager John McGraw as he exited the "loser" American League forever. On his way out, he told Athletics owner Ben Shibe he "had nothing more than a white elephant on his hands." And thus, an iconic mascot was born. The franchise proved to be anything but. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Shibe Park was a cathedral, built specifically for them, and the A's were the darlings of a Golden Age in Baseball </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— in navy and white uniforms, I might add</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">When they got sold to a grifter and moved to Kansas City, however, much of what made the original Athletics great evaporated. So the aura that many think they are trying to preserve in Oakland is about six decades too late. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In 1954, stock broker/industrialist Arnold Johnson desired to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. The club he bought and moved was callously irrelevant; first to seize riches on the West Coast was the primary goal. The issue was getting their directly. Due to business ties in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Kansas City, however, Johnson found a landing spot with an escape clause after only three years. And that was the first of many disrespectful moves on the chess board </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">to both the good nature of the Athletics and the city of Kansas City. Both were pawns in an elaborate layover scheme. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For much of the early 1950s, Johnson targeted all the "second" teams in two-franchise cities. He struck out in his hometown of Chicago, as well as St. Louis. In Philadelphia he found an interesting situation: The A's were the darlings for decades </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— actual winners and favorite of a vast majority of the city's residents. They were hardly second fiddle to the lowly Phillies and their decades of futility. However, the Athletics were the one without a solid long-term plan for the future (creation of a farm team, appointing a general manager, funding for a new ballpark, etc.). They had somehow deteriorated into the most vulnerable sports team in Pennsylvania. Johnson pounced and convinced a near-bankrupt Mack family to sell in the eleventh hour.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Ultimately, Johnson failed to win the race to California; much like he failed at else he touched with the club. The former landlord of Yankee Stadium spent most of his time as owner sending talented young A's </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">players to his Bronx buddies. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">John McGraw's "nothing more" insult evolved to now read: "The A's are nothing more than a loosely-controlled Yankees farm club."</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i>— Bill Veeck</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Empathetically, Johnson had a massive brain hemorrhage in March of 1960 and died down in West Palm Beach, Florida </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">where the club played its Spring Training games (Connie Mack Field).</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As soon as Charlie Finley took over Kansas City Athletics control, they were already being shopped around. Too late to be first in Los Angeles and too late to turn back for Philadelphia, it was an inherited mess and not one he brought upon himself. Finley's best remedy was to cut ties and start fresh. Doesn't that sound an awful lot like the A's current state of affairs </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— half in and half out?</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">First it was a proposal to Dallas-Fort Worth in '61 and '62. In 1964, Louisville <i>and</i> Oakland both had relocation agreements get treated seriously enough to go to an internal vote for approval. In between all that nonsense, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the team colors radically shifted to Kelly Green and Fort Knox Gold. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">They even had "Kentucky Colonels" mock-ups made to maintain the new interlocking "KC" on the caps. The spirit of the Philadelphia Athletics was ostensibly erased. So what are we trying to preserve again? </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">By 1967 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"> after deals in Atlanta, Milwaukee, New Orleans, San Diego, and </span><a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/66844/excerpt-dynastic-bombastic-fantastic-reggie-rollie-catfish-charlie-finleys-swingin-as/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"a cow pasture in Peculiar, Missouri"</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> all fell through </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> the relocation list was whittled down to Seattle and a second attempt at Oakland. The latter was approved by the other American League owners on October 18, 1967. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This new A's iteration has been made better by its time in the Bay; it got a chance to shake the cobwebs and reinvent itself after a horrible era. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">But, let's not get this twisted. It's not like this team hasn't moved before. They aren't the Detroit Tigers. They aren't the Cincinnati Reds. The A's have not been operating in one synonymous location for over a century. Hell, they've not yet celebrated a </span><a href="https://www.mlb.com/athletics/fans/50th-anniversary" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">55th anniversary</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">any </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">location. And worse, anywhere they go, their owners seem to grow tired of the situation quickly. That's the slippery slope of moving once; it tends to become easier to do habitually. The repercussions and fan fallout really rolls off the shoulders when you've built up a reputation of "It's just what they do."</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In 1980, Finley (who still owned the team) wanted to move them yet again, this time to Denver. Thankfully, Oakland Ring of Honor member Walter A Haas, Jr. bought the team and kept them around. But that didn't change the fact that the A's were still vagabonds in their soul. They always seem be up for adoption and that changes the narrative surrounding this current relocation proposition. It just does. #SorryNotSorry </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Ripping this Band-Aid would damage the people of Oakland less than it did Cleveland fans losing the Browns or Baltimore losing the Colts. The A's equivalent to those gut-wrenching stories played out already... 68 years ago. You can't "outhurt" that first heartbreak. Connie Mack's Athletics played in Kansas City in green and gold. That takes the cake. Seeing them in Vegas gold wouldn't hold a candle to that heel turn. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The Oakland Raiders were founded in that town. The Oakland A's don't have a comparable claim to pain. Origin matters. And I'd say the same thing to a fellow Cleveland baseball fan regarding their recent name change. They weren't originally the Indians. There were two versions of this franchise before they wound up on your doorstep. Were they ever really yours? </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In is undeniable that every moment spent </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">in Missouri bastardized this once-proud club.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">What is amazing, though, is how resilient the club became. The franchise showed a precursor of what could happen again </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— cleaving off the bad and bookending it with glory and titles (1972, 1973, 1974, 1989). Win a bunch, fall into a pit, get out of the pit, win a bunch again. The first time around it was Kansas City. This time it is the Oakland (Alameda County/McAfee/O.co/Ring Central) Coliseum. And don't get this twisted. In my eyes, their current "pit" is not Oakland itself. I wish them to stay in the area. But the ballpark needs trump all. And in this case, with all </span><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/03/16/seaport-committee-says-oakland-as-ballpark-doesnt-belong-at-howard-terminal/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">eggs in a basket that's falling apart</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, their best option looks to be in the dessert. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">If any franchise in the sport could be best prepared to do this type of relocation/rebrand again, it is the Athletics. They have a track record of compartmentalizing eras of greatness as their own standalone identities. In one snapshot, they are four-time World Champions as the vest-and-polyester-V-neck-wearing-green-and-gold "Swingin' A's" and "Bash Brothers" of Oakland, California. That is diametrically opposite of their five-time World Champion buttoned-up, navy-and-white elephant Connie Mack A's of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">They are already the most successful chameleons in American sports history. Why would another leg in their journey not be easy to take in stride? To the right PR firm, with the right track record of moving around, relocation to Vegas is merely a new chapter in an epic about a worldly traveler. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So who knows? I still have hope Oakland can retain the Athletics. For no other reason than that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nKdk0DP4EI" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Howard Terminal ballpark</span></a> will be a Top 5 in Major League Baseball immediately </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— and for decades to come. Only the A's and the '98, '99, '00 Yankees have pulled off the "three peat" over the past 68 years. That's a sad thing to have slip out of the city where such history was made. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As a baseball fan, though, my paramount concern is what is best for the healthy and stability of the league in its entirety.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Expansion cannot happen until the black sheep of the family </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— Oakland and Tampa Bay </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— are figured out. As far as the A's are concerned, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">that stability can be found in Sin City </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— words I never thought I'd pen ten years ago. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Should the A's leave California, I think the organization will persevere</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> better than a vast majority would. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Dave Kaval and Billy Beane may be the brightest executive </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">tandem</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in Major League Baseball today. That, and t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">he NFL's Raiders moving from Oakland to the very same city helps in the same way a transition to a new school is eased by having an older sibling with you. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>Meanwhile, On Florida's Gulf Coast...</b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The unequivocal best-case scenario for the Rays is to stay. They've only known one home, so this is a very different situation than Oakland. Now, the flip side to that argument is that the organization has only existed for 25 years. The A's were still comfortably Philadelphia's at the same point in their timeline. Thus, things can obviously change (and change again). Nothing is set in stone, especially in Florida. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">However, the other thing working in the Rays favor is Tampa Bay is really two municipalities (Tampa and St. Petersburg) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— double the chances of finding a viable site, double the chances of finding a council to approve financing. </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">I feel the Rays are unfairly tethered to the A's in this whole situation. It is clear that there are 28 stable franchise/stadium situations on the table and they are the black sheep, but the two couldn't be more opposite. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Construction of Tropicana Field began in 1986... 12 whole years before the Rays existed. The "Florida Suncoast Dome" was finished in 1990 in hopes of getting the Chicago White Sox (of all teams) to relocate. It was a boondoggle from the start. St. Petersburg aimed to keep up with Tampa in an arms race of professional sports revenue coming to the Gulf side of Florida. But city officials shot first and asked questions later. There was no tenant agreement signed by anyone as the concrete monstrosity rose from the earth. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">In 1993, the National Hockey League came to the rebranded ThunderDome, but that was a mere stop gap to pay some bills; the Lightning were never going to stay long term. The bigger push in that calendar year was MLB expansion, but St. Pete couldn't overcome the proposals put forth by Denver and fellow Floridian, Miami. So, there this stadium sat; the professional sports market clearly telling it that it was unwanted/unsatisfactory from the very start. And that isn't the fault of the current Tampa Bay Rays. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">Now that they have established themselves as a legitimate Major League franchise (</span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/09/the-best-season-few-came-out-to-see.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">winning seasons talk</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">; attendance figures be damned), the Rays simply need a chance to build a stadium meant for them. This is akin to a teenager that has to wear Dad's ill-fit, hand-me-down sport coat for every commensurate family function. It's a big day when Little Johnny gets his first tailored suit. If it's done right </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— and nestled in the proper neighborhood </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">those putrid ticket sales should begin to take care of themselves. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That's not the same scenario the A's are in. They moved into their current digs in 1968, two short years after their "futuristic," "state-of-the-art," "innovative," "cutting edge" facility opened. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The Rays' home has never once been anything but a pejorative adjective. And the sub-standard asset had already depreciated a full decade by the time it hosted the franchise's inaugural season. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">While the A's enjoyed a long service life in their Oakland </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— establishing the shared facility into a prideful</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> landmark </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"> the Rays have been tenants by force, not choice for their entire existence. True, in both current cases, it is inevitably time to move on. But that is where the similarities end. It's no fault to anyone out West that the most logical progression for the A's is in a different state. The next chapter of the Rays doesn't "have to be" a similar dash to somewhere else. Local options are on the table at a </span><a href="https://www.fox13news.com/news/rays-stadium-in-ybor-city-would-cost-nearly-800m-study-shows" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">much more palatable price tag</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. The tax difference between California and Florida alone are enough to separate the A's and Rays from being judged as equal relocation candidates. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">20 MLB stadiums were built between 1994 and 2012. Two from that list (Turner Field in Atlanta and the Ballpark in Arlington) aren't even their club's current home. And that's my key difference between A's and Rays: Tampa Bay was conceived in the middle of this new ballpark boon and didn't have a chance to participate </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> playing in a second-hand stadium too young to replace. Oakland had every ability to ride the wave and blew it.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I liken the "Due Up Next" list of MLB stadiums to the selection of All-Star Game hosts. With a building erected in 1990, Tampa/St. Pete is just now up in the rotation; Oakland, on the other hand, has been lapped (twice by a few). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">There's not much of an excuse, other than poor forethought, for Oakland not getting while the getting was good.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">San Francisco's Candlestick Park opened in 1960. San Diego (Jack Murphy/Qualcomm) Stadium opened in 1967. It's not like the age of Oakland's stadium snuck up on anyone. Two others in the very same state had direct comps and successfully got out ahead of a new build. The Giants got their baseball-specific park in 2000; the Padres opened theirs four years later. Oakland </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">aiming to settle a stadium financing/location issue nearly two decades after others in the same boat proved it could have been done </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">makes me less sympathetic. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The architectural renaissance of our lifetime is clearly slowing/stalled, as only two have built since 2012. City officials and team ownership not getting a deal done prior to the window closing is enough of a reason to relocate the A's. After 55 years by the Bay, a message is being sent regarding what the local market will bear. Conversely, by virtue of their residency being both singular and not that long (relatively speaking), we must grant the Rays a chance to stay... for now. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Here's to hoping that if MLB relocation must take place, it is only Oakland to Las Vegas. Moving Tampa anywhere but into a baseball-specific, 21st century masterpiece would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Architecture is my life and I have to remain steadfast in the belief that it matters to the success (on and off the field) of professional sports teams. The exorcised Rays have won two American League pennants despite their awful environment. I imagine how a new stadium </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">stitched into the already-amazing fabric of Ybor City and catered to the </span><a href="https://www.oracle.com/industries/food-beverage/sports-entertainment/consumer-trends-2022/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">latest trends of event goers</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> could turn attending a Rays game into the "it" attraction in the Bay, nay the entire league. </span></p>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-74287964527368748392022-09-10T00:00:00.023-04:002023-06-12T23:49:40.581-04:00MLB Expansion: Handicapping Who Joins, What History Tells Us Will Change<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwbuMo0fFNKtHHGwwzyN6hfDl0GJ4DiaTzjxFF0lGgHu_ud9jt-nWo8IRV_zVbnhBZRjDKG0M3CcdnvNX0SUb1LlFJvqPzZlfuTq54UFRXS5rtE2aKomLohs7iqTWxKFUPFQDrtcuHNafDGvfWrGhCh6IkzfG9o9dzVkvSfnK_pS0qq7rvWwwc2Uq/s1440/Portland_Major_League_Baseball_Stadium_05-1440x1365.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="1440" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwbuMo0fFNKtHHGwwzyN6hfDl0GJ4DiaTzjxFF0lGgHu_ud9jt-nWo8IRV_zVbnhBZRjDKG0M3CcdnvNX0SUb1LlFJvqPzZlfuTq54UFRXS5rtE2aKomLohs7iqTWxKFUPFQDrtcuHNafDGvfWrGhCh6IkzfG9o9dzVkvSfnK_pS0qq7rvWwwc2Uq/w400-h379/Portland_Major_League_Baseball_Stadium_05-1440x1365.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rendering of TVA Arhitects' Proposed Portland MLB Stadium</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">THE PROCESS OF selecting Major League Baseball's 31st and </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">32nd franchises reminds me an awful lot of Joe Lunardi's <i>Bracketology</i> each March </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— namely the Bubble Watch</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span>. Those college basketball teams with a strong-enough (yet weak-enough) record to find themselves on that "First Four Out" line get told the same thing each and every year: Handle your business down the stretch and root hard for every nationally-ranked favorite, playing in a one-bid league, to handle theirs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you are the MLB expansion group in Portland or Charlotte, this "win </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">and</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> get some help" situation is the one you currently find yourself in. Las Vegas and Nashville </span><b style="font-family: verdana;"><u>are going</u></b><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to Major League Baseball's equivalent of the "Big Dance." Full stop. You just have to hope and pray they don't steal away your one and only method of joining them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>What We Know:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If the Oakland Athletics do not get their Howard Terminal Project <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> a 34,000-seat waterfront stadium <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> approved by the end of this calendar year, their ownership group will relocate the club to Las Vegas. This has long been conjecture, but was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/18/sports/baseball/oakland-athletics-las-vegas.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">recently confirmed</span></a>. The ripple effect of that becoming reality: An expansion spot opens up to the field as Las Vegas' application would obviously be withdrawn.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The second thing we know is that Nashville remains the strongest contender in expansion talk <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> arguably more so than Vegas. <a href="https://www.mlbmusiccity.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Music City Baseball</span></a> has the best funding proposal, best vision for a stadium, they fit a geographic need, and are in a city that continues to boom. With Nashville SC joining Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2020, the Tennessee capital is now home to three of the five major professional sports leagues in North America. One way or another, the Nashville Stars will exist in Major League Baseball by the year 2030. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Where Things Get Interesting:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">What if the Rays can't secure a new stadium deal in <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2022/06/29/meet-the-new-rays-stadium-same-as-the-old-rays-stadium/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">either side of Tampa Bay</span></a>? Could Nashville be the relocation destination? I don't see why not. If I were looking for the softest landing spot, I'd start with the most viable expansion candidate nearby. In that, Nashville is "only" 700 miles due north and maintains a somewhat geographic synergy with the American League East. It sure beats the Rays' cockamamie plan to <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/01/20/tampa-montreal-rays-split-season-plan-mlb-shuts-down" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">split time with Montreal</span></a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">With these two plausible storylines on the <i>Wheel of Hypothetical Outcomes</i>, the potential exists that both Expansion Candidate 1 <i>and</i> 2 pull their name out of the running </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— as they would gain access through another channel (relocation). Step right up... hmm, who exactly is #3 and #4? It's time to investigate that MLB Bubble Watch. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>What Gets Overlooked In All This Expansion Talk:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There's much written about the <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/expansion-candidates-cities-nashville-montreal-las-vegas-charlotte-portland-ben-verlander" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">qualities that distinguish the cities</span></a> vying for future MLB franchises. To many, population (current size, recent growth, and media market) is the key factor that separates contenders from pretenders. And while I may agree, I do so with a caveat. The awarding of new franchises cannot be done in a data vacuum of economic development fact sheets and feasibility studies. Thankfully, i</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">f history tells us anything, it won't. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Logistical variables </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— i.e. travel, competitive balance, and the symmetry of teams per league/division </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">are going to heavily influence the decisions made by an expansion committee, plus the commissioner (Rob Manfred or his heir). Simply put: The gears that presently make the league tick have to benefit from adding two more to the machine. Sheer size of the city isn't much of a guarantee here. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In this, I hate to break it to folks in Montreal and Mexico City, San Antonio and Orlando... you're not getting a Major League Baseball team. And it has nothing to do with your population or tourism projections.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Remember, the "point" of getting to 32 is to help a league arrive at an easily-divisible quantity for scheduling and Postseason purposes. It works well in the NFL (two conferences; four divisions of four). The NHL is still working through how 32 truly makes the on-ice product better. For now, it seems like addition for the sake of addition. And that reason cannot be brushed aside. It serves as a cautionary tale. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Recent expansion undertaken by the NHL (from 30 to 31, now 32) and MLS (from 28 to 29 next season) had flimsy foundational justification. There was very little value-add when it came to providing balance and ease to league operations. If anything, it created more headaches. Fair or foul, these particular franchise injections were viewed as not much more than cash grabs; </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">propping up the value of all other ownership groups and paying back early investor debts. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I said on this site years ago, ad nauseum, if Major League Soccer truly cared about the maximization of organizational functionality, they would have <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">capped growth at 27 franchises</span></a>. More isn't always more. It waters down the talent pool, adds to the quantity of fan bases in dismay over not winning (still only one champion crowned in each of these leagues per season), and creates "more mouths to feed" from a total revenue perspective. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And that last part is important. There clearly needs to be a financial "penalty" to pay the others that are letting you into their exclusive club so far down the timeline. You miss out on all the pain points of a league in its infancy and reap all the revenue-sharing benefits of contemporary times. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">With a speculative MLB expansion fee of $2.2 Billion, it is tough to argue that it is not the biggest catalyst for owners to vote "yes" on clubs 31 and 32. That price tag <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> merely to buy a seat at the table <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> is more than the net worth of 20 current big league clubs. $4.4 Billion added to the kitty can sure go a long way for the small-market clubs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, I'll give Major League Baseball more credit than the NHL and MLS (and likely soon, the NBA). Their "why" surrounding 32 actually has a leg to stand on. The commissioner's motives fall more in line with those the National Football League possessed at the turn of this century. I'd never call it altruism, but it's not forcing the new kids at school to buy your lunch all year, either. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">After all, the whole system's gotta work or it's not worth doing (for any amount of money). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">People are quick to forget how sloppy NFL alignment was at the beginning of this century. As recently as 2001, there were 31 teams, split into six divisions. You had the Atlanta Falcons <i>still</i> playing in the NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals called the NFC East home. The NFC Central had all these teams from the Upper Midwest... plus Tampa Bay?! The winner of the AFC Central had to best five divisional opponents; all other divisions only had four. In this case, an increase to 32 franchises (adding Houston in '02 and switching to eight total divisions) had much more to do with getting their house in order vs. expansion fees subsidizing fellow billionaires. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The NFL was chaotic to manage and impossible to provide equal opportunities for playoff inclusion. Travel was unfair. Schedules never offered competitive balance. They needed simple and neat, and expansion gave the league office a perfect inflection point to <i>Etch-A-Sketch</i> it all and start anew. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not that Major League Baseball is in comparable disarray, but there are comparable benefits in getting to 32 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— a</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">nd plenty of clubs on </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2022/09/08/the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams-2022/?sh=5f80cfc385c4" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Forbes' World's Top 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams</span></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to say the league isn't crying poor. This particular decade is providing as good a reason as any </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">to make any/all sweeping changes to the league (and sport). <span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">Manfred might as well push for everything he wishes to alter while </span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34556355/major-league-baseball-passes-significant-rules-changes-including-pitch-clock-banning-defensive-shifts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the walls are stripped down to the studs</span></a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>How It Will Go Down:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first thing to consider is how the league office would want to sub-divide its 32 teams </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> with the obvious "American" and "National" split done 120+ years ago. While the initial fork on the family tree is easy, that next one could certainly spark fiery debate. How many divisions will each league possess?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For a sport full of purists, my answer should be satisfying: Two. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">This takes the game back to that "Pre-Central Era" I vaguely remember as a child. There's an East and a West. The end. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Without question, this arrangement will get crushed on social media. The cleanest versions of the criticism shall include "old-school" or "setting the game back four decades." But I'm here to tell you: There are many in the baseball-loving community that still push back at the very premise of a division </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">and a "Postseason" for that matter. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My father's demographic can fondly recall the days of winning the league or bust. Sure wasn't fun to be 12.5 games back by the end of May, but the objective was clearly understood by all parties: Finish atop the AL or NL and you earned that World Series berth. I'm suggesting we spin the dial, but perhaps not <i>that </i>far into the past. We'll also take some good parts from the here and now. Can't have all my fellow millennials mad at me. </span></p><p><b style="font-family: verdana;">Historical Context On MLB Expansion:</b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There had been plenty of <a href="https://dodgerblue.com/this-day-dodgers-history-national-league-owners-vote-unanimously-to-approve-move-from-brooklyn-to-los-angeles/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">iconic/gut-wrenching relocation stories</span></a> in Major League Baseball's past, but their first foray into expansion didn't come about until 1961. The American League needed to respond to the successes both New York National League franchises were experiencing in California. The creation of the Los Angeles Angels was designed to be that shot across the bow of the Dodgers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That same off-season saw the Washington Senators move to Minneapolis-St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins. So the American League wasted no time playing the second expansion card in their hand... on a new iteration of the Washington Senators. <i>What?</i> And you thought Cleveland getting the Browns "back" via expansion happened quickly. It only took D.C. four months.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Could you imagine Oakland receiving a brand new team the minute the A's leave for Vegas? A confusing decision made many years ago; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">one that I'll have to research further at a later date</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The very next year, the National League responded with growth to ten clubs of its own. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In doing so, the days of 162-game schedules became a permanent fixture in both leagues.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> The expansion cities were a taste of old world and new. Yankee-hating New York baseball fans </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">still reeling over the loss of their beloved Giants or Dodgers </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> were encouraged to "Step right up and greet the Mets." Meanwhile in Houston, the franchise known today as the Astros was born; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">originally branded the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Colt .45s. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1969, four new teams (the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos, and San Diego Padres) began play and subsequently spawned two divisions in each league. It was official. The nation had outgrown the pleasant setup of 16-20 teams placed into single columns in the newspaper standings. However, it was the only format anyone had known for 68 straight years; one hell of a run for anti-change continuity lovers. It would only take 28 more before league commingling was acceptable. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">When the jump to 24 teams did occur, fans had to be introduced to a League Championship Series and there were multiple playoff participants (gasp). If you ask me, this was the sweet spot in MLB history worth replicating.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Note: Expansion, like an organ transplant, doesn't always take. The Seattle Pilots lasted only one season in the Pacific Northwest before being sold;</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> they were moving to Milwaukee for the 1970 and playing as the Brewers. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The buyer? None other than Allan H. "Bud" Selig. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">To be fair, the Pilots financial/stadium problems were not all their own. <span style="background-color: white;">They were originally not set to start play until </span>1<span style="color: black;">971</span>,<span style="background-color: white;"> along with the </span>Kansas City Royals<span style="background-color: white;">. However, the date was moved up to </span>1969<span style="background-color: white;"> under pressure from </span>Senator<span style="background-color: white;"> </span>Stuart Symington<span style="background-color: white;"> of </span>Missouri<span style="background-color: white;">. Professional baseball had been played in Kansas City </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">in one form or another </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">from </span>1883<span style="background-color: white;"> up </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">until the A's left for Oakland after the 1967 season. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">Symington threatened legal action against Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption if Kansas City had to wait three years for baseball to return. T</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">he American League would not allow only one new team to enter the league. This meant Seattle had to rush to match Kansas City's readiness. Long story short: They did not.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1977, MLB expansion once again grew in an less-than-ideal way. The American League added two clubs (Toronto and Seattle's second try), but that curmudgeonly ol' National League stayed at 12 clubs for the next seventeen years. In 1993, the NL finally capitulated </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— adding</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies to balance things back out. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The following season was figuratively and literally a "Wild" year for Major League Baseball. The modest formats of yesteryear clutched their pearls. Six total divisions, eight playoff entrants... two Wild Cards. <i>What the hell is this?!</i> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And like Marty McFly playing "Johnny B. Goode" in <i>Back to the Future</i>, the world wasn't ready for it <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> as evidenced by the strike that cost us all a World Series <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> but "your kids are going to love it." </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">It wasn't perfectly divisible, but we had a balanced East (5), Central (5), and West (4) in both leagues. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">When the expanded Postseason finally got a chance to debut in 1995, it flourished and hasn't looked back. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">1998 saw two more teams (Tampa Bay and Arizona) ushered into the mix. It gave the top tier of professional baseball 30 members and that is where it still sits to this day. If expansion does reappear until 2027 or 2028, Major League Baseball will go 30 years without adding a franchise; the second-longest period of consistent quantity Major League Baseball has ever known (1901-1960). Despite its age, relative to other American sports leagues, it's not really a league with a rich history of expanding. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For starters, it began with a much higher volume than most. 16 teams is more than the original 11 teams in the NBA (BAA), inaugural 10 of the NFL (APFA), founding 10 of MLS, and blows the doors off the "Original Six" of NHL lore. So it never really had to grow by all that much; not reliant on mergers to add bulk like most. MLB was already at 24 members by 1969. For perspective, the NBA didn't reach 24 franchises until 1988 and that involved an era of contraction (down to eight teams) from 1955-61. Thus, Major League Baseball is the outlier for always adding/never subtracting, not requiring the assistance of another association to join forces, and keeping the total waves of expansion under seven ('61, '62, '69, '77, '93, '98). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Another commonality is that it has always grown in pairs, even if it was rushed to avoid legal ramifications in 1969. There's never been a season with an odd-number hanging out there <i>because of</i> expansion </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">like the Vegas Golden Knights (NHL) from 2017 to 2020, or how St. Louis City SC (MLS) will begin next season as club 29 for some indefinite amount of time. In this, Major League Baseball is good about being calculated, intentional, and measured when it comes down to growth. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Additionally, American League/National League/joint-MLB expansion committees have a solid reputation of choosing stable markets that eventually thrive. Of the fourteen expansion franchises, eight have won a World Series </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— accounting for 12 titles since 1969. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Those "Amazin' Mets" </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">along with the Blue Jays, Marlins, and Royals </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> have two rings bearing their names. The </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Diamondbacks, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Angels, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Colt .45s/Astros,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Expos/Nationals each have one. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For your next Trivia Night: The Senators/Rangers, Pilots/Brewers, Padres, Mariners, Rockies, and (Devil) Rays are the six franchises that have not yet reached baseball's summit. Everyone but the Mariners have had their shot. Texas and Tampa Bay have been the closest most recently; both falling in the World Series on two occasions over the past 14 years. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">By comparison, 12 NFL franchises have never won a Super Bowl </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">four failing to even play in "The Big Game." Eleven in the NBA have never lifted Larry O'Brien Trophy. And now 12 NHL clubs have never passed around the Stanley Cup (a little unreasonable to ask that of the Kraken, though the Golden Knights almost pulled it off). Put it all together and it means some combination of Nashville/Las Vegas/Charlotte/Portland/Montreal/San Antonio will, statistically speaking, have a better shot at winning a championship than Franchises 31 and 32 in any other sport. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The lucky MLB cities should have nothing to worry about on the field... at least until that first ballpark begins to look tired and worn. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Historically speaking, the American and National Leagues bigger problem is putting the kibosh on relocation. It is a </span><a href="https://i.redd.it/o68flej3h9541.png" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">notorious track record</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> that spells worse news for the Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays than any of the newbies. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The noteworthy thing about those six decades (1901-1960) in which Major League Baseball tacitly prohibited expansion is that the settled quantity was 16. The reason? That math </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> a number divisible by two </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">and</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> four </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> worked too damn well for anyone to want to change it. Something to think about when lobbying for 32. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><b style="font-family: verdana;">Once It's Right, Don't Mess With It:</b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">All I know is it </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">better be another 59 years before this expansion process comes back around. </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, kids, a time before ubiquitous Interleague Play was a thing. And in this part of the story, it killed Major League Baseball's perfect symmetry. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">These unbalanced days of the past should serve as cautionary tales to never get starry eyed over thoughts of 34 or 36. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Upon the completion of the 1997 season, a move was necessitated to keep the peace. Though the era of AL and NL working independently was rapidly dissolving </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— with the trial run of </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">nterleague Play successfully completed </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— Major League Baseball wasn't yet equipped to handle 30 franchises, split 15 and 15. One league had to have 16 and the other 14, for even numbers in laying out a schedule. Now the two expansion teams (Arizona and Tampa Bay) could have entered into the same league. After all, there was precedent in '61, '62, '77, and '93. Instead of those being glowing case studies, however, they were exactly what owners didn't want to have happen again. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Typically, freshly-minted teams perform very poorly in all sports. Expansion Drafts don't necessarily fetch athletes at their career pinnacle in filling out a brand new roster. A lack of chemistry and growing pains are a lot to overcome in order to win much Year 1. Thus, established teams salivate to play expansion teams. The Toronto Blue Jays (59-102) and Seattle Mariners (56-104) had a combined win percentage of .358 in their inaugural season of 1977... both in the American League. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Five AL clubs put up over 800 runs that season; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the highest quantity since 1938. In particular, t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">he division-winning Yankees and Royals feasted on that expansion-level pitching. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">And those good times lasted quite awhile. It was 1983 before either Toronto or Seattle produced a winning record. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">They were hardly the worst MLB expansion duo, however. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">In 1962, the Mets and Colt .45s propelled the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers each over 102 wins </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in part because of how awful the late arrivers were out of the gate. New York and Houston's summated record: 104-216 (.325). </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The highwater mark for an expansion twosome was turned in by the Washington Senators <i>2.0</i> and the Los Angeles Angels; that pair put up 131 wins in 1961. If you can believe it, this dubious "record" was equaled </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— right on the number </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">when the Marlins and Rockies joined the National League. Florida and Colorado combined for a 131-193 record during their maiden voyage. They did</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> lose the tiebreaker on win percentage (.407 to .404), though. No champagne was popped so that detail went unknown to all those involved. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Clearly, presenting two instances of "fresh meat" to one league (and none to the other) was not ending well. There's no secret as to why this was a point of emphasis for 1998's crack at expansion. Even though the Rockies made the playoffs in 1995, and the Marlins had risen to World Champion status in just four years, the results were viewed as outliers. The Rays and Diamondbacks <b><u>had to be</u></b> split up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In order to make the system work, acting commissioner Bud Selig volunteered </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the Milwaukee Brewers he owned as tribute </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— sending the club from the American League to the National</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shockingly, the NL continued on with 16 up until 2013, when it was finally apparent 15 and 15 was workable from an "Interleague All The Time" standpoint. Curiously, the Houston Astros </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> not a return of the Milwaukee Brewers </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> were the club sent back the other way. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My two cents: Now that we have the scales leveled, don't play around with it. Add a single National League team and a single American League team and be done forever. 32 is perfect. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>What To Do With The Regular-Season & Postseason Format:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">2012 marked the addition of a second Wild Card. The format was sold as expanded opportunities for contending teams, but its one-game nature was really designed to cut down a second-place team from equal Postseason footing as the division winners. It was fluky and fun; a gimmick, but one that worked well from an entertainment point-of-view. Ultimately, there simply wasn't enough protection granted to teams that amassed as many as 106 wins (Los Angeles in '21). The entire run could end in a single game.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So now, partly because a Covid-shortened 2020 season flirted with additional participants and partly because of the NFL's success with the format (though even they have moved on to more more more), we now have a two-bye/six-team bracket in both leagues. The structure gets its debut this 2022 season, so we shall see how it works. My early opinion is that it pairs better with 32 clubs, and I'll show you why. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For starters: Two byes and three divisions is clunky. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">If anything, I feel like this format change was made </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">because </i><span style="font-family: verdana;">expansion is closer than we may think. Establish it in the mind of the casual baseball fan a few seasons in advance, show its imperfections, and then a two-bye/two-division-winner system will fit like a warm glove to a frigid hand. We'll be longing for OCD satisfaction on par with Noah's Ark (two for every two) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">so much so that any pushback regarding divisional contraction should fall by the wayside. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hopefully my Cleveland </span><strike style="font-family: verdana;">Indians</strike><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Guardians can hang on to win the American League Central this year. In doing so, they'll have the same credentials as the Yankees (likely winners of the AL East) and the Astros (running away with the AL West). The glaring difference will be in the win total; Cleveland won't be in the same stratosphere as New York and Houston. If they get in at all, it will be as the third-best American League division winner. Their reward for equaling the feats of the Yankees and Astros would suddenly be no better than the top Wild Card. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since 2001, the NFL has had a minimum of two division winners (per conference) playing in their Wild Card Round. With a format tweak in 2020, this number has grown to three on each side of the bracket. Major League Baseball is oddly singling out one and only one; surrounding them with a bunch of runners-up. This means a club like the Guardians has to escape a best-of-three series (albeit exclusively at home) that no other American League division winner has to. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">What I'm about to say next might surprise you, however. I'm not going to scream about such a predicament being unfair for Cleveland. I don't think it is at all. It is a case of poor optics and bad branding, though. The Guardians aren't division-winner material this year, period. So shame on Major League Baseball for laying out too many lifeboats for them to snag one. Call the Guardians what they are: The fourth best team in the American League that plays east of the Mississippi. Trim it down to two divisions and this issue takes care of itself. New York and Houston run off with 100-win seasons and the only byes available. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cleveland as a five or six seed in an American League Wild Card round (exclusively filled with "Wild Cards") suddenly doesn't bother me at all. The Postseason match-up would change; the road team for all three (*if necessary) games in the play-in round. Their odds to advance to an ALDS would likely be comparable </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— minus the expectation and label of being some crowned champion of anything already</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Those types of regular-season titles will start requiring 95-win seasons once again. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The current 3 seeds (St. Louis and Cleveland) would host the 4 seeds (Atlanta and Tampa Bay) in the Championship Series </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> if the Yankees, Astros, Mets, and Dodgers all get bounced immediately after their byes. On its surface, this doesn't make much sense. Atlanta is six games better than St. Louis in the standings; the Guardians have the sixth-best win percentage in the American League. Being handed Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the NLCS/ALCS at home, against a superior team from a tougher division, doesn't add up. All because of geographical alliance? A return to two divisions rights this wrong. The Cardinals and Braves would both be viewed as Wild Cards and the seeds would flip. Same would be true for the Guardians and the Rays.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">This year's AL Central, and its inevitable 88-win champion, might feel a tad embarrassed by its record compared to the six overall Wild Cards in the field. That said, I won't hesitate for a second to buy up that "2022 Postseason" merch (as long as its devoid of that <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2022/08/swing-and-miss-iconography-overtakes.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">stupid "Splitfinger G" logo</span></a>). The main reason would be to mercilessly troll the White Sox for thinking Tony La Russa would do anything but sink their much better ship. So let's not begin moving the goal posts on playoff qualification standards that would allow <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/08/27/tony-la-russa-reacts-white-sox-getting-booed-off-field-at-home-fans" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">dumpster fires like this Chicago team</span></a> to sneak in. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Twelve out of 32 (37.5%) making the playoffs also feels on the nose </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— in terms of Postseason Inclusion Percentage (PIP) among North American professional sports. The 40% of this year's new system is undeniably too much for Major League Baseball standards; encroaching on the 43.8% of the NFL's newest seven-team AFC/NFC brackets. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Don't even get me started on the NHL or NBA. Why have the 82 regular-season games? At least the NHL is trending in the right direction; down to 50% thanks to recent expansion. Counting the Play-In Tournament, however, the NBA has grown out of control; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">66% of their teams get in. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Leave that nonsense for the sports without 162 opportunities for the cream rise to the top. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Hopefully this contemporary MLB format is here to stay, even as a Las Vegas, Nashville, Las Vegas, Montreal, Portland, or Charlotte joins. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">My only qualm with the current configuration is a five-game Division Series. Since the NBA switched its first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven in 2003, Major League Baseball has become the one applicable holdout in North American sports. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The only issue with such a proposal for baseball is time. We're already creeping deep into the frigid November calendar as is. However, watching a team with a bye get eliminated after three losses doesn't seem right either.<b> </b></span></p><p><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"></span></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Some leagues view playoff duration as a point of pride. It is a grind and a gauntlet that always crowns the most-deserving champion. The NHL not only embraces its "Second Season" moniker, but markets it as such.<b> </b>While the playoff quantity never truly comes close to a second full helping of 82 games, teams </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i>could</i> end up playing a schedule that is 34.2% the length of the regular season.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">With a new play-in game for the NBA, an 8 seed could end up playing 30 games after their traditional 82. That is an insane 36.6%. Baseball is a relative sprint by comparison; a maximum of 13.6% for those that require the Wild Card Series. Is the answer more playoff baseball games? The fan appetite and weather don't seem to suggest "yes." </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This isn't to say that the general public finds Postseason baseball games less exciting than playoff NHL match-ups. More of the former is definitely welcomed by all; October baseball is high drama and fun to be a part of. The key difference between sports is in total quantity of games from Opening Day to trophy presentation. Even with four full rounds </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">and a maximum of 28 additional games </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the NHL's potential total can only ever get to 110. Baseball's 162 plus 21-23 (depending on bye status) teeters on excessive. No one is here for watching/playing 185 games a year. Perhaps it is the regular-season quantity that needs the change.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Slimming down to 156 (or so) would certainly retain the importance of the regular season. If anything, it might change a club's sense of urgency and make for more consistent attendance figures. And a continued inclusion of twelve participants prevents a majority of MLB teams from being sellers at the Trade Deadline. Those with the extreme position of "win your division or you're not truly a World Series caliber team" should be happy with a few skipping an entire playoff round. The AL East and West, NL East and West Champions would only need 12 wins to hoist the Commissioner's Trophy. Everyone else would be required to post 14. That disparity alone should make division winners champions more often. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Those saying "Bring on the parity and as many Wild Cards as you want" should be satisfied with my modifications, too. For the first time in baseball history, a fifth-place finisher in a division could potentially make the playoffs. Think about that. Very progressive and growth oriented.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As it stands now, the 2020 Brewers are the only fourth-place finisher to ever play in the Postseason, and that gets a major asterisk. Because of the Covid-shortened regular season, eight teams per league made it in that year. I, for one, don't want to live to see the day where there is another 8 seed in a Major League Baseball playoff bracket. This is not the NBA or NHL where everything resets and damn-near everyone gets to participate. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">For what it's worth: The 2013 Reds, 2015 Cubs, 2016 Orioles, 2017 Rockies, and 2021 Yankees finished third in their respective divisions but qualified. The 2022 Blue Jays or Rays should join the group, in what will become far more common year after year. Outside shot to the 2022 Orioles sending four AL East teams to this Postseason, with only one representative from the other two divisions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The other recent headline that suggests change is a-comin' focuses on future schedules. Move over, "at least one interleague series is happening at all times." That's so 2013. The new trend is straight out of the NBA and NHL playbook: <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/mlb-2023-schedule-changes-explained-balanced/tyd7nhrbozeqqiwwfpmklw5l" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Play everyone in the professional ranks every single season</span></a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In modern times, Ballclub X has traditionally played 76 of its 162 games against division opponents. It really allowed that score to be settled on the field. You want that commemorative year placed on your outfield wall next Opening Day? Here are plenty of chances to earn wins against those you're chasing (or trying to keep at bay) in the divisional standings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Beginning next season, however, that quantity dips to 52 <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> the lowest its ever been in MLB history. Is this good for the growth of the game? </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Was 76 tremendous overkill?</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Could this move somehow backfire? All too early to tell. My suspicion is that 52 <i>is</i> a tad low. Much like in the collegiate ranks, the thought process of a clubhouse full of baseball players is to win the micro first. Win your conference (college); win your division (professional). Doing so automatically qualifies you for the next gauntlet, so preseason aspirations have to begin there. Even with newer (and abundant) ways to sneak in, this primary objective has to be reflected in the schedule.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's a chart of regular-season options I believe Major League Baseball has at its disposal when 32 teams rolls along:<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismu1wSnxcu2aJBUVXQDrVn0pnvii4MwUmfTocufwkvYofveuafNMML1CJDB3IcCcbbnQ9ZzcPdzxKGYQkyDL95hlZr9ylHpoESLZ18EffdY5je1Db1h_vbafHabRfAwXm6e2vxAiFSxHCpNsa9LzX7WHDEI9BuZRffVYklSSlj3LGhXnUuHy5UrO_/s2559/MLB%2032%20Team%20Schedule.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2559" data-original-width="1656" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismu1wSnxcu2aJBUVXQDrVn0pnvii4MwUmfTocufwkvYofveuafNMML1CJDB3IcCcbbnQ9ZzcPdzxKGYQkyDL95hlZr9ylHpoESLZ18EffdY5je1Db1h_vbafHabRfAwXm6e2vxAiFSxHCpNsa9LzX7WHDEI9BuZRffVYklSSlj3LGhXnUuHy5UrO_/s16000/MLB%2032%20Team%20Schedule.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So which one has your vote? What you select says a lot about what you value in a Major League schedule. Do you care if the total slate eclipses 162? Is coming back to the days around 154 more of a goal? Either way, we're going to have to be okay letting go of some 162-game based records. There's not a way to make any logical sum equal the status quo. And that's fine. I don't want to be beholden to that number. The competitive balance inside the formula is far more important.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Three of the options present a club with more than the current 76 divisional games. Choosing one of those shows you care about winning the division above all else. If such a distinction is tethered to a bye, then a surge in these type of games has some serious validity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But isn't the new initiative to play every single club in MLB every single year important, too? I mean, I'm all for seeing some fresh faces more than once every eight year cycle. Is the frequency of Option 5 the perfect compromise? Cleveland, for instance, would play four games (two at home, two on the road) against the entire National League West in odd years and then the same thing with the NL East in even years. Your entire division would do the same, so it would be equitable. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">You'd have balance against your Interleague partners rather than some arbitrary Detroit vs. Colorado rivalry warranting an extra game. It would up that Interleague frequency that Manfred & Co. are clearly pushing for at present. But it doesn't force the issue, either. Knowing I get to play in San Diego </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">and</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> their young stars get to come to Progressive Field in the same season is exciting, even if I have to skip a year for such a proposition to come back around. That next season I'd get treated to Citi Field as well as Francisco Lindor's return. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The only trouble with this particular proposal is the threat of dipping too low into the regular-season quantity. Would owners give up the revenue of three home games compared to the current 81-game guarantee? </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">I know my friends would sure enjoy a shorter season, and the idea of starting the playoffs in warmer weather.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you're into the opposite <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> seeing the calendar lengthen as expansion takes shape <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> then I believe Option 1 is the best beyond 162. I say this because of logistical reasons. A 12-game allotment with your divisional foes are easier than 11, but it's not impossible. It also takes that value to 77 games </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— one off the traditional 76. Likely 15 two-game series. That would be a pain in the butt for travel and if any of them rained out. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Needing to play five games against eight opponents is tricky in the way the league calendar operates. There aren't any [intentional] five-game series on the books. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since MiLB moved towards an experimental six-game series, perhaps by the time expansion comes around, most young big leaguers will be accustomed to playing longer stretches than four consecutive games against a single opponent. But even if you could, you are knocking out all of your games against a team from the other division in one ballpark, in a single week. That doesn't seem like a tenable solution.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Personally, I like the concept of Option 3 and 159 games. Despite a great disparity in total games on the slate, it has a college football (home one year, road the next) feel to it. The nine divisional games could be broken down into a four-game series at site X, with a three-game and quick two-gamer at site Y. Every year, this 5:4 ratio of home/road would flip. It would be like having the hammer in a curling match: "This year we've got that extra home game against the Twins!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The six crossover match-ups are easy three here, three there; the modern standard. The interleague tilts would be placed on an annual rotation <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> at Colorado in 2030, vs. Colorado in 2031. The decrease in total regular season games isn't a gut punch to the purists, and it gets those newer Wild Card Series done before the old regular season ended. That half a week in calendar shedding might not seem like a lot, but weather in the north can turn on a dime come October.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's to hoping we have a future Opening Day lineup that looks something like this (notice all the warm-weather/dome hosts):</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9byNAHCHgYOVOFTGWUYDAKJmMWdSiyJbo8GxVC4qN0ZxfiJ54FcRyisaeavrpww4R9JahWgiGYx4tEefM4a__qgJxZBYALBMdFp0X6WykkXp7TochRgJmAl6wwAIdHgnxQ1JfC4yNs9s3yzNxBV4B0aD27ILwpw7XtlNid8B3hMbklxSNrDYt-3G/s1856/MLB%20Opening%20Day%20Scoreboard.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1856" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9byNAHCHgYOVOFTGWUYDAKJmMWdSiyJbo8GxVC4qN0ZxfiJ54FcRyisaeavrpww4R9JahWgiGYx4tEefM4a__qgJxZBYALBMdFp0X6WykkXp7TochRgJmAl6wwAIdHgnxQ1JfC4yNs9s3yzNxBV4B0aD27ILwpw7XtlNid8B3hMbklxSNrDYt-3G/w640-h294/MLB%20Opening%20Day%20Scoreboard.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Traps To Avoid:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Going with four divisions of four teams, like the NFL, will fail in Major League Baseball. For one, football has only 10% of the regular season games available to them vs. baseball. They have to keep the rivals each team must play home </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">and</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> away to a minimum. Secondly, it doesn't add anything but fatigue for baseball. Sure, you'd have a really nice Great Lakes Division in the American League </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago. But they'd play far too many series against one another; a problem MLB just tacitly admitted to by shrinking divisional games and expanding the league crossover opponents to fans. It would also be super kitschy and difficult to name each division uniquely (and without sounding like you stole from mid-major college conferences). National League Heartland: St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Colorado. American League Atlantic: New York, Baltimore, Boston, Tampa Bay (which is on the Gulf side). See... doesn't work. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If anything, the course correction in the sports landscape the past few years has been to take away protections from those that don't deserve it. The optics of a 7-9 Carolina Panthers team</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">hosting</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> an NFC Wild Card match-up with the 11-5 Arizona Cardinals, back in 2014, aren't great. Sometimes over dividing your total into too small of clusters is a problem. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Go back to two divisions with byes the reward for winning. There would be fewer occurrences</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> of a second-place team finishing above everyone else in the league. That, or seed every single playoff team on overall record and be done with it. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Beginning two years ago, the NBA rescinded a vow it used to make to division winners </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— no longer guaranteeing them seeds 1-3 in each conference. The Utah Jazz, winners of the Northwest Division in May, were the West's 5 seed. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Point is, even in a lopsided/topsy-turvy year, you could never call anyone that stands atop a division with <u>seven</u> names below theirs a "fluke." The same isn't true in clusters of only four. Sure, there's a "Group of Death" every World Cup, but there's also a group that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> purely on merit </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> shouldn't see any of its members advance to the knockout round. Only having to be better than three others leads to weak resumes slipping through. Over the course of the division's realigned history, winning the NFC [L]East has had folks questioning "Why do any of these four teams get to play football in January?" </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The trap here is falling in love with how well a Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, San Francisco division could be. It could become too much of a good thing. The schedule would reflect a need to play them even more, at a risk of overplaying rivals. And for every solid top-to-bottom division that shows up annually, there could be a Minnesota, Kansas City, Texas, Houston group (The Prairie Lands Division, or some shit like that) where no one is .500 or better. It would be an unsavory mess on all fronts. Baseball doesn't need eight "Division Champions" banners raised each off-season. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Moreover, don't fidget with the playoffs. That case study on "leave well enough alone" is the the National Hockey League. It is still the most exciting playoff tournament in sports, but since 2015, the absolute worst structure as to how it operates. The mandate that a third-place team in a division gets some sort of pass (even if they are the traditional 7 or 8 seed in the conference in the old days) is a joke. And worse, they get the protection of playing someone from their weaker division in the first round. It's stupid, don't get me started about it any more than I have. Long story short, Major League Baseball better not get any ideas. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The World Series doesn't need to bleed into November on a consistent basis. And the number of rounds does not need increased. I'm a tad skeptical about this year's version of Division Winner #3 potentially hosting Wild Card #3 for three straight days. It doesn't make as much sense as it would if we are dealing with all Wild Cards in this pre-Division Series play-in round. 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 works much better when none of them got a cap and t-shirt for winning something in the regular season. It would then look more like the NBA's new play-in and I think that really works/incentives the teams right on the cusp <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> especially at trade deadline time. Again, this also is another reason to steer clear of four divisions of four per league. It negates the clear-as-day "if/then" statement: If you are playing prior to the NLDS and ALDS, then you came in second or third (or even fourth) in your division.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, now that we understand the variables at play, let's run a few scenarios:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDvYq84wgI1ryKnTA7PcueN65j_Os1T3TyL1u9IHB1q58W9chSI3WstNgWwNF_2C4InCFTFPxEWhHGMjdYI4llFKJ6VtORzZ3_P2QQPO16X6n2tgb3oxFdEvEyil4WdGfKLerkqdqCKnZ7VgObeXaYQe5B25rD4sYisG2GtqNzC6aO7mNbvWnyNmf/s1513/MLB%20Realignment%20Map%20-%20American%20League.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1513" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDvYq84wgI1ryKnTA7PcueN65j_Os1T3TyL1u9IHB1q58W9chSI3WstNgWwNF_2C4InCFTFPxEWhHGMjdYI4llFKJ6VtORzZ3_P2QQPO16X6n2tgb3oxFdEvEyil4WdGfKLerkqdqCKnZ7VgObeXaYQe5B25rD4sYisG2GtqNzC6aO7mNbvWnyNmf/w640-h324/MLB%20Realignment%20Map%20-%20American%20League.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpPJFJ8AbzsjN-jApKkE7ksLUHPlbC6LJ3mm7f_OEDDTfl7JmFAXyINT-oOXjclL-em0zST52W5GbmsOMXYvv6gJ_Fs6dE71f-m_HouNt7GkU939snt76I_QwSvnngs7GVsi74gDCQD1TS33t5NFw5KSajpFE_-l2EAj7fgWaPiVIM2n_Gc93bsJ3/s1513/MLB%20Realignment%20Map%20-%20National%20League.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1513" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpPJFJ8AbzsjN-jApKkE7ksLUHPlbC6LJ3mm7f_OEDDTfl7JmFAXyINT-oOXjclL-em0zST52W5GbmsOMXYvv6gJ_Fs6dE71f-m_HouNt7GkU939snt76I_QwSvnngs7GVsi74gDCQD1TS33t5NFw5KSajpFE_-l2EAj7fgWaPiVIM2n_Gc93bsJ3/w640-h324/MLB%20Realignment%20Map%20-%20National%20League.png" width="640" /></a></div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Option 1 (New Stadium in Oakland <i>and</i> Tampa Bay/St. Pete)</b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>American League East<br /></u></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Baltimore<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Boston<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Chicago<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cleveland<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Detroit<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">New York<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tampa Bay<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Toronto</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>American League West</u><br />Houston<br />Kansas City<br />Las Vegas (top choice among western candidates)<br />Los Angeles<br />Minnesota<br />Oakland<br />Seattle<br />Texas<br /><br /><u>National League East</u><br />Atlanta<br />Cincinnati<br />Miami<br />Nashville (top choice among eastern candidates)<br />New York<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Philadelphia<br />Pittsburgh<br />Washington<br /><u><br />National League West</u><br />Arizona<br />Chicago<br />Colorado<br />Los Angeles<br />Milwaukee<br />San Diego<br />San Francisco<br />St. Louis<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />This setup corrects a glitch in the old East/West format. The St. Louis Cardinals ("Gateway to the West" and all) and Chicago Cubs were members of the National League East from 1969-1993, while the Cincinnati Reds (350 miles east of STL) and Atlanta Braves (also in the Eastern Time Zone) were part of the NL West. Note: If you really wanted to get nostalgic, you could flip flop them on my list and I wouldn't oppose. It would be stupid, and no one under the age of 50 would understand it, but whatever. #NotMyHillToDieOn</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'd rather see all parties move to the one division they haven't been in before. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Cardinals could add a banner for National League West Champions and complete the set; already the owners of eleven for winning the NL Central and three for winning the NL East. Same is true for the "Big Red Machine", winners of seven NL West titles and three more modern Central crowns. Even the Cubs could match the feat: owners of two East and six Central titles. The crosstown White Sox, if moved as prescribed, would round out this unique quintet. They haven't ever called the AL East home, but have two West and four Central Champions currently to their credit. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Atlanta doesn't need to go anywhere. They skipped right over the Central in 1994 and have dominated the NL East ever since <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> 16 titles in 27 years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">To me, t</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">his is such a nice return for some classic 1969-1993 division arrangements <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> especially in Pittsburgh. Winners of nine National League East titles and zero(!) as a member of the National League Central is a painful reminder of how these past three decades have been for a proud club. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cleveland and Detroit would also return to their respective East Division. Minnesota and Kansas City would go back to their roots in the West. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">After the Brewers relocated from Seattle in 1969, they remained in the American League West for two more seasons. They played in the American League East from 1972 until their flip to both the National League and its newly-created Central Division. With my proposal, they would be going back to their Western days, too, albeit in the other league.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">As a Cleveland diehard for 28 years running, I love the Central. The creation of and transition to it brought about a shift in winning culture to the town. That new division coincided with a new ballpark, new uniforms, and a fresh new roster. I wouldn't trade that era for anything. Since its 1994 inception, Cleveland has won the American League Central a record ten times. No one can take that away, nor change the name of the team that accomplished it. But they aren't the Indians anymore. And, in recent years, that division gets picked on as the weakest of the six in The Bigs. For those reasons, I welcome a clean sweep on change and a return to the East <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> while maintaining a hatred for Detroit and Chicago. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Option 2 (Oakland Relocates to Las Vegas; New Stadium in Tampa Bay/St. Pete)</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>American League East<br /></u></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Baltimore<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Boston<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Chicago<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cleveland<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Detroit<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">New York<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tampa Bay<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Toronto</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>American League West</u><br />Houston<br />Kansas City<br />Las Vegas (relocated from Oakland)<br />Los Angeles<br />Minnesota<br />Portland </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">(top choice among remaining western candidates)</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Seattle<br />Texas<br /><br /><u>National League East</u><br />Atlanta<br />Cincinnati<br />Miami<br />Nashville (top choice among eastern candidates)<br />New York<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Philadelphia<br />Pittsburgh<br />Washington<br /><u><br />National League West</u><br />Arizona<br />Chicago<br />Colorado<br />Los Angeles<br />Milwaukee<br />San Diego<br />San Francisco<br />St. Louis</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I could be way off, but I feel geography is going to matter in this. For that reason, you can begin making assumptions like a logic puzzle (one of those "Sally and Ms. Green went to the grocery store" types, with X's </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">to cross off contradictions). You know that Sally's last name isn't Green in the same way you can deduce that Portland <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> should they somehow become a Major League city <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> will not be a member of the National League. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Conversely, Charlotte's odds really drop off the board when you realize they can only become an MLB city if the Tampa Bay Rays leave Florida for Tennessee (just as the Oilers left Texas so many years ago). Based on my assumptions, their one shot is as a National League East franchise; unfortunately the same predicament of too many competitors in the expansion field. The third-best expansion bid in the East (Montreal) might be better than any in the West... and we may never get to find out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nashville or Charlotte or Montreal/National/East and Las Vegas or Portland/American/West does a subtle job of responding to the selections made back in 1998 </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">— Major League Baseball's last round of expansion. By that I mean, the East franchise went to the American League (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and the West franchise went to the National League (Arizona Diamondbacks). A selection of these two provides a pattern or formula to something that was completely happenstance. </span></p><p><b style="font-family: verdana;">Option 3 (Oakland Relocates to Las Vegas; Tampa Bay Relocates to Nashville)</b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>American League East<br /></u></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Baltimore<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Boston<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Chicago<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cleveland<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Detroit<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nashville (relocated from Tampa Bay)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">New York<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Toronto</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>American League West</u><br />Houston<br />Kansas City<br />Las Vegas (relocated from Oakland)<br />Los Angeles<br />Minnesota<br />Portland </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">(top choice among remaining western candidates)</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Seattle<br />Texas<br /><br /><u>National League East</u><br />Atlanta<br />Charlotte (top choice among remaining eastern candidates)<br />Cincinnati<br />Miami<br />New York<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Philadelphia<br />Pittsburgh<br />Washington<br /><u><br />National League West</u><br />Arizona<br />Chicago<br />Colorado<br />Los Angeles<br />Milwaukee<br />San Diego<br />San Francisco<br />St. Louis</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Taking A 30,000 Foot View & Re-Centering The Map:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's funny, I've never viewed Portland as Major League Baseball town at all <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> even with the NBA's Trail Blazers there. If I'm solely handicapping this on eye test and what feels right, Portland is fifth below Nashville, Las Vegas, Montreal, and Charlotte. But you don't have to squint very hard to see how they could pull off an upset.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Oregon's largest metropolis doesn't need to be "better" than Charlotte or Montreal. It simply needs to exist in a different part of the country <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> one that the league is dying to stitch together with the establishment of new clubs. Portland checks that box. It takes a Seattle, toiling around in isolation, and gives it a link to those further down the West Coast. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Again, not handicapping on the obvious <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> population (26th), metropolitan statistical area (25th), or television market size (21st). And actually, the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro MSA is larger than entrenched MLB communities like Pittsburgh (27th), Cincinnati (30th), Kansas City (31st), and Cleveland (34th). It is even bigger than the highly-sought-after Las Vegas (30th) and Nashville (35th) MSAs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Add in TV Household data </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> where Portland ranks 21st; Nashville 29th, Las Vegas 40th </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">and I've definitely been forced to reevaluate some things. My preconceived notion was that Portland would not score well on the metric side, but make it up in charm/weirdness and geography </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">namely it isn't in the heart of Atlanta fandom or across the Canadian border in a French-speaking province. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm finally starting to value the city's insertion as a front-runner. I mean why not? If Oakland has one foot in the Vegas door, let them go. Moving MLB center of mass westward is a smart play. And Portland's resume is much stronger than I think the average person realizes; at least those that have lived East of the Mississippi for a large majority of their life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now, there would still be many hurdles for PDX's bid to climb, whether they have <a href="https://portlanddiamondproject.com/movement/russell-wilson" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Russell Wilson's backing</span></a> or not. Most notably is a tangled web of television contracts. Root Sports, co-owned by the Seattle Mariners, televises Portland Trail Blazers basketball games and holds rights to broadcasting athletic events in Oregon. Would Root Sports continue to air games of their local rival? Would Portland be forced to create their own network </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— on top of $2.2B in expansion fees? Could the Mariners (and Kraken) sell off a portion and work a deal like the Nationals and Orioles have with MASN? Could a streaming giant like Hulu or Amazon be the answer? Using Portland as a testing ground for entry into local TV rights deals could be the next cord-cutting wave. These are all little details, but little details can sometimes derail grand plans. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Furthermore, Professional Development Licenses (PDL) handed out to current Minor League Baseball clubs </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— as part of MLB's takeover and trimming down to 120 affiliates </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— are scheduled to </span><a href="https://www.milb.com/news/mlb-announces-new-minor-league-model" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">run for ten years</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. Will this delay expansion; seeing how the frontrunning candidates </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">(Las Vegas Aviators and Nashville Sounds) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">are currently locked into Triple-A by these agreements? Does this bolster Portland's shot at promotion earlier than the rest? If that logic is true, then Montreal and Mexico City </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— untethered from any MiLB legalese </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">suddenly see their stocks rise as well. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Along those lines, what will become of Triple-A after as many as three of their 30 current teams disappear in an instant? In theory, you could have Nashville, Las Vegas, and Charlotte all up in The Bigs. Take a glance at the attendance figures for 2021 and those are your 1st, 2nd, and 9th best markets, respectively. Best believe there will be a multi-million dollar invoice slipped in with any moving vans, MiLB will want compensation for their loss.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">There are territorial rights at stake in the wake of all this expansion talk. It may seem trivial, but the Butterfly Effect of "simply at two Major League franchises" could be felt in smaller communities coast-to-coast. The good news for places like West Virginia and Montana </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— </span><a href="https://moundsville.org/2020/12/10/west-virginia-officially-loses-all-4-of-its-minor-league-baseball-teams/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">states that just lost all affiliated baseball in Winter of 2020</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— is that 32 MLB clubs equates to a need to fill eight new MiLB rosters... if they would even want to go back. Jilted Lover Syndrome is real in the corporate world, too. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">While some lawsuits and difficult decisions would take years to get fully sorted, other realignment will be easy. The Reno Aces, currently </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">in the Arizona Diamondbacks family, would undoubtedly slot in as Vegas' Triple-A; right of first refusal as franchises in the same state. That move would officially kick off a rousing game of MiLB Musical Chairs. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The D-Backs could pull a page out of the Twins, Astros, and Yankees 2021 playbook </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">— go completely off-menu and bring in an "Indy Ball" team as an affiliate. Rather than look hundreds of miles away, Minnesota </span><a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2020/11/11/minnesota-twins-st-paul-saints-minor-league.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">offered the neighboring St. Paul Saints</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> (of the independent American Association) their Triple-A PDL invitation. Houston did similar with the Sugar Land Skeeters (of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball; renamed the Space Cowboys this season). The Yankees used their promposal on a Double-A affiliate; selecting the Somerset Patriots (also of the Atlantic League) over a </span><a href="https://nypost.com/2020/11/10/yankees-treat-people-like-crap-trenton-thunder-owner-fumes/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">very disgruntled Trenton Thunder organization</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;">This method of picking MiLB clubs from outside the "fraternity" sent shockwaves through the sport. No one was safe any longer. For all anybody knows, the Diamondbacks could easily pick the Tucson Saguaros of the independent Pecos League without recourse. The common theme with each of these "outsider" selections has been proximity. Management at the big league level wants that Triple-A partner as close as possible. Look for places like Richmond (currently Double-A for San Francisco... yes, that San Francisco) to jockey for position as a Triple-A affiliate for someone closer to home. Fresno </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> once a stalwart in Triple-A but </span><a href="https://ballparkdigest.com/2020/12/15/fresno-guaranteed-milb-team-through-2030/" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">banished to Low-A in 2021</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> due to threats of legal action </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> could see themselves rise from the ash and fill the void if Portland is in need. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It could be a mad scramble across the board.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Nashville would likely want the Charlotte Knights to switch from White Sox Triple-A to theirs, even though the two are bitter International League and MLB expansion rivals. It's the closest and best-run affiliate the Stars would be able to find. But talk about serious salt in the wound over one getting an expansion team and not the other. <i>Yikes</i>.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I suggest that move because I don't feel Chicago would be too aggrieved. 1) Charlotte has been an affiliate of the Marlins, Indians, Cubs, and Orioles; this ain't the business to get wedded to one partner and think it's lasting forever. 2) In an era where distance matters, 750 miles is an eternity. Chicago has three members of the American Association (Chicago Dogs, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kane County Cougars), and three of the Frontier League (Joliet Slammers, Windy City ThunderBolts, Schaumburg Boomers) all within an hour drive from the South Side. The precedent is now established; take your pick. Birmingham could also see itself promoted from their Double-A outfit. They've been with the White Sox since 1986, have an amazing ballpark (built in 2013), and the Alabama city is booming (50th-largest MSA in the country; bigger than Triple-A cities like Rochester, Worcester, Omaha, Albuquerque, El Paso, Allentown, Des Moines, Syracuse, Toledo, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and Reno). They just aren't as close to home as the trendsetters would like. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">As you can tell, these types of lower-level selections are equally as exciting to me as the MLB expansion versions. Too far down the rabbit hole. I'll try my best to resurface and stick the landing with this last bit. </span></p><p><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Final Word:</b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Portland getting the expansion nod in Las Vegas' stead would be a shock, but is not as far out of the question as I had previously thought. Perhaps they embrace it like they have the Timbers of MLS. Not having all the major professional sports leagues works well in smaller towns; creates a hungrier fan base with fewer overlap seasons. It's not like the city is without a long history of baseball (</span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3445270/" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the documentary with Kurt Russell is a must-watch</span></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">). And it not having a Minor League Baseball in its town is strangely appetizing rather than a knock against it. Charlotte, for instance, would have to crush its wildly popular Triple-A scene and build a whole new stadium in order to get "promoted" to The Show.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Has to feel a little uncomfortable for "MLB To PDX" supporters to know they need another city's dream to die in order for theirs to be realized. But l</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ike the Bracketology analogy at the outset, if two of those higher quality candidates find alternative routes into the field before selection time rolls around, the door opens up nicely for those on the bubble. As you punch your ticket, you never cry for the others that didn'</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">t.</span></p>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-10377769746276856292021-11-17T15:56:00.010-05:002022-09-23T10:40:12.264-04:00Swing And A Miss: Iconography Overtakes Name Change As Cleveland Baseball Fan's Ire<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">LET'S TABLE THE name change for the moment. Most of us are coming to terms with it; some are even embracing it as an upgrade. We'll also gloss right past the worst roll out in the history of sports branding: website domains weren't checked. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0JBBKvtQUd7B7a_KeGVAFhFwmZSuTMX0SGwmfz4or4CGl-F5x-QG-n_hoEVW8acz73iI0t9g0Pkeef6c0HfyaL1nAFPnCFnIICgPmGxPWP3ZMtCDLj462j4oSAdi_MG6XdqiqeaFQPWBgWfAiPuaqQlU9wpcQhZSiG9QyyjnsD0oiMirn2ZAWIqp/s2629/Trifecta%20of%20Bad.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="2629" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0JBBKvtQUd7B7a_KeGVAFhFwmZSuTMX0SGwmfz4or4CGl-F5x-QG-n_hoEVW8acz73iI0t9g0Pkeef6c0HfyaL1nAFPnCFnIICgPmGxPWP3ZMtCDLj462j4oSAdi_MG6XdqiqeaFQPWBgWfAiPuaqQlU9wpcQhZSiG9QyyjnsD0oiMirn2ZAWIqp/s320/Trifecta%20of%20Bad.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Existing trademarks clearly weren't checked. The structural integrity of the stadium's colonnade was clearly not checked. Hey, that's one way to get City Hall to pass your $225M facility upgrade proposal.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The entire package is disjointed, bordering on bipolar. It's trying to be four different things all at once, none of which are Art Deco <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">—</span> artistic style of the new moniker's inspiration. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is a mystique to Major League Baseball. It has been around for so long; nothing about it looks kitsch. That's the willing job of Minor League Baseball. Yet here is a "C" in a font that feels more appropriate in an alphabet book for my three year-old: "C" is for clown. Throw a rainbow wig on that new cinched version and tell me you can't see an anthropomorphic birthday performer. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSlem_mCMyZ0gAvjcFlRn7N5jOntYF0xp3e5SnCxzyKWEeemxBuyLHTwoGmm4N72dTvcxyKdEWK3GV0909Sgx0d8MCy7rpgSF_sS9CZEFlsjp1hS3dsjq9gSdEnRwqmoO5weQXQNe1j1o/s4753/Current+Logo+Issues.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="4753" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSlem_mCMyZ0gAvjcFlRn7N5jOntYF0xp3e5SnCxzyKWEeemxBuyLHTwoGmm4N72dTvcxyKdEWK3GV0909Sgx0d8MCy7rpgSF_sS9CZEFlsjp1hS3dsjq9gSdEnRwqmoO5weQXQNe1j1o/s16000/Current+Logo+Issues.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm not saying I have the answer, but I know what we've seen ain't it. Sure, there's a ball in the fairway with our group's first drive, but you know it can be improved upon so easily. </span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The fact that I couldn't put all three into a single square image and have it look visually presentable is half my point. Where is the center on such a sprawled out mess? Is it the center of the baseball and the wings are treated as a sidecar? Put it in a circle in certain standings/scorebug apps or <a href="https://theathletic.com/3510635/2022/03/04/topps-digitally-alters-2022-cleveland-baseball-cards-to-reflect-guardians-rebranding/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">trading cards</span></a> and it looks even worse. Allllll that negative space wasted over there to the left. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsuRT77LsHEIF5YBbllf_jgrhA0elfnfIDXlVYaHnKmEjyu-z2th0KpVfuptsThJd2TLVe5rqgAt_9IJGT-mnsBYni9QlSGPfjNNA81JGQEVCJunYL0lix3hwIknFoOhmSJDSJBoRDqdz0Y1LvEO-JrDti4UbB-Mg2pPIePVcutuEDvxrukZvTqei/s477/Guardians%20Multiple%20Fonts.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="477" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsuRT77LsHEIF5YBbllf_jgrhA0elfnfIDXlVYaHnKmEjyu-z2th0KpVfuptsThJd2TLVe5rqgAt_9IJGT-mnsBYni9QlSGPfjNNA81JGQEVCJunYL0lix3hwIknFoOhmSJDSJBoRDqdz0Y1LvEO-JrDti4UbB-Mg2pPIePVcutuEDvxrukZvTqei/s320/Guardians%20Multiple%20Fonts.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">An arrangement of fonts that would make you think this was a ransom note clipped from a magazine.<br /><br />alsdkjfalskjdfa</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">asldkjflasjdflasjdflaskdjfasldkfjas</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">alsdkjflasdjkflaskdjfa;sdf</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">foasjdlfjalsdkjfalsdkfjalsdkfj</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">asdflkjasldkfjalsdfjasdf</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">aslkdfjlaskdjdfalsdjfalsdjdfasdf</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">asldkfjalsdkjfalsdkjflasdfkj <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MEtBZGJDhokLebTo44PZvplFqClo5pvi3HW__h02DQKkax9XRxG2jkPbMiYNC_lEGtV0d5g7kBlMYtEWJId4lAUG0MQz4Lr8rLtWSMU14OdFEQpEdpQL2KQ-S6iqs4UHBVHYes0PYUd9340DRKTzDd2IcBFagtZgOHtecLrGgPc_hGOPWEPeYkUb/s5072/Guardians%20Road%20Uniform.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4936" data-original-width="5072" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MEtBZGJDhokLebTo44PZvplFqClo5pvi3HW__h02DQKkax9XRxG2jkPbMiYNC_lEGtV0d5g7kBlMYtEWJId4lAUG0MQz4Lr8rLtWSMU14OdFEQpEdpQL2KQ-S6iqs4UHBVHYes0PYUd9340DRKTzDd2IcBFagtZgOHtecLrGgPc_hGOPWEPeYkUb/s320/Guardians%20Road%20Uniform.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYT08gbZymNhO0cjMaj7bzdLwb6-5GX5u7fyTIqeMrftqm91dwQ9YCt51YQn3dgNZK4n6a6tnEsejJrPWXNooha5LXJoXIMGiQdYvyg9vgEvBAu78z842pqdSGznwoDYm8ts_VYLQJDI9pEWZri-UWuSqbQkqfCgMoibHLC73olL-ROUztzVyz4S4D/s2556/Cleveland%20Guardians%20Primary%20Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2556" data-original-width="2508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYT08gbZymNhO0cjMaj7bzdLwb6-5GX5u7fyTIqeMrftqm91dwQ9YCt51YQn3dgNZK4n6a6tnEsejJrPWXNooha5LXJoXIMGiQdYvyg9vgEvBAu78z842pqdSGznwoDYm8ts_VYLQJDI9pEWZri-UWuSqbQkqfCgMoibHLC73olL-ROUztzVyz4S4D/s320/Cleveland%20Guardians%20Primary%20Logo.png" width="314" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><p></p><p></p><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p></div>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-90833962814854706422021-09-30T04:30:00.008-04:002021-10-03T20:50:22.553-04:00The St. Louis Cardinals Were Clearly Sent Here To Break This Wild Card Format, Too<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">If you've been around baseball long enough, you know exactly where this National League Postseason train is heading: Controversy Junction. Whether it's natural progression or divine intervention, the sport somehow knows to make a stop here whenever a playoff system is in dire need of a modification.</span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0H_5KEIK8UVLOzE22Us7L_vnbhoBwM1xcARRpGJ2qsTuR9E9j7pjNCexsdGDy5EUTQ6xxE37m5E7n_xAnymcqgOCd1mpGnTWzsTl80NBXa94fxvO9u5nRuV9bbGIbN-6aYtNY6Jlk_s/s717/Untitled.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="489" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0H_5KEIK8UVLOzE22Us7L_vnbhoBwM1xcARRpGJ2qsTuR9E9j7pjNCexsdGDy5EUTQ6xxE37m5E7n_xAnymcqgOCd1mpGnTWzsTl80NBXa94fxvO9u5nRuV9bbGIbN-6aYtNY6Jlk_s/w218-h320/Untitled.png" width="218" /></a></div>The San Francisco Giants </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span><span style="color: #222222;">— who have admirably held off the heavily-favored (and reigning ch</span>ampion) Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as every analyst’s preseason darling (and completely overhyped) San Diego Padres all season — are going to potentially eclipse the 106-win plateau. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">They've already achieved an impressive/unforeseen 100-win season; just the eighth in their club's 139 illustrious years between New York and San Francisco. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">But you can mark it down: Their magical run is going to end at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Game. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Wait, what? They are still leading their division with only four games to go.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i>Bold Prediction Time: San Francisco is going to pick the absolute worst time to collapse. And though it feels harsh to label a 1-3 finish as such </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> when the club has 104 wins in their back pocket </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> but there's nothing else to call a change at the top of the NL West standings on the final day. Those pesky Dodgers refuse to let the Giants run away and hide. Down 9-5 to the Padres in the seventh inning last night, I watched them hit four bombs, collect three quick outs in the ninth, and snatch a convincing </span><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/dodgers-hit-hrs-8th-rally-past-padres-11-80320267" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">11-9 victory</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> from of a sure defeat. The champs are definitely still the champs; they can flip a switch no one else can even reach.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />And those Padres are going to have a considerable say as to who wins the West. With a 78-80 current record, this once promising (and expensively assembled) roster should be playing hard for pride and a win percentage above .500. San Diego and Los Angeles finish out their 19-game knock-down, drag-out war tonight. I hope it's more of the same with these two in 2021. Seriously, three or four of the heavyweight bouts between the Dodgers and Padres this year could find their way on a <i><a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/top-moments-of-dodgers-padres-2021-season-series" target="_blank">Top Ten Most Entertaining MLB Games</a></i> list. A San Diego loss tonight (Vince Velasquez vs. Tony Gonsolin) paired with an Arizona win (Bumgarner vs. Kazmir) would shrink the San Francisco lead to a single game. Oh, the irony of "MadBum" looking to spoil the party of his old mates. <br /><br />On Friday, the scenes will remain the same (Oracle Park and Dodger Stadium) but the opponents shift for the final three contests of the regular season. The Giants host the Padres, while the Dodgers welcome the Milwaukee Brewers. An L.A. sweep would feasibly see the Dodgers out as NL West Champions for the ninth consecutive year </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— none more dramatically snuck in at the final hour</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />If you can’t see all the tell-tale signs that the baseball gods are pulling the strings on this outcome, then you haven't been watching enough <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-16-inning-win-over-padres" target="_blank">late-night games</a>. It’s honestly how it </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">has to </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">happen. There's a cosmic agenda afoot. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i>Why?</i> Well, because such a result would expose a giant (pun intended) flaw in the current Major League Baseball playoff format. The starker the "transgression," the greater the positive ripple effect. In all likelihood, Los Angeles losing as the Wild Card would still accomplish what I am wishing for. However, eliminating San Francisco that early can take the ramifications to a nuclear level. It's the difference between causing a moderate stir and a cataclysmic episode. If we're going to break this system, let's really break it. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />And here's the grievance on the horizon: In theory, the Atlanta Braves or Philadelphia Phillies could finish with a record as poor as 85-77 and yet side step any/all discussions of a win-or-go-home Wild Card Game </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— provided they do not finish tied with one another</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Thanks to lackluster seasons turned in by their immediate peers, protection akin to a first-round bye will be "earned" by one of the two clubs. A minimum of three Postseason games await w</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">hoever emerges as National League East Champion this week; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">it's already etched in stone.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Meanwhile, the unheralded Giants — damn-near wire-to-wire best team in baseball </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> will only be promised a single playoff game if Los Angeles chases them down in this final four games of the regular season. In essence, the NL East's health bar has been granted three lives, whereas the NL West's runner-up will only start out with one. That's a serious problem for the sport. It will undermine 29 weeks of unwavering, out-of-their-mind performances. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Subjecting a team with over 124 days spent in first place (93 consecutive for a majority of the summer) to a coin-flip game </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">to somehow prove they belong in the "real" Major League Baseballs tournament </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">feels like it should be illegal. Worse still, it is a format </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">where the home favorite <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_Wild_Card_Game#Results" target="_blank">loses substantially more often than they win</a>. Worst of all, the opponent hasn't won a handful of games over the last two and a half weeks; up until last night, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/cardinals-clinch-second-nl-wild-card-spot-as-winning-streak-hits-17-vs-brewers/" target="_blank">they've literally won them all</a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> <br /><br />Note: I, for one, believe it's actually a really, <i>really </i>good thing St. Louis <a href="https://pantagraph.com/sports/baseball/cardinals-streak-snapped-at-17-after-4-0-loss-to-brewers/article_8bf72eb9-8558-520f-aeff-0dd5c29e5fc3.html" target="_blank">didn't carry a 22-game win streak</a> into next Wednesday's NL Wild Card Game. It is the only thing that could have negated their chances at winning the tilt. Good juju turns to pressure when the number enters a historic stratosphere. Plus, the stage would have swung the pendulum to vital that the streak be kept alive. No Cardinals loss in the previous 18 days would have directly ended their season. Failing to answer that same bell in the Wild Card Game would have. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That, and the Law of Averages. It wasn't going to go on forever, so each new day tested the upper bounds of fate. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />There was no need to add anything to their impending big moment beyond playoff advancing. Veteran leaders like Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina realize this, and will reap every last benefit of "forgetting how to lose" for the better part of a month. But they'll also leave behind any undue stress associated with 20+ in a row with a smile. Now that they are safely in, one in a row is all that matters. <br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">I'm not sure what is crazier to believe: that the Cardinals were capable of winning a franchise-best 17 games in a row, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">at the most crucial time of the year; or that they would still be 14.0 games behind the top Wild Card spot, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">despite making such a lengthy undefeated push. St. Louis would have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs six whole days ago in the single Wild Card structure of the not-so-distant past. It would have been one of the earliest ends to a Wild Card race in the 27-year history of the expression. Yet there they were, <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/cardinals-clinch-nl-wild-card-berth" target="_blank">clinching a playoff berth</a> with five games still to go. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />As for the Giants, the concurrent success of the Dodgers and Cardinals (recently) has to feel surreal. They can't gain any sizable distance from the one, while the other is lurking as the most dangerous team in baseball. If they escape the clutches of the villain, there's a pool of hungry sharks waiting below. <br /><br />The hopper, in which playoff-caliber clubs get tossed into these days, creates nothing but random chance and carnage. It's a recipe on how to develop an amazing character and kill him/her off the show before it gains maximum popularity (a.k.a. ridiculously stupid). According to oddsmakers, the Giants only had an <a href="https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3383586/the-san-fransisco-giants-had-an-8.9percent-chance-to-make-the-playoffs-at-the-start-of-the-season-and-last-night-became-the-first-team-to-punch-their-october-ticket" target="_blank">8.9% chance</a> to be anywhere inside the National League’s top five clubs this year — let alone pacing the entire 30-team field. Narratives like these are great for baseball as a whole. It'd sure be nice if they knew the ride was guaranteed to last at least one more weekend beyond Sunday's finale. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />And that’s the key to this. Manager Gabe Kapler & Co. are going to have to play this thing out 'til the bitter end; hoping what they did with their 162 was enough. And honestly, it should have been weeks ago. Teams like the 2021 Giants shouldn't even be playing all their regulars these next four games. Alas, San Francisco can ill afford to take the foot off the gas now. Sputtering across the finish line </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">with a 1-3 record or worse </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">will allow unnerving thoughts of choking it all away to creep into the minds of fans and players alike. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">104 wins on September 29 and potentially golfing by October 6. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span><br style="text-align: center;" /><br />I recently talked to my friend/colleague who is still with the Giants organization. He summed up the frustration quite well: "We can't break out the NL West Champion merch or pop the good champagne because the goddamn Dodgers are going to force us to win [a franchise record] 107 games!" That is especially annoying when contextualized in this manner: The Giants might have to best the 106-47 mark </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">put up by the 1904 roster </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">playing their home games in Manhattan </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> simply to prevent one bad inning from ending their season.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Now, the untrained eye would say “Whether it’s the Giants or the Dodgers hosting the NL Wild Card Game, neither should be scared.” One is currently the best overall team in Major League Baseball and the other is reigning World Champions, having appeared in three of the last four World Series. Both are double-digit games ahead of the second Wild Card position. But these standings cannot be looked at without a little backstory; this is not just another franchise that charged hard to lock up that WC2 position. Have we forgotten the time the Cardinals looked like the least-threatening playoff entrant of the entire bunch and won the title that same year (2011)?<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Furthermore, the Giants posted a 2-4 record against the Cardinals this season, so the fear is very real that one of those losses picks the wrong time to show up — with no ability to run it back and right the ship. This doomsday scenario isn't without tangible probability. <br /><br />The Giants would be yet another big-league club with a triple-digit win total who missed out on a playoff series. And it wouldn't be their first time; the previous instance recent enough to fall inside the California chapter of their history book. In 1993, San Francisco finished 103-59, but couldn't leapfrog Atlanta in the NL West. Yes, kids... Atlanta in the West. Strange times. It was one year prior to realignment and a Wild Card to save them. That '93 team went down as one of only eight to ever have a 100-win season which didn’t include a shot at the title. In fact, their .636 win percentage was the fifth-highest in MLB history to not play in a Postseason series of at least three games. This year, the '21 Giants could best that unsavory distinction if: They finish 104-58, the Dodgers are a game better (or beat them in a one-game playoff), and the red-hot Redbirds roll into town and steal the necessary win-to-advance game.<br /><br />Should all this madness transpire, brace yourself for a major overhaul to the Wild Card system. <i>[fingers crossed]</i><br /><span style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span><br /><br />Rule variations and subtle tweaks to the Wild Card are nothing new. Its nexus was a byproduct of expansion/realignment into three divisions per league </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— with</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> the best second place team in each league rounding out two equal fields of four. With a strike taking away the opportunity to test out the new creation in 1994, it was the '95 Postseason that officially put the concept into practice. The Cleveland Indians won 100 games (out of a potential 144) to lead both the AL and MLB. However, they didn't meet up with the American League's lowest win-percentage qualifier (Seattle), nor the Wild Card (New York). Instead, they drew Boston in the ALDS. It was a really quirky 2 hosting 1, 3 hosting 4 situation; irrationally borne out of <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2015/10/heres_why_1995_cleveland_india.html" target="_blank">MLB/NFL shared stadium logistics</a>.<br /><br />The rotational home-field advantage scheme wasn't dropped until 1998, but the rule of preventing division foes from meeting in the first round remained. The mindset was to have rivals clash in longer series for the pennant vs. an early-round best-of-five. It wastes the drama and ill will. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The '98 season ushered in an ideology that no matter the record </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">in relation to the two other division winners </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> the Wild Card shall be the 4 seed, with an intent on them playing the 1 seed whenever possible. Second-place finish, second-class status. However, Wild Cards were still deemed worthy enough to be given the same best-of-five series protection as their first-place counterparts. As we all know, this is no longer the case; with a seismic transition to a singular 4 vs. 5 showdown beginning in 2012. <br /><br />"Only"<i> </i>70.5% of World Champions in the <i>Single Wild Card Era</i> (1994-2011) were division winners. That's not an overly large percentage when you realize the first-place teams outnumbered the second-place clubs 6-2 every season </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— and the former are inherently superior to the latter. However, the '</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">97 Florida Marlins, '02 Anaheim Angels, '03 Florida Marlins, '04 Boston Red Sox, and '11 St. Louis Cardinals each proved the sprint finish to a marathon season is susceptible to flukes, luck, and teams stringing their best 11 games together at the most opportune time. "Let's require 12 wins to put an end to this nonsense. We're not going to have another three in a row on my watch." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">- f</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">ormer MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, probably</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />You could make a strong argument that the Cardinals drove the final nail in the coffin of the old system. Their 2011 run, in particular, showed the importance of knocking the Wild Card team down a rung... or else. Allowing each to come into the playoffs on equal footing as the division winners meant one dominant pitcher could steal a short series. Prime example: Chris Carpenter was able to pitch (<a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs/2011/story/_/id/7073827/chris-carpenter-leads-st-louis-cardinals-nlcs" target="_blank">and pitch well</a>) in Game 5 of that NLDS against the top-seeded Phillies. If there was a Wild Card Game preceding that series, Carpenter would not have been available for three outings in eight days. In other words, St. Louis never had to “burn an ace” in the process of qualifying for the next round. Conversely, there was no real reward for Philadelphia being the league’s best regular-season team.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />That very next postseason, MLB instituted the two-Wild Card system we still have today. This "Carpenter Rule" puts professional managers in the same quandary as college coaches who are </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">pressed into a loser's bracket game: </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">No use saving a guy for tomorrow when you need to win today.</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> So, do you go with your best arm for as long as it takes to secure the victory? Do you piece it together with 2.0 IP out of several quality guys? All philosophical roads lead to the same place; the winning Wild Card team is not at full roster strength/rest compared to the top-seed they meet in the Division Series. And gone are the days of juggling the matchups for any reason </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— not NFL schedules or geographical rivalry deterrence. Hence, e</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">ach league's best club is rewarded with a jet-lagged opponent running on fumes. Or so the creators of the system thought.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The overcorrection failed to consider that the team that survives the adrenaline rush of a glorified Game 163 could use the win as a catalyst to catch fire at the perfect time. And the stats bear out the premise of an awakening over a sophomoric slump: The Wild Card is a combined 7-9 in that subsequent Division Series. That's on par with the frequency three seeds "upset" the two (9-7 in that same span). The sample size is now large enough to call the 4/5 seed a safe bet to beat the 1 at least once per year. Only 2013 and 2018 saw both AL and NL top seeds advance. In fact, last year's Rays/Dodgers World Series was the first 1 vs. 1 since 2013 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— and it ironically had a bananas 16-team field and no play-in rounds. Goes to show that the morning-line favorites typically triumph when all competitors start at the same place and time. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The momentum of a "running start" is clearly is a thing. Give a team the joy of wearing ski goggles and spraying alcohol around the clubhouse on that first Tuesday/Wednesday night of the Postseason, and they just might get addicted to how it feels. The bigger concern </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">for the folks watching on TV waiting to play their first playoff game </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">is that Wild Cards gain enough of a carefree attitude and confidence to repeat the celebration three more times. T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">he 2014 World Series was played between two such clubs,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the Wild Card Royals and the Wild Card Giants. Fifth-seeded San Francisco amassed a record 12 victories to lift the title. Washington equaled this feat in 2019 as the NL's fourth seed. That's oddly more titles won by Wild Cards than 2 seeds under this format (Houston - 2017*). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Only 2001, 2009, 2013, and 2018 didn’t have a Wild Card team in baseball’s </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Final Four</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">________________________________________________</span></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">If the objective of the current setup was to curtail the frequency of Wild Cards winning it all, then they took a strange half measure. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Two World Champions coming from the depths of the play-in game (in just nine years) isn't exactly a sign it's working. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Sure, the league office turned the 4 seed into a blank line on the bracket </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— requiring a second-place club "prove it" before they see their name through to the Division Series. But the promoters of this plan didn't put the poorest performing teams in the undercard. Seems like a natural place to start, no?<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This stokes the flame of debate over the overarching motive of having a playoff system at all... beyond the obvious (ownership and television greed). Is a league championship, in any major sport's league, designed to be a mere formality </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> a season-long achievement cherry on top of the sundae for the best team in the regular season? Or is a spin of the roulette wheel preferred? Personally, I'm here for the beginning-to-end consistency over lightning in a bottle. And that's coming from a guy who a) got fully swept up in the hysteria of the 2011 Cardinals title while living in St. Louis, and b) had his beloved Indians win <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/indians-tie-franchise-record-with-14-game-winning-streak/" target="_blank">14 games in a row</a> one year and <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/09/12/cleveland-indians-19-game-winning-streak-facts" target="_blank">22</a> the next. Fun rides, but sometimes the blandness of the undeniable </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— such as a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Tampa Bay Rays World Series victory in 2021 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> is more warranted, thus more satisfying to me. Rewarding clear-cut dominance is okay, too. Call me crazy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />I also love English Premier League football (soccer) <i>because</i> it doesn't mess around with a postseason bracket. Man, I really must be nuts. The 20-team league is quite content in saying its comprehensive, closed-loop, home-and-away slate of fixtures is plenty to justify one club lifting the trophy. <i>We've provided 39 matches; settle it inside that quantity</i>. Understandably, this is one [unpopular] extreme. And though it is my fandom preference, I'm fully aware it is a contemporary dinosaur that only works in a foreign country. American sports culture can't live without bracket busters and Cinderella. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Since a Major League Baseball playoff was established way back in 1969, and it ain't ever going away, we might as well accept and improve its purpose. I don't want to see teams playing at the clip these Giants and Dodgers are to be knocked out in, or prior to, Round 1. And that's my head saying that, not my heart; I have no affinity for either. The solution: Re-seed all participants once the field is fully set.<br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/02/24/baseball-playoffs-world-series-format" target="_blank">Adding rounds and best-of's</a> drags a warm-weather sport deeper and deeper into October/early November. Leave the number of participants alone</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. Re-seed AND do a Wild Card best-of-three? Nah. All eyes will be glued to the win-or-go-home excitement next Tuesday and Wednesday. It's gimmicky, and not always indicative of who should advance, but it's fun as hell.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The biggest travesty is that the Dodgers and Giants both cannot appear in the 2021 National League Championship Series </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— while it is a foregone conclusion either Milwaukee or Atlanta/Philadelphia will. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It's not that the Milwaukee Brewers aren't worthy, but</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> knowing already that 103+ wins will be left out of that round feels dishonest. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">If that isn't grounds for re-seeding, given their records, what is?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />It <i>is</i> indisputable that the Milwaukee Brewers are currently playing for absolutely nothing. And annual circumstances like theirs are yet another reason to re-seed the playoffs. Milwaukee cannot be caught by Atlanta, nor can they obtain the NL's top spot. With their win Sunday, they also cannot fall into the WC2 position; Milwaukee is officially locked in as Central Division Champions and the National League second seed with a week to go.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />In a re-seeded scenario, the Brewers would find themselves in the third spot instead </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> in line to play the mighty Dodgers. That just so happens to be their final opponent of the regular season as well. As it stands in real life, Milwaukee has lost all reason to play this hand out, while Los Angeles will be playing for everything (attempting to avoid St. Louis in the Wild Card Game). It could devolve into a battle of veteran professionals against MiLB call-ups really quick. And the Brewers have every right to rest their everyday starters and utilize the entire depth of an expanded roster. However, this isn't great for baseball, and directly affects San Francisco's chances at hanging on. <br /></span></span><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />In our hypothetical Postseason, home field advantage in a 2 vs. 3 matchup would still be up for grabs. That's not nothing to play for, with both L.A. and Milwaukee disincentivized to mail in anything down the stretch. Scheduling oddity: This hypothetical would see these two clubs playing as many as eight straight games against one another </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— should that fictitious NLDS require all five games.</span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Re-Seeded National League Postseason (as of 9/29):<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />1) Giants vs. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Wild Card Winner<br /></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">2) Dodgers vs. 3) Brewers<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Wild Card Game<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">4) Cardinals vs. 5) Braves<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />I don’t know. I go back and forth on this. Come Sunday, San Francisco will have had 162 games to distance themselves from Los Angeles </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> with ample head-to-head opportunities (19). But t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">his latest Wild Card format is just too much of a toss-up for me to send them there. The home team has only won 44% of the time (7 of the 16 matchups). This number is even worse for home teams in the National League installment: In five of the eight Wild Card Games played, the road team moved on. <br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">With AL/NL balance finally achieved (15 franchises per; six evenly distributed divisions in total) and interleague play becoming ubiquitous, overall league standings have never been closer to accurate gauges, standardized coast-to-coast. There is no more accounting for strength of common opponents or large disparities in timing when said common opponents were played.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The theory that multiple 100-game winners, living in the same division, are exclusively propped up by their 19 games against a doormat is distorted. Yes, Los Angeles went 16-3 against Arizona this year; San Francisco can go 17-2 if they complete the sweep tomorrow. But the data (and the eye test) tells a story of the Diamondbacks being a 100-loss club </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">because </i><span style="font-family: verdana;">the Giants, Dodgers, and even Padres are that good; not the Giants, Dodgers, and Padres suddenly getting good because the Diamondbacks are that bad. </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Every division in the modern major leagues has a club <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32008247/the-end-tanking-how-make-every-mlb-team-try-win-every-year" target="_blank">actively attempting to lose</a>. However, f<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">ew in history have this unfortunate fact offset by two sparring partners at the</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> top playing .640 ball.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> And even though the NL West is home to the worst team in baseball (the Diamondbacks are 50-108 entering play on Thursday), the division ranks second in its cumulative win percentage. This number summates total wins by all members of the division, divided by total games played. Now, every divisional matchup <i>is </i>included in this figure, but each result is plainly a wash </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— one up and one down nets a universal .500 record for the entire group. So, anything over this neutral mark paints a picture of a division that went out of its geographic cluster and preyed on others. In FIFA World Cup terms, identification of this year's <i>Group of Death</i>. The American League East currently leads the way at .526; followed closely by the National League West's .515. The only other division with a net positive is the AL West: 399-393 record (.504). The reverse side of the coin is the NL Central (.496), AL Central (.489), and basement dwelling NL East (.470). <br /><br />Isolating the National League's rankings in this statistic, the hierarchy is NL West > Central > East. And wouldn't you know it, the re-seeded method has NL West in the top two spots, followed by two Central teams, and finally the single East representative. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That order is exactly how I would handicap the National League playoff contenders this October. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Seems like a Wild Card adjustment might execute the optimal level of course correction. </span><a href="https://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/futures/" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">Vegas doesn't agree</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">, and that's partly because oddsmakers understand the present system has its blemishes. The predetermined game board limits movement away from certain matchups. Styles make the fight. For instance, Atlanta at +1500 and St. Louis at +2000 doesn't suggest the masses believe the Braves are better than the seemingly invincible Cardinals at this moment in time. They do, however, realize Atlanta has the flexibility of two losses to work through and St. Louis does not. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />I'll be the first to say that division winning, no matter how weak at the bottom, always has to matter. But then again, a paltry 86 wins should not be recognized as the third-best total a league has to offer. I believe the role of a division title should be entrance into the pool of five, but nothing more. Context surrounding the ticket punched needs to be taken into consideration; division championships earn players a t-shirt and ballcap reward, not an impervious shield to the next round.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />If anything, a division winner like Atlanta (or Philadelphia) in '21 should be thanking their lucky stars they even get to participate. There will be times when a team on the outside looking in posts a better win percentage than a division champ. The 2012 Tampa Bay Rays were 3 GB of the second Wild Card, but two games better than AL Central Champion Detroit. The Tigers were fortunate the shell of their feeble division saved them. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Perhaps 2021 is just an anomalous year, where someone with 100 wins will be denied access to their respective LCS, but the likes of which won’t be see again for decades. Let's take a trip to the archives of this current playoff format to see where a division runner-up could have been re-seeded, thus avoiding a Wild Card Game.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>2012:</b> Atlanta (94-68) was equal to division-winning San Francisco. This would have been a major test on how to handle ties. I don't think a one-game playoff would have been necessary; asking two already qualified clubs to play too much baseball in too many cities on back-to-back-to back nights. I vote "tie goes to the division winner, head-to-head record be damned." Meanwhile in the American League, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Baltimore and Texas tied at 93-69 </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"> better than division-winning Detroit. The two would have played each other in a one-game format, like they did that year, but not with elimination on the line. The loser would have been the 4 seed (hosting Detroit), with the winner advancing to the ALDS as the 3.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>2013:</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Pittsburgh was better than division-winning Los Angeles.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">2014:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i>- None -<br /></i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i>Brief sidebar: There is an old-school element to re-seeding that I really like. For 67 seasons (1903-1969), Major League Baseball was comfortable with the </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">only</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Postseason series being the </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">World </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Series. There was no sympathy for your favorite team if they finished one measly game behind the AL or NL leader. Being tops of the entire league standings was the sole method to protecting championship interests, and that is the same with re-seeding. With three divisions, only two of their winners could ever flip flop into WC1 or WC2 position. It puts an onus on being the best team in the league that hasn't been seen in half a century. Case in point:<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>2015:</b> Both Chicago and Pittsburgh were better than two of the National League's three division winners </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">— New York and Los Angeles. This would have been the lone time in history where the Wild Card Game included two division winners. Only the NL Central Champion (St. Louis) would have escaped the flip flop, by virtue of being baseball's equivalent of the Presidents' Trophy winner. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>2016:</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">- None - <br /></i><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">2017:</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Arizona would have swapped places with division-winning Chicago.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">2018:</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"> New York would have taken the 3 seed from Cleveland, who would have also been bumped down to role of Wild Card Game visitor (5 seed) against Oakland.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">2019:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Eventual World Champion Washington would not have had to sweat it out in the Wild Card Game, moving directly to the NLDS in place of St. Louis.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>2020:</b> San Diego was the NL's second-best club, and should have matched up with the 7th seeded Cincinnati. Note: Hopefully the weirdness surrounding a pandemic-shortened season </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> like even having 6, 7 or 8 seeds </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> is never seen again.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The verdict is nine seed adjustments would have taken place... spread over the past nine years of doing it this way. With two leagues, this is 0.5 an occurrence per Postseason. Not exactly frenetic/haphazard shuffling of the deck, nor undercutting the value of winning the division. Most times, nothing noticeable would be altered. For example, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">this piece says nothing about the chaos that could ensue on the </span><a href="https://nypost.com/2021/09/27/unprecedented-al-wild-card-scenario-not-favorable-to-yankees/" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">American League side of the ledger</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. A wild Wild Card indeed, but presumably no need to re-seed the Junior Circuit's group of five, so a story for another writer. Oddly, the logistical nightmare of a four-way tie for the top (or only) Wild Card would have been a similar issue as far back as 1994. In other words, this one's not on the newest playoff system. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The division winner inequality I'm proposing is not without precedent. Two NFL division winners in each conference have played on Wild Card Weekend each and every season since 2002. With this year's expansion to 14 total participants, the number of division winners NOT assured safety into the Divisional Round will increase to three of four per conference. And it's being billed as an incentive to handle your business in the regular season, not a demotion of status for the other first place teams. Strictly speaking: "You don't want to play in a re-seeded Wild Card Game, Mr. NL East Champion? Then don't only win 86 games </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— even if that was all that was required to gain entrance into the dance. Saves a spot, but not a partner." <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The "They had 162 games to avoid the volatile nature of a single game potentially ending their season" crowd can't have it both ways. The Dodgers </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">did </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">have 162 games in which to prove to everybody that they belong in the playoffs... the real playoffs. And Los Angeles resoundingly has, to the tune of 102 wins and counting. That total </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">is </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">using their 162 as a letter of qualifications for protected inclusion inside the Division Series bracket lines. Are we really saying to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: "You only won 105 games as the reigning champions? <i>Tsk, tsk</i>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That's clearly not the resume of a contender." <br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">And this belabors why the Cardinals </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><b>need to</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> win next Wednesday. St. Louis is like the blind spot alarm for every system Major League Baseball implements. They sit in the back of the class and poke holes in the professor's theorems all the damn time. "This new way of doing this is sooooo much better than the old one." There go the Cardinals: "Oh yeah? Then why will the second-best team in baseball be eliminated before Game 1 of the NLDS?" It's going to take that level of putting Commissioner Rob Manfred's nose in the poop for him to see that it's a problem. It has to be that glaring an oversight.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />If that second Wild Card were, let's say, Cincinnati </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">on some modest 12-8 stretch to close out their year </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— then San Francisco or Los Angeles would (of course) win the Wild Card Game by six or more runs. I say "of course" because that would be a kiss of death outcome. Sure, the proper team <i>would</i> advance; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">a mere formality for the NL West runner-up to have to vanquish a lesser opponents in "straight sets." It'd be the embarrassment level a casting director experience in requiring a mega celebrity audition: "Sorry for making you have to do that." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">But the groundswell support for re-seeding the MLB playoffs would lose its traction.<br /><br />Since the game didn't trip up the Giants or Dodgers, nor require too much exertion, no one would even care what was intrinsically wrong with the matchup. "Team A beats Team B, who was 16 games behind them in the standings" is not a sexy headline. The result would also hinder the issue's ability to become a point of emphasis in a new MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement.<br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Aside from wishing the two NL West 100-win teams met later in a best-of-seven series, no one would have any complaints with this Mock 2021 Postseason. It will be </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">decently packaged by FOX and TBS and sell just the same.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">No systemic revisions to the format in the offseason, because nothing would appear out of place to the viewers. Without the presentation of an alternative, you don't know what you're potentially missing out on. Now that I know it is plausible, however, I wish Brewers vs. Dodgers and Cardinals vs. Giants was an NLDS option.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Though it cannot alter this year's bracket, there's something in the air that screams a higher power has intervened for the sake of future iterations. The Cardinals are not your average second Wild Card any longer. They aren't limping in; quite the contrary. They have a 21st-century pedigree paired with a flair for defying expectations. Lie to me and tell me you can't see them winning this upcoming game. Why wouldn't they? The only straw I can grasp is that Jon Lester has been down this road twice before (A's in 2014 and Cubs in 2018) and lost both times. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />One thing is certain with this upcoming National League Wild Card Game: It will be the biggest disparity in win percentage between the two competitors in the brief history of the contest</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. The previous record involved (you guessed it) St. Louis, who finished six games back of Atlanta in 2012. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Note: The 2017 Twins were equally -6 in win total as WC2, but lost to the Yankees. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Naturally, the Cardinals won their contest </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">the infamous </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/sports/braves-cardinals-baseball-playoff.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">Pete Kozma infield fly rule</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> game </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">despite a wide margin in the final standings. It's what they always seem to do.</span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">It's enough of a recent track record to have idiots like me saying: Their 17-game win streak is setting the table for a deep run by the Cardinals. I mean, even if they go 1-3 to finish out this week, they will still be winners in 20 of their final 25. That alone would make the double-digit chasm between them and their Wild Card host all but disappear. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">There's a vibe that is eerily similar to the <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/01/rockies-padres-rocktober-2017-game-163/" target="_blank">2007 Rockies</a>, who won 14 of their last 15 games and wound up in the World Series.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Since 2000, Wild Card teams have appeared in their respective League Championship Series 22 times (out of a potential 42 opportunities) — counting the 2020 Astros as six seed. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">That’s an insanely high yield for what should be the worst team in the group. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">The Cardinals remarkably account for two of those 22; 9% of the instances while comprising 3% of the league (since 1998). M</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">oreover, St. Louis is one of only six clubs this century to see the super underdog role all the way through to the ultimate prize. They're just a different breed.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />It has to have the reigning champions going "anybody but St. Louis." As a Wild Card, they carry a reputation of producing that a Philadelphia or Cincinnati cannot match. The Cardinals are proof that all past records really do reset when the horses enter the starting gate, and they have as good a chance as any when qualified to run.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />St. Louis has won seven of its last ten Postseason meetings with Los Angeles (2013 NLCS 4-2, 2014 NLDS: 3-1), while they've been bounced by San Francisco in both of their most recent playoff series (2012 NLCS: 4-3, 2014 NLCS: 4-1). The Dodgers exorcised a ton of recent playoff demons with last year's World Series title. However, the Cardinals may still have their number; the road to a championship didn't go through St. Louis.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br /><span style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________<br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />What we're seeing these past three weeks is a bit of an aberration, though. St. Louis is still a team that was </span><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">44-46 at the All-Star Break. They are fortunate to not have outright spoiled a MVP-caliber season from Paul Goldschmidt </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— one where he, Nolan Arenado, and Tyler O'Neill all hit 30+ home runs. Make no mistake about it: The Cardinals really underachieved. Even with re-seeding, they still wouldn't be provided anything more than a playoff tryout.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Not winning the Central and falling short of 90 wins before October 1 is below the standard expressed by their current </span><a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30818353/st-louis-cardinals-officially-acquire-nolan-arenado-colorado-rockies" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">roster configuration</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> and championship heritage. They've been reduced to asking the teacher to do a boatload of extra credit assignments before the final exam. It can't fully mask the C- effort turned in for six months, but the B+ looks a lot better than it would have in a vacuum. Being a 2021 Wild Card team went from bare minimum expectation leaving Spring Training to "it'll take a Herculean effort" on September 1. Manager Mike Shildt and his boys delivered on that, so the </span><a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2021/7/30/22602260/trade-deadline-2021" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">curious move to buy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (and not sell) this past trade deadline comes out smelling like a rose.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />It provides the Cardinals with the greatest quantity of house money ever brought to the Wild Card table. As </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">recently as Labor Day, St. Louis found themselves buried behind San Diego, Cincinnati, </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">and</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Philadelphia in the Wild Card standings.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> By then, most folks around the club had succumb to a "not our year" mentality.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> So when the Birds decided to treat their fans to the most incredible September in their storied history, the need (and thus pressure) for them to do anything more has gone out the window. The totality of the Cardinals season has turned into <i>Apollo 13</i>; the crew "lost the moon," but also didn't die. So there's that. Moral: Feeling let down, or defining what a success worth celebrating looks like, can dramatically ebb and flow as circumstances do. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />In that, i</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">f there's not a "true" Postseason series this year for the Cardinals, it should roll off fans' shoulders far easier than those in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Three-quarters of the way through the league schedule, one was resigned the playoffs weren't going to happen, while the others couldn't wait for them to arrive. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">What does this team really have to lose next Wednesday?</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">This is why St. Louis <i>will</i> win. A really good team is going to feel unjustly eliminated. They will be correct in their grievance. The format will get transformed… again. And the methodology of granting Wild Cards access the NLDS and ALDS will once again be a result of the Cardinals exposing a deficiency.<br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>________________________________________________</span><br style="background-color: white; text-align: center;" /><br />I suppose it <i>could</i> go well for either L.A. or San Fran. The only other comp in this situation </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">100-win Yankees of 2018 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— escaped their Wild Card Game </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_American_League_Wild_Card_Game" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">without much strife</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">. The 2015 Pirates are on the books as winners of the most regular-season games (98) among losers in this contemporary battle of Wild Cards. But that is nothing close to the rarified air of 103-107 wins one of the two West Coast teams will post this year. A loss will be unfathomably tough to stomach.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />Playing in the one-and-done structure already feels like a slight. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Wait until the Dodgers and Giants have to each use eight pitchers in Game 163 (Monday, October 3 in San Francisco, by virtue of a 10-9 head-to-head record). That loser has to turn and play Wednesday, October 5 against the fully rested Cardinals. In a re-seeded scenario, that game on Monday would be to determine the 1 and 2 seeds, not the 1 and 4 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— meaning the next series doesn't start until Friday. October 8. Thinking about that is going to sting.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> Dodger or Giant fans might want to book airfare to New York City right now, in the off-chance they need to start flipping cars outside Manfred's office.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><br />The fallout of a St. Louis win will either move the game to a best-of-three series, like last season's test balloon, or re-seed the entire pool of candidates. I motion the latter, and that we call it the Lars Nootbaar Amendment (just for fun). It'll make more sense than the cockamamie matchup situations MLB rolled out in 1995 and 1997, catering to those who split stadium rent with their local football team. As much as it pains me to acknowledge the validity of those particular World Series outcomes, they are in the record books forever </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">— even though the paths navigated by the finalists were patently incorrect. It shows there's wiggle room to play with this system until it's getting the desired results. And for me, that begins and ends with making the Wild Card teams the two weakest regardless of first-place or second-place status.<br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">Place a 100-win team, or winner of 17 games in a row into a position where they get a proven boost, and you might as well crown them now. Be sure to tune in on Wednesday night (TBS); th</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">e National League pennant winner is likely coming out of that Wild Card Game.</span></p><p></p></div>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-44477186342902499182020-10-18T22:00:01.489-04:002020-10-21T23:24:56.358-04:00From Wounded Wood Duck To Thoroughbred In A World Series-Bound "Stable"<span style="font-family: verdana;">Do you know the typical setting of a rookie reliever making his 1,000th Major League pitch? That answer is an emphatic "No" perhaps followed by a good-natured "No one does." Even in today's pitch count-centric world, that's not a threshold any analyst is rattling off during a telecast. But, by diving heavy into the research, I found out that we may have witnessed the most iconic instance in baseball history on Saturday night.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28-Qji1jOHSsNZXxfYFIL1p5CLmbx2pzBqGEdlbxzyar9flQxVJ4cbVtt7_f-4j04RWJAZx-E_ZfYBCdgMK3V-DFOpq3zSztcmwFlQB8p6vi9hUvgvX3ve0QDWyxoYROokWAC5ZfOrps/s904/Fairbanks3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="826" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28-Qji1jOHSsNZXxfYFIL1p5CLmbx2pzBqGEdlbxzyar9flQxVJ4cbVtt7_f-4j04RWJAZx-E_ZfYBCdgMK3V-DFOpq3zSztcmwFlQB8p6vi9hUvgvX3ve0QDWyxoYROokWAC5ZfOrps/w365-h400/Fairbanks3.jpg" width="365" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">For your [modern] classic one-inning bullpen guys, with an average of 17 pitches per, you're looking at their 58th career appearance. With the focus on <a href="http://m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/service-time" target="_blank">service time</a> and "starting the free agency clock" it's become really tough to squeeze that many outings into a singular rookie campaign. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">On the rare occasion that a rookie spends an entire season with a Major League club </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">like a Jeurys Familia did with the 2014 New York Mets </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">1,000 occurs during appearance number 61 in the dog days of summer (August 20). He went on to appear in 15 more games and throw 221 more pitches. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Those quantities are </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">right up against the dreaded "rookie wall" </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> uncharted territory due to a Major League Baseball calendar that extends far beyond any other level of the sport. What to expect when a pitcher is throwing a single-season amount they've never eclipsed is a mystery. The instances of bad usually outnumber the good. Thus, the trend has become to hold back young arms until at least Memorial Day.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">When you make your MLB debut in June, like an Edwin Diaz did for the Seattle Mariners in 2016, you make 49 appearances and 839 pitches in Year 1. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">If that </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">team doesn't make the playoffs</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span> or said </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">player isn't included on the Postseason roster</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span> pitch number 1,000 has to wait until the following year. Should the rookie make the roster right out of camp, the "milestone" occurs in an innocuous early-season game.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> With our Diaz example, it happened to be a 0-1 slider to Jose Ramirez on a random Friday in late April of 2017. Though it did help improve Seattle's record to 11-13, it was pretty forgettable by all accounts. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a normal storyline for mid-season call-ups that carry over rookie status to a following Spring Training. Break camp in March with a steady gig and roll over a new place on the odometer by May. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">But nothing has been normal about 2020. Thanks to Covid-19 and a shortened regular season, Peter Fairbanks of the Tampa Bay Rays was called upon to throw the 1,000th of his MLB career in the pressure cooker of the eighth inning of Game 7 in the 2020 American League Championship Series. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reaching 1,000 in the middle of October was unique enough a scenario, but the 6'6" rookie added to the oddity in a way few others can: a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1317668779808198657" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">shoulder-high 100.4 MPH fastball</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to get Houston Astros third basemen Alex Bregman swinging and end the threat. Not exactly ho-hum Game #24 of 162. Bregman represented a two-time All-Star, former Silver Slugger, runner-up in 2019 AL MVP voting, and most importantly, de facto winning run in a winner-takes-the-pennant game. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The tilt was only the 18th such Game 7 in the history of Major League Baseball. To add some adrenaline to the moment, the reliever was </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">much more accustomed to throwing in the sixth (21% of the time), seventh (29%), or eighth (14%) than the ninth. Entering the 2020 Postseason, Fairbanks almost had as many career Games Started (2) as Games Finished (5). He's not a guy typically thrust into a moment that large. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Adding to the drama was all the talk around baseball focusing on the Rays "pulling an '04 Yankees" </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> a shameful moniker that constitutes monumental collapse. That's a lot to put on a young pitcher's shoulders. Having him look over those same shoulders to find a starting pitcher warming in the bullpen was worse. Sure, a manager needs such contingency plans at the ready, but doing so comes with a psychological risk. It's a delicate balance of preparedness without making the man on center stage feel like you believe he will falter. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Though the optimism may have been tepid in the dugout, the Rays' bullpen kept the faith. When asked about entering that ninth inning, Tyler Glasnow said, "I was praying I didn't, because Pete was going to come out and shove."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Indeed Pete did. He came in a little deer-in-headlights and plenty amped up, but settled in nicely. You face the stone-faced assassin in Michael Brantley with two runners on and try to do much better than a walk. And on deck? Only the guy whose dramatic ninth-inning, walk-off home run extended the series two nights prior. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Carlos Correa took Nick Anderson deep and made a once-lopsided 3-0 series very interesting at 3-2. It was no longer a "cute" series or a sign of one prideful club saving face in a gentleman's sweep. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">With yet another Astros' win on Friday, it had grown into a five-alarm "Oh no, are they really going to blow this?"</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">For added magnitude of the situation, Fairbanks was carrying the hopes of 29 fan bases that want the vile Houston Astros' title-chasing window to come to a close (and the entire house knocked down). Even by 2020 standards, it would be a gross miscarriage of karmic justice for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/astros-cheating.html" target="_blank">proven cheaters</a> to stand on the podium as World Champions. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_fVJI7yxkOVQke3Li6NTOjNZRThH4hPDMlDxTycTsS9D2pncfTtfx3S9Ng1-109TJM8eyrBCHMOcFbbaiABHSPMzDrbqY6Z1XEsfrenR6YF02psnUakDi98bAIl1isHOTe0q1jfaXmM/s1226/rays+win.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1226" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_fVJI7yxkOVQke3Li6NTOjNZRThH4hPDMlDxTycTsS9D2pncfTtfx3S9Ng1-109TJM8eyrBCHMOcFbbaiABHSPMzDrbqY6Z1XEsfrenR6YF02psnUakDi98bAIl1isHOTe0q1jfaXmM/w400-h266/rays+win.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It's human nature to have all these thoughts creep in; it's merely what you do with them that defines you. Do you succumb to all the reasons why you can't and those with the pedigree should? Or do you push through, trust your stuff, and send your club to its second-ever World Series berth? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We now have our answer, and know exactly what Peter Fairbanks is made of. Well, the casual baseball fan is just now finding out. Some of us have been fortunate to know his exemplary mental fortitude for years. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">_________________________________________________</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Without my beloved Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball's equivalent of the Final Four, I once again find myself talking about the smoke-and-mirror greatness that is the Tampa Bay Rays. As you may recall, this is not my first time</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/09/the-best-season-few-came-out-to-see.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">lauding the organization.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">I guess it's that whole "enemy of my enemy is my friend" adage. Supporting anyone that takes out the Yankees, Twins, or Sox (of either color) is an easy thing to do. Take it a step further and eliminate this particular Houston Astros team? Baseball fans across America will hold a coast-to-coast parade in your honor. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">In writing about the Rays this time around, however, the "friend" is quite literal </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> my buddy, Peter Fairbanks. A</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd the story is hyper-focused on his last three years in and out of professional baseball. </span></div><div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young man's journey from total rebuild to the 2020 World Series is nothing short of amazing. And not in your typical tear-jerking </span><i style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cinderella</i><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sort of way; more like a "work your ass off to make your own breaks" storyline. </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">This doesn't aim to be a cliché-filled fluff piece. No motivational poster rhetoric. No slogans you'd expect to see high school teams print on their offseason weightlifting shirts. Likewise, t</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">his is not some "never give up on your dreams, kid" speech. Sometimes in life, you simply have to be a "dude" as a prerequisite for this type of fairytale to take place. Being injury-prone, undersized, <i>and</i> untested by quality competition would have closed the book on Fairbanks a long, long time ago. You can be granted more chances if you're only that first one, but not the last two. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's the cold, hard truth of scouting. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is such a thing as insurmountable adversity no matter how hard you try. </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's not get it twisted; th</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">is <i>is</i> the story of a supremely gifted athlete. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he certainly didn't "come out of nowhere." </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Same franchise, but </span><i style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Rookie</i><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> this is not. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have a 6'6" frame with SEC pitching experience, a father who made it to the Minor Leagues, and get drafted inside the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. Then... "never give up on your dreams, kid." </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">And even in that, Pete arguably did something "stubbornly foolish" and "improbable." Statistics show he should have packed up his tents and gone home. The number of comparable cases that end in heartbreak far outweigh those that make it. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Results like Saturday's ALCS Game 7 prove the lesson here is more about avoiding comfort zones than blind hope. Or, spun another way, impeccable self awareness to say the very thing that made you good needs to be completely discarded so that greatness can be achieved. </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apollo 13 when the crew "lost the moon." Ernest Shackleton's Expedition when it was clear they would not reach the South Pole. Certain missions have moments where all parties realize they've come a commendable distance, but continuing on in the previous manner will end in utter disaster. Now, it's human nature to be angry at the suggestion that turning back and restarting from scratch is the right move, but it is. </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter Fairbanks was presented with a similar no-win proposition: tear down every single piece of his pitching mechanics or quit altogether. He had gotten to a point where the way he threw a baseball was so detrimental to his health and success that there was no alternative but to learn another method. Think about that: something inherent, something he had done hundreds of thousands of times since the age of three, needed to be Etch-A-Sketch'd and redrawn mid-career </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with no promises from any MLB club, nor long list of precedent setters waiting for him on the other side. </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the path he willingly took on; here is what led him to that harsh reality. </span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">2017: </b></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the inaugural season of the Down East Wood Ducks, Advanced-A ball affiliate of the Texas Rangers — based in Kinston, North Carolina. The club was an anemic 36-59 as the bus rolled into Myrtle Beach for four games in three days. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">In game 3 of the series, on July 21, Fairbanks was one out away from slamming the door on a rare 5-1 victory. Then came an all-too-familiar pop. For those who have undergone Tommy John surgery before, the feeling of another ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear is known in an instant. The ticking time bomb in his right elbow had gone off again. The previous instance was as a junior in high school, back in 2011. </span></div><div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4FQMgX98fKQhOq3nKTY-uDZkXxJDe1iXGxb06eg367m5JuEyZD36RaLgtJ6uyV44iThPhlv2JyXpq6La8NIYtJQWF6cQn0VKhOY2yLrUiGLJ8O0jc_oVU4JNcodQ6Dj9t86UW0efa3U/s480/peterfairbanks_19downeast_large.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="345" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4FQMgX98fKQhOq3nKTY-uDZkXxJDe1iXGxb06eg367m5JuEyZD36RaLgtJ6uyV44iThPhlv2JyXpq6La8NIYtJQWF6cQn0VKhOY2yLrUiGLJ8O0jc_oVU4JNcodQ6Dj9t86UW0efa3U/s320/peterfairbanks_19downeast_large.jpg" /></a></div>At that point, Fairbanks was a low-90s guy with a “dogshit” slider (his words), a second scar on his right elbow, and a 5.97 ERA in the one of the lowest rungs on the professional baseball ladder. He wasn't striking anyone out (4.8 K/9) while walking the world (6.3 BB/9). Sprinkle in 22 hits over a pedestrian 18.1 IP and he was allowing nearly two base runners per inning (1.875 WHIP). Even though he was a huge upside ninth-round pick out of Mizzou, and only 23 years old, he was about as close to being a Major Leaguer as you and me. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is the point of his journey where I first met Pete. After successful reconstruction surgery, he became a regular at All-Star Performance (ASP) in St. Louis. I was a pitching instructor, 16U coach for the <a href="https://www.perfectgame.org/PGBA/Team/default.aspx?orgid=1390&orgteamid=0&Year=2021" target="_blank">highly-decorated Gamers program</a>. While at nearby Webster Groves High School (2008-12), Pete was a member of the winter/summer organization. As part of his rehab, the alumnus was back to assist with strength training and conditioning the new batch of high schoolers. It was an opportunity for him to repair any damage to his mind more than his arm. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fairbanks practically lived at ASP. It was his sanctuary to chase away any feeling sorry for himself. From that depth, he was able to pour a solid foundation for what was to come. Like so many that get their first taste of coaching, the kids he worked with helped him as much he helped them. They reignited his passion for the sport; keeping his eyes on the prize. And, as an added bonus, Fairbanks was able to mix in his necessary work as demonstrator of each exercise. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We hit it off immediately. He was my type of quirk. Great sense of humor; quoting all the right lines from the best obscure comedies and Bo Burnham tracks. He reminded me a ton of my brother, who was also born in 1993. I would have loved to share a bullpen bench with him in college. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">But when it came to providing lessons on mechanics to 13U-17U pitchers, it was quite the "do as I say, not as I do" coaching style. At that time, he was working through his own research on what his new delivery would look like. As Will Smith says in <i>Hitch</i>: "'You' is a very fluid concept right now."</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ka0f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>2018:<br /></b></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">All-Star Performance was a drug to an addict. Watch him on the mound for a half inning and you'll be gripped by his intensity. I'm not sure if he blinked once in the eighth inning of Game 7 Saturday night. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's not as hyperbolic as the phrase gets tossed about: Fairbanks <i>was</i> the first one there and last to leave. He wanted to jump ahead to Day 150 of his rehab by Week 4. Trainer Tanner Dallas once told me, "he worked to the point where I had to tell him to step on the brakes every now and then."</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgmhAAAtRH1LbmL23uO54_VcDrB5f3ftXDNbHWOBZN6jJ4GcrT0vS3qgt8_LiJ3dPrGbJ9G8SKtSopHujLMUH8KpdfwLqV8zQZbIUA7STTIyvjD4UQqXPEaNABuRToaNpqFbdB612G4g/s1069/fairbanks+lifting.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgmhAAAtRH1LbmL23uO54_VcDrB5f3ftXDNbHWOBZN6jJ4GcrT0vS3qgt8_LiJ3dPrGbJ9G8SKtSopHujLMUH8KpdfwLqV8zQZbIUA7STTIyvjD4UQqXPEaNABuRToaNpqFbdB612G4g/w496-h640/fairbanks+lifting.jpg" width="496" /></a></div>Everything he did in the weight room was explosive, so it is of little surprise the delivery that emerged from the ash was similarly violent.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The bullpen is where the real fun was had. It was a collaborative laboratory that rivaled the Rangers' spring training/rookie ball facility in Surprise, Arizona. Fairbanks' St. Louis-based team consisted of former Major Leaguer <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whitema02.shtml" target="_blank">Matt Whiteside</a>; standouts in independent ball, Travis Tingle and James Beever; fellow collegiate pitcher Andy Marks; and myself. We were constantly tinkering with new ways to improve pitch execution, new technology to track progress, and new methods to train pitcher-specific muscle movements. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Rangers obviously had their guys checking in with Fairbanks every so often, but he truly was self-made that offseason. He was in St. Louis from November through to April before their organization had him report back to any of their facilities.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sure, Pete was on the shelf and away from a game mound all year, but this is where it all truly turned. He got healthy. He studied film, as is oft-mentioned in his incredible recovery story; modeling his arm action after Joe Kelly. He toyed around with Rapsodo and Diamond Kinetics like a mad scientist, setting in-house records for spin rate on both a four-seamer and slider. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">If there was something round between 2 oz. and 25 lbs., and it wasn't glued to the floor, Fairbanks was throwing it (very, very hard) into our reinforced wall. The work ethic was unrivaled.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We had a "Be The Guy No One Wants to Play Catch With" t-shirt that hung in the bullpen area, I think mainly for him. Unless it was a football, I didn't want any part of being on the receiving end of his rehab throws. It was coming in hot, but your guess was as good as any on where it was going. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Forget the launch angle revolution on the offensive side. The bigger story about the last five years of baseball has been on the mound. Call it the "scap retraction generation"; which is ironic because it's more of a rebirth of an old way than a truly new innovation. The '90s and early '00s did well to identify and eradicate the infamous "<a href="https://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2010/09/strasburg-the-inverted-w-and-pitching-mechanics/" target="_blank">Inverted W.</a>" This let a tried-and-true method from the '70s and '80s to reemerge. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now it's all about buzzwords like "scapular plane" and "adduction." Essentially, get that ball hidden on your back hip and externally rotate it into an elevated position to let 'er rip. It's a far cry from the days of "swing your arm back like a windmill and make a shoulder-height 'L' with your back elbow." </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiBOGGKBnvpJE9_VbGKYI8Dlb5n-FNbIqSaXPdrzH7scounJM0n2FyoOtlCooNr2gfdgGHyWK49-4rh9U24th43D4bZ6EV4EEyvDuxLbK3oJeDo7bGYFtyeLD6fPdDjjxd-29LOSZV5c/s2043/Scap+Load.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="2043" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiBOGGKBnvpJE9_VbGKYI8Dlb5n-FNbIqSaXPdrzH7scounJM0n2FyoOtlCooNr2gfdgGHyWK49-4rh9U24th43D4bZ6EV4EEyvDuxLbK3oJeDo7bGYFtyeLD6fPdDjjxd-29LOSZV5c/w640-h316/Scap+Load.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The right elbows of these pitchers <i>[above] </i>are non-existent from this camera angle at front foot strike/plant. At the moment of these still frames, you could pinch a towel in the armpit of any one of them and it's not falling to the ground. They are connected, the scapula is loaded, and hip rotation is about to uncork unreal velocities from such unassuming body types. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Contorting what he looked like before to fit the mold of this became the sole obsession of Pete that winter. He took it a step further by "holstering" the baseball longer than most. He had to take it to this extreme to truly break old habits. Nearly every muscle memory rut needed to be filled in and re-established in a new mode. The arm path had to get shorter. The back elbow had to learn to go back (towards first base) instead of up. The glove side shoulder needed tilt. If all of that happened, the best thing in the world occurred: his ulna laid back like a trebuchet on time as a firm front leg braced for the throw. With his size and newfound strength, 100 MPH was possible. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The funny thing was: it was always in there. But it could never see the light of day, for the machine required 28 1/2 expertly-synchronized steps. Never once had they ever fired in perfect harmony/sequence/time. Strip it bear and try anew with only four steps? Now we're talking. Now we have something repeatable and efficient. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It certainly was a frustrating process at times. And watching a guy b</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">reak every egg in the carton to make a better omelet is not an easy thing to do. You want to intervene and tell him to step away for a hot second. But he treated that indoor mound like it was a level in a video game he knows he can beat if he just gets one more crack at it. Driven is an understatement and the only person that ever yelled at him or got disappointed with his performance was him:</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='478' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx-uLY_g06vxH17vzhp8Pa2rc_P7YGbSTxgwTc77CPDNsXg95gp53Apn-nngSc5rgMYIKU8TcxJYAn3f3PHDA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On his worst days, he'd walk a handful of our high school players on four pitches in simulated games; </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">guys who'd go on to hit .230 for some Midwestern DII college. Point being: he wasn't exactly facing the '95 Indians (tired of hearing about the '27 Yankees) and still not throwing many strikes. Then again, we all knew i</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">t was not going to be an easy row to hoe. #TrustTheProcess</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now don't get me wrong, on his best days, it was clear he had Major League stuff. Body parts were moving faster than they ever had before. The breaking ball was a hammer. Thanks to the Core Velocity belt, Fairbanks learned to counterrotate his back knee and sink his hips better than 99% of people on the planet. The million dollar question was: could it all be harnessed and replicated often enough (and in time) to make a splash with the Rangers' development analytics department? </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In confidence to me, he would talk about scenarios if it didn't work out. His then-fiancée </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— and fellow Missouri Tiger student-athlete </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">was finishing up Occupational Therapy schooling. He could finish up his Physical Therapy degree and the two could go open up a little practice. Pete could train young pitchers as he learned to love that offseason. He'd disappear to the Springfield in middle Missourah, and at some point in his 50s he'd have to convince a bunch of young punks that he used to be a pretty darn good pitcher. It all felt so sad, like it wasn't the way the movie was supposed to end. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">From my perspective, it showed how letting go of something you grip too tightly can be often times be the necessary solution. I think he wanted a MLB debut "too hard" as a young Minor Leaguer. He now had the safety net of a plan for life beyond that dream. By being okay with it not working out, he was finally mentally free enough to actually succeed. Ain't life funny that way?</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">He no longer needed to pitch on a big league mound to have a fulfilled life. Around that year's Christmas, he got married. And true to how crazy Pete is, the two honeymooned in Canada... in the dead of winter.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> God love him. But t</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">hat removal of internal pressure likely accounted for what was to happen next.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pete 3.0 was ready to be tested in MiLB camp. He had the new technique. He simply needed to get back to professional coaches and players to hone in the last bit of consistent accuracy. With that, we all wished him well. He left with a "here goes nothing." </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>2019:</b> </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In what was legitimately his last chance to stick somewhere </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">and ideally ride a wave of success to the sport's pinnacle </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> he only lasted 11 games back with the Down East Wood Ducks... but not for the reasons you might have guessed. Scouts noted the new arm path and, namely, how it was was producing fastball velocities that ranked in the 98th percentile of all professional pitchers. And his very first appearance in his make-or-break return-from-injury year: a two-strikeout save.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">He was assigned to Double-A (Frisco </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">RoughRiders) on May 9 and only needed 20 days to outperform that level. He appeared in six games (7.1 IP), faced 24 batters, striking out 14 of them, and only surrendered two measly singles. Most notably, the pitcher that always had issues with walks didn't walk or hit a single batter in a Frisco uniform. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Speaking of their look, I fixed his </span><a href="https://www.coroflot.com/w_ross_clites/Frisco-RoughRiders" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">team's cross-handed logo</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> while he was there. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6q467-0-0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CdxYFdIpvHgYhuphl7s2VI4r_klxyjK03vAQmQKXnhG9gMi3cuXvQSfRD4QBlGqGod_IjNuSKPwesQKEe26aQc-Rycu6_KMlZVTUtzRS9VtOAJigaV9vdK9xFehVQBiNxNbsst1BCh4/s1936/fairbanks.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1936" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CdxYFdIpvHgYhuphl7s2VI4r_klxyjK03vAQmQKXnhG9gMi3cuXvQSfRD4QBlGqGod_IjNuSKPwesQKEe26aQc-Rycu6_KMlZVTUtzRS9VtOAJigaV9vdK9xFehVQBiNxNbsst1BCh4/w400-h400/fairbanks.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="4bla4-0-0"></div></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fairbanks was then promoted to the Nashville Sounds, in their first year as a Triple-A affiliate of the Rangers (previously the A's, Brewers, Pirates, et alia). His first appearance: two strikeouts out of his three outs recorded, no walks, one hit. Two days later was an improvement on that: two strikeouts out of his three outs recorded, no walks, no hits. And if you didn't think there wasn't much room for besting that type of shutdown relief inning, his third appearance was a similar 1-2-3 affair, but he struck out the side with 81% strikes thrown (13 of 16 pitches). The Rangers' top brass had seen enough. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">His date with the big boy mound was imminent. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The day every baseball-playing kid dreams of finally came on </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKxDvzyLCwI" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">June 9</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. And the first impression couldn't have been executed any better. Three up, three down, all strikeouts. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6q467-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a particular outing against the Tampa Bay Rays, only Fairbanks' seventh in the Bigs, he clearly made an impression with manager Kevin Cash and the Rays' front office. His one inning of work in the series opened with back-to-back home runs, was followed up with loads of frustrated self-talk into his glove (a Pete staple), and ended with three straight strikeouts. Everyone's chili runs hot after an opposing batter hits a moonshot off of you. Fairbanks already pitches violently and angry as all get out. So roughing him up only makes life miserable for the next people in line. Two homers in a row? You might very well see 102 on the radar gun. </span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="c70bb-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c70bb-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="c70bb-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="2vfah-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2vfah-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2vfah-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The way he responded was something Cash noted in that day's postgame interview. Fourteen days later, he was traded to Tampa for a similarly high-ceiling prospect, Nick Solak</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="2fbid-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2fbid-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2fbid-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="2t5k-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2t5k-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2t5k-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The good news: he was bound for a playoff contender. The bad news: the Rays stockpile arms like Pete's more than any other organization, so the MLB reps he had in Texas disappeared in an instant. He was back to Triple-A with Durham until September 1. Even with four multi-strikeout innings and two saves down the stretch, Fairbanks was left off the Rays' 26-man Postseason roster — one that made it to Game 5 of the ALDS. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="3oc8b-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3oc8b-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="3oc8b-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Vc-2D8Y83gpKW_pTe8pn0RxvlkLijf7A6IQAKLJBF3cD0OQ8eGBlzMIRD7d-cMCquSLVuzRUQRyzxUQts0AaiA0YiPqhJInP7yAMQrQgDol32mEhst3mf00WjuPQxICBDRFqRxrMspg/s825/celebration.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="825" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Vc-2D8Y83gpKW_pTe8pn0RxvlkLijf7A6IQAKLJBF3cD0OQ8eGBlzMIRD7d-cMCquSLVuzRUQRyzxUQts0AaiA0YiPqhJInP7yAMQrQgDol32mEhst3mf00WjuPQxICBDRFqRxrMspg/w400-h260/celebration.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It was quite the individual roller coaster ride of a season. From throwing to high schoolers that winter then soaring through Single-A, Double-A, and Triple-A so fast he was liable to get the bends. He got his cup of coffee with the Rangers and finished with ski goggles in Oakland's visiting locker room, celebrating a Wild Card win. He went from the Carolina League to the taste of MLB champagne (and Budweiser) in just five months. Nothing to hang the head about there. <br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2aicp-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">He capped the calendar year by becoming a father for the first time. To the Fairbanks family, 2019 exited on a trajectory of unfathomable steepness. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="386q6-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="386q6-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="386q6-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="background-color: white;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>2020:</b> </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana; white-space: normal;">“My number one priority is to make it out of camp and stay up there,” he told Juan Tiribio of <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/peter-fairbanks-focused-on-making-rays-roster" target="_blank">MLB.com in March</a>. Being named one of the 26 to break camp with the big club was hardly a shoo-in. And even if that did happen, sticking around isn't guaranteed by that decision. Multiple arm surgeries or not, 26 year-olds with fewer than 25 MLB innings of service typically expect to yo-yo back and forth from the majors to minors </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana; white-space: normal;"> that prototypical Quad-A player. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then, of course, Covid-19 hit. Sure, this is near the bottom of the list when it comes to those truly aggrieved by the pandemic/shutdown/quarantine, but what unfortunate luck. There was no 4 year/$15M contract to fall back on. Nor was there And worse, the plug was pulled on the Minor League season fairly early. It was truly a MLB-or-bust scenario. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">By June, it looked pretty bleak that there would even be a Major League season of any variety. Every day that passed without the owners and Players Union even speaking to one another was a day where that sharp breaking ball or electric fastball collected dust. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If there was a green flag on this season, getting up for the challenge fell on each individual. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Talk about personal accountability; the classic "garbage in, garbage out" principle. Those that worked their butts off outside the construct of an organization telling them what to do would see the best results. For Fairbanks, though, there was more on the line. A July 24 Opening Day </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">was like showing up for the most important audition of your musical life, and the last time you had a formal lesson was four months prior. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">To Fairbanks, this feeling was nothing new. He lives for the notion of "who you are when no one's watching says everything about you." Sons of school teachers are built that way. Cut a corner in one of those early-morning personal workouts and *poof* there goes that dream of MLB longevity. When he entered the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">abbreviated "Summer Camp," he was <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/peter-fairbanks-impressive-rays-summer-camp" target="_blank">more than ready</a>. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Covid did come with some positive side effects for guys in Fairbanks' fringe status, however. It expanded Opening Day rosters to 30 players. And the cancellation of all MiLB games actually cemented Fairbanks' days of riding the bus were over; no reason to not keep him up if space is available and the Triple-A reps aren't. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0sEg7L0-AIDKTLsWnChTyj19q2ksJ-iY07hHdOdcCXvpSLagigrO0BSc2SToIm66E2B1AHdZ_y__IYvPSqDYD8VCxdrFw1YUelrTReX0H-dl76LmoY-3P2IoU1_FQlP9FM_wafC08WQ/s1200/EcRl6kCWkAI4NdC.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="1200" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0sEg7L0-AIDKTLsWnChTyj19q2ksJ-iY07hHdOdcCXvpSLagigrO0BSc2SToIm66E2B1AHdZ_y__IYvPSqDYD8VCxdrFw1YUelrTReX0H-dl76LmoY-3P2IoU1_FQlP9FM_wafC08WQ/w400-h223/EcRl6kCWkAI4NdC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fairbanks certainly rewarded the club for their highly-circumstantial trust. His regular season included a 6-3 record (team lead in wins; tied for 4th in the AL), 2.70 ERA, and a Whiff Rate </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> or percentage of strikes on swings without contact </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> of 29.3%. Even in the age of the flame-throwing reliever, the league average hovered around 24%. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The combination of triple-digit velocity and a retooled hammer for a breaking ball accounts for his </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">22 career multi-strikeout innings in only 48 regular-season appearances. He's now struck out the side </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">four times; two instances coming in his first two MLB outings.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are more household names, but it was Fairbanks who led the club in </span>appearances (27) and holds (7). The success warranted a </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/07/06/tampa-bay-rays-pitchers-peter-fairbanks" target="_blank">Sports Illustrated cover story in July</a>. And although Tampa used 25 different pitchers in a shortened regular season, he ascended to a role beyond JAG ("just another guy") status. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a regular-season dust-up with the Yankees, Cash labeled them a </span><a href="https://nypost.com/2020/09/23/rays-trolling-yankees-with-kevin-cashs-stable-threat/" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">"stable."</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">O</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">n calmer days, he simply calls Fairbanks plus Nick Anderson and Diego Castillo his "A" group or flight. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Aaron Loup, John Curtiss, and Ryan Thompson </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">round out the Rays' lights-out, high-leverage committee of holds and saves. With a 3.37 Bullpen ERA (third-best in MLB), it's tough to argue that their "B" team isn't better than most other's top trio. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span>The most eye-catching stat he compiled in the 2020 [ir]regular season was a 13.2 K/9 rate. For perspective, </span></span><a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts_per_nine_season.shtml" style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">Shane Bieber blew the hinges off that record</a><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana;"><span> with 14.2; Jacob deGrom finished second at 13.8, a mark that would have been best all-time prior to 2019. Two things are clear: We are knee deep in Major League Baseball's "Walk, Strikeout or Homer" Era, and the format of this season exacerbated the swing-and-miss even more. Clearly pitchers were better suited for the short-sprint nature of a 60-game season, especially because it began so many months removed from any feelings of comfort and timing batters had established in Spring Training. Offenses never truly caught up. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Even with all that inflation, Fairbanks' numbers kept pace with the game's upper-echelon arms. His rate was higher than the official third-place finisher in the category, Trevor Bauer (12.3). Now, obviously, guys out of the bullpen have this metric boosted by lack of exposure in a given game. Strike out the side and then disappear for a few days is the way Milwaukee's Devin Williams and Cleveland's James Karinchak </span></span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> tied at the top with 17.7 K/9 </span></span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> make a living. Remove the conditional clauses to include all MLB pitchers, and Fairbanks still ended the year 26th out of the 484 who threw at least 10.0 regular-season innings. Interestingly, Williams, Karinchak, and Fairbanks were all rookies this season. Youth, man.</span></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Each</span></span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would be trending towards a full-time closer's role if their respective clubs didn't already have that guy (or think they do). For Fairbanks in Tampa Bay, the road to that level of job security is anything but a straight shot. Cash isn't handing out "closer" as an official job description to anyone any time soon. And if he did, the title would likely land on the business card of Nick Anderson, who's ahead of him on that same list — 14.3 K/9 </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">—</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and logged twice the MLB innings. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">With Fairbanks, it's not just the rate. His 39 total strikeouts — in a meager 26.2 IP — was more than some starters amassed in 55+ innings of work (Alex Cobb, Mike Fiers, Jordan Lyles). For perspective, Fairbanks is now sitting at 56.0 IP for his career; equal to Sonny Gray's total in 2020. Pete has 80 strikeouts while Sonny posted 72. That frontline starting pitcher is still in there somewhere, should the Rays ever want to explore the option. And the list of names he's fanned is getting to be quite impressive. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2kap2-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In striking out Alex Bregman of the Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS, Fairbanks now has at least one strikeout in head-to-head matchups with 22 former All-Stars: J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, J.T. Realmuto, Joe Panik, Gleyber Torres, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano, Gary Sanchez, Eugenio Suarez, Justin Smoak, Juan Soto, Russell Martin, Brock Holt, Jesus Aguilar, Chris Davis, (now teammate) Austin Meadows, Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Freddie Freeman. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">These last three would have been really significant if the Braves could have finished off their 3-1 NLCS lead. We'll conspicuously gloss right past his splits against the Dodgers. Time to get the better of them when it counts.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the decisive fifth game of the ALDS against New York, it was arguably his most important strikeout of his young career. With runners on first and second, in a 1-1 ballgame, Fairbanks bested fellow St. Louis native </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> and AL MVP candidate </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Luke Voit on a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/j8bjhg/fairbanks_gets_voit_to_swing_on_an_absolutely/" target="_blank">100 MPH letter-high fastball</a> to end the New York sixth. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The moment was a microcosm of where Major League Baseball has shifted in my lifetime. In the '90s, the guy getting that type of punchout is wearing pinstripes. These days, however, the best pitchers don't have to be unblemished, proven commodities that require "buying" in the offseason. A good organization can develop the same result with a little analytics, technology, and <a href="https://www.gestaltperformance.com/post/performance-therapist-a-new-style-of-pitching-coach?fbclid=IwAR1hxgGH12xFgwzjDPk3cMWLkQ5GVosT_ivTjt8jhv6-qlqCtWIsnkhRBnU" target="_blank">performance therapy</a>. </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In short, Pete is the quintessential unsung, scrapheap reclamation player for the perfect unheralded, “how are they consistent winners with such a small payroll” club. </span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="fonoj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o6L5tfuWXgSnvep-fr1exjAr8LMoJHql8U-NTDcs3DJjIHREEP94CoCRS9IEb977eEuTsdpD_kOpttqllqSYqrYiNVcxCaAB0S9UGMJ37uNzTPVOyppyeFCzqDgcctt0fRU5739J0AM/s960/trop.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: verdana; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="960" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o6L5tfuWXgSnvep-fr1exjAr8LMoJHql8U-NTDcs3DJjIHREEP94CoCRS9IEb977eEuTsdpD_kOpttqllqSYqrYiNVcxCaAB0S9UGMJ37uNzTPVOyppyeFCzqDgcctt0fRU5739J0AM/w400-h305/trop.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Rays always get trolled for having an awful facility with no fans, and this year it's actually lead some to speculate those Tropicana Field circumstances are somehow an X-factor. I'm definitely not holier than thou on this topic; it's a real problem for Major League Baseball. And I'm not above cracking jokes about it. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">As an exercise in satirical journalism, I once dove into a rabbit hole surrounding the </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2013/11/gently-used-stadium-for-sale-200.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">Rays joining the Braves in Atlanta</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Perhaps consistently drawing fewer than 10,000 fans for decades <i>has</i> actually prepped them for winning in empty stadiums. Who knows? It's not their fault they play in a facility that was already behind its time when it aimed to <a href="https://www.tampabayfield.com/information/#:~:text=The%20ballpark%20construction%20began%20in,Petersburg." target="_blank">lure the White Sox to Florida in the '80s</a>. They also didn't ask to be dropped into the league's toughest division, in the heart of Yankee and Red Sox snow bird retiree country. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Guess what? They don't seem to care at all. Since Tampa Bay exorcised the "Devil" of their beginnings, the Rays have been an easy club to support. What began with John Maddon's Island of Misfit Toys is now a full-fledged Winning Factory under Cash. His boys continue to play the team in the opposing dugout, not the things they cannot control. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Regardless of what happens next, the franchise that emerges as the champion of this #SillySeason will be my undisputed "most-deserving" title winner in the game's history. Requiring 13 Postseason victories is the most ever. Playing all five games of the Division Series and seven games of the Championship Series with no days off is unheard of. T</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">here should be no asterisks with this one.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If it does happen to be the Tampa Bay Rays, there will be plenty of league GMs scratching their heads. The secret sauce: stay </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">"low key and under the radar" as Kevin Kiermaier, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the only Ray with any semblance of tenure, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">put it in the postgame show last night. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not lost in the shuffle of their current run is how their 96-win roster from 2019 lost solid contributors. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Promising two-way star Brendan McKay was also shut down for the year (before it began) due to August shoulder surgery.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Tommy Pham, Avisail Garcia, Matt Duffy, Eric Sogard, and Emilio Pagan all left via trade or free agency. And somehow the Rays got better. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The last departure on that list might very well be the one that freed up a spot for Fairbanks to have his moment in the sun Saturday night. A February trade sent the 20-save man to San Diego and brought back lead-off hitter Manuel Margot. The move left the door ajar for anyone willing to kick it in and take the closer's job. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2noch-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRAqbaVybVIV8ARxH7830wR2wGOpfaH146IsMRc2Mu3W4ABYNTuLbYu7ecTUf6_4DNs7xuDqv-72cU73WxaD5zLQ33rHmx7ncJUgtoK29OFwN6xjcK2-zeQk_aPzzQHB_j4DaZmUVVb4/s605/Fairbanks.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="605" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRAqbaVybVIV8ARxH7830wR2wGOpfaH146IsMRc2Mu3W4ABYNTuLbYu7ecTUf6_4DNs7xuDqv-72cU73WxaD5zLQ33rHmx7ncJUgtoK29OFwN6xjcK2-zeQk_aPzzQHB_j4DaZmUVVb4/w400-h163/Fairbanks.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ironically, Fairbanks was the last man to do so this season, but the most trusted when the spotlight was brightest. Entering the expanded playoff, he</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> was one of the only pitchers in that Rays 'pen that hadn't recorded a save in 2020. This stat omission clearly made Fairbanks the perfect candidate to shut down the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series; p</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">roof there is no reasoning with Cash's logic sometimes. Fairbanks was up to the scope-of-work modification. And i</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">n closing out that game, he became the 13th pitcher to log a save this season for Tampa Bay </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">—</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> a new MLB record. Very Tampa Bay. Very 2020. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With his four-out save that finally slammed the door on the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS, Pete's postseason ERA has dwindled to 2.16. Even more astounding, he </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">now has a save in each of the three rounds the Rays have advanced. This is remarkable because Fairbanks had never even been presented with three save opportunities in an entire season at any point of his career. A converted starter back with the 2016 Hickory Crawdads, his high-water mark for SVO was two in Low-A, two in High-A, zero in Double-A, two in Triple-A, and two in the Bigs (both 11-inning affairs). </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am clearly pulling for Fairbanks to raise the Commissioner’s Trophy in the coming weeks, especially since the series is in Arlington. Sure, it's not the same Globe Life as his MLB debut, but the location is still full-circle symbolic. Hell, at the rate Kevin Cash plays closer roulette based on matchup and feel, my guy might just record a save in each series </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">— </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">in the first (and hopefully only) Major League Baseball playoff bracket with four full rounds. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">He's honestly got an equal shot of starting ("opening") Game 4 opposite Julio Urias. You just never know with Cash and these Rays. It would only be his third career MLB start, yet second time squaring off against one of the game's elites. On September 21, the pitching matchup was officially listed as "Fairbanks vs. deGrom." While the Mets' ace did strike out 14 batters in seven innings of work, the Rays somehow did enough to win 2-1. That's indicative of how life is going for both franchises these days. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ak8of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now that he's recorded the final out of the ALCS, I'm hoping he pairs his infamous "Ballgame Jesus" pose with a more exuberant drop to the knees in the World Series. Gimme Rays in 6, Fairbanks in the ninth, and a neutral-site dogpile for the ages. Feels like there's something to these <a href="https://www.bardown.com/patrick-maroon-gave-one-of-the-most-epic-nsfw-stanley-cup-speeches-of-all-time-1.1532580" target="_blank">St. Louisans bringing Tampa, Florida sports glory</a> in 2020.</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-47211586049536322312020-04-11T09:29:00.005-04:002021-03-10T23:32:01.880-05:00The Cloverleaf Chronicles I: Sun Angles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzjZAusOS-urFgPyOWzyclRG0bkg50UrFKeM20I1gPk-bAUn-k2LHJr9rPhM98hFDJ8SmGGor7loPR0j8Y8u8zPfe6fJZTqAymJfnlQDpy21mDlLe8B8J-qUhsGu-xA46XhY7mdb-ND0/s1600/IMG-3314.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzjZAusOS-urFgPyOWzyclRG0bkg50UrFKeM20I1gPk-bAUn-k2LHJr9rPhM98hFDJ8SmGGor7loPR0j8Y8u8zPfe6fJZTqAymJfnlQDpy21mDlLe8B8J-qUhsGu-xA46XhY7mdb-ND0/s400/IMG-3314.JPG" width="400" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">This is a companion piece to 4Most Sport Group's video series <i>The Cloverleaf Chronicles</i>. Read this in conjunction with Episode #1 on Sun Angles. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">If you are stumbling upon this blog before watching the video, treat it as the prologue to what you will see. I</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">f you are arriving here as directed by our little educational segment, c</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">onsider this the rich backstory for the "star" of that show. Okay, that'll be the only terrible dad joke, I promise. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">In all seriousness, this information is not entirely necessary to extract the thesis out of <i>The Cloverleaf Chronicles' </i>first installment. However, it is the perfect amount of "nerding out" for those, like me, that want to learn everything about everything. It's a medium dive, with plenty of Sun-related things there wasn't time to tuck into the video. Call it the director's cut.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">What we aim to do is drop a few anecdotes about our compelling heavenly body. We'll also sprinkle in some cultural history with a smidge of cosmic theology. What we're not going to do is bore you with Kepler's Second Law; or use tough-to-grasp concepts such as the <i>celestial equator</i> or <i>orbital resonance</i>. There's not going to be a quiz on the difference between the <i>geodetic </i>and <i>geocentric latitude</i> or the relationship between <i>eccentricity</i> and <i>obliquity</i>. Furthermore, I'll try my best to make terms like <i>zenith, azimuth, declination, analemma, synodic day, periphelion</i> and <i>aphelion</i> make some sense. I'll swap them out for more understood words where I can. Hopefully they'll be enough pop-culture sugar to help this medicine go down.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Bta66V94OID3WQYp639Rt58XSV1v7PBt9t3BseJ1_30dUtLnqbnAi0axxxo1AyM2VUl_joNGtcDGaq-ecZwQT8IaVWUiWG6x8ij6AnrQkdDDPB8VYy8zLDT4UHQwSpn3TJXxMWBWBc/s1600/brooklyn+nine+nine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1241" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Bta66V94OID3WQYp639Rt58XSV1v7PBt9t3BseJ1_30dUtLnqbnAi0axxxo1AyM2VUl_joNGtcDGaq-ecZwQT8IaVWUiWG6x8ij6AnrQkdDDPB8VYy8zLDT4UHQwSpn3TJXxMWBWBc/s320/brooklyn+nine+nine.jpg" width="320" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">My background on the subject: Two of my degrees are officially from Kent State's College of Architecture </span><i style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">and Environmental Design</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">. The latter part of that title was always a bit of an eye roll emoji among those in my graduating class. It sure sounded good on a resume, but we knew damn well we weren't saving the planet by redlining Marriott hotels. That being said, we did have an unbelievable curriculum in my six years at Kent. I truly wish I wasn't as sleep deprived back then, so I could have paid more attention to those 7:45 AM lectures. Nevertheless, most of what is written here was originally put in my brain by the fine professors of the Environmental Technology (ET) and Architectural History portion of my schooling. In verifying some of the specifics, the only thing shocking was how much I retained while sleeping on my textbook. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">After that paragraph-long humble brag, I must now back it up with a huge "I'm not qualified say much of this" disclaimer. The science presented here was only ever meant to be supplemental marketing on how to construct better outdoor athletic fields. That's the entirety of the intention. Having </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">my architectural brethren make seismic changes to their approach of this unfamiliar project type would be icing on the cake. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Call it a superficial end to the means, but that's my niche area of expertise and how I make my living. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">If you want to write a more consequential reason for studying the Sun, knock yourself out. And similarly, if you've landed here with the intention of debating Hawking radiation or dark matter, you're not even in the right forest to begin barking up the wrong tree. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Presenting 4Most proposals to potential clients typically raises eyebrows, and I needed something to explain why it "looks so different." I stopped digging as soon as I found a depth suitable to plant my rationale. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Please remember this context as you make your way through the piece. I'm Crown Prince of the Nerd-Jocks — the glasses-wearing "deceptively athletic" type. Ya know, those who are on the college roster as much for raising the team GPA as they are for recording outs or scoring buckets (which they do quite well). But don't twist this. I'm just here for making baseball/softball/soccer/football/cricket fields for self-proclaimed simpletons in Middle America. The degrees don't say Astrophysics, nor Ph.D., nor Harvard. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Despite my middle-of-the-pack state school stature, I am plenty tired of having to "dumb it down" in my industry. On some level, it is being told there is an educational threshold with a stigma placed upon those who cross. That seems backwards to me; swimming upstream against the goals we were programmed to aspire to as kids. There's nothing wrong people who use big words and never stop researching scholarly interests. Why are those who apply what they've learned labeled as "arrogant" and "pretentious" while those who never even step up to the starting line are granted a pass? Let's try to raise people up to a place they've mentally never ventured, rather than put a gleefully ignorant cap on knowledge. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">With that, I hope you enjoy and possibly learn something.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">There's a lot humans have learned about the Sun over the centuries, but designs of outdoor athletic facilities overlook some of the more obvious facts. For starters, we know our particular ball of gas, situated at the center of the solar system, is about 4.6 billion years old. It's 865,370 miles in diameter and roughly 93 million miles from where we currently sit. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Our continuous journey around our Sun is one of the most regular, irregular processes in the universe. Picture that globe in your elementary school or mahogany-lined study and how the sphere has a substantial lean from pole to pole. Add to that an elliptical path around our central star and it causes some strange phenomena. Despite the abundant abnormalities, everything about the Sun is tremendously consistent and down-right easy to keep tabs on. The Sun, as they say, is single-most certain thing about human existence — that is, after death and taxes. We simply take the wonderment of it all for granted — only ever thinking about it on days where its unable to peak through the clouds.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">From a very young age, we “get” what the Sun's deal is — where it goes each night and what it's up there for. T</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">here are some good rules of thumb we inherently live by. As members of the Northern hemisphere (along with an astounding 88% of the entire world's population), we know that the Sun can be found in our southern skies. Courtesy of the direction our planet spins on its axis, it rises each day in the East and sets in the West. Lower Sun angles in the Winter than in the Summer. Grade school stuff, right? </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">But much of its relationship with Earth is not fully comprehended, even by adults... at least those in the 2020.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Ancient civilizations were especially astute in charting its daily, monthly, and annual path in our skies. Arguably, the average man knew more about the Sun than we do today. Now, whether they thought it was rotating around Earth or believed the star was a deity is irrelevant for this comparison; the ability to accurately predict where the glowing sphere could be found — in terms of height above the horizon and relation to the cardinal directions — was millennia ahead of its time. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The reason is an indictment on what humankind has become, but it is somewhat defensible. They couldn't get distracted by a Joe Exotic documentary and we're not farming 13 hours tomorrow like our next 50 meals depend on it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Equinoxes and solstices were of utmost importance to these earliest agrarian societies. Without a Google calendar handy, these unique celestial moments became a foundation, upon which you build a reliable concept of time. There was no labeling things “June” or “November” — where everyone tacitly understands it represents a small collection of days with similar air temperatures. Instead, you could really only count the number of sunrises and sunsets since the last big solar event. That, and observe the various phases of the moon.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Seasons needed checkpoints to know, with 100% certainty, when you were entering or exiting them. After all, short-term weather patterns have always been deceptive. If dads in the 8th-century could have said “It feels like Fall” every time there was a 50-degree July day, I'm sure they would have. But climate and weather are different, and knowledge of the former governs when to plant crops.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As luck would have it, the world is filled with a seemingly endless number of naturally-existing features that interact with the sunrise and sunset in fascinating ways. Civilizations recognized these vantage points as sacred.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The instant the top arc of that reddish-yellow circle peered over the horizon line signified a god awakening. The earliest freestanding dwellings, and their subsequent city plans, were arranged in a way to best observe this daily rise and/or the fall.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84XwhYktqD4EMCPWQoza8jK8AsUzmq-LfwDjOK8W8mDsXWTn4Rg0NgY8di0mBUXR0QoelL_s0Hx_jQWVzvUNlHSlhCifsBCPwvhwwGTGp2rIBGNs0w7qBfi7RcDZf-D4Bw0PJOZWefn4/s1600/lion-king-circle-of-life-sunrise.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="1000" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84XwhYktqD4EMCPWQoza8jK8AsUzmq-LfwDjOK8W8mDsXWTn4Rg0NgY8di0mBUXR0QoelL_s0Hx_jQWVzvUNlHSlhCifsBCPwvhwwGTGp2rIBGNs0w7qBfi7RcDZf-D4Bw0PJOZWefn4/s320/lion-king-circle-of-life-sunrise.png" width="320" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">For my money, there's no better/more hallowed example of this, than Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The photo at the beginning of this piece was taken by my wife on the summit of said volcano, just after the native sunrise ceremony. Like so many things in life, the picture doesn't do the moment justice. Without a $10,000 camera, you can't capture the unrivaled amount of visible stars on the mountain, all while the Sun gloriously breaks the plane of the crater's eastern rim. I highly recommend taking this excursion as it was one of the Top Ten experiences of my life so far. For you </span><i style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Moana</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"> fans out there, this is the site of Maui lassoing the Sun and convincing it to slow down — as sung by Dwayne Johnson in “You're Welcome.”</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79GcNGLNnsqFrJjxoTc26eEmajxKdmIV4aLRSXMisQZVvSK0wpymGRKIhQ9s4s8QK97n2ZJML-k1CSo-RC_KA2H9pQG21dOGkI1wAzXGunKog3zzGESY8i42UPIR5JbtZJS7MJggO5m8/s1600/maui.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79GcNGLNnsqFrJjxoTc26eEmajxKdmIV4aLRSXMisQZVvSK0wpymGRKIhQ9s4s8QK97n2ZJML-k1CSo-RC_KA2H9pQG21dOGkI1wAzXGunKog3zzGESY8i42UPIR5JbtZJS7MJggO5m8/s1600/maui.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The story is the perfect blending of mythology and astrology — how indigenous peoples worldwide rationalized (and dramatized) nature's phenomenons within their limited understanding of science. Sorry, been a lot of Disney+ recently with our 19-month old and COVID self-isolation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Hawaiians were not alone in believing that the Sun was a god worth worshiping. For, without its presence, there is no warmth, no growing things, no light, no joy, no life. Sunlight equated to good fortune, so it was wise to pay homage. And thus sunrise became the crux of most early religions.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Some cultures took this appreciation of the Sun to a whole 'nother level. They did so while simultaneously flaunting their ability to chart its exact “movements” (and I put this in quotes). Benchmarks were officially created by establishing when the Sun was at its highest or lowest, and how it aligned with fixed objects on Earth. And that was the key. If the Sun is going to, you need something rigid in order to accurately judge its relative position. What ancient civilizations built played a major role in visually signaling to their people that change was coming – either the days were about to get longer or shorter. And these structures definitely displayed a reverence for the Sun. There's nothing accidental about the placement or shape of England's Stonehenge (2400 B.C.), Egypt's Great Pyramids and Sphinx (2550 B.C.), Germany's Goseck Circle (4900 B.C.) and more recent architectural achievements, like Mexico's Mayan temple in Tulum (1400 A.D.). In each case, the vertical structures erected by man were strategically placed to signify the start of Spring.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In more recent times, artists have played with the knowledge of the Sun's position at key dates in the calendar to similarly dazzle and amaze. In 1976, Nancy Holt decided that a remote plot of Box Elder County, Utah would be the best place for her Sun Tunnel exhibit. This X-shaped land-art installation achieves its critical acclaim for using what's known as a time-based medium. </span></span><br />
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<br /><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At 6:04 AM of June 20, 2020 (the Summer solstice), the two concrete and steel pieces that are "curiously" facing 32.56° northeast will show why there's nothing haphazard about their placement. Like a kaleidoscope of sunlight, the disjointed cylinders perfectly center the the sunrise. A similar event will take place again at 7:59 AM on December 21, 2020, the Winter solstice. The other 18-foot tubes — with open ends oriented 31.24° south of due east — align with the shortest day's sunrise. In a world that is ever more difficult to predict future events, it is pretty cool to know something this specific with absolute certainty. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">In 1981, </span><i style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Raiders of the Lost Ark</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"> brought an astrological trick, in this same vein, to the big screen. The first Indiana Jones film fictitiously depicted a map room inside of a temple for Amun-Ra. Though made up, it feels right with a location (Tanis) and time period (10th-century B.C.) where ancient Egyptians would have been utilizing the Sun to create a coded security system. This is because the Sun's rays are as unique as a key or combination on a lock.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ie3OD-UkWFmLn9DEk7wKVWs9XJfu_65Pf-N8Nj4lfxxJ_RAp-5UivjJPPMy69E1yf2xRx7m8MECuwFr4GS0IIjWxDz5LjI42rCaydEJ5vrAyJ9LrJqBXk8NKPvC4tb4PGRtcT2YJpvE/s1600/map+room.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="512" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ie3OD-UkWFmLn9DEk7wKVWs9XJfu_65Pf-N8Nj4lfxxJ_RAp-5UivjJPPMy69E1yf2xRx7m8MECuwFr4GS0IIjWxDz5LjI42rCaydEJ5vrAyJ9LrJqBXk8NKPvC4tb4PGRtcT2YJpvE/s320/map+room.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If the Earth orbited the Sun in a perfect circle, and the Earth's axis didn't currently tilt 23.4° off vertical, the Sun would take the same path across the sky, 365 days a year. Go outside at noon in January and again at noon in June, the Sun would be in an identical place — rising due east and setting due west every day. Instead, thanks to some glorious quirks of our planet, the Sun only hits the same specific point in free space, at the same exact angle, twice a year. By adding an element of "right place, right time," nature possesses the most dramatic plot twist possible in leading protagonists to hidden treasure — better than any cryptic cipher, invisible ink, or ocular device. Looking at you, Nicolas Cage.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At the core of every example I just named there is an underlying "How did they pull that off?!" And as each strays further away from modern technology, the more difficult the answer is to believe. </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The precision is borderline impossible by humans at the time these projects were finished. In many respects, we have lost this mental prowess we once held over the stars in the sky — primarily the closest in our universe. I suspect that studying the Sun's relationship to our built environment is now reserved for the biggest, most important/expensive, most eco-conscious commissions. Clearly, athletic fields must be too mundane, too trivial, and too far beneath the intelligentsia to orient properly. Not a big revenue generator for the firm? <i>Ctrl-C</i>, <i>Ctrl-V</i> and move on. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">I get angry when the Sun can lay perfectly on the right shoulder of Sphinx in mid-March — like some kind of alien magic trick — and we can't do something simple like move the setting Sun out of the eyes of baseball/softball players, fans, and umpires. It's irrational to get this upset, no doubt, but such is life. When a method to avoid less-than-ideal outcomes has been established forever ago, and stubborn people refuse to make the necessary tweaks, frustration is the human reaction. We must bring a core understanding of the Sun's position back to architecture — in all its forms. It's an easy enough concept to follow. But like assuming we all know the state capitals, plenty of viral videos have proven startling blind spots exist in the minds of everyday citizens. The "everyone knows that" is an illusion; clung to as a defense mechanism that translates to "please don't call on me."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXCxtmzBGcKFk2Ax_QvIh3DzbZkwzkSRDX2CnOjLNvNvThypgPP7w_z2c5bvGK01WAUVJPCvFkeXVVpqrhlq3LBD4n5fuEoMTgnDIV2DNN1PgH4UHoRf84d7Lvn-pcCI7zaFDFWlC5inM/s1600/rugrats.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXCxtmzBGcKFk2Ax_QvIh3DzbZkwzkSRDX2CnOjLNvNvThypgPP7w_z2c5bvGK01WAUVJPCvFkeXVVpqrhlq3LBD4n5fuEoMTgnDIV2DNN1PgH4UHoRf84d7Lvn-pcCI7zaFDFWlC5inM/s320/rugrats.gif" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Myth #1: “No Shadow Time.”</b> For some reason, most Americans believe the Sun is “directly overhead” every day at noon. More commonly, it is assumed to be on the Summer solstice. These answers are both wrong. </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Unless you're standing in Hawaii — or the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands — this anomaly doesn't exist in the United States. And even then, you're still only getting a minute or two, two times a year, where the Sun's rays are hitting Earth in a manner that does not produce shadows. FYI, this vertical Sun event is called Lahaina Noon.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Part of the misconception is in how loosely we (mainly Floridians) throw around the term "tropics" and "tropical." Often referenced as a climate typology, the warmer air temperatures are more of a side effect to the true meaning of the label — geographical bands on the Earth. The area between 23.5° North and 23.5° South is the true Tropics. And those degrees of latitude should ring a few bells; they are a callback to the angle in which Santa's Workshop tilts. Treat these prominent rings — the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn — as the limits for where the Sun's rays can be perfectly perpendicular to Earth's crust. North or south of this region and you're always getting angled sun. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSACKQXJG5ARFrejdqMyd6-imSu_QzE5zwbJwmAt1SIxhESKpLZo2fydQ1QLAOYlDf1yG-E9dlPrwpX47cfJe8A9mIDdrUqxsRFM2259pv6ebqL-fpt74MEpGgohEqPWTzG9d1Ob9lK4/s1600/suns+rays.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSACKQXJG5ARFrejdqMyd6-imSu_QzE5zwbJwmAt1SIxhESKpLZo2fydQ1QLAOYlDf1yG-E9dlPrwpX47cfJe8A9mIDdrUqxsRFM2259pv6ebqL-fpt74MEpGgohEqPWTzG9d1Ob9lK4/s320/suns+rays.png" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The most ironic part of this whole thing has to be that we are closest to the Sun on or around January 4 each year. “But that's a cold month in the middle of Winter” you say. Yeah, proof that proximity to the Sun isn't the be-all, end-all to maximizing its warming potential. </span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Angles matter far more. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Seasons are explained by Earth's "leaning" axis. Northern Hemisphere Winter tilts us away from the Sun while simultaneously bringing the Southern Hemisphere into Summer. Crazily, Antarctica gets six straight months of sunshine during this time. Watch the Australian Open and you quickly grasp that we're freezing our collective butts off while Melbourne is hitting triple digits. The obvious reason is, at that moment, they are closer to the Sun than we are. The less obvious reason is the clustering and dispersion of Solar radiation, i.e. warmth. The Sun's rays are consolidated in a very small area during an Australian Summer, while they are spread across a much larger surface in our Winter. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b>Myth #2: The 11 o'clock Sun is in the same place in the sky every day.</b> And this fallacy isn't just specific to that randomly-chosen time of day. It is subtle enough to require professional levels of patience, photography skills, a solid bi-monthly reminder in your phone. When a year's worth of work is complete, the results will show that the Sun isn't always going to be where you might think.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">With all these variables, and a scatter plot of possible locations in the sky to find the Sun, it is easy to get confused.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYCVxYTHEYMCnxFcUxlJ30bJyj43QoGPkL5v8bOoYo-YUOyxZPw4d_Cf5DZxhV6C9aWuX9E0Szh-yHMgE4LagkmqvdUB00HYTXf6-oiXm7rAmaY4Vk-aKCbc_iKnGnsNEnXnTcAz8RE8/s1600/analemma.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="384" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYCVxYTHEYMCnxFcUxlJ30bJyj43QoGPkL5v8bOoYo-YUOyxZPw4d_Cf5DZxhV6C9aWuX9E0Szh-yHMgE4LagkmqvdUB00HYTXf6-oiXm7rAmaY4Vk-aKCbc_iKnGnsNEnXnTcAz8RE8/s320/analemma.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Breaking this down in layman's terms, the analemma gets its shape based off how round the orbit is, paired with how much your planet or moon leans as it spins. In NASA terms, these variables are known as eccentricity and obliquity. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">For perspective, Pluto has a highly-oblong orbit with a 0.2485 eccentricity value. This means the once-proud planet spends 20 of the 248 Earth years it takes to fully revolve around the Sun in a position that is closer than Neptune. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The difference between our closest orbital location (perihelion) and farthest (aphelion) is a mind-blowing 3.1 million miles, and yet that's considered "nothing." Not that a more circular path is better or worse, but it is sure necessary for life on this planet. </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Earth's almost circular path around the Sun equates to a </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">0.0167 eccentricity value. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">This astonishingly places Earth fourth among all 961,679 named and unnamed bodies in the solar system — planets, moons, comets, and asteroids. For every 0.02 that eccentricity increases, Earth's surface temperature would add approximately 100°F to the average temperatures each Summer and swing wildly to -100°F below the norm in Winter. That clearly wouldn't work. So, we truly do have our own little slice of habitable heaven here in the cosmos. Now might be a great time to start treating it that way. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Ultimately, Earth's figure-8 analemma is the product of its axial tilt. We're out here in the universe, spinning like a top. Meanwhile, Jupiter's north and south poles are only 3 degrees off vertical, meaning its analemma is nearly identical to the elliptical shape of its orbit. There's not a point where the Sun “crosses over,” which robs Jupiter of any seasonal change.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Neptune's axial tilt is approximately 30 degrees, which closely resembles that of Earth, tracing a similar figure-8 analemma their sky. But its eccentricity value of 0.0086 is half of Earth's, meaning it's damn-near moving around the Sun in a perfect circle. This makes Neptune's figure-8 more symmetrical than ours, with its tight loop at the top and wide base. </span></span><br />
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<span face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">While we're at it, those analemmas artists depict in photos here on Earth aren't telling an accurate story. A photo collage titled "7:00 Suns Throughout The Year" wouldn't look anything like those uninterrupted figure-8s published. The bottom loop would be disjointed thanks to Daylight Saving Time. One day in March, the Sun is just hanging out up there at a, let's say, 42.0° solar elevation. The citizens of this fine location call such a thing 2:30 PM on their man-made clocks. Well, that next day rolls around and the Sun is now 42.4° up in the air at 3:30 PM. Except the silly humans aren't calling it 3:30 PM anymore; it's now 4:30 PM. The Sun didn't get any memo about this change, but we just broke the analemma. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Myth #3: The Sun's rays are parallel.</b> This one typically has people going "Aha! I knew it," while pointing to a photo of a partly cloudy day with sunbeams flowing in multiple directions. But it's not a myth for the reason those folks think. It's dumb luck; akin getting the math problem correct despite using an extremely flawed method. Sunbeams are* and aren't parallel and I'll explain how it can be both depending on context.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnM_swyZMI3wxB17IznUG1diO5zpit94vb6Ek8wYfwp4aT02VeJI7Qczqvt0E5X7uDgIjivTF9cygZ2Cd7DCNIpu01t3nL13G4D0Vhyphenhyphenh7m6qXQAdDzlIndvaidYOFpfzRPpKLJpXU7b00/s1600/deck+railing.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnM_swyZMI3wxB17IznUG1diO5zpit94vb6Ek8wYfwp4aT02VeJI7Qczqvt0E5X7uDgIjivTF9cygZ2Cd7DCNIpu01t3nL13G4D0Vhyphenhyphenh7m6qXQAdDzlIndvaidYOFpfzRPpKLJpXU7b00/s320/deck+railing.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">* Within a tolerable scientific range to treat as such </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The best way to study the rays of the Sun is through shadows. On a sunny day, go look at the balusters of a deck railing. Note how the parallel 2x2 supports cast similarly parallel dark patterns on the deck's surface. Well, for starters, those shadows aren't actually parallel. But you're not wrong for saying they are. While the shadows <i>are</i> diverging back to a single point source, it is at such a small fraction of a degree that it's negligible to the naked eye. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">To better explain this phenomenon, I like to use the classic caricature of larger-than-life skyscrapers placed on an out-of-scale Earth. These drawings are done in such a way that the elements rising off the planet's surface are like spokes of a wheel. Some versions even complete the circle, so structures on opposite sides of the world, known as geographical antipodes, are flipped 180 degrees. It creates the paradox of how both could be going "up."</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_StYra0xnib91t4U8PyGqyqpAZlBDGTVhX0eYL29BwvpQmNt7zpm6vgUTkbalQtGHsnAz1pZ864V2HeZTqYHdnwxSZ9672wZ3M7to-RlarTPEq-35pfySoo3ww-hCL16dWanstFHVa8/s1600/buildings.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="447" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_StYra0xnib91t4U8PyGqyqpAZlBDGTVhX0eYL29BwvpQmNt7zpm6vgUTkbalQtGHsnAz1pZ864V2HeZTqYHdnwxSZ9672wZ3M7to-RlarTPEq-35pfySoo3ww-hCL16dWanstFHVa8/s320/buildings.png" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Now, the playful nature of these types of images are truthful in a sense; they depict each building as perpendicular to its ground plane at that unique moment in Earth's unending curve. This is the most basic definition of what it means to be vertical. People</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"> in central Spain are, in fact, "standing on their heads" compared to the universal orientation of those in New Zealand's North Island. Midnight in one place is noon in the other. Sorry to burst your bubble, your childhood digging of a hole to China would haven ended up the middle of the Indian Ocean. But we're not alone in hitting water as our opposite. Only 15% of the land on Earth is antipodal with other land. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">However, the illusion is that, with such a small diameter for the Earth shown, the scientific reality is skewed into disbelief. We're just not used to seeing the whole picture at once, so it doesn't compute. Worse, we're bad a perceiving the roundness of Earth. Sail from pole to pole and the water beneath you will feel like a consistently flat surface the entire trip.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Here's where I'm going to lose/anger my Flat Earthers... not that I haven't already. They look at a skyline and say “all those buildings are parallel. How can that be if the ground below them is curved?” This, again, is humankind's inability to fully comprehend how large our planet is. Every circle can mathematically be composed by a series of similar-length straight lines. The bigger the circle, the more sides it contains, and thus, the more obtuse the angle between vertices becomes. Here I've drawn a circle with 24 sides (165.0 degrees), 100 sides (177.6 degrees), 360 sides (179.0 degrees), and even a software maximum of 999 sides (179.6 degrees) to show you that difference.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">So how come shadows cast on the ground are parallel if the Sun's rays radiate outward in all directions? So we've learned to draw the Sun like this since the age we could grasp a crayon. And it is accurate in depicting the motion of light/heat leaving the gaseous sphere. The trouble is we're terrible at depicting, or even wrapping our brains around, the epic scale of what is truly taking place. There's really nothing in our solar system larger, other than the vapid nothingness of space, but that's a little too deep for this discussion.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQXJG-dXuaTuJ3PwV2tsYK18UJVgieGq86ETxgbBdMd9bwj6_m-sxf64eYGTs7BH5JyKw3BPSDMdhHrrRzIicGtEIA-FH-N-1SiJkDV8_Dsg45TttYSIXHeWbHB9eZWuw7XQNcqYmGls/s1600/band+of+sunlight.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="936" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQXJG-dXuaTuJ3PwV2tsYK18UJVgieGq86ETxgbBdMd9bwj6_m-sxf64eYGTs7BH5JyKw3BPSDMdhHrrRzIicGtEIA-FH-N-1SiJkDV8_Dsg45TttYSIXHeWbHB9eZWuw7XQNcqYmGls/s320/band+of+sunlight.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Earth is so big that you can go the expanse of a large metropolitan area and have each skyscraper treat the plane . Using plumb lines and levels measure perpendicular gravitational force into this static “flat” plane. We exaggerate its curvature, which is what is the flimsy foundation of the Flat Earth Movement. Their subscribers just don't grasp a small sample size. Can you treat a New York City block as flat? Sure, within fractions of an inch, this is true. Treating all of North America like it's on a table top? Well, that's where you lost your sense of reality.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-oelfFvOZUJ9ZHGTTQh17_opUcqX-rOnIjFD-U6tZrezIkIDMsWAZkEvnmbz5mPU3lEVIpNelIsd6l1olXALUKaso2hdeCrellaUeH5RaTvjJRXeVys69uxPsGdX-d6kX_aMOIcna3Q/s1600/sun+detail.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="758" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-oelfFvOZUJ9ZHGTTQh17_opUcqX-rOnIjFD-U6tZrezIkIDMsWAZkEvnmbz5mPU3lEVIpNelIsd6l1olXALUKaso2hdeCrellaUeH5RaTvjJRXeVys69uxPsGdX-d6kX_aMOIcna3Q/s320/sun+detail.png" width="320" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">This can be better shown in bridge design. The largest suspension span on the planet is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan. Its two support towers are placed an insane 6,532 feet (or nearly 1 ¼ miles) apart. That width would have you believe the two 982-foot tall pylons — both vertically erected out of the floor of the bay — would have a serious tilt away from one another. Our planet's curvature would surely make it a real-life example of those skyline on Earth cartoons; where the tops are considerably further away than the bottoms. The difference in this Japanese bridge has to be a dozen feet or so, right? Nope. The distance between these two at the top is only 3.15” further apart than they are at the base. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrPgkDACvj0np_8LaW5SwTJ9zSgs92sON9M1R2c7xqy34pXeOXOe7AjNkFxTr2f1HiXHF07G2a62EEjJAej9bt1Pjk5M6xYuIxP_BuS_Pdtucq4otZ8ppsQLvrMM3pNdyPOKgUM9T4Ko/s1600/Akashi-Kaiky%25C5%258D-Bridge.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrPgkDACvj0np_8LaW5SwTJ9zSgs92sON9M1R2c7xqy34pXeOXOe7AjNkFxTr2f1HiXHF07G2a62EEjJAej9bt1Pjk5M6xYuIxP_BuS_Pdtucq4otZ8ppsQLvrMM3pNdyPOKgUM9T4Ko/s320/Akashi-Kaiky%25C5%258D-Bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">For all intents and purposes, those towers are as parallel as any two walls in your house – likely more. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Take this example and apply it to an aerial/plan view. We just established that the pylons of the bridge, over a mile apart, are all but parallel. Well, now take that diameter of Earth and multiply it 109 times. That makes for a surface of the Sun that is “flat” for thousand-mile stretches. What this means? Every swath that is ten miles wide on Earth is receiving the same perpendicular rays. They are leaving at right angles from a curved surface, so shouldn't be considered parallel, but “are.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Part of the problem is we don't do a good job of showing accuracy in the size difference. I mean look how awful we are at giving Alaska its due. That's merely one state on this planet and its massive size has never been fully appreciated on a map. The same is true for the Sun. We are forced to exclusively use diagrams since there aren't exactly hundreds of photos with the Sun and Earth in the same shot laying around. And we like to draw the Sun about five to ten times larger than the Earth. But the truth is, it's the difference between a basketball and a pea. It's a far cry from the Styrofoam balls suspended on wires for the 5th Grade Science Fair.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHBFcSFKNM1EtiCCSKAT6ofditrLRbsdgcfos0JQzTUOppSV1Nv851X4dBzbHgH7iauU_Z6SUoXii4wB9BjZnA2f97hCK9gXMrkzQHxU2d2ZuDHtZizPmnDRk4awFZOcdwMp-mSEsWaU/s1600/carmen+sandiego.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHBFcSFKNM1EtiCCSKAT6ofditrLRbsdgcfos0JQzTUOppSV1Nv851X4dBzbHgH7iauU_Z6SUoXii4wB9BjZnA2f97hCK9gXMrkzQHxU2d2ZuDHtZizPmnDRk4awFZOcdwMp-mSEsWaU/s1600/carmen+sandiego.jpg" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Whether it's Stonehenge, the Mayan temple of Tulum, or even the fictitious </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Indiana Jones</span><i style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> </i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">map room, I always think to myself: “What if they built the whole thing and they were off by two degrees?” </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">This isn't <i>Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego?</i> We sadly have to live in a reality where helicopters can't lift up and move the entire Island of Bali or The Strait of Magellan. Here on Earth, there's not a ton of recourse after things are set in figurative and literal stone. But what if it could be more like that cartoon?</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Thanks to the computer technology we use at 4Most, building things in a digital medium first provides such forgiveness. Long before items get cemented to the ground, they can be spun and flipped and shifted with relative ease. They are weightless pixels on a computer screen. And our software can place the Sun in the sky exactly where it will be at any given time on any given date. This way you can visually understand the pain points a field, or complex of fields, will experience long before the ribbon-cutting ceremony. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We could go on and on for hours on this subject. The Sun is chock full of mind-blowing facts and figures. Case in point: Our planet speeds up its daily rotation as we get closer to the Sun in our oblong orbit around it. What is understood as a 24-hour process actually takes as little as 23 hours and 56 minutes. And that is counteracted when we are at our furthest distance away from the Sun and it takes longer than 24 hours. It all averages together to equal one (almost perfectly round) 365.24 days to fully revolve. That pesky 0.24 explains the need for Leap Day.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you want to feel particularly small or insignificant, just remind yourself that the Sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy and there are approximately two trillion of those in the universe.</span></span><br />
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goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-30286531467217863162019-05-22T18:30:00.000-04:002020-04-11T09:11:03.595-04:00The Blues First Stanley Cup Final Since... Ever? A Petition To Revise History<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvT2jb_z7cmVx_sw92A_GqmBHApsdc79IimrcQYCsj2QgMgpyT47uj7Rnq7jd4iTkJGudV7Ec-DE8-ZNQHmQuaqW7WIrIGzNqOXjhFhnRxcSJOAnwvMKeecgej4H7fJXr6CvO_rlNa5I0/s1600/final-orr-600-600x439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="600" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvT2jb_z7cmVx_sw92A_GqmBHApsdc79IimrcQYCsj2QgMgpyT47uj7Rnq7jd4iTkJGudV7Ec-DE8-ZNQHmQuaqW7WIrIGzNqOXjhFhnRxcSJOAnwvMKeecgej4H7fJXr6CvO_rlNa5I0/s320/final-orr-600-600x439.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">t no fault of anyone alive today (no, not even the incessantly fun to "boo" Gary Bettman), the NHL really screwed the St. Louis Blues out of an even bigger celebration last night. Sure, the series-clinching game of the Western Conference Final was at home. The score line was emphatic (5-1) over San Jose. Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was belted from every tier of the sold-out Enterprise Center. The league's engraver</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is now four wins away from having to put "St. Louis" (other than <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/martin-st-louis-of-the-tampa-bay-lightning-holds-the-news-photo/51085713" target="_blank">Martin</a>) on Lord Stanley's Cup. Doesn't sound like a Blues fan could find much to get upset about. Advance to a championship: Check. Do it your building: Check. Do it in a convincing manner, as to not require heart medication and/or chewing nails to the bone: Check. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">It all falls in line with the perfect spectator experience — one that explains the euphoria felt in the arena and bars and out onto the streets last night. And the party got to start early; t</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">hat entire third period was a coronation and not the typical ball of stress. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Aside from predicting Branigan's 1982 Umberto Tozzi cover was going to be the rallying song of choice, it was exactly how many St. Louisans have been dreaming it would play out for decades. But, l</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">eave it to me, Mr. Fly in the Ointment, to point out that the awesome party had a minor flaw. F</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">or the diehard Blues fan I call my friend or colleague or mailman, I desperately wanted the accomplishment to be the franchise first for this devout hockey town. That is how last night's dial could have gone from a rare 9.5 to a never-before-seen 10. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For all intents and purposes, 2019 will be St. Louis' first Cup Final appearance. Unfortunately, the bright idea of a past NHL president got in the way of that being the truth. Though their was no negative fallout to these decisions way back when, their reverberations could be felt every time a commentator or analyst uttered the phrase "since 1970." If you thought Tuesday was an 11 out of 10, it could have been a 17. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today, the league proudly boasts its 102 years in existence. But things got a little dicey in the early stages of the 20th century. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There were as many as ten NHL franchises up through 1931. The </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Great Depression was the first point of contraction. North American involvement in World War II forced a full-blown reconsolidation. 1942 operations rolled out a season with just six competitors. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The modern NHL rewards the continuity of the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Blackhawks as founding fathers of this version 2.0. In actuality, they were merely the few that hard times could never kill. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The five defunct clubs that won at least one Cup in the "World Series" era weren't so lucky. From the 1915 Vancouver Millionaires to the 1935 Montreal Maroons, most became casualties of Father Time. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In this, "Original Six" has never meant each club was around at the league's inception. Boston didn't arrive on the scene until 1924; Chicago, Detroit, and New York weren't founded for another two years after that. Clever marketing has redefined the term "origin" and who truly chartered the National Hockey Association/League. It's as if historians altered the way fans collectively misremember this information — a la the </span><a href="https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/07/24/the-mandela-effect/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Berenstain Bears' Mandela Effect</a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. Store it away for my proposition later; we need to use the same phenomenon to erase the Blues from playing in any Cup Final games prior to Monday.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By the mid-'60s, consistently crowning a member of the Original Six had grown stale. Executives hoped that fresh blood could quickly win the Cup and thus rejuvenate overall appeal for the the league. Capping the quantity at a half dozen franchises for 25 straight years was well behind the times. In 1966, Major League Baseball had 20 teams vying for a title, the NFL had just merged with the AFL (24 total teams) and created our modern Super Bowl culture, and even the NBA had 10 clubs. Seeing the same suspects win each year was getting stale. Seeing the same five teams come to town, month after month, was even tougher to sell. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We pick up our story in the offseason following the 1966-67 NHL campaign. The league's plan to double to twelve franchises was officially put into motion. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Newcomers in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Minnesota, Oakland, and Los Angeles all came in the league together and were sadly lumped into one division. The expansion teams were provided an identical four-team playoff bracket as their elder statesmen. The winner of those eight games (two best-of-seven series) was then eligible to play for the Stanley Cup. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, having a legitimate chance to win a championship matters in granting such opportunities to new franchises that pop up in a sports league's timeline. Pitting a division of entirely established teams against another entirely built from whole cloth was a galactically-stupid idea; proven by the fact that the Blues went 0-12 in their games before the system was completely overhauled.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No disrespect to any members of those early Blues' rosters, but this upcoming St. Louis/Boston series has already shed light on how ridiculous the division structure was in the National Hockey League from 1967-70. Like Icarus, they flew too close to the sun with wax wings. Their division championships really need to be revisited in the proper context of today. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first step is undo some wrongs. To balance the power, while maintaining some semblance of geographical importance, the following alignment should have been unveiled: </span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>East Division</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o-Boston</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o-New York</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o-Montreal</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o-Toronto </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Philadelphia </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pittsburgh</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>West Division</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o-Detroit</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o-Chicago </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. Louis</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Minnesota</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Oakland</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Oakland (rebranded "California") Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 and became the Barons. If they would have only started their journey in Northeast Ohio, then Toronto could have moved westward. Both sides of the East/West ledger would have been balanced from the get-go — with three expansion and three deeply-rooted franchises apiece. Alas, too much wishful thinking. In order to see what the West Coast could offer, the league felt it had to jump in with both feet. Ultimately, one became a sacrificial lamb so that future clubs in that region could learn from the financial missteps and flourish. In 2021, Seattle will place five of the 32 NHL franchises in the Pacific Time Zone. Hockey is now doing just fine out there. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Blues were the clear-cut class of the expansion clubs. They had a young Scotty Bowman (future Hall-of-Fame coach and record holder with nine Cup wins) behind the bench. They played a brand of physical hockey that was no match for the undersized minor leaguers playing for the other West Division teams. In their inaugural season ('67-'68), St. Louis outlasted the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers and then the fourth-seeded Minnesota North Stars — both in seven games. Note: Arranging 1 vs. 3 and 2 vs. 4 in each bracket's semifinal was the second-dumbest decision in creating that playoff format.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Once in the Final, the Blues' reward for a grueling, hard-fought <i>Cinderella</i> season was the fourteen-time Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. That's akin to the expansion Houston Colt .45s (64-96 record) meeting up with the Yankees (19 World Championships at that point) in the 1962 World Series. How do you think that league finale would have gone down? I assume about as well as a four-game Blues sweep at the hands of the Habs. However, four one-goal games (two in overtime) did turn some heads. Blues' goaltender, Glenn Hall, even took home the Conn Smythe Award for his Herculean efforts. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was only the second instance (fifth overall) where the playoff MVP went to a player who did not hoist the Cup. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Night in and night out, he was by far the best player on the ice. In Game 3, for example, St. Louis was outshot 46-15; Hall made 42 saves to Gump Worsley's 12. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The experience Back in the playoffs that following year, this time as the West favorite, St. Louis made much quicker work of their fellow year-old competitors: 4-0 sweep over three-seed Philadelphia and another 4-0 sweep against four-seed Los Angeles. Hungry for revenge, they again ran into Montreal. Again, they were dispelled like a bug flying into a car windshield. The individual game results weren't nearly as close as the prior season. St. Louis' scoring in the four games was a binary sequence: 1-1-0-1. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again the champs of the West Division regular season, the Blues won their 1970 first-round matchup 4-2 over three-seed Minnesota. They then beat the two-seed Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 to send St. Louis to the last of their three Stanley Cup Finals. This is the other end of the bridge all commentators tried to span with last night's result. I might be in the minority, but I was sitting there wishing there wasn't any other point of reference to connect. The celebrations were unbridled because the territory the Blues are now in is uncharted. Those good ol' days weren't anything like the party that went on Tuesday. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Inevitably, the infamous Bobby Orr goal will get played a ton. Note: </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I chose that image to accompany this piece with very good reason. I have a bet with a friend that it will be shown no fewer than 72 times on NBC and NBC Sports Network between now and June 12. Take a shot whenever you see it on your screen. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The black-and-white photo gives this false perception that the 1970 Cup Final was a competitive one. After all, it <i>was </i>the Stanley Cup Final and it <i>was </i>a dramatic overtime winner. So that means it's up there with <a href="https://www.si.com/specials/100-greatest/?q=8-the-ultimate-walk-off" target="_blank">Bill Mazeroski</a> and <a href="https://www.si.com/specials/100-greatest/?q=36-touch-em-all-joe" target="_blank">Joe Carter</a> among amazing walk-off shots in a championship setting, right? Not quite. The Blues lost Game 1 by a 6-1 score, Game 2 was 6-2, and Game 3 was 4-1. It wasn't even a series. It was Alabama football dulling out a million-dollar check to my alma mater (Kent State) to kick their ass 48-0. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And worse, that was the Blues third run up to it. No jitters of it being the first time with a trophy on the line. It was also a new opponent that hadn't been on that big stage since 1958. That's right, St. Louis actually had the playoff experience edge. It all goes to show that miles logged on one side of the bracket was not equal to the other. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By the time the 1970 Final rolled around, future Hall of Famers to play for those early Blues — Jacques Plante, Glenn Hall, Al Arbour, and Doug Harvey — were all well past their primes. Arbour, Blues' captain and winner of three Cups (with three different teams), was 37 years old. Hall was 38 and Plante was 41. Harvey was 44 and retired after the Cup loss the season before. The rest of the team was a rag-tag bunch of career minor leaguers. You know... like most expansion teams in all sports; nowhere near ready to play for a league championship. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One surprisingly-competitive anomaly had a statue-worthy moment and it has slowly reframed that Final for those of us who weren't even born yet. If the Blues won that game, moving their all-time record in the Final to 1-11, then the series would have gone back to Boston Garden where the Bruins would have likely handled their business in convincing fashion. The Blues were outscored 12-3 in that iconic building during the first two games. Would a "Gentleman's Sweep" (4-1 outcome) 49 years ago really make this rabid fan base feel any different today? Of course not. Reposition the series as a +1 after the '70 Final. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In total, the Blues were outscored 43-17 in three trips to the Final. Specifically, the 20-7 disparity in the '70 Final was the largest margin of defeat (-13) in Stanley Cup history. That unfortunate record stood until those same Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, with a series score of 23-8 (-15). </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The NHL clearly botched this experiment royally; chess emphatically vanquished checkers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'd never call for a banner to be brought down from the rafters at Enterprise Center, especially over poor judgment by a league. If those involved had the ability to use the next 51 years to contextualize the 1967-68 expansion plan, I'd think they would feel like they made a mockery of the "Western Conference" Champion. At least my Golden Flashes receive a large sum for being laughed at by fans of legitimate college programs. The Blues never asked to be anyone's punching bag. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">True, the Blues did have to win their way there. The opportunity to ride the "kiddie" ride to the Final was not something they could control. Amassing 24 playoff wins — to keep showing up each season — was. Those players' accomplishments can never be disparaged. But the Black Hawks (spelled as two words back then) were an unequivocally superior team. The 1968 and 1970 East Division runners-up, or another Original Six club, should have represented the West in all three Cup Finals that fell into St. Louis' lap. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At 27-31-16 in their first season, the Blues wouldn't have even qualified for the western half of the playoff bracket. A properly-aligned Chicago and Detroit would have bumped St. Louis out of the top four in the division.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And those penultimate series were the true test for the Cup; everyone involved with the sport knew that. the East Division champ was the champ. The subsequent matchup with Blues was essentially a victory lap; a westward road show to geographically spread the game. It did succeed in bringing the greats to new parts of the continent. But it did St. Louis dirty, like the Generals against the Globetrotters.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My petition to the league is to retroactively cut off the 1968, 1969, and 1970 tournaments at the East Division Final. Crown that loser the true Stanley Cup runner-up. It really wouldn't change that much. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The ultimate outcome (two Montreal Cup victories and one for the Bruins) could remain unedited in the record books. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Strike these "exhibition" losses from the Blues' permanent record.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1968: Canadiens over <strike>Blues</strike> (Black Hawks) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1969: Canadiens over <strike>Blues</strike> (Bruins)</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1970: Bruins over </span><strike style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Blues</strike><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> (Black Hawks)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This amendment would not pull down banners, vacate wins (not that there are any), or change the way St. Louisans fells in love with that team from the very beginning. All of those greats — like the Plager brothers — would remain demigods in this town; commended for what they did as the scrappy three-seed in the West Division playoffs of '68. But their story should really stop there. Don't let it go past the desirable parts and into a tarnished ending (looking at you </span><i style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Game of Thrones</i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Where does rewriting the history books end? There have been 17 other instances of teams swept in the Stanley Cup Final since 1939 (when the best-of-seven format was adopted). Do they all get their "0-fer" records in those series expunged? No, don't be silly. Only the 1996 Florida Panthers and 2018 Vegas Golden Knights can match the 1968-1970 Blues as Stanley Cup Final participants within their first three seasons. That's the extent of the list for those with a viable excuse in not winning it all. And Vegas' argument certainly <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/05/how-nhl-gift-wrapped-cup-contender-to.html" target="_blank">falls apart quickly</a>. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Don't get this plea twisted; this is not a legacy rewrite. The five St. Louisans taken in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft would have still existed had the Red Wings or Black Hawks won the West Division in those early years. Youth "hockey schools" involved mainly Canadian-born players teaching the game to the locals. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The city took to hockey in a way few other cities have ever matched.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The desire to pick up the game was not dependent on making the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive seasons. The proud alumni (many of whom were in tears last night) would have still have had their painful close calls with destiny. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Under my restructured format, 1969 is the one Final appearance you could argue the Blues might have still earned. The Bruins would have remained in the East (unable to meet Montreal in the Final) and that was the best-equipped Blues team to beat a Chicago or Detroit for the West crown. Those 88 points were the franchise best until the 1980-81 season, in a time when the regular-season schedule expanded to four more games per year. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I feel confident saying the Red Wings, who didn't even qualify for the four-team East Division playoff in 1969, would have represented the West if given the chance. Fifth place — out of the traditional six — was still a way better hockey club than any that had only played a single season. Their 78 points and 33 wins would have been good enough for the two seed in the other division; quantities earned against steeper competition. This disparity cannot be overstated nor overlooked. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If anything, this revisionist history should actually be welcomed by Blues fans. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Who in St. Louis wouldn't want two more Cup Final losses in Chicago's archive? The move also </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">adds retroactive time to the "pain and suffering without a Final appearance" clock. And as fans, don't we secretly love this? Being a diehard supporter of a sports team sometimes means craving those reasons you die hard; the plays where lesser men would justifiably jump off the wagon. Maybe that's just me. I quietly harbor a sadistic point of pride that my Cleveland Indians haven't won since 1948 (and that I can list you out all 71 subsequent winners in order). </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I would honestly be bored to tears if they won it all at the rate of the New England Patriots. Which championship would have any distinguishable sentimental meaning? </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seeing my Cavs finally exorcise the demons — in the fashion they did, against the iconic team they overcame — makes that waiting totally worth it. It makes for these moments where a grandson, son, father, and grandfather can all relate/connect/weep/scream in exaltation.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blues fans fall into this martyrdom category; those that proudly display the empty trophy case like a testament to their unwavering loyalty. Making this particular Stanley Cup run the <i>true</i> first time feels like suitable reparations for the St. Louis families that have never not bled blue. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, if you could wave a wand and make those previous Cup Final appearances disappear, would you? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm aware it's an unpopular/contrarian/out-on-a-limb take to suggest the fans of a team that got to hang multiple banners during their franchise's infancy have any grievances at all. They stepped right into the league and were granted unequal odds — relative to the established group — to play for the most-coveted trophy in the world. On three consecutive turns, they drew that lucky card in the deck which bypasses all major obstacles on the game board. The rules essentially sent them directly to the final showdown, just by participating. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That sure doesn't sound like anyone that should be crying foul. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I would argue that with time comes perspective. What did St. Louis gain by being embarrassed once they got there? </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thankfully (typed tongue-in-cheek) the Blues didn't mess around and win one of those early appearances. Doing so would have changed the entire essence of what it means to be a modern Blues fan. Going after a second Cup isn't as sexy. And that late-'60s fan base was nowhere near ready to handle the weight of being National Hockey League champions. For the record, neither were the <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/05/how-nhl-gift-wrapped-cup-contender-to.html" target="_blank">Vegas Golden Knights last June</a>. In both cases, a win would have also cheapened any future title victories. Expansion teams are supposed to struggle to earn their place over time.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the Blues somehow pulled a seismic upset in any of their attempts, the outrage in cities like New York and Boston would have been deafening.</span></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> At that time, the Rangers hadn't won a Cup since 1940; the Bruins since 1941. New York hadn't even appeared in a Final since losing Game 7 in 1950. If some upstart club got to side-step the gauntlet to have their names etched on the Cup, the system would have been scrapped even sooner. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Did you not see <i>Gladiator</i>? The outmatched amateurs, thrown to the professional fighters, are supposed to die for the spectator's amusement, not actually win. In that, the hodgepodge roster of Blues were to make a good show of it all, but never supposed to see their names on the Cup. It was more about getting the greats (future Montreal Canadien Hall of Famers: <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/w/worslgu01.html" target="_blank">Worsley</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/savarse01.html" target="_blank">Savard</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/d/duffdi01.html" target="_blank">Duff</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/lemaija01.html" target="_blank">Lemaire</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/cournyv01.html" target="_blank">Cournoyer</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/v/vachoro01.html" target="_blank">Vachon</a>; future Boston Bruin Hall of Famers: <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/o/orrbo01.html" target="_blank">Orr</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/bucykjo01.html" target="_blank">Bucyk</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/e/esposph01.html" target="_blank">Esposito</a>, <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/cheevge01.html" target="_blank">Cheevers</a>) in front of crowds west of the Mississippi. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When the league doubled in size that fateful offseason, there was a conscious effort to place four of the new franchises (Oakland, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and St. Louis) in markets well beyond the league's East Coast comfort zone. It was an initiative to shift the geographical epicenter of the average NHL fan. Think about the NFL and now MLB games in London, Mexico City, etc. When you view it under the lens of a PR stunt and less like a fair fight, the narrative sure changes. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This particular desire to expand was the fullest definition of that word. It was as much about growing the league's reach — from a viewership/listenership perspective — as it was in providing the Original Six more games and a variety of teams to play. The goal was to get the Stanley Cup in more living rooms; broadcast by more radio stations that start with a "K" and not just a "W" (Eastern U.S.) and "C" (Canada). </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the NHL could have landed a New York vs. Los Angeles Stanley Cup Final in any of those first three years, the entire old vs. new mission might not have been abandoned. Humdrum St. Louis on repeat was clearly too much for this league to stomach. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you subscribe to my outlandish theory that there is someone to blame for letting the Blues win those darn division championships, then the irony is thick. T</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he person that deserves the ire is the namesake of the very trophy players posed with on-ice last night. The third president of the National Hockey League, Clarence Campbell, oversaw all the expansion efforts of the late '60s and early '70s.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Today, the modern hardware that goes to the Western Conference Champion bears his name. He's the guy that put the Blues in a position where they never belonged.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Because this is officially logged as the fourth Cup Final appearance in 51 St. Louis Blues seasons, that ratio of years in existence to title opportunities sure paints an inaccurate picture. It allows for lesser storylines — such as the 2018 Capitals' quest to end their drought — to be viewed as more compelling. That Washington franchise came into the league later than St. Louis ('74 vs. '67) and had appeared in a Stanley Cup Final as recently as 1998. The Caps' longest consecutive playoff streak was 14 seasons; the Blues had a 25 year run from 1979-2004. St. Louis has now made the playoffs 42 of their 51 seasons (82.4%), decimal places better than the iconic Montreal Canadiens (83 of 101; 82.2%) for the best rate in NHL history. That's far more painful to be that highly competitive year-after-year-after-year and come up short. But because the Blues show up in on Wikipedia as four-time finalists, somehow their fans aren't nearly aggrieved? That's awful. Strike the trio at St. Louis' birth and this is a much better story for NBC to tell. After all, "there's nothing more powerful in the world than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it. And who has a better story than..." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This doesn't even include the worst-to-first potential of the Blues coming from a dead last point position on the morning of January 3, 2019.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To me, last night's convincing Game 6 win wasn't "the first conference championship in 49 years." Just say "ever" or "in franchise history" because it should have been (and now will be forever in my mind). Ending a long drought is one thing, but accomplishing a feat for the first time is so much sweeter. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The party atmosphere awaiting the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Lions for finally playing in a World Series and Super Bowl, respectively, is going to be epic. Even with unfinished business, the celebrations would rival those typically seen in winning the bigger prize. This is what the Blues were supposed to have; the relief of finally getting over a previously-insurmountable hurdle. The tears of former players in attendance epitomized that "you did what we couldn't" mentality. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The narrative of getting back there does a disservice to how big this moment truly is in the history of St. Louis hockey — all because a ludicrous decision was sold as a litmus test for traditional powerhouses against upstart hockey cities. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The 2019 Stanley Cup Final has already been billed as "A rematch, 49 years in the making." Bullshit. It was never a match the first time around. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should the Blues lose their first two games at TD Garden, then the press rumblings will be how they are still searching for their first Stanley Cup win in their 15th attempt. That is unfair pressure to place on these players; not their cross to bear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In hindsight (and my humble opinion), the magic of this season would be better off if the Blues had never climbed to these heights before. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More "Feels Like The First Time" (Foreigner) and a little less "Gloria" (Branigan). </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's how I'm treating my experience as I tune in for what should be a fantastic series. I badly want my newest hometown to do it; almost as much as I yearn for the days where each and every cocky Boston sports team implodes in embarrassment. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Dear Blues, go get that first Cup victory in your first appearance in franchise history.* No one will be able to put a damper on that party, then. </span></span>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-45830994650943502202019-02-04T14:05:00.000-05:002020-04-11T08:27:27.404-04:00How The Super Bowl Has Ruined Your High School Football Program<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4iikGZCJ1ZpcYqmtkBnDYTgHs4HqOTByBNUamr9Ygxjgk7hMFISKQyW11XOmRzWVg7rycQDoqYANeYOliHZrTbbm6_g6uwNmXFdBjcAVbNC1g1CkMpsrKS8I1iPfQ97UhmKV-jLYoPg/s1600/small+-+newton+mcgivney+football2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1600" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4iikGZCJ1ZpcYqmtkBnDYTgHs4HqOTByBNUamr9Ygxjgk7hMFISKQyW11XOmRzWVg7rycQDoqYANeYOliHZrTbbm6_g6uwNmXFdBjcAVbNC1g1CkMpsrKS8I1iPfQ97UhmKV-jLYoPg/s320/small+-+newton+mcgivney+football2.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Back to work the day after the Super Bowl is always a tough one. The football season has come to an end and all that's left behind is a bitter chill in the air. There's nothing overly exciting on the sports docket until Major League Baseball's new Thursday Opening Day and the first two days of March Madness — all of which should be national holidays. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Until then, hockey and basketball teams will either be jockeying for playoff positioning or riding out the end of a disappointing season. That means an awful lot of tanking for Jack Hughes and Zion Williamson (personally I prefer R.J. Barrett), salary cap dumping, or attempting to land Artemi Panarin and Anthony Davis via trade. In each case, February has become more about off-field/court noise rather than the games themselves. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Face it, most of the month is a real nothing burger for sports coverage. If you want to hear people talk on screen, your time would be better spent catching up on Netflix stand-up specials.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The fluff of Spring Training storylines will amuse some. European soccer will entertain far less. As far as I'm concerned, the end of every season makes me wish there was another championship to watch that following weekend.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Returning to the couch tonight to find the Atlanta Hawks vs. Washington Wizards or Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers is not exactly the encore I'm looking for. Something as important as the Super Bowl requires something better than a battle f</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or the eleventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Then again, a meaningless NBA game just might be more entertaining than what we all witnessed last night. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This longing for additional football was felt more today than ever before. And no, I don't think the upstart Alliance of American Football (AAF) will fill that void. Not only does a one-touchdown Super Bowl (with only 16 total points) call for an immediate do-over, but </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the project I'm working on today is... a natural-grass football field for a high school in Illinois. I've still got the itch.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With my business, <a href="https://sightlinesports.com/" target="_blank">SightLine Design</a>,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> these are as rare as a Jared Goff completed pass last night. And t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he question regularly comes up: "Why don't you draw up more [American] football fields?" </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The assumption is that I'm taking a stance against youth in this country from playing the sport. That's not it at all. College football ranks third behind baseball and hockey as my favorites to follow; the NFL is fifth. Though my son will never be allowed to play (like his uncle <a href="https://athletics.case.edu/sports/fball/2011-12/bios/clites_cameron_3obf" target="_blank">Cam</a>), the sport will always remain a viable option for many other children out there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In short: football ain't going anywhere. Could it someday be marginalized to a "Ya gotta be crazy" blood sport — reserved for the folks that are so desperate to make it out of bad situations that serious injury and death are worth the risk? Sure, it wouldn't take much for me to see that as an outcome on the horizon. It happened to the once-proud world of boxing. Not too many people in the middle or upper class jumping into that ring these days. But, my point is, rings still exist. As to will football fields. So, I'm not <i>not</i> designing new ones because I see it as an industry sector on its way out. Trust me, I'm not savvy enough to be the sports version of Warren Buffett. <i>Football is dead, boys. It's all about curling now. </i></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Put all your resources in curling halls across the country. </i><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The logic train leads people to follow up with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Oh, it must not be in your wheelhouse as a baseball, soccer, and golf guy." Wrong again. I've done a design for nearly every outdoor sport around. I've laid out two cricket pitches and know far less about that than football. This isn't about a knowledge gap. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The answer is far simpler than messing around with future speculations and trying to time up the hot markets at their peaks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You may have already surmised the reason back when I said SightLine primarily works with real grass as its medium. You see, I don't mess around with synthetic turf and the market has shown, in the last two decades, that means football won't mess around with me. I know that's painting with a broad brush stroke, so let's dive into some history on this topic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Super Bowl XII, in 1978, was the first such NFL Championship played on a surface that was not alive. The Louisiana (now Mercedes-Benz) Superdome hosted the big game on their first-generation AstroTurf field. It was the beginning of the Golden Age for green plastic, and it was finally acceptable enough for the biggest sporting event on the planet. There was no turning back from that point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the 41 years that have followed, 18 more Super Bowls have been played on one type of man-made polymer product or another — with New Orleans' Superdome hosting six more times. The trend really exploded at the turn of the century, kicked off by the Georgia Dome in Super Bowl XXXIV (2000). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the first time in history, a decade saw more NFL Championships played on turf than natural grass (7:3 from 2010-19). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This culminated with Super Bowl LIII yesterday; the third stadium in a row with a carpet interior. Ironically, it was Atlanta back in the rotation, but it was no longer the Georgia Dome. Even in a new building (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), it was the same story in terms of fake grass. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The National Football League has always prided itself as <i>the </i>tough guy sport. "The Shield" echoes the Postal Service's promise to deliver "come rain, sleet, or snow." Yet, here we are, constantly making the situation as cushy as possible when the game matters the most. I don't understand the disconnect from what is able to transpire two weeks prior. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having a star quarterback raise a trophy while covered in <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2017/12/28/ice-bowl-50-years-later-oral-history-packers-cowboys-1967-nfl-championship-game/962212001/" target="_blank">freezing-cold mud</a> is still acceptable for the NFC and AFC Championship Games. But, the Super Bowl has conditioned us to believe that the environment for the final Sunday should be climate controlled and precipitation free. The field needs to look as perfect at kick off as it does when the 4th quarter clock hits 0:00. And that's unrealistic to emulate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further still, it's not really in the tough-nose nature of football's past either. It is a sport born from early-20th century military concepts: Slam into each other repetitively and be thankful for every yard of progress you make. Eventually that line will show a weakness and you can run right through. The gridiron looked more like modern rugby; with "leatherheads" avoiding violent tackles for more of a scrum mentality. Essentially, it was an inverse game Tug of War. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's just not the game of football any longer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With all this "you can't hit anybody anymore" rhetoric, the very playing surface is adding fuel to this fire. Go ask the equipment managers how many grass stains were on the Patriots or Rams jerseys postgame. Some call it soft. I prefer to call it sterile. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This all has a major trickle-down effect on the consumers in the sports pyramid below the literal pinnacle of American sports. People use the term "Super Bowl" for the pinnacle of performance settings in whatever profession they've chosen for a reason. Everyone is watching. And young players hang onto every element of that visual spectacular; down to the very aesthetic of that field. <i>That is how football is supposed to look. I should go to the college that has the turf facilities that best match that image in my head. </i>Spoiler alert: That's now 91 of the 129 NCAA Division I FCS programs, and the percentage (currently 70.5%) has never experienced a decline since 1970. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are now judging books exclusively the their covers. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It took me awhile to arrive at this seemingly-obvious answer, but I'm assured of the conclusion no matter the delay. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm not even going down the rabbit hole of playing surface side effects. I don't need it to make my point: Lower levels of football must return to natural grass. Full stop. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our high schools are breaking their financial backs trying to keep up with the Joneses. One turf football field goes in and then the superintendents of the conference rivals immediately feel the pressure to keep up. A facilities arms race is not reserved to collegiate sports any longer. Private schools and areas with "school of choice" woo potential student-athletes with one of the most visible and ostentatious statement pieces on their site: The football field. This is academic curb appeal 101. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Superintendents and school board presidents sure gloat about their expanses of green carpet in ways I can't really grasp. Should the man who paints his Scottsdale, Arizona "lawn" each summer be boastful in his ability to do the thing Mother Nature has been doing for 66 million years? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The debate for or against synthetic turf has driven a <a href="https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2019/02/05/divided-school-committee-votes-turf-new-athletic-fields" target="_blank">major wedge</a> into even the most tight-knit communities. The irony there is all the folks in these monthly school board meetings, jawing back and forth, root for the same team. Based on how they talk to one another, you'd assume their bitter rival were the ones on the other side of the issue. Ah, 2019 politics. There's nothing quite like parents who show their ugliest sides by fighting over a kid's game. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's reason enough for some community members to have plastic carpet backlash, so I'll let them do all that fighting for me. My argument is sturdy enough on its own with playability and budgeting facts to sink my teeth in on the ecological impact. I'm not going to bash the entire synthetic industry, because there is still too much we don't know for sure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For instance, FieldTurf touts findings from an in-house study that college football players suffered up to 20% fewer injuries on their playing surface than on natural grass. Without much digging, I could find "unbiased" research, put out by the companies that provide facilities with natural products, that say the exact opposite. For instance, a 2010 NFL players survey showed 82% believed artificial turf triggered more injuries than grass.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This turf war (pun not entirely intended) has waged on for decades now. We won't truly know if artificial turf is our generation's version of asbestos for some time now. The counter to all those crumb rubber carcinogen claims is a lack of pesticides/herbicides required with the fake stuff. On both sides of the fence, it's literal chemical warfare to prove which grass is greener. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Where do I fall on all of this? Well, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I stay far away from all of the grenade lobbing through social media. That's better left up to the parent forums that are heavily outspoken against everything that is harming their children. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My heart says all outdoor sports belong on grass. I'm nostalgic and a purist at nearly every turn. My head says the convenience of artificial turf is undeniable. But shopping at Walmart for a big-ticket item — that you want to have last a decade — doesn't feel like the right way to go. Ease of a "set it and forget it" system cannot rule the day. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7r9bAQMk6ZByQp4y3rPi5vKUw6c5BOwqD4PRqp4Tw46qR68DF6fVF6Q-teWqY1womGNMVMXorotK7MJ_9Zb_q7s43OaqhXx_wejYy6h7V0Phge8yqVNswHapNSrtUV-coX9G3rCjI-E/s1600/Atlanta_Falcons_training_camp_scrimmage%252C_July_2016_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7r9bAQMk6ZByQp4y3rPi5vKUw6c5BOwqD4PRqp4Tw46qR68DF6fVF6Q-teWqY1womGNMVMXorotK7MJ_9Zb_q7s43OaqhXx_wejYy6h7V0Phge8yqVNswHapNSrtUV-coX9G3rCjI-E/s320/Atlanta_Falcons_training_camp_scrimmage%252C_July_2016_1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, the water conservation angle in the literature of synthetic companies is a boldfaced lie. With surface temperatures <a href="https://health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/synthetic_turf/crumb-rubber_infilled/fact_sheet.htm" target="_blank">20-50 degrees hotter</a> than sod, I have seen many an artificial field watered for as long as its natural competitors. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've even had baseball shoes melt right underneath my feet. This occurred in July of 2016, in a renowned baseball complex north of Atlanta. Oddly enough, the Atlanta Falcons were practicing that very day in nearby Flowery Branch, GA. The conditions were nearly identical, with the major exception that the football team practiced on grass. That decision says all you need to know. So yeah, with a recent spike in heat stroke-related deaths among turf-based training camps, even the summer should be a consideration for your football field. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Under any lens, it's criminal to charge communities twice as much as the alternative product, when that alternative product is just as viable — if not more so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Slick advertisers are to blame for making key decision makers believe Option B isn't as good, simply because it lacks pretty pictures in catalogs. The companies prey on the naivete of local architects and school boards that don't have the requisite knowledge on keeping in tip-top shape. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While that falls in a moral gray area for turf salesmen, it also sheds light on a shortcoming of the natural-grass industry, too. Some of the smartest, most-talented groundskeepers, agronomists, and horticulturalists have to better educate the masses. Right now, the instructions they deliver are written in a foreign language, with products that are bulky and convoluted. Meanwhile, that green carpet could be on a truck tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In outlining why I think turf is the wrong choice for many, I'm going to try to not sound holier than thou. As of today, I don't intend to ever rule out the material as a potential course of action for clients. There is no hard line drawn in our company's sand. Not when there is always a time and place for synthetic — as a last-ditch effort to get games played. The issue is with places that jump down the list to choose the "in case of emergency" option first. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The perception of many: With budgets and climates that existed in Atlanta — i.e. Arthur Blank's deep pockets and subtropical warmth — the Falcons acted like they were a cash-strapped junior college and weather patterns akin to North Dakota. They certainly didn't need to play football indoors. Inexplicably turning against what grows all around their facility sends the wrong message to the masses. Smaller municipalities can't emulate that modern marvel of a roof, but they can steal a page from the playbook on what horizontal surface to install. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The contrast is that Mercedes-Benz Stadium was designed to withstand approximately 60 paid events per year, and deliver each experience in an air-conditioned space to high-priced customers. It cannot be viewed in a vacuum as merely a football field. Choosing turf was mandatory for their joint-venture situation to succeed. The disconnect is that the average synthetic consumer believes the need-based decision in places like Atlanta is apples-to-apples with their own. <i>If the Cincinnati Bengals require it for a few home games a year, then so do we. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This just isn't the case, nor the proper understanding of a bigger story. Mercedes-Benz Stadium's total ticketing events amounts to eight NFL regular-season games, up to three more in the playoffs (including the Super Bowl), 17 more Major League Soccer (MLS) regular-season matches, up to four more in their playoffs (including MLS Cup), and a handful of domestic cup competitions/international friendlies. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Eight levels of Georgia High School Association (GHSA) football are annually crowned there. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Chik-Fil-A Kickoff Game now routinely opens the college season, with the SEC Championship, Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, and Chik-Fil-A Peach Ball on the back end. Sprinkle in multiple concerts, conventions, conferences, and stops by the monster truck and supercross series. Add in time for set up/tear down, practices/rehearsals; the number of days where people use the stadium's floor easily hits triple digits. In the past twelve months, the building nearly maxed out on all of these scenarios. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here in Missouri, as in most states, any high school below Class 4 cannot hold a candle to that many offerings.<b> </b>It takes a school large enough to provide students with both varsity and JV teams in football, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' lacrosse, <i>and </i>field hockey to even come close. In those rare instances, I will concede turf is the proper economical decision. Shy of that, the numbers don't add up. Schools with fewer than 50 events per year need to break the addiction with a substance meant for drastically different circumstances.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yes, natural grass does require a dedicated practice and/or JV field to limit this number. And no, not all schools have the land or money to execute that. Clearly, no option is perfect. But, I will still say the propensity for high schools selecting turf football fields has set each one back in other aspects; mainly that pesky thing always getting in the way of school sports — the classroom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This op-ed will admittedly be light on cold, hard facts and more about conjecture; an observation from my business perspective as to why the world has changed in this direction. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rather than hit you over the head with data from skewed pseduo-science — in which both sides of this turf war are guilty of propaganda pushing — I'm going to make it more cut-and-dry. I'll lay out the debate in the form of a beauty pageant. It's obvious that is what is occurring in board rooms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If getting us back to natural grass is all a matter of appearance, I can make a soccer pitch look worthy of World Cup Final competitors. The only thing missing from those pictures and the ones you see on TV is the infrastructure for 60,000+ surrounding the bounding lines of the playing surface. But the field itself, looks every bit the part. It would explain why I've done far more soccer fields than football. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlektAF-rDPNmOH1B8PBC33x_QtLWFveiG1GYWHhWn4dQWI0-pzx6L0sv10zXhGwVOWsQxMrItCGAaDJyVoK53vEmIsCBub6f7aFqYTrMX1MA3UVTjNVuh1XHP3aOJrmychi1XXU7-Tns/s1600/small+-+Mt+Vernon+rendering+11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlektAF-rDPNmOH1B8PBC33x_QtLWFveiG1GYWHhWn4dQWI0-pzx6L0sv10zXhGwVOWsQxMrItCGAaDJyVoK53vEmIsCBub6f7aFqYTrMX1MA3UVTjNVuh1XHP3aOJrmychi1XXU7-Tns/s640/small+-+Mt+Vernon+rendering+11.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Similarly, I can make a baseball field look like it is ready for Game 7 of the World Series — down to the DuraEdge infield mix, that is now in 22 of 30 MLB ballparks. Could this be the reason why baseball makes up 80% of my business? It sure suggests there's something to the theory: Amateur programs aim to mirror the specs of the big boys. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIYmm4BV0ajPU7OboKhZEvldzD6HGaPB9jXNNsCcF5xplLoKiy-v90AqMtoZQIsE3QR5nEsaOB8DVoAfVn_B2MwKtFImj1ILyqOSoaZDz9xDXHNHfrv34pgbshssQaLJ5WmjQOi1FOqs/s1600/small+-+johnston+city+rendering+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIYmm4BV0ajPU7OboKhZEvldzD6HGaPB9jXNNsCcF5xplLoKiy-v90AqMtoZQIsE3QR5nEsaOB8DVoAfVn_B2MwKtFImj1ILyqOSoaZDz9xDXHNHfrv34pgbshssQaLJ5WmjQOi1FOqs/s640/small+-+johnston+city+rendering+5.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I cannot, however, deliver the Mercedes-Benz Stadium field we all watched this Sunday. It would bankrupt the school. It would be designing a "solution" that looks like the professional stadiums do one day out of the entire calendar. That's not sustainable or smart. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Does the school have another $1 million to replace it this soon? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that doesn't even mention the fact that when the carpet has served out its time, there is <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/09/12/major-new-fears-emerge-absence-recycling-plan-3g-pitches/" target="_blank">no place to take the old</a>. China's not taking our plastic waste anymore. Since it never breaks down, no American landfill will take it either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Football has evolved (or maybe devolved) into a superficial art project. The same is true of basketball and hockey. The simple lines laid out by the rule book are no longer good enough. The sports have lost themselves. Want now supersedes need. Where is it spelled out in the football rule book that a large animal head on the 50 yard line is required in order to play the game? The terms of visual demarcating boundaries is now off the deep-end. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This results in an industry that cannot keep up with irrational demands. You want your high school field to have a 3-foot thick out-of-bounds line around the perimeter of the entire field? How about a multi-colored 20 yard line to call out the red zone? Why stop there? Fill each end zone in team colors and give me graphics and logos everywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Things you can get on a synthetic turf that are rare to be seen on natural grass:</span><br />
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJ-iZqLOXhLwHDcHnzXR60KyVYHwGlZrbo_gVpb6JxSeR65HBNFIVJolcOeaZbaJajUi5GMjpPZCkl3LbV8G6rHqzyqF5tzd_q8uMHYw8FsAExPXSsz78_C7xg7pToP35F7gvTjWY5KA/s1600/51cfb28866faa.image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="620" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJ-iZqLOXhLwHDcHnzXR60KyVYHwGlZrbo_gVpb6JxSeR65HBNFIVJolcOeaZbaJajUi5GMjpPZCkl3LbV8G6rHqzyqF5tzd_q8uMHYw8FsAExPXSsz78_C7xg7pToP35F7gvTjWY5KA/s400/51cfb28866faa.image.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sideline hash marks</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Multi-colored lines for midfield and/or the red zone</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Painted end zones</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">50-yard line logos</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The name of the field, the conference affiliation, a watermarked hashtag, etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Two-tone grass every five yards</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thick perimeter out-of-bounds line</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yard line numbers (faux stenciled for "authenticity")</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Quick question. If you have a natural grass field, who has the time or money to repaint all of these items? Your maintenance guy barely has enough time to mow it between now and Friday. And need I remind you, each is completely unnecessary to the playing surface being deemed legal to play? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A 360' x 160' rectangle, with ten-yard end zones, continuous lines every five yards, and two sets of goal vertical goal posts is good enough to get the job done. The game used to be about the game. It was funny that way. You could host an NFL Championship in a cow pasture and no one would care. The takeaway was about the athletes and what they did on the field. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a sport that really pounded us over the head with commercials about inclusion, they certainly have established a very unhealthy "haves vs. have nots" disparity. And the choice of the material underfoot is solely to blame for this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The look of being "The Show" is now too large of a priority. Turf provides that easy way to get all the bells and whistles down in permanent ink, once and for all. This mentality completely disregards health concerns, both in the short-run and the unknown lasting effects. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, I have to ask you: Better 1... or 2?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrO7jf1jZsMGg2rGKr8i2P2gNw2Yzy8bOMZGJ5AUb-vzi3M8SOjDm1AE1m5Jg_oXAWSvxABjAKkg8Qu8AsV23kwAyUyBvIOM17dRfGjStREPlnD73Dnu-6Y8Spx_euwvZQS2P7Fz6SXe4/s1600/small+-+newton+mcgivney+football+composite.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1493" data-original-width="1600" height="596" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrO7jf1jZsMGg2rGKr8i2P2gNw2Yzy8bOMZGJ5AUb-vzi3M8SOjDm1AE1m5Jg_oXAWSvxABjAKkg8Qu8AsV23kwAyUyBvIOM17dRfGjStREPlnD73Dnu-6Y8Spx_euwvZQS2P7Fz6SXe4/s640/small+-+newton+mcgivney+football+composite.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This playful take on an optometry exam is a real-world issue with the decision makers within modern high schools. The obvious answer is the top image. It is oozing with sex appeal. It looks fresh and like the Super Bowl is being hosted in Smalltown, USA. The bottom image looks like a 1940s iteration of <a href="https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:dr26z0586" target="_blank">Northwestern's Ryan Field</a>. And that is the stigma that needs broken. Programs are not poor in both financial means and on-field performance because their field is simple. There's nothing wrong with that at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm here to tell you that by nearly any objective measure, the bottom image is a <i>better</i> field for young athletes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your local high school's homecoming game is not the Super Bowl, so stop treating it like it is. Let the kids be kids again. To me, that begins and ends with the right playing surface. Enjoy the sport before it further becomes unrecognizable in every way: On turf, with no tackling, and 60 passes per game. That's called recess and you can play that in a parking lot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Depending on the state's prevailing wage, the difference in ten-year cost (to both own and maintain) from the synthetic to the natural is as high as $400,000. Think of all the things a poor/rural/public school could do with that money if they didn't have to chase after that artificial status symbol. The number one complaint of natural-grass football: By the middle of the season the whole thing looks like a bomb went off. That's not the fault of the suddenly-dormant grass. And turf is low-hanging fruit that most people run to for a solution. The problem </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">falls on a maintenance crew that is in charge of an entire campus to clean and look after. There are no aspersions being cast here, but this underappreciated group will be the first to tell you that maintaining an athletic field is beyond their scope of work. They are custodians, handymen, and grass cutters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In many cases, the task of topdressing, aerating, etc. is not something each has adequate time to devote, nor do many of them carry around state certification or college degrees in that focus. So what? Hire yourself someone whose line of work is that very thing. You just saved $400,000 in not putting in allegedly-toxic turf. Job creation and saving the planet; that's a win-win. Don't make the poorer schools feel less than because the money that could have been spent on a 518,400 square feet of carpet was put to better use in a classroom. And that's me, the biggest advocate of amateur sports in academia, saying that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Set aside a third of what a synthetic company will cost to install and my team can design and build the proper irrigation plan with drainage tiles, the proper grading plan, a gorgeous sand-capped "Bluemuda" (Bermuda-bluegrass hybrid), and the thing will play like Lambeau. It'll be exactly like the World Series Game 7 metaphor from before. The only thing missing will be the throngs of adoring fans. Between the lines — the part that matters most — will be every bit of "The Show."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ready for the same eye exam, but with a different sport? Better 1... or 2?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxj2joIvtdknldzJW0qo4vGhqSxP8sR0VhZOeyL4B-Z-ZBFTj1FGGBytufp9dRqEePgW-YMa6DFBx8gYARMxTkBwkzFddGPEYnMuHGqChS9CTaTxt74eMlZpO_HeW62mdhWMSURsy3njQ/s1600/small+-+northwest+baseball+composite.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1493" data-original-width="1600" height="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxj2joIvtdknldzJW0qo4vGhqSxP8sR0VhZOeyL4B-Z-ZBFTj1FGGBytufp9dRqEePgW-YMa6DFBx8gYARMxTkBwkzFddGPEYnMuHGqChS9CTaTxt74eMlZpO_HeW62mdhWMSURsy3njQ/s640/small+-+northwest+baseball+composite.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again, the top is rendered for synthetic turf and the bottom is natural grass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Baseball fields have outfield walls and perimeter fences that is beautifully ingrained infrastructure to the game. It is a blank canvas for team-specific graphics. That is where you can customize a field to put your imprint on it, without the field becoming busy. In meeting the dimension standards of a professional field, I can spec a high school Yankee Stadium — from the perspective of how a ground ball will play equally true and mound hold its shape. The only thing that will be missing from the grass will be that iconic interlocking "NY" behind home plate. And that is superfluous to the game and something outside the lines that count.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Inlaid flashy graphics are not as well received in many of the outdoor sports. Built upon foundational terms like "purity" and "tradition", chalk or paint that is 4" wide is all that is needed for these facilities to look as beautiful as the big leagues. Let's say </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">you want the Gateway Arch in your baseball or softball outfield. Have a professional groundskeeper teach you the methods to do it right naturally rather than have it drawn up in different colored carpet.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The same is not being said of football.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn_UaO3-0AvXA36RaR6_zrJsbgpmkSpmNvAfr7tZ9SC5PuIEjkLX56q0aGF3kQJUKhp85pMPKX0gcKn6E1s-CnWMtCXfnIUvtO2iYnq6cmYFjelY9X3ZdB2syaXrbd0780ChI0SOVQao/s1600/kent+state+basketball+floor.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="728" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn_UaO3-0AvXA36RaR6_zrJsbgpmkSpmNvAfr7tZ9SC5PuIEjkLX56q0aGF3kQJUKhp85pMPKX0gcKn6E1s-CnWMtCXfnIUvtO2iYnq6cmYFjelY9X3ZdB2syaXrbd0780ChI0SOVQao/s320/kent+state+basketball+floor.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Basketball truly set us down this insane path. You're not anyone unless your court is as cluttered and busy with ridiculousness as Adam Levine's upper body. A plain court is for the local YMCA. Hell, look at my alma mater's current court. You have the parquet pattern — inspired by the old Boston Garden — plus a bold center-court logo, wordmarks galore, conference graphics, and two giant lightning wings. Because, you can. The area that was historically named "The Paint" — for a very good reason — is ironically the one patch of wood that new-school designers <a href="https://www.bakersfield.com/multimedia/photo-galleries/photo-gallery-cal-state-bakersfield-unveils-new-volleyball-basketball-court/collection_22fd8e98-a1a5-11e8-9dd1-dfbc3724f3b4.html" target="_blank">refuse to fill in</a>. That was the bold, out-of-the-box concept of the past and now its inverse gets littered with graffiti-style content. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hockey is the same way, but gets a pass from me for a lack of autonomy. Most amateur teams don't own their own building, so the sub-ice surface ends up looking like a NASCAR driver's suit, just to keep the lights on. However, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_vacui" target="_blank">horror vacui</a></i> doesn't translate well to the outdoors. For youth sports, the graphical busyness is the first things deemed unnecessary if the decision is for natural grass, but strangely near the top of the "must haves" if a vote opts for turf.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Funny thing about that: Where the skill is really the only thing on display, one actually has to deliver a product with substance. The off-Broadway performer without the <i>Hamilton</i>-caliber sets and costumes must really bring it. Looking the part has simply masked the fact that rich suburban kids really aren't that good at football. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, that is what is getting lost in this. 22 pimple-faced teenagers need a decent place to play. In saying that, I'm certainly not aiming to downplay the importance of high school sports. Quite the opposite, in fact. The players are at the top of my firm's user group in each and every project. Sadly, too many athletic facilities have been designed (ass-backward) for fan experience, at too low of a level. Again, the Super Bowl has ruined your high school football program. No one is spending $3,000 to sit on the 50 yard line on Senior Night. Stop catering to that lowest common denominator, all while the kids on the field risk injury due to value engineering. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The cutting of budget corners is what has gotten natural-grass fields a bad reputation in the last two decades. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Spend the money you do have in the right spot. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Concession stands don't need the shiniest new hot dog warmers in them. Incorrect seed selection, subgrades (heavy in silt and clay) with poor percolation/infiltration rates, and awful crowning has caused more rain outs than ever. This is in a sport where the entire premise of a weather cancellation is blasphemy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your revenue on those washed-out days are $0, so how do you feel about that $300,000 bleacher and light tower renovation project now? If that money went toward new drainage tiles and laser grading, the moisture management plan would have kept the game on the schedule.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And look, I get it. Football fields wear down in ways other sports do not. Every play consists of overweight men pushing against each other with all their force transferring into the ground. There is a reason the line of scrimmage is consistently referred to as the "battle in the trenches." Modern turfgrass technology and methods have done amazing work in this aspect, but the land between the hash marks at every level of the sport is a war zone by season's end. And that's partly due to the fact that the game is played at a time when Mother Nature isn't helping. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In most places in this country, grass is going dormant in October and November. That's unfortunately right as the football season is heating up. To many, that is the no-win proposition that guides the decision to synthetics. It's just too much work to try to keep something alive that has that many variables working against it. The list of NFL teams willing to fight that good fight on an annual basis is now down to 11. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Most of these still budget in the re-sodding of the center strip once a year. Do the math. Those stadiums have world-class grounds crews, the best technology and products money can buy, and they assume they'll only get five or six home games out of the grass between the hash marks. How does a high school stand a chance at matching that? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTryDyZwTVTNBNbHFyAb7bpu6hyphenhyphenrp2QZ4V-jYhvfos0Kr0tC8enIY6c-4n5i0hBIet9iY_U7h4mlzAJw9d9uUc9lZlBX-_msgkSugakJmckl5sSIl7A-FZhW-9Quwby7OiHIQjl_QCmM/s1600/cluttered+turf+field.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="622" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTryDyZwTVTNBNbHFyAb7bpu6hyphenhyphenrp2QZ4V-jYhvfos0Kr0tC8enIY6c-4n5i0hBIet9iY_U7h4mlzAJw9d9uUc9lZlBX-_msgkSugakJmckl5sSIl7A-FZhW-9Quwby7OiHIQjl_QCmM/s320/cluttered+turf+field.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Enter synthetic turf companies. They have flashy pictures and blare the "maintenance free" trumpets. But their multi-sport fields end up looking like New York City subway maps. <i>Is blue out of bounds or is it the red line?</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Remember that a single-occupant synthetic turf venue is extremely tough to find. The permanence of the lines — that are such an allure to getting the bells and whistles on the football once and for all — suddenly turn into the venue's own worst enemy. Now, when you have a lacrosse match and wish those soccer and football lines would just disappear, they're not going anywhere. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Slight tangent: I firmly believe that this stimulation overload has added to our nation's tactical decline in soccer, most notably. Beyond helping defenders organize their offside line, having a football and/or lacrosse field overlaid does nothing good for teaching proper spacing within a formation. It's tough for a goalkeeper to not feel claustrophic with uprights looming overhead and up to four different sets of colored lines running through your penalty area. Hash marks cut the field into parcels that subconsciously restrict freedom of movement, in a game which — at its best — is all about playing balls into space. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What hope does soccer have? Who is going to say "no" when the football-crazed community votes to bring in a new synthetic surface for the athletic complex? The options for the soccer program are to join up or be left out in the cold. No school board will have any money left in the coffers to fund a separate natural-grass soccer field in addition to this install. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Forget all the clutter for a moment. Turf is still not your best place to showcase the skills of a soccer player. Not when possession of the ball at your foot is so paramount. On carpet, it bounces far too much for players to get a proper sense of pace on passes. Seemingly every ball needs to be won out of the air, while Europeans and South Americans have the ball on a string superglued to their boots. This is an issue even at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/04/artificial-turf-mls-zlatan-ibrahimovic-soccer" target="_blank">highest level of soccer in our nation</a> today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The pro-synthetic camp loves to suggest that athletes need to train on what those at the next level are playing on. That may be all well and good for the state of Texas — who now uses college-width hash marks — which treats their Friday nights like SEC Saturday afternoons. Some of those schools even play in <a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/high-school-football-stadiums-mckinney-texas" target="_blank">18,000-seat stadiums</a>. If you want to prepare the amateur player for the professional ranks that early, be my guest. Clearly, no one is putting up a road block on that mindset. The industry is now well into the billions filling every parent with hope that their child fits that mold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mimicking what something is supposed to look like cannot be the standard anymore. There has to be functionality justifying dollars spent. The two shades of green in 21st-century artificial turf is a prime example. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Oo, it looks like you just mowed the field prior to kick off. </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There may have been a time where you fell for that illusion. Not in a literal "forgot it was fake", but enough to subconsciously appreciate that homage. In exchange for that visually-pleasing detail, your brain granted a pass to being told a lie — in a way that elements of Epcot make you feel like you are inexplicably walking from country to country in mere minutes. This optical trick doesn't have staying power, though. It now comes across as kitschy and, to me, makes the blades of Mercedes-Benz Stadium somehow look worse than before. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From an engineering perspective, the town of Newton, Illinois (my current project) is going to be getting one of the most gorgeous fields in the country — even better than the one used in last night's big game. From a pure aesthetic point of view, not so much. To some, the frustrating thing is that a large portion of the money spent will be invisible to the crowds in attendance. That is a real challenge in marketing natural grass to youth programs. Funding is going to operational things below the playing surface and not the (new) traditional window dressing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My goal with SightLine is to do a better job of convincing others that Plain Jane is sexy once again. You know, all that "beauty on the inside" and "great personality" crap. But, in this case, it's actually true. With the right products on the skin, less is more when it comes to make-up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm not alone in believing these natural beauties will win out. The 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship was played on grass (Levi's Stadium). Additionally, Alabama and Clemson have distanced themselves above the entire pack as the best — and most visible — programs in their ranks. These are victories for the cause, since both Bryant-Denny and Memorial Stadium are natural surfaces. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWgxXvNmZJPVi9CEY9W2CD7wvGT8sAYzv5g-cEptqmdzOBt_Lbp0JBU2zjskgv2rKEBjY9pD68uarh3qsQxI6vZVxM63mtFhDRWClFl5h5sAsWJ7H5nIBRb1EM3Yl-sT_phNoRdBAPCE/s1600/Rose-Bowl-Flyover-2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWgxXvNmZJPVi9CEY9W2CD7wvGT8sAYzv5g-cEptqmdzOBt_Lbp0JBU2zjskgv2rKEBjY9pD68uarh3qsQxI6vZVxM63mtFhDRWClFl5h5sAsWJ7H5nIBRb1EM3Yl-sT_phNoRdBAPCE/s320/Rose-Bowl-Flyover-2019.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm heavily biased because my beloved Buckeyes graced one of the end zones, but there has never been a better looking football field in history than the one used for this year's Rose Bowl Game. In my humble opinion, it was as close as heaven on earth gets; a modern Rembrandt for the sports fan. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even as basic and refined as it was, it is impossible for a high school to match the peripheral details. While the fields for both the Rose Bowl and CFB National Championship were good enough to stand alone as grass and simple boundary lines, each got dolled up nevertheless. Blame that damned Super Bowl yet again. Too many sponsorship dollars and too many eyeballs behind television screens to not use hundreds of gallons of single-use colored paint. <i>[Sigh]</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, as tough as it is for me to let go, that attractive aspiration can't be the leading factor in budgeting or design any longer. All decisions need to be in the service of unpaid kids playing a sport they love as healthy and happy as they can. If that means that the local high school field starts to become a dirt track in Week 7 and beyond, then so be it. We have to take a collective step back and reprioritize. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The good news: My anecdotal evidence suggests that these natural-grass football fields are far less the mud pits they used to be. We've gotten so much better with agronomy and investing proper money into people with the certified know-how to keep sod looking impeccable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That, and the sport has evolved. The shift to pass-centric, shotgun-dependent, spread- and RPO-heavy, outside-the-pocket offenses has changed the way the turf between the hash marks weathers. Gone are the days of "Three yards and a cloud of dust." On both fronts, actually. Contemporary maintenance techniques are keeping the grass alive better than ever. So, it's not dust to begin with. Secondly, the quickness at which quarterbacks get the ball out of their hands has affected traditional offensive vs. defensive line battles. Pass rushers aren't coming out of the three-point stance like they used to. They are more athletic; able to cover as a fourth or fifth linebacker. The volume of inside runs, especially in the Pop Warner and high school ranks, is at a historic low. Every high school program is essentially the "Run & Shoot" or "Air Raid" for four quarters. The only running is done by the signal caller. All in all, the line of scrimmage isn't the "trench" it used to be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This all comes together to refocus the sport's identity, down to the surface selection. The time to swing the pendulum back to grass is rapidly approaching. In many prominent buildings, both in the NCAA and NFL, the self-proclaimed third generation (3G) of synthetic installations will be due for replacement in the next two to five years. The window for natural grass to make a resurgence is opening. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, choosing anything but another round of carpet will be going against its subliminal attachment to the sport's biggest celebration. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the NFL, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he pool of warm-weather, natural-grass Super Bowl candidates is set to shrink while more and more artificial options are coming online. By 2022, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">here will only be 10 of 32 franchises (26.7%) that play home games on grass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The next stadiums on the NFL's horizon are both slated to be paved with green plastic. The Los Angeles Rams and Chargers will share "Kroenke's World" — the Inglewood, CA mega dome that is currently under construction. It has already been pegged for Super Bowl LVI (February 6, 2022). The Vegas Raiders' new building intends to join that Super Bowl hosting club shortly thereafter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Currently, the bids have been awarded up through 2024 (SB LVIII). The good news is that three of the next five will be played on the real stuff: Miami (next year), Tampa (February 7, 2021), and Arizona (February 5, 2023). The bad news is that those three, plus Jacksonville and San Francisco (Santa Clara), are the only cities with a natural-grass playing surface that have hosted the Super Bowl this century. And since they are being used in quick succession, we might have a synthetic streak that begins in 2024 (New Orleans) that runs for ten years or more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is not that hard to envision a slate of New Orleans, Las Vegas, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Dallas (Arlington), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Indianapolis, Detroit, Houston, New York (East Rutherford, NJ), Minnesota, Los Angeles (Inglewood), and Atlanta as </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">the </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Super Bowl hosts. There's not telling whether Miami, San Francisco, and Arizona will hold true to grass by the time they return to the rotation. Tampa Bay will likely be due for a new stadium plan by then. Jacksonville might not even be in the league. That's a scary proposition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You could see a scenario where the league office requires a transition to synthetic as a contingent factor in bid selection. By 2030, natural would be such a minority that there could be a continuity issue. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Major League Baseball recently lost another one to the "dark side" — Arizona's <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2018/10/12/arizona-diamondbacks-installing-synthetic-grass-chase-field-2019/1614391002/" target="_blank">Chase Field switching to turf</a> after 22 years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't agree with, but understand the logic behind, gravitating toward artificial turf for baseball due to weather events. There are so many more games. As a former college baseball player and coach, the worst thing that could happen was a three-game weekend series where a stagnant patch of rain clouds made it impossible to play even a single game. February and March snow has also handcuffed all northern schools — playing on natural surfaces — from being adequately prepared for spring competition. For many, baseball and softball have nowhere to run to get all these games in. Turf is the only hope. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Emulating the pros with an outdoor facility made from non-organic material is not always in the wrong. Look at the all-weather rubber track around most of the high school football fields across the country. Leaving the world of cinder ovals was a necessity. That is a case of bettering the product, not just showing off.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9DuZ5fu3nn0Li4yL3uivL8SxMJ28FSYKGACbzKtpa10mL5Dat7eNtWx_0gj_mPLKNdjyuj6KZLYPf_pRT0-JRAUx0SKf43vyyfnl44ei-ZdsAxt4R8SuekopdMoOukl5HZZGJErkAwo/s1600/IMG_7350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="693" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9DuZ5fu3nn0Li4yL3uivL8SxMJ28FSYKGACbzKtpa10mL5Dat7eNtWx_0gj_mPLKNdjyuj6KZLYPf_pRT0-JRAUx0SKf43vyyfnl44ei-ZdsAxt4R8SuekopdMoOukl5HZZGJErkAwo/s320/IMG_7350.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Football isn't nearly as need based. It has become all about the want. The pace of the sport — in terms of number of scheduled events and ample recovery days — suggest that it could make a return to its roots if it so desired. It would sure help disperse the funding to other athletic programs at each school. A high-maintenance field like baseball is the Peter being robbed so football (Paul) can have its surface decked out to the nines. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I started in this business, I wanted to be the artist that could provide clients with the most attention to detail — to make synthetic look even more like the real deal. But, time has given me perspective and my years have certainly taught me many lessons. We can't be greedy with the "coulda" and forget that there was no "shoulda" to validate it. I now believe ostentatious show pieces have no place in amateur sports, especially any facility that is taking in public money to fund construction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not much will truly change until it comes from the top. The NFL is still the key influencer that speaks through social media directly to the younger generation. The widest market sector — at the base of the pyramid — will always take its cues from those at the summit. If you don't believe in the power of such things, and specifically their detrimental effects on society, I have a few Fyre Festival documentaries you need to watch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And if I happen to actually have the NFL's attention with this, can we also get a better halftime show? How about real musicians with substantive lyrics, enough commercial success for the masses, and deep cuts for real rock fans? My nominee: Young the Giant. By 2023, they'll be on album number six and even more immensely popular. You combine that band with a natural field (State Farm Stadium) and the Super Bowl will be fixed... for that year, at least. </span></div>
goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-10943696800415534792018-12-11T02:00:00.000-05:002019-08-06T17:58:08.031-04:00I'm Sorry, Sacramento, Don Garber Can't Be With You... Right Now<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAzJJZhpIW9KzkcfMQmfBoaveGdSnn6io0q4Ep7Emte2vHy5s6EPyvYmE7CqR1XYWe3qewbqcmazj-wX0KOiSodaflMcS38hLmNBW0qFin60NDWPdY8jfeeBhWCX48JjvnzPWd8I6-bM/s1600/fox+soccer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAzJJZhpIW9KzkcfMQmfBoaveGdSnn6io0q4Ep7Emte2vHy5s6EPyvYmE7CqR1XYWe3qewbqcmazj-wX0KOiSodaflMcS38hLmNBW0qFin60NDWPdY8jfeeBhWCX48JjvnzPWd8I6-bM/s400/fox+soccer.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a memorable episode of <i>How I Met Your Mother</i>,<i> </i>entitled "Hooked," there is a cliché score of sappy music that plays anytime a character is about to utter a phrase similar the headline of this piece. If you know the show as intimately as I do, it shouldn't take long to roll the clips back in your mind. Some will likely picture Lily speaking to a teacup pig. Most straight males are going straight for Carrie Underwood's cameo. For those of you who aren't as familiar, the premise is an easy one to grasp. It is a worn-out plot (both on television and in real life): An infatuated person is strung along because a protagonist can't bear to have a tough conversation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He or she never intends to reciprocate any feelings that are above platonic. But each keeps the possibility of a romantic future on the table nevertheless. Timing is the easy scapegoat, hence the "right now" kicker. <i>Darn these present circumstances that prevent this love from being fully expressed.</i> Ultimately, the character does not want the relationship dynamic to change for one of three reasons. They either a) enjoy exploiting perks that stem from the other person remaining "on the hook"; b) have a soft spot that won't allow them to crush another's spirits; or c) aren't 100% satisfied with what they have, so all bets are hedged with a collection of fall-back options.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, to the best of my knowledge, no major TV network ran a rerun of this <i>HIMYM </i>episode (or any comparable soap opera) this past Saturday night. So if you happened to catch that signature sound, buried beneath lines of overemotional dialogue, you must have been watching MLS Cup 2018. At halftime of Major League Soccer's finale, Don Garber "right now'd" the fine people of Sacramento, Phoenix, Detroit, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and San Diego — as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">those syrupy strings played in the background</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay, maybe I exaggerate. But Garber's message — to a near-record audience of 1.56 million viewers — sure felt like he was securing each expansion hopeful firmly to his hook. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for the reasoning, it was d) all of the above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It has been well documented — <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/mls-expansion-don-garber-miami-david-beckham-la-atlanta-minnesota-san-antonio-st-louis-sacramento/1llxmkwz6zu5a1it9qk1dliml6" target="_blank">as far back as April of 2015</a> — that Major League Soccer desired growth to 28 clubs and then to stop. And that finish line was a mere months away from being reached, with bids being awarded to Austin, Texas and another city by next summer. Yet, this weekend, Garber suggested he'd like to extend the race. Apropos to nothing, he decided to bring 30+ into the expansion discussion. First, at Friday's State of the League address, and once more during the telecast of MLS Cup on Saturday. I</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">t's as if Garber tried to sneak "more than 28" in without anyone noticing. <i>You all know that thing I have been adamant about for nearly four years? Yeah, I changed my mind. Next question. </i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The whole ordeal seemed unnecessary at best. Why get hopes up when the concept currently has no traction? No wheels are even close to being set in motion. Up until that point, the league's board of governors hadn't been made aware further expansion is being considered. Franchise number 24 is still in the process of filling out its roster. The timing came off reckless, and the lack of details appeared to purposely create speculation hysteria. This close to shutting the door for good, we're now leaving it indefinitely ajar? It doesn't make sense. There had to be a reason Garber would say "there is no doubt in my mind that we could support having more than 28 teams." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He might not be wrong. And it is just one man's opinion on American interest levels. But publicly announcing what amounts to a hunch — while several panic-stricken expansion candidates were tuned in — was callous</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. The sound bytes will undoubtedly be misconstrued by markets whose odds for bid number 28 are slipping away. No one in Sacramento or Phoenix is going to remember the lines where he backed off, stating "we're going to have to decide if we want to." That cat is already out of the bag. It's now a click-bait headline that supporters are going to hold Garber to like a promise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I, for one, believe this revelation was brilliantly calculated. Whether it amounts to anything or not is irrelevant. He knew exactly what he was saying. Theoretical expansion — light on the concrete proof or quantifiable dates — is vague enough to defend against future hate mail and vitriol-laced Tweets. Stringing Sacramento along is legacy preservation; certainly not a stupid move. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm also a fan of FOX Sport's Rob Stone, who routinely anchors the (on-location) studio show before, during the break, and after the league title game. He covers two of the greatest sports on the planet — college football and soccer — and juggles the concurrent seasons exceptionally well. In this context, my partiality is because he and I were clearly on the same page in terms of the commissioner's bombshell flip flop. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">28 teams and a 2022 retirement took a hard right turn this weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stone had the good fortune of sitting down with Garber, less than 24 hours after his initial comments. This halftime interview has now become an annual MLS Cup tradition. 2018's Q&A wasn't even 30 seconds </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">old before the reporter subtly called the commissioner out; if not for hypocrisy outright, definitely for the offhand manner in which a dramatic change of heart was delivered. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Yesterday, though, for the first time, you hinted at 'Let's not stand [pat] at 28. We can expand.' Why... beyond 28?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On its surface, it is extremely benign. Underneath, however, I could sense some "C'mon, man" disdain in his delivery. The "for the first time" wasn't essential to that particular question at all. But I believe Stone wanted it to be known that this new stance runs against the grain of everything he trumpeted for years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There sat a professional sports commissioner, on arguably the best day his North American league has ever produced (from a butts-in-the-seats and television exposure standpoint), and he was talking about more, more, more. You don't need more, Don. You need to bottle the magic of Saturday's atmosphere in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with hopes you can allocate some of it in the already-established places that are failing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The vibe at the FOX Sports desk was that one man understands the Law of Diminishing Returns while the other does not. Then again, that other person might be as sly as a fox when it comes to the topic. Never bring expansion talk to a close and you're never the bad guy. </span><a href="https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/1392721987895" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Watch the video</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> and judge for yourself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From 30,000 feet above, the tenor of Stone's question translates to: <i>What the hell, bro? We are less than twelve months away from finality in this twenty-year process. And you wait until now to say we have to devote four or five more years speculating and covering it? You're toying with the hearts of your expansion bidders. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To which, Garber — if being truly honest — would respond "Exactly." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's never been more excitement in MLS, yet most of the chatter in communities isn't about the matches on the field at all. People are crazed over the musical chairs being played by those on the outside. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cities want to win, almost forgetting what the prize is at the end. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Oh, we actually have to go play in some soccer league now? Boring. Let's compete with other cities for something else. A second Amazon HQ, a hyperloop route, a shot at the World Cup or Olympics. Give us anything. We'll even take a political party's national convention or a stop on Nickelback's next tour. We don't care; we just want to host things and feel like a big deal. </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Keeping this external competition fresh in the news feed is good for business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Regardless of interpretation, Stone definitely threw the commissioner something with a little pace behind it. The question wasn't your typical lobbed softball, where Garber could lay back and dote on his darling clubs. He genuinely wanted to know the rationale behind bringing more into the equation. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In Stone, it appears I may have a fellow believer that </span><a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">more isn't always better</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Garber's fluff response was measured and expected. He turned the question sideways to play up the fact that he was in Atlanta during one of the city's crowning sports achievements. By the time he joined the set, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he hometown favorites looked well on their way to a comfortable championship. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Garber chose to ride that wave of "MLS is now Atlanta's world and we're just living in it" rhetoric.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the end of the day, that brief camera time is meant to merely put a face with the name for the casual fans. It's akin to a red-carpet appearance belonging to an award show. Smile, wave, be gracious, and say some nice things about moments that occurred in the last 365 days. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Garber is a champion of deflection in those types of pressers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I can't entirely blame him for that. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Backed by ~70,000 United supporters and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a 1-0 halftime lead, there was no reason to believe Portland could come back. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why get down to the nitty gritty — and talk specifics on corporate policy reform — during a ceremonious two-minute interview? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Garber's direct response was: "I believe that MLS can succeed in any market." And within a reasonable socioeconomic threshold, I agree with this. Inherently, it isn't even news. Actions have voiced this belief for nearly three years now. You wouldn't have 12 cities </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">still </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">vying for two spots if there wasn't a favorable element to each bid. Under the right lens, all could be seen as the best option for team 27 or 28. But what is the definition of success in each of those markets — compared to the rest of the league? What is the right lens to use?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The league office would love for you to believe Atlanta United FC turned preconceived soccer notions upside down. Unfortunately, that narrative is only half true. Garber & Co. clearly thought it would do moderately well or they wouldn't have opened up shop in the first place. The plan was going to work anywhere with a population base that large, with an owner that rich. It is the degree of success that shattered all the expectations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Deep South hasn't opened up a whole new map for Major League Soccer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It simply changed the way the league looks at the one they have.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teams 29, 30, and beyond would not come from outside the current expansion pool. Atlanta's prosperity doesn't necessarily have ramifications on where the league would like to grow, but may amend the preference order. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A better, more insightful Garber quote would have been: "MLS has raised its predictive measure of success for those markets that were once labeled impenetrable or minor league." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The previously overlooked will be reevaluated and given a higher grade. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">An Atlanta win is a subsequent boost in stock price for Charlotte (</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">NASCAR country)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> and college sports towns like Louisville and Austin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That last city is notable because Austin's inclusion — as team 27 — now appears to be a foregone conclusion. It joins even though the proposal is undesirable to many and undeserving to most. Who knows? The self-proclaimed "weird" Texas capital just might be the next Atlanta; dropping jaws with record success despite middle-of-the-pack expectations. The league hopes to be this type of wrong again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not shown in the video clips, Garber's second pull quote on expansion from the weekend: "[Potential growth beyond 28 clubs] is in response to how much soccer the country can support." Frankly, that mindset is alarming to hear. Uncontrolled expansion cannot be the compass a commissioner bases all other navigational decisions off. Just because you can grow doesn't mean you should. If this thought process ruled the day, the NFL would be hovering around 40 franchises these days. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There have to be dependent variables that portend a "fill it up as far as the tank will hold" mentality. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Commissioners may hold a growth maximization plan loosely in their mission statement, but it has to be a lower priority than more important profitability factors. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yes, even with 40 owners to satisfy, the NFL would still be making good money. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, this is not be the only metric for calculating league success. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fans ultimately support organizations that function properly. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he shear volume of logistics — required by a mega-league — would kill any semblance of homeostasis created by the league's competition committee. Plus, the quantity of bottom feeders would become a real issue. 39 NFL teams would fail to win the Super Bowl each and every year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With that comes even greater gaps in winning, spending, etc. More than today (with 32 teams) the have-nots would struggle to stay solvent when ticket revenue flatlines. Since commissioners technically work for the franchise owners, the number of unhappy bosses in that proverbial board room is tough to ignore. A larger empire is a more difficult empire to govern. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In professional sports, it is my opinion that demand <u>should</u> outweigh the supply. The imbalance of franchises to viable cities creates market pressure that is actually a good thing for fans. We may all despise the perpetual threats of franchise relocation, but owners and local governments would defer spending capital on venue renovations or upgrades without these incentives/fears. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Teams will begin to play their games in dilapidated venues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look no further than the difference between the NFL and MLB. The former had a wealth of markets (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, et alia) open and ready to receive a displaced team. So, when places like San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis failed to provide a facility above a certain quality standard, the jump was "easy." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Flood the market and that mobility option disappears. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Los Angeles was awarded two expansion teams, and Las Vegas granted another, then it is fair to assume the Chargers, Raiders, and Rams would still be playing in their same status quo facilities — devoid of any major upgrades. The term "serviceable" is mighty relative. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Without legitimate suitors, you end up with the current situations of the Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. Major League Baseball simply doesn't have as many cities lining up at that window. And the reason is not due to any perceived drop in the sport's popularity. People still want baseball in their town. Too much, in fact. Within the last twenty years, most major American municipalities have poured a ton of money into a new Minor League Baseball field. This has actually prevented MLB expansion/relocation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the height of the respective Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tropicana Field d</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ebacles, would MLB have loved to jump to Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville, or Portland? Of course. But each city had development of a new ballpark for their Triple-A club in the works. Nashville's First Tennessee Park opened in 2015 at a $91 million price tag; seating around 11,000 fans. Similar story in Charlotte: BB&T Park, 2014, $54M, capacity of 10,200. The new Las Vegas Park (naming rights forthcoming) will open its doors this April. It cost $150 million to build and also seats roughly 10,200. Portland ironically converted their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence_Park" target="_blank">historic multi-sport venue</a> into a full-time soccer stadium specifically for Major League Soccer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was never the right time (and still isn't) for a stadium developer to jump back in line at City Hall. None of these local governments would be willing to hand over an additional $350 million to build it all again, less than ten years later, but four times larger. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since every major U.S. metro area has professional baseball, there is no downward pressure for <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/11/28/oakland-athletics-new-stadium-howard-terminal-coliseum" target="_blank">Oakland, CA</a> and <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/10/tampa-bay-rays-new-stadium-plans-photos-ybor-city-tropicana-field" target="_blank">St. Petersburg, FL</a> to work out a plan. Knowing this, both have taken their sweet time on a resolution. Meanwhile, the rest of baseball is lapping them. In the span of the last 23 years, the Atlanta Braves have had three different big league ballparks. The Texas Rangers will soon move into a new facility, 26 years after doing the very same thing before. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">True, beggars can't be choosers. But these, my friend, are not beggars.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Relocation animosity is often times misguided. Fans scream at the league for allowing such a thing, when their real issue lies with ownership and the local government bodies. Public enemy in St. Louis is Rams' owner Stan Kroenke. Art Modell (owner of the former Browns, now Ravens) is still that villain in Cleveland; although Ohio had Crew owner Anthony Precourt make a strong case for himself. Are the leagues culpable and complicit? Yes. Each is guilty of making a handful of unethical decisions to aid the process. But they are not the tip of the spear in these blame games. And the survival-of-the-fittest business model is not always without merit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Columbus would not be currently <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/12/06/plan-calls-for-230m-columbus-crew-stadium-in-the.html" target="_blank">pushing a deal through on a new stadium</a> if not for all this Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) relocation talk. Good or bad, that pressure gets results.If Austin (and all others) already had a team, then MAPFRE Stadium would have continued on as the "good-enough" home of the Crew for the next twenty years. Is that the scenario that should occur? From an ecological/sustainability POV, unquestionably. But that isn't the reality of major sports as big business. There is this quirky consumer spending habit floating around out there: Fans don't like showing up to buildings that are falling apart around them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The truth is, professional sports have always desired to be a highly exclusive. Some places that want it can't have it. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If franchises were divvied up to any community that expressed interest, the line outside the door would be ten times as long. If all you had to do was sign on the dotted line to receive a franchise, St. Louis would welcome an NFL team back tomorrow; don't pretend like they wouldn't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For this unique entertainment industry, a supply/demand imperfection <i>is</i> market equilibrium. Scarcity is essential to franchise maintaining their values; especially in a closed system where all are inflated by a consistent flow of expansion fees. Inclusion into Major League Soccer cannot become an "Expansion Process Participant" ribbon. But, i</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">f Garber really put his money where his mouth is — on providing as much soccer as America can stomach — then he'd allow all the competing bids to join. Call him on his hyperbolic bluff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If each has ownership groups that will pay it, and city councils that will pass it, is that not a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">literal representation of what our "big country" is willing to support? After Atlanta's attendance figures rolled in, there's no telling any left outside they can't make it. Franchises are not necessarily awarded in the order of soccer popularity they generate. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, why only two more? His newfound mega-league comments allude to a 36-team MLS someday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That is so drastically at odds with the plan he consistently laid out for years that I cannot trust anything about expansion beyond 28 is real. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Inevitably, Garber is going to have to put the cut line out there somewhere. So why would he delay it? People were just now coming to grips with the fact that next spring would ultimately be the last decision made on the subject. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Something clearly got to this man. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are a few theories as to why Garber would go on record saying that 30+ franchises is all of a sudden a possibility.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 1</b>: Shiny Object Theory. Saturday was undeniably amazing for Major League Soccer and the sport in this country as a whole. Beyond that, the entire season in Atlanta has been incredible. As Garber noted in his halftime interview, Arthur Blank's club had nine home matches draw more than 70,000 fans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But these results enabled an expansion addict. I fear the way in which Atlanta captured a title — two years into existence, spending large sums on foreign talent — gave Garber an unsustainable high. <i>Every time we add a team, in two years, this is the buzz we can expect. </i>This line of thinking certainly makes clubs like the Vancouver Whitecaps FC or Montreal Impact feel expendable. Once the freshest toy on the market; now a relic from a Christmas past, buried in the standings under a sea of newcomers. On and on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The issue is that someday the training wheels of expansion are going to have to come off. The league will need to be able to stay upright on its own. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> </i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 2</b>: It's a need-based decision, since expansion fees are as valuable as a fresh-water well is to a desert nation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Depending on the market, the going rate for a future expansion franchise could reach as high as $200 million. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Typically, that fee gets broken into a ten-year installment plan, with the annual payment equally divided into the operating budget of the other clubs. If the league is capped at 28 franchises, 2032 would be the final year revenue from expansion exists. What will take its place to keep the franchise values at their current levels?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">It suggests 30 might not be out of the question someday. If there's not a line item in the league's 2033 budget that has grown large enough to compensate for the disappearance of expansion fees, then Garber (or his successor) will open this process once again. </span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Option 3</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: I refuse to believe this one, because it means Don Garber — or someone close to him — is not only in my audience, but is also in agreement with <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank">my take on 28 teams</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you are reading, Mr. Garber, I want to reiterate something that gets muddled in my passion for this topic: I never said that you are stupid. Quite the contrary, in fact. You are a sharp businessman and great for the league. But 28 <i>is</i> stupid. And that is not debatable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This crux of this theory is that Garber recognizes the <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/12/predicting-next-moves-for-mls_6.html" target="_blank">issues I brought to light</a> and is attempting to push through the problems as quick as possible. Linger as long as you can at 27. Then, blow right past 28 to get to the safety of 30:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCVZseXhL_4czMsmwkAJsgiS5kXar_iI3D7b1baN9LMYNQ60UQ37HwcE7DwO7YIP1u9zArEjVsUJcX2Wsf9_Ctlq1bVKoqFtm8HAqBHHk7Hc3a7aCTWvj9JG-CsB4HyQKkFm_ZRe71Ec/s1600/30team-map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1358" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCVZseXhL_4czMsmwkAJsgiS5kXar_iI3D7b1baN9LMYNQ60UQ37HwcE7DwO7YIP1u9zArEjVsUJcX2Wsf9_Ctlq1bVKoqFtm8HAqBHHk7Hc3a7aCTWvj9JG-CsB4HyQKkFm_ZRe71Ec/s640/30team-map.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">While this format does make for a more balanced schedule (three conferences of ten; 38 matches) it does still have its drawbacks. Rivals would play twice instead of the four times <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/12/predicting-next-moves-for-mls_6.html" target="_blank">my pod system produces</a>. The quantity of teams also exacerbates a watering down of the average on-field talent present in each match. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 4</b>: To me, this explanation is the most likely. Garber doesn't really want 30 and he's not going to implement 30. But he's also not fully prepared for the backlash of saying "no." The result is a door that has been cracked ever so slightly open. The light peaking through is there to provide some hope, but not much else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In one of my <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/12/predicting-next-moves-for-mls_3.html" target="_blank">newer pieces</a>, I documented how long I thought Garber would stew on the decision (and how difficult I think it will be). Again, I do not envy his position. It was fun while we were adding every year and he got to be Oprah: "You get an MLS team! You get an MLS team! Everybody gets an MLS team!" The job isn't as glamorous now that there are no more gifts to hand out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The commissioner is very aware of these circumstances at play. He knew he was on a path to breaking a lot of hearts. And, as a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> man that is staunchly against promotion and relegation, Garber understands that whenever it does shut, the intention is for it to stay closed for good. So, what's a guy to do? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> </b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Right before the expansion clock hit triple zeros, Garber used this weekend to add more time to it. Kudos to him, honestly. If he didn't pull this stunt, those that idly watch an Austin jump from 12th place to first — in this most-recent race for bid 27 — would be driven to anger. Waking up to see a St. Louis or Phoenix, in that future article heading supporters thought was meant for their club, will push over the top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, places not selected for big number 28 (in mid-2019) aren't as likely to revolt. Mild frustration, sure. But after the dust of obscenities settles, a sentiment of "There's still a vacancy for us"<i> </i>would offer some comfort<i>. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The objective from that point is simple: Keep as many as ten U.S. cities on the hook until the tenure as commissioner is over. That way the pristine legacy never tarnishes. Say it with me, Don: "We really want Major League Soccer to be in [enter city name], but we just can't... right now."<i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stall. Retire. Pass the buck to your predecessor. They can either bring in more or keep it at 28. #NotYourProblem. Roll credits on your time in office. Isn't this lifted directly from the modern politician's playbook? <i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If there truly is expansion to 30 clubs, we're talking anywhere between 2024 and 2028. Are the embers in places such as Sacramento strong enough to stay glowing for that long? They have already been waiting for what must feel like an eternity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That corny <i>HIMYM </i>episode does actually teach us all a valuable lesson. Sometimes in life, you have to learn to cut yourself free from the line. The infatuation isn't worth your time if the other person is never going to match those feelings. Go find someone that actively wants you back; rather than settles for you only when the situation is on their terms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At what point will the scorned MLS hopefuls wise up and do the same? With new products like NISA (National Independent Soccer Association) coming on the scene, they can potentially go be someone's first pick and not 30th. Win the USL twenty times and out-gross a third of Major League Soccer at the ticket window. That'll show everyone you're not a city to string along. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">P.S. - Yes, a grounds crew waters down the carcinogen crumb rubber pellets on the fake grass in that domed stadium. You can see the hoses scattered throughout the pitch in the still frame or video clip. Gotta love synthetic turf's maintenance-free sales pitch. The quality of the league will forever be as poor as the surfaces they provide the players. I have to leave now before sports played on garbage carpets gets me too upset. </span></div>
goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-32720883243284599002018-12-06T18:05:00.000-05:002019-08-23T13:15:49.374-04:00Predicting The Next Moves For MLS Reconfiguration: A 33-Game Schedule<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhQMS6LxSgmF_ihu4AgkEpOa5NbrzB6ufx0Gz8YqBkHoF2rtrP_2ubTl-txF7fE3IuWO5aIMxQz2B5a31UpMjt5x6p-PoSGCncvKEQWARi33b5clqFd626y-WIamM7gYJKJ0R3T3vAAg/s1600/28team-map.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1358" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhQMS6LxSgmF_ihu4AgkEpOa5NbrzB6ufx0Gz8YqBkHoF2rtrP_2ubTl-txF7fE3IuWO5aIMxQz2B5a31UpMjt5x6p-PoSGCncvKEQWARi33b5clqFd626y-WIamM7gYJKJ0R3T3vAAg/s400/28team-map.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is said that chess grandmasters can visualize the next fifteen moves their opponent will make. Experience is the biggest reason why. Since every player has a finite quantity of options available, the more unique situations a person studies, the more he or she can draw upon patterns from the past. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Complemented with trustworthy instincts, and a dash of luck, advanced players can make near-perfect assumptions as to what the future holds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the moment, this is what the expansion of Major League Soccer (MLS) feels like to me. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, I don't claim to be spot-on with my viewpoints, but I have done enough research to at least say I have an educated hunch. Together, we'll have to see how many moves I am ahead of the league office.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Recently, I've outlined why I believe the MLS <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank">should only carry 27 teams</a> in their portfolio. And since that isn't likely to occur, I've also followed up with <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/12/predicting-next-moves-for-mls_3.html" target="_blank">a timeline for spots 27 and 28</a>. The <i>CliffsNotes </i>synopsis of those college dissertations: The league is screwed. 28 is not ideal. Yet, they will bludgeon fans and owners with an imbalanced (and reduced) schedule anyhow. You may recall that I selected next May (<a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/12/predicting-next-moves-for-mls_3.html" target="_blank">specifically Tuesday the 21st</a>) for the formal announcement of St. Louis as club number 28. The following is based of that assumption. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 1</b>: By 2022, Major League Soccer is going to roll out a 33-game schedule. Do not be surprised if it shows up as early as 2020. As I mentioned in my piece from a month ago, this is Option 4, but the only card the league really has to play. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's the explanation on how I've arrived at that number. The safe bet is that commissioner Don Garber — along with president/deputy commissioner Mark Abbott — will disperse the 28 teams into four divisions of seven. The map <i>[above]</i> shows my best take on those geographic groupings, with Austin and St. Louis rounding out the announced field. Note: Columbus is included. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These divisions operate like the regions in college basketball's annual March Madness — East, South, Midwest, and West quadrants of the bracket. With no good east/west (or north/south) dividing line any longer, I foresee conferences taking on a more fluid NFC/AFC feel. In other words, the geography matters for divisions (micro), but doesn't with the conferences (macro). Pair one pool of seven with another to split the total, 14 and 14. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is the NCAA tournament under an NFL umbrella.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Linking two of the divisions can honestly be done any which way, without any repercussions to the schedule. You could rotate the combinations on an annual basis or stick with the same sets of two for decades. It only ever matters in the league's semifinal match; deciding which "regional" winner squares off with another in Major League Soccer's equivalent of the Final Four. We'll talk more about that in a moment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other than that penultimate round of the playoffs, the mixing and matching of East and South or East and Midwest is irrelevant. In either setup, the quantity of games against all possible opponents remains unchanged.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Those that are within a team's division will be played twice (home and away), while everyone on the outside gets a singular match. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you're doing the math, that equals 33 regular-season games (12 conference, 21 non). Yes, this a reduction from the current 34. Yes, 33 is an odd number. Yes, it does mean some teams will have 16 home games while others get 17. No, this isn't great. That's why I've been lobbying against it for years. Unfortunately, this is where we are. All I can do now is illuminate an audience on how MLS will polish this turd. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For starters, let's call the two conferences the "American" and "National"; the low-hanging fruit, I know, but they are easily-digested working titles. In 2022, we'll say the American Conference is made up of the Midwest and West Division. The South and East comprise the National. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The following uses St. Louis as my guinea pig (err, <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/05/peta-calls-for-rewording-of-popular-anti-animal-expressions/" target="_blank">test tube</a>) to showcase future modifications to the league calendar. They are placed in the Midwest Division alongside Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, and Colorado: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23jhHHd8ZhTfJ_4Mz1MVgzf_sIGS6V7lIcI6wHKw-NqsbVbZg0P4xos-9MO29rdUyJEc_qI7saLtgzh9VFMIz0djc37cQ3BEDiR8Rvd8gfU7Jh48eq8mquGAD0aHaU8FSFZnYOHeeK10/s1600/MLS+2022+-+Saint+Louis+Schedule+-+full2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1458" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23jhHHd8ZhTfJ_4Mz1MVgzf_sIGS6V7lIcI6wHKw-NqsbVbZg0P4xos-9MO29rdUyJEc_qI7saLtgzh9VFMIz0djc37cQ3BEDiR8Rvd8gfU7Jh48eq8mquGAD0aHaU8FSFZnYOHeeK10/s1600/MLS+2022+-+Saint+Louis+Schedule+-+full2.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 2</b>: The league can start looking into a major sponsorship with retail chain Weekends Only, because there's not a Tuesday or Wednesday match to be found. This might be one of the few things owners enjoy about the schedule. For years, a large portion has been clambering for fewer weekday games — since they tend to draw smaller crowds. Similarly, Major League Soccer Players' Association (MLSPA) sees three matches in an eight-day span as undue taxation on their clients' bodies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My counterargument to this has always been something along the lines of "Every major soccer league in the world plays mid-week matches. It adequately tests fitness levels and gets domestic players better prepared for international competition." Furthermore, the other big-ticket sporting events in this country generally occur on weekends. This move keeps MLS in a red ocean rather than asserting ownership of a bluer section of the calendar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I also argue that any hit to the current bottom line — caused by diminished midweek ticket sales — isn't going to be rectified in the future by shrinking the total quantity of matches per season. Owners can't have it both ways. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That is one potential revenue dip. Another will occur if a franchise loses the freshly-minted "home-field lottery." <b>Prediction 3</b>: Under this structure, there is no way to ensure entire divisions go out-of-conference on equal footing, in terms of home and road splits. Thus, a random draw will have to determine who is shorted a regular-season game in their buildings each year. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In my example, St. Louis is in the unlucky half that plays 16 home matches.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Some sort of collectively-bargained kitty of money and/or draft picks will be created to compensate the annual "losers." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The issues with this are fairly obvious: Ticket sale disparity, problems with playing common opponents in different settings than your rivals do, uneven travel expenses, on and on and on. You get the gist; it sucks. But this is what is coming down the pike, people. I promise you. Unless Garber can convince owners to be okay with not playing everyone each season. Which I strongly doubt. This philosophy is the bedrock of not only MLS, but the NHL and NBA as well. Supporters want to root against stars their team opposes almost as much as they enjoy pulling for their side. Taking away one shot at every other team does not seem appetizing or probable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The low-hanging fruit on this issue is: "Add one more game per team to balance the home schedules, while maintaining 34-game consistency."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay. Who plays who? And why? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Which natural rivals pair up for a third contest? If Houston plays Dallas, then where does Austin fit? Same with the third wheel in the Vancouver/Portland/Seattle triangle. Major League Baseball tried this additional natural rivalry weekend for awhile, only to scrap it and go Interleague all the time. There was a hard time convincing folks in Denver and Detroit that the Rockies (est'd. 1993) and Tigers (est'd. 1901) had some deep-seeded angst towards one another. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's also seven teams in each division so one has to pair up with another outside their borders. What does this do to the fairness of divisional standings? What if both clubs need to host it in order to get to 17 home matches? You could actually exacerbate the home/road disparity. You see how this only makes the situation messier? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have arguably spent way too much time diving into all the other 28-team "solutions" and they don't get better than this. Again, I urge you to read the middle chapters of this <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank">precursor piece</a> to see the reasons why. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other notable items to glean from the calendar include a start date of February 26 or 27, 2022. The end of the regular season, annual Decision Day, is set for Saturday, October 15. For reference, the 2018 season began on March 3 and ran until October 28. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's not too much to read into this. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The future fixtures will bump up a week and cleave off another; a transition that is already headed this way. The goal is to put the season to bed prior to [American] Thanksgiving, and that pesky mid-November international break. This is especially important in 2022 with the odd timing of the FIFA World Cup. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Also on the horizon is a single-match format for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The two-legged quarter and semifinal will soon be a thing of the past. In fact, that could be here <a href="https://theathletic.com/664327/2018/11/19/sources-big-changes-to-mls-regular-season-playoff-schedules-on-the-way/" target="_blank">as early as next season</a>. What that looks like — in my 2022 calendar — is a Knockout Round, Divisional Round, Conference Final, and MLS Cup on back-to-back-to-back-to-back Saturdays. It is as efficient as it gets; over and done in 22 days. Yet is likely to provide an adequate challenge to the winner, while offering fans plenty of parity. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 4</b>: Twelve teams get in; the top three from each division. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have heard the rumblings of a 14-team bracket, but those are downright foolish. 50% of the league being included adds too much emphasis on the wrong part of the season. It's also nightmarish in its logistics. One team per conference would get a bye, while everyone else is seeded 2-7. The difficulty in identifying who is most deserving of this off week stems from a lack of competitive balance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shy of a selection committee or computer poll, there would be no method available to accurately organize an overall league table. When every club plays an erratic home schedule, 65 points in the East Division could be a very different 65 points in the South. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In any given year, it could put an asterisk on the beloved Supporters' Shield. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The griping after Decision Day would be severe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>We beat them head-to-head! Their division was way weaker! They got all the tough teams at home!</i> These are going to become the fashionable phrases, repurposed from college football message boards. Congratulations, MLS. You could have a system where all determinations are unchallenged; everything settled right on the pitch. Instead, your rankings will be as muddled as the most controversial playoff process in modern sports. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If only there was a way to crown a league champion using a regular season in which all competitors played all other competitors an equal number of times on the road as they did at home. Hmm... Nope. Soccer just doesn't have any models like that to turn to for inspiration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We've already established that we'll no longer be living in the Eastern Conference/Western Conference world of the past and present. It simply cannot exist as neat and tidy with 28 clubs. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This playoff format will have to adjust accordingly, while maintaining the current standard of 12 participants. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If stealing from the NCAA and NFL wasn't good enough, this postseason tournament also shares a common framework with the modern NHL playoff bracket. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is also as close as one can get to the proposed </span><a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/31/mls-playoff-format-fix-solution" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Group Stage playoff</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> proposed by Sports Illustrated's Brian Straus and Grant Wahl. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The concept is about internalizing the first two rounds into highly-intense division rivalries. Then, the next rounds release you into the wild, to go represent your geographic cluster well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Take the regular-season division title and you earn yourself a bye week of the playoffs. Again, the league could amend which divisions line up in the Conference Finals however they see fit:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Where this grand plan misses the mark the most is, ironically, the selling point I hear about St. Louis non-stop: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The league needs St. Louis to forge natural rivalries in this part of the country</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Regularly recycled by local talking heads, the tip of this marketing spear is essentially what a bid will do for Kansas City and Chicago. It's like you can't hear a complete thought on St. Louis' chances to get an expansion franchise without someone uttering those two cities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My first thought: If a bid is that dependent on others around it, it's not that strong to begin with. That's getting picked for the winning team in a gym-class wiffle ball game only because your buddy lobbied the captain. Second thought: If regional rivalries are<i> that</i> valuable to MLS success (and I wholeheartedly believe they are) then shouldn't the schedule reflect their importance? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the future, the league is going to get caught in between. T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hey sure talk a lot about these big derbies and regional cups meaning something. But their 28-team resolution is going to actually stymie</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the very thing they claim to covet. Here's a list of rivals that have played each other at least three times per season since both have been in the top flight of American soccer: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Houston/Dallas, Montreal/New England, Orlando/Atlanta, Seattle/Portland, Los Angeles/Los Angles, and Colorado/Salt Lake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 5</b>: Under a new system, those days will be no more. A home-and-home series is all supporters will get; with a hope that they meet again in the first or second round of the playoffs. A lazy mindset conditions us to believe more teams in a league means fewer chances for rivals to meet. <i>Gone are the late '90s where Chicago/Kansas City, San Jose/Los Angeles, and New York/New England would meet four times a year. </i>This is simply not true. There are <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank">options out there</a> to grow a league while having the frequency of these natural rivalries — that I've heard so much about — also increasing. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It all boils down to a simple question every Major League Soccer supporter has to ask themselves: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">How many times do I want to see my club play the others?</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For this exercise, I used the two leading candidates for the final expansion bid — St. Louis and Sacramento. Answer each situation independently: Which would you prefer to see, Schedule A or B?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The mixed messaging is real. Local supporters are getting beat over the head with how important St. Louis and Sacramento are to creating natural rivalries. Their reward: Schedule B is awfully light on them. Buzz words "Chicago" and "Kansas City" appear in only 12.1% of St. Louis' regular-season slate. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With Schedule A, that percentage is 21.1% — on par with the frequency the Cubs and Brewers will play the Cardinals in 2019 (22.8%). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You mean to tell me Sporting KC coming to play in the new downtown St. Louis stadium once every 12-15 months is what all the hype is about? Could you imagine the response if the Blackhawks came to the Enterprise Center once a year? God forbid a fan is sick or has an immovable conflict. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I didn't realize Garber was turning all franchises into "One Night Only" rock stars. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I included a Sporting KC v. Siege Saint Louis match in my mock playoffs just to get them to play a third time in a season. That's territory reserved for the NFL and its 16-game slate. A rubber match between the Steelers and Ravens in a January win-or-go-home scenario <i>is</i> dramatic. Having the same occur in Major League Soccer is idiotic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With a fixture list twice the size, why are supporters of division foes left praying for a trilogy to play out in the postseason? A third match should be guaranteed in the regular season... and then an extra one for good measure. Think about this: A simple two-game, home-and-home arrangement is no different than the Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks or Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors squaring off twice a year. I, for one, feel STL-KC and STL-CHI deserve better treatment than that. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is especially frustrating when we've been beaten over the head by talk of "rivalries, rivalries, rivalries" for years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Part of the problem is the overall quantity of matches about to be presented to the public. The league has been hinting at regular-season reduction for months now. And I, for one, cannot figure out how any of that makes supporters, owner-investors, Soccer United Marketing (SUM), and the MLS board of governors happy. Isn't this expansion? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even with a run to the simulated 2022 title game, Siege Saint Louis would only play 37 total matches. Saturday's MLS Cup will be the 39th league-sponsored competition for Atlanta United FC in 2018; 40th for the Portland Timbers. That, ladies and gentlemen, is called regression.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not lost in all of this is the minor footnote that 2022 is the final year of the current television deal with FOX Sports, ESPN, and Univision. The three networks now combine to pay MLS $90 million per season; a value that is five times greater than the 2007-14 agreement it replaced. Will this trio re-up if the frequency of the primetime matches decreases? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">TV contracts ultimately make or break professional sports leagues. The national sports media sure enjoys touting the popularity decrease in baseball. Yeah, team owners are struggling alright. Struggling to spend all their money. 29 of 30 MLB clubs are number one in primetime cable programming within their regional market. This equates to a handful of regional sports networks (RSNs) annually collecting <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/estimated-tv-revenues-for-all-30-mlb-teams/" target="_blank">more than $75 million</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To keep heads above water, Major League Soccer <u>must</u>, at minimum, double the fee it charges that next multi-year broadcast partner. We'll have to see if that is a price someone is willing to pay. Who knows? Perhaps a better plan — than this 28-team "meh" fest — could net MLS another x5 multiplier. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's also the issue with the offseason. If you shave even a single game from the regular season, those that miss the playoffs will have unprecedented time away from meaningful competition. October 15, 2022 to the following February's training camp is a long stretch of days. That sure won't make players any better prepared for call-ups to their respective national teams... or hot commodities in the January transfer window. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This also means that schedule makers can't afford to throw in a midweek game, even if you wanted to. It would shorten the regular season — thus lengthening the offseason — by an additional week. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As a refresher, this is the same St. Louis schedule under my proposed 27-team, 38-game format. Compare and contrast the two if you'd like:</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It seems counterintuitive to want to strip professional athletes of their precious time spent with family, but shortening the offseason from this 33-game model is a must. What will end up being 134 days between regular-season contests, under the proposed format, is just too long. Conversely, my calendar would hold MLS Cup on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (November 19, 2022) with the 2023 regular season starting up — a soft opening by top-of-the-table clubs — on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. That adds up to 95 days after the title game and 123 free for players on non-playoff teams; much closer to the 84 and 127 days experienced in 2017-18. More well-earned rest for the champs and less for those dying for on-field redemption. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Additional strengths of my model include overall home/road balance among common opponents, a single table that judges clubs apples-to-apples, and 38 regular-season matches (to mirror other major leagues in the world). Don't worry, thanks to a streamlined playoffs, the MLS Cup champion and runner-up are still only playing 41 games a season — one more than Portland in 2018. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To have 14 franchises a mere decade ago, and now be contemplating 28, is unfathomable. It has been too much, too fast. If only the artists took a periodic step back to check on the full expanse of their work. Instead, Garber and Abbott initiated a full-court press; only stopping now because it gives the appearance of a nice, round number. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 6</b>: The quality of the league will suffer from this overzealousness. Mark my words. Talent will be watered down by yet another franchise entering a lesser league (compared to the world at large). Supporters will be lulled into a false sense of joy when Cincinnati joins next March. The balanced, 24-team format will admittedly work quite well. Without a doubt, this will cultivate group think on the topic: <i>Two more teams will make this even better</i>. Then it won't happen. Nashville and Miami's 2020 entrance will be a preview for further destabilization to come. 26, and then 28, will show why not only the prime numbers are awful to work with in dividing things equally. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then I think about the alternative to this rapid expansion. If I had my way — and Major League Soccer capped expansion at 27 — then St. Louis would not be among the chosen. That's a far worse outcome for this city I have come to love. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So my real regret is not getting expansion closed at 27 clubs <i>with </i>St. Louis on the inside. Indeed, timing and opportunity are everything. If only my collection of research, first brought to the league office in 2016, would have been taken seriously. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The entire process left me feeling as if I had fallen into a deep well and no one could hear me scream.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Perhaps "less-deserving" markets like Cincinnati and Nashville would not have gobbled up bids 24 and 26 (Miami technically sneaks in as 25). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Point being, St. Louis should have safely made it across the threshold long ago, slamming the window shut in the face of any hopeful 28th franchise. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Courtesy of a Columbus/Austin debacle, the only way St. Louis could now get in as number 27 would be to wish the worst possible thing on a fellow fan base: Columbus Crew SC relocating. And St. Louisans know this pain far too well to hope for that outcome. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The conflict of interest runs extremely deep in my household. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Austin entering as an expansion franchise ends the possibility of me getting everything on my wish list. There's no way I can </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">have my beloved Crew stay, a franchise in my new hometown, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">and </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the 27-team league I proposed. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My only hope is for a different established team to fold or someday get relegated — without a promoted Division-II club to take its place. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Why couldn't Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) have purchased the Chicago Fire and want to move them to Austin? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Alas, it will be bid number 28 or bust for "The Lou." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's sad really. I appears that the ongoing process of MLS growth never had a fully-baked plan of attack. Will it be "good enough"? Sure, I guess. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But when you lay out a timeline for 14 new franchises in ten short years, shouldn't you be striving for a higher standard than "Yeah, it sorta works." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a sport with </span><a href="https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/home/2017/10/25/mls-scheduling" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">razor thin margins and legitimate home-field advantages</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, these are things the league should care much more about.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 7</b>: Most supporters won't even know there's anything fundamentally wrong. Saint Louis' 2022 schedule will be released and everyone will be happy as hell to attend those 16 regular-season matches. In truth, myself included. 16 is better than zero. When the local team hits the road — to the nearest day-tripping stadiums — each diehard fan will be circling the date to join that convoy. But they won't know more of those contests were available. Or worse, they won't read the fine print that "This Saturday's matchup in New Jersey is inherently bullshit because the Fire got to play the Red Bulls at home, and we are two points in back of Chicago for the three seed in the division." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that is where we stand. In this market, especially, the typical consumer is screaming "I want soccer" so loudly that they are unaware of what that product might actually look like when delivered. Most don't want to listen to me because I'm being "bogged down by the semantics." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Okay," I typically respond, "we'll see what you have to say when the new club starts finding some success." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the city gets a team, none of the details matter... right up until they start mattering. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The moment a scheduling glitch costs Saint Louis an MLS Cup Playoff spot, please think of me. </span></div>
goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-78583313023243965052018-12-03T21:31:00.000-05:002019-11-06T11:46:19.067-05:00Predicting The Next Moves For MLS Reconfiguration: PSV & St. Louis<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8uOUxQxYzQEkGQ18-6up7FvLDK16tWJH_urWJtjJFSC_F2l65hwi003-fUBlEAeMcOEVRIf-oEAzSfuniNbeMSZX6KS57GZPH6aeuzvMtMn9elBgVescsYK2tehUdx2-Bms1xWoNl8s/s1600/east+elevation5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="993" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8uOUxQxYzQEkGQ18-6up7FvLDK16tWJH_urWJtjJFSC_F2l65hwi003-fUBlEAeMcOEVRIf-oEAzSfuniNbeMSZX6KS57GZPH6aeuzvMtMn9elBgVescsYK2tehUdx2-Bms1xWoNl8s/s400/east+elevation5.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">News on how Major League Soccer intends to get to 28 teams feels imminent. The biggest question is where. Likely candidates include St. Louis, Sacramento, Detroit, Phoenix, Austin or Columbus. The "when" is a little more clear. The league puts a bow on season number 23 this Saturday with Portland and Atlanta clashing for MLS Cup 2018. With that event comes a host of speaking engagements and camera time for commissioner Don Garber. These are moments that he typically cannot keep from spilling a secret or two. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As soon as this Friday — during his annual State of the League address — look for Garber to announce the lease/development deal for <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20180816/austin-city-council-votes-yes-to-mls-at-mckalla-place" target="_blank">McKalla Place in northern Austin</a> is a full go. In a halftime interview with FOX's Rob Stone, he might just let that Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) approval slip to a national soccer audience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This potential sound byte shouldn't be misconstrued as a final resolution on Columbus or expansion bid 27. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The man is simply stating he's going to the Texas capital one way or the other. It is more of an admission that the time is drawing near to get shovels in the North Austin ground. MLS stadiums are taking longer to erect than ever, and lead times must adjust to this fact. I'll touch on that in more detail later. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The real next piece to the puzzle ironically hinges on, of all things, the playoff chances of the Cleveland Browns (yes, the same Browns that owned one victory over a 32-game span entering 2018). Even with a loss on Sunday, they are still mathematically alive at 4-7-1. There's still hope among my closest friends that 8-7-1, with some help, is a real possibility. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But what does that have to do with soccer? Well, Browns' owner Jimmy Haslam — who has tacitly agreed to co-finance purchase of the Columbus Crew — justifiably needs all 2018 NFL operations put to bed before any deal can be properly vetted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">His <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/10/12/columbus-crew-saved-austin-move-precourt-haslam-mls" target="_blank">October 12, 2018 press release</a> sure hung a "Mission Accomplished" banner on the #SaveTheCrew initiative. Supporters have every reason to believe their beloved club is staying put. But who's to say how serious all of this really is? It might prove to be a PR stunt that does little more than delay the inevitable. Not trying to throw a wet blanket on anyone associated with my favorite MLS side, but talk is cheap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To score some points with Ohioans, Haslam and Dr. Pete Edwards (of Columbus-based Edwards Companies) may have simply made an impulse decision; one that could soon expose buyer's remorse. Call it riding a high not felt in three years. A few days prior to their MLS pitch, the Browns did earn their first division win since October 11, 2015 — the first victory on a Sunday since Week 14 that same year. I imagine there had to be a lengthy celebration for finally being a .500 team again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A few too many brews can make anyone feel like they have the solutions to all the world's problems. Then, a few days later, picture a sober Haslam being informed by a staffer what he promised to the locals. <i>Wait, what did I agree to do?! </i>Cue the <a href="http://collider.com/the-office-scotts-tots/" target="_blank">"Scott's Tots" embarrassment</a> from <i>The Office</i>. It would be a textbook Browns-ian outcome to this story. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The reason why this isn't a done deal for me: Haslam/Edwards have to pay the new franchise fee just to retain a current one. Because what they are essentially doing is buying into a members-only club and not purchasing keys to a team. With that acquisition comes all the inherited problems facing the Crew. Namely, the need for a new downtown stadium looming on the horizon. You have to remember why Anthony Precourt felt Columbus was no longer a viable market. He's handled the situation sloppily, but he wasn't without his reasons for relocation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Playing in a 22-year old MAPFRE Stadium is the equivalent of still using a flip phone. It <i>was</i> a giant leap forward in its time, but never truly had the necessary corporate buy-in to have staying power. Don't get me wrong; we loved our flip phones. But it was obvious others would leapfrog the advancement in no time at all. Today, it is this relic that feels a world away from the vibrant heart of the Ohio capital. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Cleveland does fall short of an AFC Wild Card spot, their season will come to an end on December 30. We'll find out how sincere the Haslam purchase offer is shortly thereafter, when </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">attention turns from football to fútbol.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Should the Ohio-led group back out, there's still a 25% chance the Crew gets dragged to Austin. The <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/04/17/legal-sports-experts-weigh-in-on-art-modell-law.html" target="_blank">constitutionality of the Precourt roadblock</a> might not hold up in court. This headline would elate the expansion hopefuls, currently playing musical chairs with one seat. An extra chair would suddenly be added to the game. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 1</b>: Between January 1 and February 28 of 2019, Haslam/Edwards officially inks the deal. The pros outweigh the cons on this one. It's not the best investment in the history of sports business, but its opportunity to be the hero is too much to turn down. If the local ownership group wants to make the splash before the 2019 SuperDraft, they will have to act fast — before January 11. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Once this domino falls, the infamous March 2018 lawsuit — citing Ohio Revised Code 9.67 (the "Art Modell Law") — will be rendered moot with the sale of the team. Judge Jeffrey M. Brown will dismiss the state's case against PSV and MLS; Precourt would then have an investor-operator credit to use at his disposal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 2</b>: Before the opening of the 2019 season, in early March, Austin will be formally introduced as an unexpected 27th expansion team — ready for play in 2021. The dust of Columbus settling will clear a path for this award ceremony. I, for one, won't be happy about it, but <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank">what can you do</a>? Precourt asked for the moon in his original contract and the league gave it to him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for St. Louis, the </span><a href="https://fox2now.com/2018/11/30/st-louis-board-of-aldermen-approves-mls-stadium-tax-plan/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Board of Aldermen approved</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> a first measure in their quest last Friday. But let's pump the brakes on the celebrations. What exactly did the city's politicians vote 26-2 in favor of? A finance plan? The scope and design of the stadium? Nope. In its most reductionist terms: The ownership was granted a non-binding waiver on paying tax for construction materials and 50% discount on ticket tax. <i>Whoa. Really? All that champagne for that?</i> Sacramento has their book complete — waiting for a publisher — and St. Louis just finished a re-write on chapter one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However small, the news <i>was</i> a much-needed win for the concept of MLS in the region. The last verdict — rendered by an <a href="https://fox2now.com/2017/04/05/mls-stadium-measure-fails-in-st-louis/" target="_blank">April 4, 2017 public vote</a> — was so devastating that prospective owners needed to notch a victory in City Hall of any size or type, to get the train back on the rails. Undeniably, new chairperson Carolyn Kindle Betz got the good guys (and gals) back to believing. Having the blessing of the BoA, along with the governor and mayor, is something. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first step in a long journey is often trivial in the grand scheme, and likely forgotten, but it has immense value. You can't go anywhere without it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's what happened last week; step one. Was it important? Yes, total turning of the tides from the 2016 proposal. Was it a ringing endorsement? Without question; only two nay-saying votes. But the mountain of logistics yet to be waded through is large. For this reason, I don't anticipate Garber selects team 28 until Columbus/Austin is officially sorted out... no matter how much people think St. Louis is some ex-girlfriend the league can't stop texting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm optimistic this will all get done and St. Louis </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">is </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the right city for the final spot. But that needs to come with a blue-collar, lunch pail mentality for the next few months. The ownership group should disappear into the feverish details and only resurface when the presentation is ironclad. Let the other expansion cities try to fight what they can't see. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Certain journalists believe St. Louis <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ben-frederickson/benfred-no-reason-for-mls-to-keep-st-louis-waiting/article_712a79c4-44e6-51ab-939b-e7d395190cee.html" target="_blank">should be notified before then</a>. Not only is that an arrogant position to take for a city that still has a bullet lodged in its foot, but it shows a tone deafness to this entire process. I'm embarrassed that someone with that little knowledge and that much petulance is able to represent my local media. That particular author sounds like Violet, the spoiled brat of <i>Willy Wonka</i> fame. Cool your jets, people, it'll happen when it's ready to happen. The ownership cleared the lowest-height bar. There are still five or six to be presented. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, saying that St. Louis is somehow entitled a show of love, or a <i>wink wink</i> that they're in, spits right in the face of Phoenix and Sacramento. Both draw more fans in the United Soccer League and have stadium plans further along than St. Louis. They might have something to say in a debate that MLS needs "The Lou."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It'll be tough enough for Garber to shut the door on the others, given how long each has worked on a plan. It's even more uncouth to gloss right over St. Louis' year-long hiatus from this process. Those that never wavered deserve to see this process out to the bitter end, especially if it means it was all for naught. Remember this isn't spot number 26 in the league; this is allegedly "it." There is no more "We'll get in next round for sure." Knowing that will only exacerbate the emotions at play. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Garber is like </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Bachelor</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, and he has only one rose to hand to either St. Louis, Detroit, Phoenix, or Sacramento. Each has attractive qualities and each could certainly make him happy. But like the show, you can't expect a decision to come quickly. If it makes for more drama in Hollywood, an overly drawn-out scene is likely to sell intrigue here as well. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To adequately present empathy toward the dejected, this selection has to at least appear like it weighed on him.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that agony of deciding might not be fake. The race is really that close. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In truth, feel for Garber. This is not an enviable position for anyone. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I go back-and-forth weekly and I don't have to make the final call. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Unequivocally, he cannot callously rush to award a winner in 2018. With the assistance of deputy commissioner Mark Abbott, Garber might have his mind made up. But he better sit on it for awhile. There is no measurable benefit to an early release; only lasting detriment. Regardless of when the news comes down, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he hate will be loud and severe from those he does not pick. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Scorn Sacramento again, as early as next week, and things could honestly get violent. It's why distance away from the Holidays and equal time with each candidate is necessary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Like any good politician, personally visiting the cities still in the race is probably a sound idea before anything is decided. Give everyone a final chance to make the sale. That way, the fans who "lose" can hopefully find some comfort knowing their representative group exhausted everything in the tank. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That won't all happen within a week. A potential 12-city tour could take months.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, none of these suitors are truly ready to hear their name called right now. Each has flaws they need to address. If they were slam dunks, they'd have clubs playing in United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Tier 1 already. In some ways, they could be better off <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/11/for-mls-expansion-27-is-magic-number.html" target="_blank">stopping at 27 entrants</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sacramento remains on the lookout for someone with nine- or ten-figure net worth to replace the top financier they lost. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Detroit has to come up with some way around using Ford Field, now that the proposal for augmenting the existing roof to retract has been vetoed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the failed public vote of April 2017 was akin to a serious sports injury, St. Louis has just recently been cleared for light jogging. The road to a full recovery has only begun, but all the signs (so far) have been encouraging. The whole process simply needs more time to get it back to the strength of two years ago. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Decision makers haven't peeled back enough layers to say this newest iteration is not without fault. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More and more details will soon emerge, but we are in wait-and-see mode until that day. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Among the favorites for spot 28, the only city that could arguably respond "Okay, we can get started today" would be Phoenix. However, the trouble they can never avoid is the relentless </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">weeks and weeks of 110-degree heat, with even hotter playing surface temps. Air conditioned stadium, you say? Good luck staying solvent with those electric bills. When the Arizona Coyotes move to Houston or Quebec City, this will be included as a culprit. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The agenda for Phoenix and Las Vegas: Lobby the league to switch its calendar to a more cold-weather-centric August start date, and maybe encourage a certain president to take this whole climate change a tad more serious. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Any good commissioner would allow time for those cities to shore up any holes in their presentation. Each deserves one more shot and possibly even a rebuttal. And it is unlikely anyone is being handed the golden ticket until the state of Ohio's lawsuit is either wrapped up or dropped. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All this means an announcement prior to next spring is undoubtedly out of the question. We're talking about a team that will theoretically kick off in the 2022 season, 39 months away. That's not how this current administration operates. If anything, Garber & Co. will show extra caution; triple check that St. Louis is, indeed, the final answer they want to submit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It begins and ends with a little bit of homework done. The following list outlays the last decade of MLS expansion. The first number corresponds with the quantity that each club's arrival brought/will bring the league up to. Note: It does not always follow the chronology of the official awarding of a bid. </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">16 - February 28, 2008 - Philadelphia (first match approx. 24 months later)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">17 - March 18, 2009 - Vancouver (23 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">18 - March 20, 2009 - Portland (23 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">19 - May 7, 2010 - Montreal (21 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">19 - May 21, 2013 - New York City (20 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">20 - <b>November 19, 2013</b> - Orlando (15 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">25 - February 4, 2014 - Miami (145 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">21 - April 16, 2014 - Atlanta (33 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">22 - March 25, 2015 - Minnesota (22 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">26 - <b>December 20, 2017</b> - Nashville (27 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">24 - May 29, 2018 - Cincinnati (10 months)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">27 - March 5, 2019* - Austin (24 months)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">* Highly speculative</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Notice a lot of February, March, April, and May? Yeah, don't expect to see anything seismic in the news cycle until one of those months. Sure, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">here are some exceptions to this rule that are worth explaining, but mainly because Austin and St. Louis would not qualify for them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Omitted from that grouping is Los Angeles on October 30, 2014. This is because former MLS club <a href="http://www.espn.com/soccer/league-name/story/2112968/headline" target="_blank">Chivas USA was dissolved</a> three days prior to that date. In a perfect world, its replacement in the market (LAFC) would have leisurely been awarded a bid sometime during that upcoming offseason — in adherence to the typical league timeline. Instead, the new team was rushed to be introduced, in an understandable ploy to save face. No commissioner likes the perception of a team folding under his regime. The late October move was more of a Southern California continuation effort than archetype </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">expansion bid</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. Thus, it was left off the list. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other non-traditional announcement dates were included and shown in bold. One such outlier, Orlando, swung the pendulum to the other extreme on lead time. At 15 months, it was the shortest in MLS history; now set to be the second-shortest after Cincinnati. This lack of preparation was because the club had Camping World Stadium — a nationally-recognized, 65,000-seat, open-air venue — collecting dust in the West Lakes neighborhood of town. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After the University of Central Florida football program left the site, city officials were dying to regain a full-time tenant. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Aside from a few American football games hosted each college season (most notably the Citrus Bowl), the stadium suddenly sat vacant for most of the year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is what made Orlando a highly irregular timeline; Camping World Stadium was ready to go almost immediately. Thus, MLS could get it out to the public without delay for the following spring. That future soccer-specific stadium deal could get done at a less-frantic pace, since they had a fine home of adequate size and function in the meantime. This contingency approach became all the rage for future bidders. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is not unlike the theory of grocery shopping only after eating a fully-satisfying meal; the compulsive buying habits diminish as the concept of what constitutes a need evolves. Recent expansion clubs got away with what they had laying around for longer than any other time in this century. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The numbers bear this out. Since 2010, only one expansion team has begun its inaugural season in the new stadium it proposed to the league and local government — LAFC, this year, with 29 months to execute. Prior to that, you have to go back a decade to Montreal's Stade Saputa. In between these two bookends, the world drastically changed. C</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ommitment from the league has now become the cart, with a finished product to play in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as the horse, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">trailing behind. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The stadium can now be the "Yeah, we'll get to it" on the Honey-Do-List. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These delays are not entire the fault of owner-investors' apathy to get a deal done. The speed of local politics is never what anyone fully anticipates. And Mother Nature can wreak havoc on the construction calendar in an instant. Even the time being measured is a gray area. Does the clock start at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the day the first crane arrives, or simply whenever proper authorities sign a contract? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In any event, the research shows that clubs need more time than they are being given. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To combat this issue, the contemporary blueprint is to have an existing stadium as a Plan B to bridge any gaps that arise.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Some only need the rental car for a week or two beyond the estimate, while their beauty gets fully detailed. Other clubs are more like a marooned crew, adrift in a life boat without any idea when the next ship is coming. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The next test of the current system is set for March in St. Paul, Minnesota. Will the new Allianz Stadium truly be ready for opening day?</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Modern MLS expansion is full of all types of these safety-net situations. Thanks to several missed deadlines, Philadelphia played a third of its inaugural season in Lincoln Financial Field (NFL). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">New York City still has a home in Yankee Stadium (MLB), awaiting a finalized plan for new digs. As stated above, Orlando had the former Florida Citrus Bowl (NCAA FBS). Minnesota will retain TCF Bank Stadium (NCAA FBS) just in case. Before Atlanta's robot Pantheon was ready, Bobby Dodd Stadium (NCAA FBS) was utilized for most of 2017. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cincinnati will begin its time in MLS with Nippert Stadium (NCAA FBS), while </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nashville should have its options: Nissan Stadium (NFL), First Tennessee Park (MiLB), or perhaps even Vanderbilt Stadium (NCAA FBS). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is not a luxury that St. Louis currently has. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And it has serious ramifications on when St. Louis could be announced. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, the former home of the St. Louis Rams (Edward Jones Dome) never has been, nor will ever be, a viable option. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If your NFL stadium was among the league's worst as far back as the 1990s, how would it possibly be up to any allowable standard for a different sport, three years into the future? Facilities don't magically appreciate in quality, especially when you stop taking care of them. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stop it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The city does have its fair share of other sports venues, but its oddly devoid of the NCAA football facility you'd find hanging around other metropolitan areas. That is the piece that would really solidify this effort. For a handful of reasons, I believe the juggling act NYC FC pulls off each summer with the Yankees is not able to be replicated. That's a very different town, different tax bracket, different global branding strategy, etc. In short, it's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/jan/13/nyc-fc-manchester-city-football-mls" target="_blank">the freakin' Yankees paired with Manchester City money</a>. And even they struggle with executing it. However temporary, sharing Busch Stadium with the Cardinals should not be counted on. The only soccer "stadiums" in the region max out at roughly 6,500 spectators: Saint Louis University's Hermann Field and Toyota Stadium (current home of the USL club). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Put all this together and St. Louis sure looks like a throwback in the league. They will have to have their stadium completed before match one. That's important to note; it should definitely affect the expected year of entry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Atlanta is an interesting case study because the soccer team had to wait for the fifth-largest covered sports field in the the world (71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium) to be built. At a price tag of $1.6 billion, this behemoth clearly has no comp in the league. If you haven't seen it, tune into this Saturday's MLS Cup where it will be on full display. I had the good fortune of taking in an <a href="https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/06/30/atlanta-united-4-orlando-city-sc-0-2018-mls-match-recap" target="_blank">Atlanta United FC match in June</a> — one that drew more fans (71,932) than both World Cup Round of 16 games held in Russia that same day. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The average construction time for a 20,000-seater will never stack up to the mind-blowing 181 weeks it took to complete this project. Thus, that rule, reserving February-May as the expansion communication window, did not apply to owner-operator Arthur Blank. Garber gave him a 33-month head start. And, of course, he still missed the stadium's scheduled start date of March 1, 2017 by five months. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Store that eventual total (38 months) under your hat for a later discussion. The league is not in the business of making the same mistakes when it comes to construction deadlines. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, using a professional football stadium was a tried-and-true play from MLS <i>1.0</i> — a non-soccer-specific stadium with an NFL franchise as primary tenant; both teams owned by the same person. However, t</span>hat business model was something we all thought was never to be seen again. No one had proposed such a thing in MLS expansion since Seattle's 2007 bid submission. Note: This is why I use 2008 as my demarcation line for what </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm calling the "modern MLS expansion era."</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of the bidding cities for spot number 28, only Detroit is daring to emulate this NFL joint-venture plan. Everyone else intends to follow the MLS <i>2.0 </i>path, blazed by Columbus in 1999. In bucking the current architectural trend, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Atlanta's quantity of months had to also look different than the others on the list.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you throw out the mess Beckham has made in South Florida, the average lead time for Major League Soccer's modern expansion era is 21.8 months — from formal bid acceptance to first whistle of the regular season. As the newer generation of soccer-specific stadiums become increasingly complex (a nice way of saying more expensive with better amenities) that number will undoubtedly jump by two or three months. You're already up to 25. Add to this the fact that St. Louis can't go without a new stadium to begin play. Call it 26, to be safe. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, even with a financing plan nearing 100% private money, this process is not going to be a picnic for the ownership group. With the City of Saint Louis being <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_city_(United_States)" target="_blank">independent</a>, the local government is a unique challenge to any other place currently in, or bidding for, Major League Soccer. I'll be nice and leave it at that. But by now, the league should know this and accept it for what it is. We all know: You add a month of running around in circles to whatever is budgeted for "normal" municipalities, thank your lucky stars when it's over, and hope you never have to go back to City Hall. The total is now at 27 months. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since they have been burnt by recent construction overruns in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and potentially Minnesota, the league will likely interject an ultra-conservative "fudge factor" into any estimation on time frame. You're now looking well over 30. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sprinkle in a dash of indecision, since this is said to be the final expansion selection of Garber's tenure. He might spend an entire month searching for the right words to prevent Sacramento from rioting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All told, expect</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> an extra ten to twelve months added to the current 21.8 average. It seems like too large of an increase, but remember: 1) That current number is apparently not providing developers/contractors with attainable checkpoints to hit; 2) An ongoing progression of American soccer-specific architecture means future stadiums will have even more pieces in the proverbial LEGO set; and 3) There's no underutilized, open-air, natural-grass, 50,000-seat football stadium just hanging out in St. Louis. If this project does not budget time correctly, it would be a disaster for all parties associated with MLS. More than most places, St. Louis will require a window with a wide birth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Admittedly, the site St. Louis has chosen is an ally in the race against the clock. Demolition and excavation should be a relative breeze. The city-owned land — an interstitial wasteland between Downtown and Midtown — is essentially prepped and ready to go. Only the infamous "spaghetti interchange" of highway on/off ramps need to be cleared. This ease of construction prep and staging will steal some days back. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We currently sit 27 months out from the start of the 2021 season. That should dismiss 2021 as a possibility right away. It will be 2022. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 3</b>: 34 months notice. If you want an official date, so Future You can further point to how incredibly wrong I was, let's go with <b>Tuesday, May 21, 2019</b>. Go ahead and bet the under; I stand by my reasoning. It is the only solution that falls within the established February-May window, while providing more than 30 months lead time. Look at the data. That history is important in my educated guess. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anything sooner and the conspiracy/tampering lawsuits, from cities that lose out, will rain down on the league office. "We were just about to send an addendum to our presentation and you made this announcement!" </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The league is going to want to stew on this difficult decision as long as entirely possible. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Considering that, simply work the problem backwards from a hopeful start date. Any announcement beyond the first week of May — an unofficial, in-house deadline — would mean you're 33 months out (or less) from Opening Day 2022. That likely forces the 28th team join in 2023. Garber will not let that happen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, 34 months feels right. It fits nicely between the 29 months it took Los Angeles </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">— </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from date of MLS approval to opening a new stadium — and Atlanta's 38. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pause for a moment and think about what those numbers actually represent. Not every month consists of manual labor on a job site. Of that 29 spent in LA, construction time (</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">groundbreaking ceremony to first match) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Banc of California Stadium was only 20 months. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This means their timeline, upon being awarded a club, was nine months in the red tape phase, while putting it together comfortably occurred </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in under two years. It might not look that way, but t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hat is a fairly efficient proportion of measurable work to bureaucratic headaches. Don't get your hopes up, St. Louis. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To further analyze what percentage of overall lead time is building the damn thing, let's look at the three newest soccer-specific MLS facilities to come online. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If open in the next 90 days, Minnesota's Allianz Stadium will take exactly 27 months to construct.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> On the other end of the spectrum, DC's Audi Field recently opened in an astounding 16. Again, Banc of California Stadium was 20. This range shows a variance in climate, site preparation, quantity of skilled laborers, and local government. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weighing those factors, St. Louis can expect to fall somewhere between the 16 of DC and 20 of LA. One major </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">reason is cost. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the moment, the ownership group's ambitions are muted in comparison to its contemporaries. With a Mercedes-Benz Stadium that is obvious. Like something out of </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Star Wars</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, that dual-sport venue is in its own class. But even St. Louis' soccer-specific peers will likely carry a larger sticker price. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Banc of California Stadium cost $350 million, $100 million more than ownership in Missouri is looking to spend. DC paid through the nose for its expedited time frame (and Buzzard Point location), with a final figure upwards of $500 million. That's just not St. Louis' style or pace. They are more of the economical "Get it in there in 5-7 business days" than the overnight rush delivery. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Allianz Stadium is a good comp on price, but not much else. Mortensen Construction is about to enter its second St. Paul winter on the job. Those tend to contribute to construction times larger than most other places in the country. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nowhere near as complicated/expensive/wintry, St. Louisans should anticipate the actual assembling of their stadium will only take 18 months. That is nothing. But none of that fact will affect the lead time. Look, I get the desire to make this go quicker, but it's a process moving at glacial speed. The talk is happening in the present, but the action is very far into the future. We haven't even completed the current season, with 23 teams competing. 28 is worlds away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that will be the toughest pill to swallow for local supporters. If my previous calculations are correct — and St. Louis is presented with a 34-month waiting period — it means ~16 months of it will be spent planning and dealing with minutia, compared to a measly 18 or 19 months of physical construction. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That proportion of intangible to tangible progress will be agonizing. The site will sit empty for what feels like forever, but then go up in a relative blink of an eye. Build it "too soon" and the depreciation clock starts prematurely; requiring that dreaded upkeep a year earlier than expected. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Prediction 4</b>: Groundbreaking ceremony on my son's second birthday, <b>Monday, August 24, 2020</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Settle in for the winter, St. Louis. We're likely in for another four or five months of speculation before we know anything is absolute. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'll be as curious as any to see how well this piece ages. It will either be strikingly accurate or hilariously off-base.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only thing that makes me waver on feeling 100% confident is Nashville — the other bold date on the earlier list. I cannot explain why that city was announced so early last year. It still bothers me. Five days prior to Christmas? Made official before Cincinnati, despite entrance into the league a year after them? Curious at best. My only theory: Garber didn't want to break the promise of at least one expansion declaration in 2017. So, down to the wire, he went with the one that was closer to being finalized, despite it being out of chronological order. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nashville's stadium, at the city's fairground, will not be ready until the 2021 season. So, to me, the league broke protocol. If they were going to choose a November/December presentation, then the lead time should have been under 20 months. You only deviate if the new club's inclusion is too close to the present to not say something. That was the precedent set. With the timing of this news, one would expect Nashville to be making plans for a 2019 season in Nissan Stadium. Instead, soccer fans got </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">hurry up and wait</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On the other hand, the league office stuck to the common springtime script with Cincinnati (club number 24) — even though it equates to an unheard of 10 months between ink on paper and players on pitch. Seems backwards, no? I could have understood them being the December 2017 headline, with Nashville swapped as May 2018. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Don't anticipate seeing that gaffe again. Or anyone associated with MLS even calling it a mistake (which it was). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Granting Nashville this much advanced notice, and having it occur recently, is perhaps why some folks in the media think official word before New Year's Day is the standard. I assure you, it is not. They are clearly new to reporting on this topic. The league office will get back to its long-standing expansion guidelines this time around. </span></div>
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goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-52262121255005728612018-11-08T01:39:00.000-05:002020-07-21T14:15:12.032-04:00For MLS Expansion, 27 Is The Magic Number Garber & Co. Continues To Disregard<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd5VPnMsBgLwU_cE1n5WrvCfWw_tvkE7-W8Gt1s3bDR-NRmGom8b7adf2Ndf5AIgUzdzCeILBtUdgjeySSXPj52JhBnMr4Ed6xIy7NTLUiKas4Tob21YENujptiQ8a1MzGOAPFp5ilhE/s1600/small+16-0917+Rendering+16.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1600" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd5VPnMsBgLwU_cE1n5WrvCfWw_tvkE7-W8Gt1s3bDR-NRmGom8b7adf2Ndf5AIgUzdzCeILBtUdgjeySSXPj52JhBnMr4Ed6xIy7NTLUiKas4Tob21YENujptiQ8a1MzGOAPFp5ilhE/s400/small+16-0917+Rendering+16.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What a wild two months it has been for the next (and final) wave of expansion in Major League Soccer. The recent surge of headlines has been a welcome sighting; the league office had gone radio silent on the topic for far too long. If you can believe it, the awarding of <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017/12/19/16795464/nashville-mls-expansion-stadium-2020" target="_blank">Nashville SC</a> as a future franchise is already coming up on its one-year anniversary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The most contemporary piece on the subject — team number 24 going to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fc-cincinnati-mls-expansion-2019-season-announced-today-2018-05-29/" target="_blank">FC Cincinnati</a> — turns six months old next week. It sure feels like just yesterday, but time flies when there is nothing else verifiable to report. Until early September, that Cincinnati announcement sat on the "Recent News" tab of MLS expansion sites collecting dust. Even the most speculative bloggers were in wait-and-see mode. Forecasting any further seemed futile until a deadline for the next batch of proposals was presented. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only other expansion story of 2018 came out in January, when </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">David Beckham's South Florida endless soccer quest mercifully reached a <a href="https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/01/29/its-official-major-league-soccer-awards-expansion-team-miami" target="_blank">finish line</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In case you've been living under a rock, here's a refresher on that timeline. Built into the MLS contract he signed as a player in 2007 (when the 30 year-old English superstar transferred from Real Madrid to the Los Angeles Galaxy), Beckham negotiated an open-ended ownership stake in a future expansion team in the U.S. professional league. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He agreed to a price ceiling of $25 million for the franchise fee; the going rate for such a club at that present value. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note: Major League Soccer is a single-entity corporation, meaning Beckham — and all other "owners" leaguewide — are formally called investor-operators.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The term owners will be used consistently throughout, however. It paints a fairly accurate depiction of the role each plays within a franchise, and is more understood in the sports vernacular. </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By 2013, the midfielder had retired and his focus shifted coasts to life in the front office; selecting Miami as the ideal setting to write the next chapter in his soccer career. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One year prior, Montreal had come into the league. Three years later, it was time for Orlando and a "New York" club that actually competes within the city (and state) it represents. 2017 ushered in Minnesota along with Atlanta. This season provided us with a new second franchise in Los Angeles. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For Beckham, as stadium plan after stadium plan </span><a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/article1960053.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">fell through</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, a matter of "when and not if" began to reverse its course. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Once Nashville was agreed upon, it was fair to wonder: Was this Miami thing ever really going to happen? 23 names had been formally called and none of them were Beckham's. With cities across the country falling over each other to claim one of the final openings, the official vacancy was a little murky. What was MLS commissioner Don Garber going to do if that market collapsed under its own weight? He had more than enough qualified candidates at his disposable if Miami couldn't get its act together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thankfully, all those doomsday scenarios were quelled at the open of the calendar year. Miami will indeed happen; that much was confirmed. But the subsequent details were slow to roll in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was mid-August before the world first caught a glimpse of the club's crest, thanks to an online <a href="https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/david-beckhams-potential-miami-mls-logo-leaked-from-trademark-office-10631544" target="_blank">Trademark Office leak</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In case you missed my previous article, something about that iconography looked <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/10/major-league-soccers-troubling-lack-of.html" target="_blank">suspiciously familiar</a>. Regardless, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was grateful for the exposé. It meant the expansion iceberg on the horizon was beginning to melt; there was something substantive surrounding the growth of MLS to talk about. </span><a href="https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/09/05/beckhams-miami-mls-team-reveals-name-logo/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">September 5</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> made it all official. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course we still don't have a definitive stadium location or financial plan, but after nearly six years in the works, we were finally given a name and start date. "Inter Miami CF" (Club Internacional de Futbol Miami) will join the previously-stated Nashville franchise as Major League Soccer's 25th and 26th clubs — ready for play in 2020.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Coincidentally(?), that Nashville club buttoned up its stadium deal on the very same </span><a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2018/09/05/nashville-mls-stadium-pro-soccer-team/1200230002/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">September day</a> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as Inter's coming-out party. The expectation was that these incidents would open up the flood gates. In no time, we would be trending toward 2016 levels of expansion action in the news. You see, with each round of this cockamamie process, when those on the inside publicly shore up loose ends (logos, stadium votes passing, personnel acquisitions), a mini panic among those on the outside is created. These press releases are reminders that the newer entities are indeed for real, not going to falter, and the limited seating at the restaurant just got harder to reserve. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's as if seeing updates from Cincinnati, Miami, and Nashville makes potential franchise ownership groups self-conscious. <i>We can't fall off Garber's radar. </i>The result is a cluster of boiler plate statements that look like this: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">“Major League Soccer has indicated that [insert city] Football Club continues to be in consideration for one of the [insert number] remaining expansion spots.”</span> They are now predictable enough to set your watch to. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I stumbled across another one out of <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article215904420.html" target="_blank">Charlotte</a> the other day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The thought process: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tell the world that the prettiest girl in school called you last night. With hilarious certainty, it will make every other suitor go public with a similar made-up story. Gotta keep up with the Joneses; not that any of it has any bearing on how important selections will be made. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that's where we are. Don Garber has all the power and multi-millionaires are the nervous ones vying for his affection. He has delivered no timetable for the next batch of decisions, so everyone must sweat it out together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seeing this play out a few times now, the next moves on the chess board have become easier to anticipate. One of the expansion hopefuls will reintroduce itself to the world, complete with re-energized interest, financial updates, and phrases such as "now more than ever." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After that first club's progress report is delivered to the media, all others typically follows suit — as if not doing so would somehow be viewed as a diminished internal belief in the cause. Silence signifies troubles to supporters. Bust out those scarves, would-be soccer owners, the dog-and-pony presser will be on the local news tonight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The city that kicked off this year's "We're still here and committed" tour was an absolute shocker. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On October 9, the </span><a href="https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2017/04/05/st-louis-soccer-stadium-defeat-hits-hard-for-ownership-group-and-fans" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">dead-on-the-vine bid</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> out of St. Louis was officially back to try again. This time around, the point person was introduced as Carolyn Kindle-Betz — the highly-respected and philanthropic heir to the Taylor family (Enterprise Holdings) fortune. The transition away from a weaselly, pseudo-government official was a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/10/10/turns-out-st-louis-was-right-to-reject-public-financing-for-a-soccer-stadium?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=articleblog&utm_campaign=rightrail&utm_content=RelatedStories" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">wise call</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. The city doesn't need fleeced for the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">third time in four years over a tax-payer-funded pro stadium.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This segues to the other major alteration in the new proposal: A </span><a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/10/09/st-louis-mls-expansion-bid-enterprise-taylor-family" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">privately-funded</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> stadium plan. In today's sports business climate, this can only be viewed as a huge victory for the common man. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's never easy telling owners "If you want it as bad you say, you'd pay for it yourself." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is the accepted practice for anyone purchasing nearly anything in this world. This should be no different if that wealthy buyer is providing a civic institution for citizens. </span><a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/foundry-soccer-group-offers-to-pay-million-public-portion-for/article_278e8003-b1c0-5b8a-adc1-c46c53d9222a.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Standing up against charity for millionaires</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> takes resolve; residents have to be okay with not having a franchise as the only other option if an owner says "No thanks." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm really happy the bid came back to St. Louis and even happier it came back with better people, agreeable to these terms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">100% private was something the original MLS2STL task force claimed was an impossibility. "It cannot be done without contributions from the public" was an infamous lie from then-chairman Dave Peacock. Ultimately, comments like that placed an $80M bond issue on the city's April 4, 2017 ballot (</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">which</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> failed) and placed him on the sidelines for this newest MLS attempt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When the dust settled on the public vote, St. Louis' chances looked over for good. Justifiably so, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">other hopeful cities celebrated when their task force <a href="https://deadspin.com/st-louis-citizens-reject-paying-for-an-mls-stadium-1794019830" target="_blank">packed up its tents</a>. Ostensibly, this was America's unofficial <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Made-St-Louis-Americas/dp/1933370661" target="_blank">Soccer Capital</a> acting as its own worst enemy — clearing the path for a bid thief to step in. Much to the chagrin of an Indianapolis or Raleigh-Durham, St. Louis is not only still alive, but already </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">back with the lead group. We'll have to see if this hare can overcome its self-inflicted deficit and finish first in the race it was favored to win. In any event, the repackaged MLS4theLOU is a laudable recovery effort in so many ways. Among them is the potential for the league's first woman-owned franchise. In every sense, "4" > "2"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having St. Louis back in the conversation was a great story to kick off the season of MLS expansion hysteria. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Three days later came an even bigger headline that sent </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">shockwaves through the entire league</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the first documented instance in American sports history, the fans (David) had claimed victory over an owner (Goliath) — in a power struggle over uprooting a professional team. The news appears to be corroborated by trusted sources; enough for me to joyfully shout, with reasonable certainty: <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/columbus-crew-sc-reportedly-staying-columbus-new-ownership-214058039.html" target="_blank">the Columbus Crew will be staying put</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was no secret that Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) wanted its franchise moved to Austin, Texas. The group's chairman, Anthony Precourt, had become public enemy number one in Columbus (and beyond) for his childish handling of a team in limbo. He aimed to uproot one of Major League Soccer's charter clubs a thousand miles away — to play in <a href="https://www.mls2atx.com/#stadium" target="_blank">shiny new digs</a> on land his company already negotiated to develop. When Precourt initially purchased the club from the Hunt Family, he cleverly worked in a relocation clause to the contract. If certain business metrics were not met, within the first five years, he would be free to explore other geographic options. And the league office approved this language. The whole ordeal </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">was a "Hey Art Modell, hold my beer" approach.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ironically, the slim hope for Crew retention hung on a court decision stemming from Modell's Cleveland Browns departure. Despite legislation working against him, Precourt still possessed the upper hand on doing with his franchise as he pleased. And he had history on his side. O</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ver the past two centuries, professional sports franchise owners were undefeated in having their relocation wishes realized. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To say the least, it looked bleak for Columbus Crew SC remaining in Ohio.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Modern professional sports have become increasingly hostage-like: "Give me [a billionaire] your public handout, or I'm leaving to a place where people will." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Crew supporters did what has become expected of citizens facing this seemingly-annual situation. They flooded town hall meetings, hosted rallies with signs carrying witty burns and hashtags. But was their real optimism? What grass-roots movement — of similar cause and resources — could anyone point to and say it worked in stopping a team from leaving town? Typically, these big businessmen are as unobstructed by supporters' efforts as, I don't know, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2014/03/29/indianapolis-baltimore-move-30-year-anniversary-mayflower/7053553/" target="_blank">fifteen Mayflower moving trucks</a> plowing through a group of bugs on the road. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With all that, this storyline appears to somehow have the happiest of endings. The folks behind #SaveTheCrew may have gotten the underdogs on the scoreboard in the battle of Fans vs. Owners Wedded to Money Over the Feelings of Locals (OWMOFL). Precourt appears set to sell the team to a group led by Jimmy Haslam, current owner of the Browns, who intends to <a href="https://sbisoccer.com/2018/10/browns-owner-haslam-leads-group-to-buy-crew-keep-the-team-in-columbus" target="_blank">keep the Crew in MAPFRE Stadium</a>. Good for me and most of my extended family (Crew fans since Day 1), better for the league, and best for fans in all towns and all sports. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But what does it mean for the rest of the expansion clubs awaiting Garber's final decisions? Precourt isn't going to let this Austin FC thing go that easily. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Expansion in professional sports draws more wannabes to the table than moths to a lamppost. Surprisingly, in the case of Major League Soccer, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he laundry list hasn't really shrunk at all. No one has been formally eliminated; no one has conceded. <i>They do realize that not everyone gets picked, right? </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By comparison, a classic game of musical chairs only allows one more player than seats available each round. And even that small battle can turn a little ugly from time to time. Make it 13 competing for two openings and watch out; there might be bloodshed. In alphabetical order, the candidates remain: Austin (if Columbus does stay), Charlotte, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis (the character that just will not die), and Tampa-St. Petersburg. With Cincinnati <a href="https://www.fccincinnati.com/news_article/show/938006-fcc-announces-adi-as-first-mls-designated-player" target="_blank">locking in some of its on-field talent</a> for next year, each must be experiencing that collective phobia we all feel when we play: <i>This music has been going on for a long time now; time to start scoping out a chair.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nowadays, the unwritten expectation is for potential bidders to already have the MLS seed planted in a professional (or semi-professional) club — playing somewhere in a lower tier on the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) pyramid. In each instance, 11 of these 13 cities have done the prerequisite work. Though its middle layers have become <a href="https://fiftyfive.one/2017/09/us-soccers-pyramid-falling-apart/" target="_blank">a tad chaotic</a> in 2018, American soccer's equivalent to baseball's minor leagues presses on. The current Division-II representative, competing directly below MLS, is the United Soccer League (USL). This is where you will find teams like FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, both of whom are slated to make the jump to the big time with the next round of expansion. Orlando City SC also began its journey to Division I from humble USL beginnings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is the road map that Saint Louis FC, Louisville City FC, North Carolina FC, the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Charlotte Independence, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Indy Eleven, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Sacramento Republic FC, Phoenix Rising FC, Las Vegas Lights FC, and San Antonio FC aim to follow. Austin Bold FC was founded in 2017 and will make its debut, also in USL, next season. San Diego 1904 FC will begin play in 2019 as well; hitching its wagon to the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). San Diego was the first franchise to sign on with the new Division-III league. Detroit City FC has the largest leap to make, currently operating in Tier 4 — semi-pro National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">USL took over the penultimate position on USSF's pyramid in 2017, when the rebirth of the North American Soccer League (NASL) ran into financial troubles. For seven seasons, the Division-II league was a revolving door of clubs scattered throughout U.S., Canada, and even Puerto Rico. Minnesota United FC and Montreal Impact hailed from this league before Major League Soccer came calling. Indy Eleven and North Carolina FC also got their start here, before following USL up the corporate ladder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Places like St. Louis, Detroit, and Tampa Bay can trace their soccer roots back even farther, to the first iteration of NASL — the infamous Division-I precursor to Major League Soccer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The St. Louis Stars and Detroit Cougars were charter members in 1968, while t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he Tampa Bay Rowdies joined the league in its heyday (1975). All three played alongside such clubs as the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, San Jose Earthquakes, and Vancouver Whitecaps. The </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">precedent of older names resurfacing, decades later in MLS, is the hope of many still in the running for franchises 27 and 28. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER II</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This legacy continuation topic leads us to</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the crux of the entire piece: Why 28? What is it about that number? We get who the candidates are. Now let's dig into that quantity they are fighting for. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Quoted in articles throughout his tenure, Garber has used phrases like "stated target," "self-mandated cap," and "ultimate goal" in reference to "27 and 28 being the last expansion teams." The love affair is well documented but has never fully been explained. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">First, we must understand the current lay of the land and extract a few assumptions. These will assist in analyzing how a 28-team league could be configured.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Assumption 1</b>: Garber and his president/deputy commissioner, Mark Abbott — tasked with overseeing all expansion efforts — care about things such as competitive balance and equal home and road splits. There's no guarantee this league's executives (or any league's) give a damn about much other than satisfying the bottom line of their investor-operators. But let's assume they do. Boring back-of-house logistics assure the parameters are the same for each franchise when a new season begins. <i>Monopoly</i> becomes even less fun if your brother receives $400 when he passes GO, while you're still collecting the measly $200. I like to live in a world where owners and general managers are that level of frustrated upon seeing their schedule is slightly more difficult than a rivals. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Assumption 2</b>: Despite all odds, Southern Ohio is somehow a region capable of supporting two Division-I soccer clubs. The cold, hard reality is that Cincinnati and Columbus (a mere 107 miles apart) will struggle to coexist as NYCFC and New York Red Bulls or LA Galaxy and LAFC do. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It ultimately makes the selection of FC Cincinnati — as ready for play ten short months after their bid was accepted — appear extremely shortsighted. What was the rush? Garber could have/should have waited to see how Precourt's hand was going to play itself out. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Instead, the league is now committed to two mid-market Ohio franchises, while some mega metropolitan areas will not hear their name called for expansion. Color me happy as a fan and former Ohioan, but alarmed as a businessman. This feels set up to fail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I want to be proved wrong about this one. The #SaveDtheCrew initiative better reinvigorate a fanbase that will need to match the fervor Cincy is entering the league with. FC Cincinnati is coming in hot; while only 12,892 supporters showed up for Leg 1 of the Crew's <a href="https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-11-04-columbus-crew-sc-vs-new-york-red-bulls/boxscore" target="_blank">Conference Semifinal upset win</a> — possibly their most meaningful home match of the year.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For all 23 seasons of its existence, Major League Soccer's schedule has run against the grain of the world's soccer calendar — kicking off in early March and ending with a Cup Final on the first Saturday in December. Teams are split into an Eastern and Western Conference. <b>Assumption 3 </b>is that this will remain the case all the way up through league expansion to 28. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The addition of FC Cincinnati — as participant 24 overall, number twelve in the East — is a welcome return to homeostasis; 2018 felt slightly disjointed with 23. The 2019 plan is to have each club play all conference opponents twice and all crossover conference opponents once. T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">his means a team like Toronto FC, for instance, would play 22 matches against Eastern Conference foes and another 12 against those in the West. That is a nice, round, balanced, all-inclusive 34 regular-season matches — same quantity as Germany's Bundesliga, Mexico's Liga MX, and the Dutch Eredivise. Well done, MLS. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Foreshadowing: They should quit while they're ahead. Those words won't be uttered much from here on out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With 2020 comes Nasvhille SC (franchise 25) and Inter Miami CF (26). Two cities east of Chicago, meaning </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Assumption 4</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: The introduction of those expansion clubs will pull the Fire into the Western Conference. This move would be fitting; it is the conference affiliation the franchise had in its inaugural season (1998), in which they won their only MLS Cup and first of four U.S. Open Cup titles. Chicago going back "home" would maintain order with the geographical split in the league.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But what about that 2020 schedule? <b>Assumption 5</b>: The format of arranging fixtures from 2019 (conference opponents twice, non-conference once) will continue. With 26 clubs competing, this would mean each plays 24 intra- and 13 inter-conference matches. That's 37. And, if that's how it truly unfolds, is really significant. It would signify that the league office is not averse to increasing the regular-season match total; for the first time since a 2011 bump from 30 to 34. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The alternative — annually selecting three opponents from the opposite conference to leave off a team's schedule — doesn't seem likely. Luck of the draw might take the league's best team off your slate of games in a given year. Seems arbitrary to keep this hard cap in place when it's already proven to be movable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When 37 matches becomes the agreed-upon sum (</span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Assumption 6</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">), then professional soccer in the United States would bring itself closer to, at the very least, looking the part of a domestic league powerhouse: There are 38 annual matches scheduled in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, Brazilian Brasileirão, and French Ligue 1 — a.k.a. the "Big Boys."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER III</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Okay, everything sounds well and good. But what happens when club 28 rolls around? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The answer is "abject dysfunction." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is my belief that MLS headquarters is still unaware of what is waiting for them on that 2022 horizon. There is no way Garber & Co. has devoted enough time to research and forethought on this topic. I know this for certain because I have. And they would be charting a different course if they knew what I do. Instead, by constantly trumpeting 28 at every turn, Garber has blindly sent his fleet out into a disaster. Well, here's what owners will find when they get there. Should they choose not to read this, it's the situation they'll have to unscramble in real-time rather than three years in advance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If 2022 continues the theme of "everyone in your conference twice and everyone else once," then each club would play 40 matches — 26 in and 14 out. That ain't happening. No chance MLS eclipses the largest current totals in the world <i>and </i>plays a full playoff bracket on the back-end. Remember, nearly every domestic league on the planet crowns a champion on the final "regular-season" matchday, with no postseason tournament at all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Similar 0.0% chance Garber ditches a playoff system after he and his predecessors have spent 23 years burning into fans' collective consciousness. We expect, nay, demand it now. It is an American (and Canadian) league after all; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq7BYOnDrM" target="_blank">playoffs are what we get up for</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, we clearly know that adjustments must be made in order to satisfy a desire for 28 teams <i>and</i> keep it at, or below, 38 matches. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 1: </b>Maintain the current two-conference alignment, but limit regular-season play to only half of the country. East plays East and West plays West. Further subdivide each conference into two divisions, where those inside meet four times and those outside meet twice a year. It is neat and tidy and everyone has the same number of chances at home and as they do on the road. (38 Matches)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Drawbacks: In a league that needs expanded exposure to stay alive, keeping half of the teams from playing your local club is a non-starter for me. Faces sell the game to a fringe audience. And if the superstars of the Eastern Conference never travel past the Mississippi River (and vice versa), then MLS would be marketing with a proverbial arm tied behind its back. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>The same thing plagued Major League Baseball for long enough that they eventually had to cave — creating pockets in the calendar for Interleague Play. That, of course, grew into a 15-team split with at least one crossover series always running. If stodgy, old baseball is making progressive decisions like that, you can't be the league pushing for regressive exclusivity. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 2: </b>Break the league into four divisions and have teams play three of the four in their entirety. Once again using Toronto FC as the example, the club would play the six others in their "X" Division of the Eastern Conference four times each — home and away, home and away. They would get all seven teams in the "Y" Division of the East and all seven from one of the two divisions in the West. Teams in the Western Conference left off this even-year schedule would swap positions on the calendar in odd years. (38 Matches)<b> </b></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drawbacks: Sure, the home and road splits would be balanced among those clubs in the same division, but locations of all other matches would be left up to chance. As it pertains to who hosts who each year, an annual rotation or randomized formula would have to be utilized — a la college or professional [tackle] football. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ex: In their one-and-only matchup of the 2022 season, Toronto FC travels to play the worst team in the other half of the Eastern Conference and only managers a draw. The club tied with Toronto for the division lead has that same crossover opponent, but at home. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a sport where crowds and atmospheres provide a measurable boost in performance, that mock scenario is too big to overlook. From 1996 to 2010, MLS clubs had less than a 25% chance of leaving a road match with three points, scoring 0.46 fewer goals in those games than at home. Pulling that statistical range to present day, teams have earned an average of 0.68 more points in their stadiums than that of their opponent. Other sports just say it, but home-field advantage is a real thing in Major League Soccer. It's why the home/road splits matter. </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 3: </b>Modify the seven division of four breakdown in Option 2. Embrace the <a href="https://operations.nfl.com/the-game/creating-the-nfl-schedule/" target="_blank">NFL model</a> and select a handful of teams from the opposite conference that had a similar winning percentage from the prior year. This option is highly flexible on total matches. After the 24 divisional and seven additional conference games are satisfied, it is up to the league office as to how many more they would like to add. To keep the current total of 34, that number would be three. As our consistent example, Toronto FC could be open up its 2024 schedule to find Real Salt Lake (H), Portland Timbers (A), and LAFC (A) solely based off comparable 2023 results. (34+ Matches)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Drawbacks: </i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Very little reason for it and does less to excite me. It checks the box on fixture total the league clearly wants. But that's about it. I would want more than just an appetizer from the other conference. Of all the models I've run, t</i></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">his one produces the lowest percentage of the league rolling through a team's home stadium. Depending on the home/road breakdown of the crossover conference matches, as few as ten different clubs would come to town. At most, fans get to see 12 unique names on the visitor's side of the scoreboard. When you're trying to sell tickets, the last thing you want is opponent fatigue. "27 other teams in this league and every game I go to a match we're playing ________!" </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Option 4: </b>Keep the four divisions of seven, but have teams play the six divisional foes in two matches (one home, one away) instead of four. This leaves 21 opponents who aren't in the division; play them each once. Admittedly, the strongest of the bunch; power house divisional alignment, but fewer games than are played now — with five fewer clubs. (33 Matches) </span><br />
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<i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Drawbacks: What's the rhyme or reason behind who is awarded 17 home games and who gets 16? That right there says all you need to know. No investor-operator — in what is essentially a socialist economy — is going to be okay with one fewer ticketed event in their stadium than most of the league. And again, it's a crapshoot as to who gets the good teams at home and who gets them on the road. </i><br />
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<i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">This model also reduces the number of matches per season to 33 — the lowest total since 2010. That seems like regression and not expansion, especially at the ticket window. The league wants to grow revenue, right? Also, two annual matches against division rivals seems low. Who wants to see the league's iconic derbies only twice per season? In some instances, MLS franchises have routinely met four times a year for the better part of two decades. It's like asking the Yankees and Red Sox to play less often; bad for business on every level. </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Option 5: </b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Arrange the teams as if it were the Group Stage of the World Cup — seven divisions of four. Those in the division would play the standard two-game season series, each hosting one. There's 12. The rest of the regular season would be infilled with games against the other 24 clubs. (36 Matches)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Drawbacks: Stop me if you've heard this one before: No equality in home and road versus common opponents. There's also the reduction in rival frequency from Option 4. Furthermore, how would the playoffs work in this scenario? Since 2015, twelve clubs have made the postseason each and every season. If this seven-division league is selected, what quantity gets in? Seven division winners (obviously), but one overall Wild Card for eight? That's a substantial dip in participants, all while the league is undergoing expansion. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>For reference, the high-water mark for playoff inclusion was 12 of 20 clubs in 2015 (60.0%). Dropping all the way down to 28.6% (8 of 28) in under a decade would be a terrible over-correction. </i></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Note: Since 2013, none of the "Big Four" has less than 30% of their league make the playoffs. MLB: 33.3%, NFL: 37.5%, NHL: 51.6%, NBA: 53.3%. </i><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Having five Wild Cards — for continuity in the current twelve-team bracket — teeters on the absurd. Why should two division runner-ups be held out while an arbitrary five get to go? </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>A fourteen team playoff bracket? Now the inclusion is ridiculous again, because a lengthy regular season only eliminates half the field. That would further water down the early contests into irrelevant fodder. Looking at you, NBA. And the totality of Opening Day through the MLS Cup Final would seemingly drag on forever. With two legs in both the conference semifinals and finals, it would take 19 playoff games to settle a championship. Enjoy that two-week offseason. All in all, the lack of resolute playoff format keeps this option from being a success.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER IV</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Clearly none of these options are ideal, which begs the question: "Why is Don Garber so in love with this quantity?" Short answer: <strike>extortion</strike>... err, expansion fees. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The worst-kept secret in Major League Soccer is that Phil Anschutz and a few NFL royal families (Kraft, Hunt) are still owed a ton of money (plus interest) for personally floating the league during its 2001 bankruptcy scare. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A large portion of the Reddit community sure believes Soccer United Marketing, the for-profit arm of Major League Soccer, operates like a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ussoccer/comments/7fwjjz/is_mls_a_ponzi_scheme_another_good_as_hell/" target="_blank">Ponzi scheme</a> — comically cloaked by a greedy acronym (SUM) inside what the USSF openly calls a pyramid. I don't put my tinfoil hat on when it comes to this rhetoric, but it is wise to acknowledge it exists. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At its core, the business (founded in 2002) does have some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI" target="_blank">multi-level marketing</a> tendencies.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Television revenue for non-MLS matches seem to funnel that direction. League sponsors like Advocare and Herbalife are notoroius <a href="https://www.blackandredunited.com/opinion/2015/10/16/9545229/mls-sponsor-pyramid-scheme-herbalife-advocare-draft-kings" target="_blank">pyramid schemes</a>. And, as the CEO for SUM, Don Garber is very elusive when it comes to <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015/4/23/8482407/soccernomics-mls-collapse-stefan-szymanski" target="_blank">their joint bank account</a>. I was once told that as little as 15% of owner capital goes to the club directly, with SUM collecting the other 85%. It all adds up to some <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2017/08/16/major-league-soccers-most-valuable-teams-2/" target="_blank">curious franchise valuations</a> that are largely inflated by new franchises joining the closed-loop, single-entity structure. Those involved do realize that particular faucet is about to shut off, right? Better get everything you can now and hope it survives the long haul. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Depending on the market, the going rate for a modern expansion franchise is anywhere between $80M and $125M.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Anything you ever read with a price tag of $150M is negotiated down. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Typically, that fee gets broken into a ten-year installment plan, with the annual payment equally divided into the operating budget of the other clubs. Under that structure, 2032 would be the final year revenue from expansion exists. What will take its place to keep the franchise values at their current heights? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, it is what makes Assumption 1 (that whole "MLS executives give a damn about anything competition-related") the largest reach of this whole piece. They want the 28th club because they a) need it as a fossil fuel to keep the lights on elsewhere, and b) can get it. Everything I just laid out about how awful the end product will be from a fan perspective is utterly inconsequential to them. If it weren't, Major League Soccer would have stopped growth at 20 teams — playing a single-table, round-robin format like so many others. Or, stop at 24 like I also mentioned above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It also suggests 30 might not be out of the question someday. If there's not a line item in the league's 2033 budget that has grown large enough to compensate for the disappearance of expansion fees, then Garber's successor will open this process once again. While this does make for a more balanced schedule (three conferences of ten; 38 matches) it does have its drawbacks. Rivals would play twice instead of the four times the pod system produces. The quantity of teams also waters down the average talent on the field in each match. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One thing expansion in all sports loses sight of: Only one team wins each year. This law of diminishing returns is felt the hardest by fanbases with the least preseason hope. Honestly, why are there 30 NBA franchises? My father has been an armchair lobbyist for 24 teams in that league for years. With my beloved Cleveland Cavaliers finally hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2016, the grand total of teams to have ever done so grew to a whopping 17. And that number doesn't look like it could grow to 20 at any point over the next 50 years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, there have been 72 NBA Finals, and seven teams (Clippers, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Hornets, Grizzlies, Raptors, and Pelicans) haven't even appeared in one. Convince me any of them will before I die. My point is: We have become so lost in the "more is better" mindset. Not every major city in the U.S. that can afford a franchise should be entitled to one. And the profits from expansion won't always outweigh the negatives. Let's not forget that being the last one standing out of 23 is tough enough. It's not going to get easier when that pool increases to 28. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's like being a hoarder. Buying a bigger house doesn't change the sickness; it just provides more rooms to put things. Each professional sports league commissioner needs to better acknowledge that adding more franchises only fills more places with despair. This despair is especially tough to swallow in a sport not nearly as popular in America as basketball. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each year, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) puts out</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://iffhs.de/the-strongest-national-league-of-the-world/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">highly-coveted rankings</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for all things soccer. As recent as 2014, Major League Soccer had fallen to 49th position among the domestic leagues in the world. That was one spot above the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight league in Georgia (the country, not the state). We were below powerhouse soccer nations such as Azerbaijan and Cyprus. Ouch. Now trying to sell yourself as the last-place club in that league.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you take that data to heart, then the U.S. is closer to matching the quality of soccer played in the Democratic Republic of Congo (89th on that list) than it is to Argentina's Superliga (6th). And that was when the league only had 19 rosters to fill. Think about that for a second. We have to come up with enough warm bodies to slap a "professional soccer player" label on for nine more clubs?! Juxtapose that talent dilution with the current gold standard in North America sports: We </span><u style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">must</u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> house and/or produce the finest professional and "amateur" baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis, extreme sport, e-sport, stock-car racing, horse racing, and even drone racing circuits on the planet. How will adding more and more mediocre former college players to this equation boost the overall product?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER V </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I may have buried the biggest drawback facing all of the above. Regional rivalries are the lifeblood of the league's television ratings success. One of the biggest draws for expanding to a place like St. Louis is the national interest it could drum up whenever the team played Kansas City or Chicago; and to a lesser extent, Nashville and Cincinnati. In any sport, fans without a dog in the fight still tune in to watch teams that don't like each other. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With 28 clubs — the final two being Austin and St. Louis (the newest <a href="https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2018/10/handicapping-the-next-mls-expansion-round-october-2018-edition/" target="_blank">betting-line favorites</a>) — </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the dividing line between east and west is slated to land in a really troublesome spot. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mark Abbott must not have played </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Risk</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> as a kid. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It appears as though the Eastern Conference is a lock to have MLS stadiums in the following states/provinces (and one district) by 2022: Florida (x2), Georgia, D.C., Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Quebec, Ontario, Ohio (x2), and Tennessee. That's 13 clubs. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Add Missouri to that list and there goes a major reason for adding Saint Louis FC. Outside of Nashville, there's not really a natural rival among that group. Supporters will sure enjoy seeing Sporting KC come to town once every other year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Place St. Louis in the Western Conference, instead, and you'd likely have to offset the move with Chicago returning east. Under any of the scheduling models detailed above, Saint Louis FC would, at best, play one match per season against the Chicago Fire, one against FC Cincinnati, and one against Nashville SC. Some years, you're looking at two out of the three taking place in the other team's building. Not having that assortment of franchises play an annual home-and-home series would be an unforgivable revenue opportunity fail. But hey, Real Salt Lake would be guaranteed to come to St. Louis every season. Hot ticket. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You see, St. Louis' value is never fully realized without an alignment including Kansas City <i>and </i>Chicago. Right now, the league is backed into a corner of either or. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Conundrum time. Does the league office do Austin, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Las Vegas dirty just to keep St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago all together in the Western Conference? Watch out for an eastern city to jump the line past more qualified candidates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To me, Charlotte, Louisville, Raleigh-Durham, Indianapolis, and Tampa-St. Petersburg are each square pegs in a map cut for round holes. They're either too small, too late, or too close to another recent expansion club. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Detroit is nowhere as prepared; its <span id="goog_948570032"></span><a href="https://www.freep.com/story/sports/2018/10/18/detroit-mls-expansion-ford-field-roof/1681151002/" target="_blank">retractable roof ideas</a><span id="goog_948570033"></span> for Ford Field never left the ground. Simply put: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are better ownership groups and markets west of the Mississippi. But... all six of these areas <i>can</i> be found on a map east of Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City. <i>[Nefarious laughter]</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm all for screwing over Anthony Precourt and Austin's soccer scene, but it would be a travesty to deny Sacramento again. That, or ignore everything Phoenix has been able to accomplish. But the MLS board of governors and SUM are in the interest of making money. They need major markets... and minor markets that play similarly-situated other minor markets. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All of a sudden, some awful thoughts popped into my head: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">What if the league alienates geography altogether? What if they go</i><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> full NFC/AFC mode and place 14 teams into each conference by shear happenstance? Or worse, quarantine all the newest teams into their own conference like the NHL did from <a href="https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1970_standings.html" target="_blank">1967 to 1970</a>. Oh God. They could emulate the Big Ten's failed <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1614156-farewell-legends-and-leaders-the-big-ten-hardly-knew-ye-or-liked-ye" target="_blank">Legends and Leaders divisions</a> (2011-13).</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those would be a few ways to force this mess to work. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My bold prediction: Look for the league to compound its issue of 28 by ditching the Eastern and Western Conferences as we know them. They'll announce franchises in St. Louis (3-1) and Austin (1-2) as the final two clubs. Then, they'll link up <b>Option 4</b> from above in some sort of geography-less four-division system. Like baseball's American and National Leagues, two of the shaded rectangles in the map <i>[below]</i> will be randomly paired together as a conference with a kitschy name; the remaining boxes of seven clubs will do the same. It would solve their Midwestern rivalry issue, while keeping the two conference concept alive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It'll sure look pretty and "sell" to a naive audience. But it will also be less than ideal when it comes to the schedule. Remember: 33 matches in that model = regression, not progression. No home/road balance among competitors and possibility your team gets 16 home matches to your rival's 17. With regular season reduction, the subsequent playoffs would likely increase in size — which isn't a great thing. Americans do enjoy a small dose of postseason parity, but not the meaning of the Supporters' Shield to completely go in the dumpster. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER VI</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If I may once again remind Mr. Garber and his staffers — original concept was mailed to league headquarters in October of 2016 — there is a solution that makes a lot more people a lot happier. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">MLS is already talked about as being better than it is; afforded the benefit of the doubt because it hails from the nation that brings the world Coca-Cola-Hollywood-Yankees culture. <i>If it's a sports league in the U.S., it has be good.</i> Many online polls bear this delusion out; Major League Soccer frequently shows up inside the </span><a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1922780-statistically-ranking-the-worlds-top-10-football-leagues#slide2" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">top ten in the world</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. It is time for the league to strike while that iron is hottest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Instead, Garber is poised to undercut the highest popularity he and his league have ever experienced. Everything he helped build will ironically be undone by the very same architect. And no combination of Austin and St. Louis or Sacramento and Detroit can change that. 28 is the problem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Think of the league as a sports car. Engineer it to be smaller than average, but keep the sex appeal; strong from top to bottom, but with tons of mobility. If it is sleek and simple, with all the inner-workings as precise as a Swiss watch, then popularity will correlate. Keep churning out an imperfect clunker and the blasé reception is a foregone conclusion. In the end, humans like things that work really well. And so... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Introduce the world to the one-and-only [intentionally] odd-numbered sports league, with 27 franchises.</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It takes all the aforementioned drawbacks of a 28-team schedule and addresses them head-on:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">38 matches equals that of the heavy hitters worldwide. As my Little League coach always said, "If you wanna run with the big dogs... you gotta pee in the tall grass."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each team plays at least one game per season against all the others</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">17 different clubs are guaranteed to visit your MLS town each and every year</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Despite more games and more traveling, existing teams will actually see their overall travel distances shortened</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Uses a single Wild Card format that is easily digested by the American sports-viewing public</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each team plays the same common opponents, the same amount of times, in the same home and road locations as everyone else in their immediate grouping</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This list fails to mention one of the model's advantages directly, because it is a dig on the league as a whole. Cutting down from 28 to 27 means there's an entire roster and coaching staff that doesn't need to be filled. I'll be kind, allude to that being a good thing, and leave it at that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is widely accepted that sports and entertainment act as our nation's chief </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">export. The relatively enormous outside investment into MLS is proof of this greatness by association belief. Do we have the best players? No, not even close. But we can work to have the best-looking stadiums and kits and endorsements and supplemental entertainment. If we can just talk louder than the other leagues, we can win a public perception battle. Do what America does best: Sell sporting events as made-for-television live theater and produce it better than anyone in the world. Distract from the on-field shortcomings with the best personalities and technology. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This proposed business model takes that into account and pushes the focus to the best matchups, at the best times of the week, all 41 weeks of the season.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER VII</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blind résumé time. After all, we should really let the people decide. Assume Austin FC is already in under a 28-team format. Garber will play the best card in his hand — a four-division, 33-match configuration. Measure that up against my proposal for 27, where Austin is nowhere to be found. Here's what the opponent log would look like for St. Louis entering as the final franchise and then again with Sacramento in that spot. These are the guaranteed quantities of annual regular-season encounters: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is objectively Schedule A all day, every day. And this is the same story for any of the potential expansion candidates. Schedule A is for a 38-game, 27-team set.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Much like <i>Back to the Future's </i>flux capacitor, the power of this model comes from its use of the number three. There are three conferences with three "pods" (Tide sponsorship angle) containing three teams each; a <a href="https://docs.cycling74.com/max5/tutorials/jit-tut/jitterwhatisamatrix.html" target="_blank">3x3x3 matrix</a>. It calls upon an </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">established practice in soccer culture; first challenging teams in a small group, then unleashing them to the fickle nature of knockout bracket. Make it to that latter stage by besting the others in your pool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The inspiration was borne out of the Cascadia Cup. For the better part of four decades — in various divisions of North American professional soccer — these Pacific Northwest rival clubs (Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland) have held their own round-robin competition within the framework of a larger league schedule. 2004 introduced a legitimate trophy; 2011 marked the first season that all competed in Major League Soccer. Today, their matchups have become a staple broadcast among the league's major network partners. They sell. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's also precedent for the league having three conferences. People are quick to forget the 2000 and 2001 seasons: four teams each in the Eastern Division, Central Division, and Western Division. Study history, kids. The answer is always in there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My plan isn't rocket science. Take that road map to success and proliferate it across the country. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, out of the gate, the new Cascadia Division in the Western Conference is a lock in both name and occupants: <b>Vancouver Whitecaps FC</b>,<b> Seattle Sounders FC</b>,<b> Portland Timbers</b>. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Boom</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. Done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of equal ease was laying out the entire Eastern Conference. Sun Belt Division: <b>Inter Miami CF</b>,<b> Orlando City SC</b>,<b> </b>and <b>Atlanta United FC</b>. Piece of cake. Capital Division: <b>DC United</b>,<b> Philadelphia Union</b>, and one of the New York clubs (I chose <b>NYC FC</b>). If you were unaware, all three cities have held the distinction as our nation's capital at one time in history. This left the other Big Apple club (<b>New York Red Bulls</b>) to join the <b>New England Revolution</b> and <b>Montreal Impact</b> in the Colonial Division. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each pod is full of highly-concentrated distaste for the other sports towns in the grouping. Look at the Colonial Division and tell me the NHL wouldn't be jealous of having a Montreal, Boston, New York threesome on their national broadcasts nearly every week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As an aside, the farthest distance between any two cities in the same division, among the four pods I've revealed so far, is Atlanta to Miami — only 663 miles. When used properly, geography can be the league's best friend. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only positive aspect of a Crew relocation would have been the trio of FC Dallas, Austin FC, and the Houston Dynamo in a quaint pod of Lone Star franchises. In a way, it would outperform even the Cascadia Division; keeping all the teams under a single Texas roof. But adding Austin FC doesn't move the needle of progress forward at all. It is not located in an untapped pocket of the continent that's devoid of Major League Soccer. It's a college town with zero professional sports experience. You'll read more about it soon, but for me, no matter how much PSV is owed from the league, Austin should not be the home of franchise 27.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Instead, <b>FC Dallas </b>and the<b> Houston Dynamo </b>meet up with <b>Nashville Encore SC </b>and form the Southland Division — the go-to pod for twangy accents, cowboy boots, and good Southern eats. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">P.S. - Nashville should listen to my suggestion and brand itself as the "Encore." Reason 1: By the time they enter the league, it'll be eight years since the last team with a true nickname joined MLS (Impact, 2012). I refuse to count "United" as anything that took brain power. This faux-European appropriation has hit critical mass. The time to mix in a more traditional American moniker is now, in a city that feels like it would demand it more than most. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Reason 2: The word doesn't end in an "s", and boy do <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/10/major-league-soccers-troubling-lack-of.html" target="_blank">we love that in soccer</a> (Galaxy, United, Revolution, Crew, Dynamo, Union, Fire, Impact). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Reason 3: Is there anything more Nashville than watching someone play for 46 minutes, only for them give you 49 more after you thought the show was over? The live performers in that town pour out every ounce of their souls for their patrons; playing well beyond the allotted time, night after night. I see it as the perfect homage. The name shies away from coming across too literal (Music City SC), dreadfully generic (Nashville SC), or overly derivative of the Triple-A team in town (Nashville Sounds). Then again, maybe it's just me. That'll have to be a separate phone call with a different audience to debate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER VIII</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Also in need of further dialogue is the remaining pod construction. As it stands, my final four divisions are fluid constructs — with working titles based on the ever-changing teams that go inside. They heavily rely on where Major League Soccer would like to place pins in the league map. Remember, they want to keep going to 28. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's play out the hypotheticals for franchise number 27 as if it were the last spot (ranked from most to least <u>deserving</u>):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Sacramento Republic FC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In this expansion process, there has been no one more prepared or more deserving than the California capital. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Full disclosure: I was in the "hell no" camp early on, but have since been awed by how much civic buy-in and community sponsorship their group's proposal has received. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sacramento showed up with their homework done long before Cincinnati and Nashville even started theirs. Their reward? Skipped in the latest expansion. </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Sacramento is properly recognized for its long-standing, city-council-approved Railyard plan, then I have the club joining <b>Real Salt Lake</b> and the <b>Colorado Rapids</b> in the Sierra (or Intermountain) Division of the Western Conference. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They would be the sole trio without a common time zone. But that was an inevitability; RSL and COL are the only two franchises in the league running on Mountain Time. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That falling domino would leave the </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">San Jose Earthquakes</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">LA Galaxy</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, and </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">LAFC</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> to form the West's final division — the Gold Coast. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile in the Central, <b>Toronto FC</b>, <b>Columbus Crew SC</b>, and <b>FC Cincinnati </b>would comprise the Great Lakes Division. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Trillium Cup — played annual between Toronto FC and the Crew, due to Ohio and Ontario's shared state/provincial wildflower — becomes a three-way affair, like the Cascadia Cup. </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Minnesota United FC</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Sporting KC</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and the </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Chicago Fire </b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(Heartland Division) would round out the neatly-packaged 27-team field. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first downside is the travel from Sacramento, CA to Commerce City, CO (1,170 miles); especially with San Jose sitting there. It felt odd to break up these two NorCal cities, given that only 120 miles separate them. At the end of the day, proximity lost out to something bigger: Los Angeles has its own gravitation pull. It was obvious from the get-go that SoCal would be California's two-franchise nucleus. LA Galaxy and LAFC are the Cool Kid's Club shopping around for a third. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And with four Golden State teams in this hypothetical, one had to be jettisoned elsewhere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second hiccup occurred late last year, when it was revealed that Sacramento's ownership consortium lacked the deep pockets of a <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2017/12/21/mls-makes-official-no-expansion-decision-fc-cincinnati-until-2018/973216001/" target="_blank">lead investor</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is slightly alarming that, in nearly a year's time, no one has been found to step in. The fact that they are not searching alone makes it more troubling. You see, th</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">e league office actively head hunts for franchises in need of a "35%-er" — a Mark Abbott reference to the largest ownership stake preferred in a group. They are like matchmakers for billionaires and sound investment opportunities. And yet, their joint efforts have collectively come up empty. It suggests that perhaps there is a better option out there...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Saint Louis FC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only reason they are not number one of this list is because the overhauled ownership group is still playing catch-up after the 2017 public vote failed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Including the "Gateway to the West" would ironically leave that region of North America in need of an MLS franchise. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. Louis would undoubtedly join the Central. This means — w</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ithout a Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas, or Phoenix — the Western Conference would need someone from my previous pod breakdowns to shift its affiliations. Minnesota is the best candidate for the relocation, taking the place of Sacramento in the previous example. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yes, the 1,200 miles separating Minnesota United FC and Real Salt Lake </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">would take over the league's largest distance between members of the same pod. </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, St. Paul, MN and Sandy, UT are not as close as Foxborough, MA and Harrison, NJ. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This Just In: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The middle of the country is massive and sparsely populated. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But states like Minnesota, Utah, and Colorado are accustomed to being used by sports leagues to stitch together wide expanses of land — and the travel that comes with it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is even precedent set regarding this revised trio: The Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Jazz of the NBA make it work in the same division. With the Trail Blazers and the Thunder rounding out that Northwest Division, the group's bounding box is stretched farther to the west and south than anyone would prefer. In an athletic context, the term "division" implies an essence of a proximity. Nearly 2,000 miles apart, Portland and Oklahoma City don't exactly feel like neighbors. Minneapolis to Salt Lake City is a breeze by comparison. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Minnesota United FC does bite the bullet, what's left over is glorious for the league. Supporters would get the same Great Lakes Division of Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toronto as listed above. But the Heartland triangle would get sexier: Kansas City, Chicago, and Saint Louis. Twelve matches a year out of both these divisions should sell some serious tickets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To me, this is the best 27-team league arrangement the league could roll out. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I feel guilty suggesting that St. Louis should jump all others in line, but they should. Of course, I am extremely biased. The city has been my home since 2010. I played a major role in one of the two <a href="https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2016/10/foundry-st-louis-releases-mls-stadium-rendering/" target="_blank">St. Louis ownership bids</a> proposed to Major League Soccer in 2016. Clearly, I have a vested interest in seeing this through at the expense of all other cities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I know how hard Sacramento has worked on its efforts. They've done it all the right way and have been class acts about it. When we were working on our bid, then-chairman Warren Smith's consultants disclosed the entirety of their submitted materials. The ownership group was like a team of sherpas that wanted to guide us through the drudgery of the expansion application. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Hey, we've been at this longer. We've seen what works and what doesn't. Let us show you the ropes. </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The gesture was as unexpected as Bobby Newport's "Holy sh*t" at the end of Leslie Knope's <a href="http://parksandrecreation.wikia.com/wiki/The_Debate" target="_blank">debate speech</a>.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The people portrayed by the media as our enemies were actually rooting for us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note: The front office for Sporting KC and the San Jose Earthquakes were equally gracious with their time. None of these clubs viewed</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> us, or any of the other hopeful cities, in an adversarial light. It was all about sharing ideas to make our pitch deck better. Call it the bright side of a single-entity structure; all boats truly rise together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Under new executive control, Sacramento's bid remains the champion of a "better together" mantra. And best of all, they didn't need "United" in their name in order to convey that fact. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Though I'm lobbying for 27 and only St. Louis, the reality is that Major League Soccer <i>will</i> expand to 28 franchises and Sacramento has as good a shot as any (maybe better). This plea won't stop that machine. The 28-team MLS schedule will be a disaster, but at least all parties will be happier than being on the outside, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Phoenix Rising FC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The largest metropolitan area not already in the league or set to join, Phoenix would make a ton of sense. They have a 21,000-seat stadium plan (in Scottsdale), strong financial backing (thanks to Chinese hotelier Alex Cheng), and the notoriety associated with Didier Drogba playing for their current USL incarnation. In fact, the club is seeking the league title in the USL Cup Final this Thursday. None of these things hurt to have in the fold. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should Phoenix rise all the way to Major League Soccer (pun very much intended), they would be the ones to settle</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> into a Mountain Division with Real and the Rapids; everything else would look the same as it did in Sacramento's bid. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It needs to be stated, however, that if the league decides it will continue its current spring-to-fall calendar forever and ever, then cities like this do become less appealing. Heat-related delays and water shortages could be a real threat to this plan's viability. Should Major League Soccer wise up and run its season through the winter, this would be my top candidate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Also on the "Con" side of the ledger, there are communities with much deeper roots to professional soccer. With a finite number of openings left, it would be sacrilege to select a Johnny Come Lately. Look for Phoenix is 15 years as a relocation destination, or dare I say it... a promoted club from the lower ranks. <i>[Gasp]</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Austin FC</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Precourt does sell his interest in the Crew, he'll still be a heavy favorite to push forward with Austin FC — and its plagiarized <a href="https://www.massivereport.com/2018/8/22/17771326/precourt-sports-ventures-unveils-terrible-name-colors-and-logo-for-potential-austin-team-mls-2018" target="_blank">Portland Timbers</a> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">themes</span> — as an expansion team. The trouble with this thought process stems from the quality of the other expansion candidates that remain. It will be a tough sell to convince me, other supporters, and hopefully a board of governors that Austin, TX is better suited to raise the marketability of a single-entity corporation than Saint Louis, Sacramento, Detroit, Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas and two different North Carolina locations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At its core, Garber has a simple math problem: Four MLS franchises need dispersed over two states, Texas and Ohio. Nearly all of us who follow the league believed that Cincinnati's approved expansion plan would create a 3-1 split in favor of the Lone Star State. But now that the Precourt sideshow has begun to unravel, adding a fifth club to the mix doesn't seem as appetizing. With the valiant retention of the Crew, it would be a head-scratcher to not leave it alone at 2-2. I understand population density and I get the intent behind the Electoral College, but how can anyone justify 39% of the total franchises in a multinational company being placed in the four-state combo of California, Texas, Ohio, and Florida? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To me, what made any sense in relocation quickly disappeared when presenting the Texas capital as an expansion team. It was always "Yeah, sure it would be a step up from what Columbus has going on." But that notion can't be misconstrued to mean it's an absolute certainty that Austin would be better than all challengers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I always felt it would behoove both the league and Anthony Precourt for the California native to, instead, join forces with the Sacramento bid. He could do an about-face with his current perception among MLS supporters; other cities clearly <a href="https://lastwordonsoccer.com/2017/10/19/supporters-groups-mls-defense-crew/" target="_blank">sided with Columbus</a> against their "scumbag" owner. Ride in on a white horse, bankroll that project, and become the hero. PSV gets majority control of a new franchise and a more prepared, better-suited market enters the scene. Perhaps that is just too logical in its supply and demand analysis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the league office, however, Precourt doesn't need to atone for a thing. He pays his bills, generates some revenue, and is well respected by other owners. And that is how it goes in professional sports; the tight-knit brotherhood of wealthy shot callers insulate one another from the unruly masses outside their door. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is equity in already being inside that trusted investor-operator inner circle. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He is the devil Garber knows versus the devil he doesn't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In essence, Precourt has become the new Beckham; carrying an I.O.U. for an expansion franchise in a location of his choosing. And that place is Austin. He'll make the most money there. The league will point to unprecedented corporate sponsorship and a plug-and-play stadium to distract folks from the fact that it's not that great of a location for growing the game nationwide. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, Austin FC is likely lucky number 27 — the final franchise in my model. The Lone Star Division becomes easy to assemble with Houston and Dallas. Toronto, Columbus, and Cincinnati stay the Great Lakes trio, while the southeast vertex of the Heartland triangle would have to reposition: Kansas City, Chicago, and Nashville. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's not the worst. It's merely the principle of the decision. There are simply better options in places where implementation wouldn't be as invasive. It's like attempting to run a campaign as a third-party political candidate. To have any chance of survival, Austin FC would need to carve out a ton of territory held tightly by Dallas and Houston. It would be a tall task to convert/steal/claim enough supporters to sustain something new in the region. In truth, Sacramento could also struggle with this, too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. Louis and Phoenix, however, would measure fairly low on this requisite fan-flipping scale. Those few Missourians in Sporting KC t-shirts and Arizona residents with an LAFC ball cap wouldn't take much convincing to donate their apparel to Goodwill. The new club would emphatically be theirs. Same goes for our next two franchises... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Las Vegas Lights FC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Same story as Phoenix in terms of division alignment, weather concerns, and that feeling it's just not there yet. It is a logical consideration, though, with how the world is beginning to view the desert oasis — and gambling for that matter. Socially, we have evolved to the point where it is not a sound sports business decision to <i>not</i> be in Vegas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Their USL club just finished their inaugural season with the 33-team league's sixth-highest attendance (average of 7,266 per match). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Who would be dumb enough to turn down a hot hand in that town? Plus, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">they just inked </span><a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/10/17/eric-wynalda-las-vegas-lights-usl-manager" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Eric Wynalda as their manager</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. And I love me some Wynalda; he's the best candidate to throw a giant monkey wrench into the current MLS/USSF machine. Right behind him on that list is his new boss, Brett Lashbrook. My heart wants this bid to be selected; my head gives it very little chance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They may just backdoor this whole thing with a rival league and force a merger. With those names, w</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hatever other entity they want to be a part of will probably be more successful than MLS in 30 years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Detroit City FC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of all the inclusions out there, this one is the most puzzling. The population base is great, the heritage is there; it was a coveted finalist for expansion two years ago. Clearly, it checks a lot of the boxes. Yet something about the Motor City and MLS doesn't feel right. It's probably the <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/sports/2018/05/29/detroit-mls-expansion-don-garber/650275002/" target="_blank">breakdown of the proposed soccer-specific stadium deal</a>, prompting talks that yet another domed, synthetic turf NFL stadium (Ford Field) could be utilized. <i>[Groan]</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If somehow still selected, Cincinnati and Columbus would relocate to the Heartland with Kansas City; Minnesota would return out to its Rocky Mountain tandem and Nashville would head back below the Mason-Dixon Line. Along with Chicago and Toronto, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he Great Lakes Division was made for Detroit.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But that pocket of the upper Midwest</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> appears content with what it has.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Detroit's semi-pro club (in Tier 4's NPSL) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">crushes attendance records and supporters oddly relish the sense of not belonging. I could see the team making the jump a few tiers up the pyramid, but not all the way to the top. And my sense is that locals would be okay with that. Anything in Division II or III that offers them more than six home matches a year is a meteoric upgrade. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The Rest</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I hate saying it, but these really appear to be the only viable markets remaining. If Austin can't land a franchise, then what makes anyone in San Antonio believe their bid would stand apart as better/unique? If Austin can, then where in the world does San Antonio think they fit. Texas ain't a four-franchise state. So that's a hard no. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tampa/St. Pete's only real hope was having Miami fail to launch. Same goes for Indianapolis, hoping Columbus would move and Cincinnati would be passed over. I enjoy visiting my sister in Louisville, but it's not a human major league town. For horses, yes. All the possible Carolina configurations don't do much for the league in stretching its breadth; with 70,000 fans a night, Atlanta has that region more than covered. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">San Diego is an interesting one. It has had Landon Donovan on the front lines running around like he's <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/growth-development/sd-fi-soccercity-futuread-20180927-story.html" target="_blank">David Beckham 2.0</a>. But the facts are the facts: Selecting San Diego puts three clubs in Southern California. Four if you count Xolos de Tijuana of Liga MX — 19 miles away. I know the city's demographics include a large soccer-loving constituency, but another club in that region seems superfluous in a league of only 27 <i>or</i> 28. Plus, the folding of Chivas USA in 2014 proved that the league may have overvalued that market. They weren't the first league, nor the last, to have issues there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This fails to mention the results of the city's Novemeber 6 ballot measures (E and G), which officially nipped "SoccerCity" in the bud and <a href="https://fox5sandiego.com/2018/11/06/sdsu-west-leads-soccercity-in-early-returns/" target="_blank">barely approved the "SDSU West" master plan</a>. The former had a real shot at expansion, but the hiccup came in the form of public support. In order to redevelop the former home of the NFL's Chargers, passage of a stadium financing referendum was a must. 29% of the vote sends a clear and resounding message as to what citizens felt about that. The latter measure, that did pass, has a different primary tenant at the center of its proposed re-use — the Aztecs football team. MLS was seen as the possible add-on and not the core reason San Diego voted "yes" on this plan. Not like it was with Measure E. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This means San Diego State University is now the gatekeeper to the city's professional soccer hopes. And that doesn't look like such a great thing. The school's athletic director, John David Wicker, recently told the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i>: "We will reach out to the MLS, and potentially the USL, to talk about potential partnerships that might be available. We are looking to engage the MLS and see if they have an ownership group in mind for San Diego." First off, that doesn't sound like a proposal that is anywhere close to reaching a comfortable cruising altitude. Hell, it doesn't appear the plane has even taxied into take-off position. This late in the game, with the stakes as high as they are, that has to be troubling to local supporters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Anybody that uses "the" before "MLS" should be immediately barred from any and all expansion discussions, without the chance for recompense. <i>The</i> Major League Soccer isn't a thing. Just as the Major League Baseball isn't. And definite articles leading into acronyms/initialisms matter. Anything to the contrary shows a tone-deaf lack of care or understanding about the words inside. <i>Yeah, we'd love to be a part of the MLS.</i> Nope. You just lost your chance. <i>We'd love to be a part of the MLS Cup Playoffs. </i>Sure, that's a different story altogether. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER IX</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am so confident that a fair and competitively-balanced schedule needs to rule the day, because history across the pond tells me so. There are nearly a hundred soccer clubs in England and Wales that would love to be a part of the First Division in English Football. Name the entry fee and many would gladly buy their way into that exclusive group in a heartbeat. But the UK's top sports league has always been capped at a strikingly low quantity. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 1905, The Football League — as it was known — expanded to 20 clubs and a 38-game schedule. Today, the Premier League has... 20 clubs and a 38-game schedule. They've really come a long way. To the Brits, the former number will always be dictated by the latter. Play everybody right on down the table and snake it right on back. Two matches per opponent. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As Americans, by contrast, we have come to expect growth in both categories. 1905 in the archives of our national pastime saw 16 Major League Baseball clubs play ~154 games apiece; we've been up to 30 since 1998 and 162 since 1961. Bigger and more. You can bet 32 teams playing 162 is the future. Then perhaps 32 playing 154. In other words, the maximum number of games has no bearing on how many clubs can participate. The number of contests between teams is malleable, unbalanced, and can be shoehorned to fit inside whatever calendar MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wants. This is a common denominator with all North American professional sports leagues. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The highest quantity that English top-flight soccer ever grew to was 22 clubs (42 matches). This was after a World War I hiatus, in 1919, where the league expanded by two. These totals lasted — off and on — until 1995. It was at that point when owners and officials, with voiced concerns over the length of the season, finally and absolutely voted to scale back the number of matches. And if they shrunk the calendar without shrinking the pool of teams, then some clubs would only meet once a year. Wouldn't make much sense; wouldn't be equal to all parties. Sound familiar?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is a valuable lesson for Major League Soccer. Work backwards for how long you want a balanced schedule to be and adjust the quantity of teams into that framework. Don't listen to your American brothers on this one. Your crazy British uncle (of which I have one, myself) has it right. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now with over $6 billion in revenue, the Premier League is the fourth-most profitable league in the world — trailing only the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Basketball Association. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In case you are wondering, MLS is 16th on that list ($985M).</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The most lucrative soccer league on the planet has never chased revenue by calling upon a volume scheme. Some of the best young players and most <a href="http://mysoccerex.com/Soccerex_Football_Finance_100_2018.pdf" target="_blank">valuable clubs</a> currently play in the EFL Championship, essentially Triple-A for the Premier League. But the Tier 1 league will not budge on how many clubs participate annually, just to include these marketable faces and places. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That explanation is three-fold: 1) Expansion disrupts the homeostasis of their calendar. 2) Despite its "minor league" status, the EFL Championship actually has the 17th-highest revenue among the world's various sports leagues; only $11M behind MLS in profits. 3) Just because it's capped at 20 clubs doesn't mean it is the same 20 each year. And there lies the heart of European soccer success — new blood. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'll never fully understand why this league's expansion has been so convoluted and fueled with supporter rage. I get it if you want your city to be a part of the National Hockey League, let's say. With that professional sport (and all others in America), t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">here's really only expansion and relocation as established methods to see a club through to the pinnacle league. Gone are the AFL and ABA days where being absorbed is an option. So, a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">fter Seattle makes 32 NHL franchises in 2020, that'll likely be the last expansion hockey team in my lifetime. Thus, I understand the frustration if you're a billionaire in Quebec City or Kansas City. Your hopes to own an NHL franchise are solely dependent on an existing one — in the soon-to-be-closed-loop system — selling and moving their operations. It'll be like First Law of Thermodynamics: Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's just not the case with soccer. New teams come and go all the time. And purging the annual poor performers </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is in the sport's open-loop DNA.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If MLS wants Austin FC so badly, have them win their way through Division II promotion. Same goes for a Sacramento or Phoenix. Republic FC already has a chip on its shoulders, so harness the power of that "us against the world" narrative. If Garber slams the door in the face of them once more (seemingly for good), I'd love to see how intensely they would fight to get in through a window. And when it inevitably happens, they will have something to hold over the heads of all others in MLS: Earned and not given. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's be honest, that's how I would want my club to join — if the ultimate goal is to have the strongest, most dedicated supporter following in North American sports. The path to getting the top would be an unrivaled story of grit. It would begin to embody the entire franchise and what it stands for, how the team plays. That type of foundation/heritage is gold to a marketing team. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sadly, the current process appears to be</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> leaving this option out. It's as if those not selected for expansion are doomed to never be a part of Major League Soccer; making fanbases panicky and reckless on social media. This fear is based in blatant inaccuracies. The next commissioner of MLS want 30 or 32 teams. Obviously, I think that is asinine, but the decision is above my pay grade. There's a way more could get in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Promotion/relegation should also become a viable option that is put into practice throughout the world. Note: "Pro/rel" is <i>the</i> pretentious lingo necessary to call yourself a true </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">MLS supporter. It took me nine chapters and over 12,000 words to even mention the term. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's because the success of this model is not predicated on it. Do I want it? For sure. It's the perfect counterargument for those that say capping expansion at 27 is foolish. However, if Garber is going to continue fighting it, the system can do without. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My theory on the topic: What do you have to lose by allowing scorned expansion rejects try to prove you wrong? A pissed off, "told you so" club would be a fiery (and exciting) addition to the league's stagnant bottom half. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, sending the teams that aren't adequately spending on training facilities or Designated Players should be penalized with a year (or more) in timeout. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Any belief that the system does not work for Major League Soccer </span><a href="http://worldsoccertalk.com/2018/05/30/mls-will-hit-point-diminishing-returns-league-doesnt-embrace-change/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">ignores common sense</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Quadrupling the budget for the Division II league of USSF's choosing is priority one — so that fall from grace is softened by comparable revenue/exposure opportunities. You can't have a Mercedes-Benz Stadium in USL/NASL/NISA (whoever officially lands the gig) on equal footing as a 7,800-seat modified baseball field in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That would be akin to sending Atlanta United into a black hole to rot away. Not that his club would ever be in jeopardy, but owner Arthur Blank would never be okay with this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And the opposite is also true: Markets competing in Tier 2 are going to have to meet new MLS standards if any could be called upon for promotion. This layer of the USSF pyramid would need the chaff to be discarded and new barriers to entry established. We're talking desirable cities and <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/soccer/louisville-city-fc/2018/05/31/louisville-city-fc-soccer-stadium-district-timeline/656664002/" target="_blank">soccer-specific stadiums</a>. Leagues are truly as strong as their weakest. If MLS wants to go down that pro/rel path, that means the last place team in Division II — not club 27 of 27. Choose wisely with who you're comfortable allowing that to be. Do they elevate the brand or colonize new territory? If not, they have to go to Division III. <i>See ya, Charleston Battery. Hello, some club from San Diego. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Joining them in D-III would be the Portland Timbers 2 and all other sequels of that ilk. Affiliates (both in-house and through contracted terms) would really lose their value if they stayed in a pro/rel Division II. If the object is to gain promotion, then D-II owners would need autonomy in player personnel decisions. Current affiliate Ottawa would never give away its talent midseason upon Montreal's request. Though not in direct on-field competition, they would grow to become cross-tier foes — jockeying for the best local players in Eastern Canada. No more sharing the same pool. D-III would become that true player development holding tank for more amicable call-ups. Every MLS franchise could have their very own "II" or "2" (Toronto FC II, Seattle Sounders FC 2, et alia). There would be no upward mobility for this league. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From my vantage point, the smart thing to do would be to mirror a three-conference MLS with the exact same structure below. No offense to places like Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but I could only make an argument for 21 locations that Major League Soccer would be happy/tolerant to see walk through that door. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The 12 "losers" of the on-going MLS audition are locks, plus a few clubs plucked from the purgatory of a broken NASL. NPSL and USL League Two contribute the finals pieces. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These are metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) with proven population bases and necessary corporate resources to sustain a top-flight team. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Under the assumption that St. Louis is franchise number 27, then my Division II would have the following franchises:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Eastern Conference</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Charlotte Independence</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">North Carolina FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tampa Bay Rowdies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ottawa Fury FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Puerto Rico FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Jacksonville Armada FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Central Conference</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Detroit City FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Louisville City FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">San Antonio FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Indy Eleven</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">OKC Energy FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Memphis 901 FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Austin FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Western Conference</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Phoenix Rising FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sacramento Republic FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Las Vegas Lights FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">FC Edmonton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">San Diego 1904 FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Calgary Foothills FC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">San Francisco Deltas</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That list, added to 27 MLS clubs, represents <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistical_areas" target="_blank">41 of the 48 largest MSAs</a> in the United States and the top six census metropolitan areas (CMA) in Canada. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If counted in the U.S. table, the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo MSA would rank 22nd behind St. Louis (2.6 million). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Salt Lake City MSA is the smallest inclusion from either country, but still has over 1.2 million inhabitants. This collection</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> cuts out all the fluff, giving the regions the biggest chance to succeed. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All are worthy of sharing the same stage; arguably more so than a Burnley (population 73,000) being able to compete against an Arsenal (London population of 8.13 million) in the Premier League. Of the group, only San Juan and Louisville have no professional sports team currently playing in the "Big Four" — not counting the 2003 Montreal Expos' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Montreal_Expos_season#Puerto_Rico" target="_blank">Puerto Rico experiment</a>. Perhaps each could be the test balloon that entices other league</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s to grow into their unsung market (i.e. Vegas Golden Knights, Tennessee Oilers). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This format's foreseeable drawback is decades off and would take a perfect storm of misfortune: Extended relegation out of particular MLS franchises, paired with a slow accumulation of promoted D-II clubs from the same state. This recipe could eventually give MLS six California clubs. Similarly, the Central could someday have four in Texas; four Floridians in the East. There's nothing to panic over, for the odds of anything greater than four in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In my model, promotion and relegation would begin in 2028. It gives time for the last franchise into the gate to pay off its expansion fee and settle in. It also allows the D-II clubs to get their acts together. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These clubs are in various levels of stability. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Some markets have been collecting dust for a year or more; others have appeared in back-to-back USL Cup Finals. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You could argue that the model unfairly demotes quality clubs to a lower tier than where they currently thrive, just because of population. I will admit that the methodology could prevent a fun story — similar to that of the Green Bay Packers — from existing in Major League Soccer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Edinburg, Texas has a population of only 87,650 people, yet Rio Grande Valley Toros FC has been in the top half of USL attendance every year of its existence. Who am I to say that they belong in D-III while the Charlotte Independence (29th in 2018 USL attendance) would be better for MLS? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Division-II franchise selection would certainly need further research and input from experts closer to that situation. You want to swap out a Richmond (44th largest U.S. MSA) for Puerto Rico or Reno (112th-ranked MSA, but tenth in USL attendance) for Calgary? Be my guest. This is just a jumping off point with the obvious, million-citizen metro areas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To maintain the order of the geographically-geared league, the worst three clubs (a typical standard) are not necessarily the ones that are dismissed. Similarly, the best three in Division II will not automatically go up to "The Show." Indy Eleven, North Carolina FC, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies finishing 1, 2, and 3 in the overall league table doesn't do MLS any good if their bottom feeders are LAFC, FC Dallas, and the Colorado Rapids. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All the hard work of linking neighboring rivals would be washed away. Thus, the last place team in the East would be relegated, as would the last place team in the Central and West. <i>You don't have to be the fastest antelope; you just have to be faster the ones right next to you.</i> If USL/NASL/NISA wanted to continue an American-style playoff, that would be up to them. But the champion of the bracket could end up with a very hollow honor, should they fail to win their conference. The trophy doesn't equal promotion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'd skip the playoffs and do a 40-game schedule with a home and road match against all 20 opponents. Essentially, it's really just one 21-team open table. The conference demarcations are solely for housekeeping at season's end; making sure each geographic conduit is satisfied. In this format, the league champion would be guaranteed advancement to MLS. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What about the teams coming back the other direction? For me, the fearmongering about relegation doesn't add up. It's a) not an insurmountable hand to be dealt, and b) well within each owner's control to avoid. I don't think Chelsea or Manchester United are ever nervous about being sent to the Championship. The word has likely never been uttered in their respective front offices. So why would an Atlanta, backed by some legitimate NFL coffers, be in any more danger than England's "Big Six"? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those against the concept use the wrong clubs for their examples. Instead of Atlanta or Seattle, envision the year 2030 in vapid Bridgeview, Illinois. Picture a half-empty 20,000-seat Toyota Park (naming rights likely dropped), looking every bit of a weathered 25 years old. The team is lousy and ten franchises in Division II are making more money than the Fire. Darwin would be livid if Major League Soccer didn't allow the natural order of things to run its course. It's not like relegation is a lottery; teams inflict their own wounds. Don't be terrible or else you deserve the fate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Relegated MLS owners will have no leg to stand on should they complain of their fate. You won't catch an Premier League owner crying when his/her franchise values take a dip by falling outside the top 20. And those clubs have far superior values to lose — the type that isn't illicitly propped up by their <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2018/2/8/16973944/soccer-united-marketing-sum-us-soccer-presidential-election-kathy-carter" target="_blank">women's national team success</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Championship succeeds because the clubs' infrastructure is one short renovation project away from being HD camera ready — if that moment ever comes around. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Every opening day in England's soccer season, 24 hopeful clubs begin a quest (with equal chances) to join the Premier League that following year. In that, their Tier 1 is not really a 20-team outfit. One could argue it is 44 deep, whittling away qualified teams over the course of the season until 17 are deemed safe. The next six clubs are looked at as interchangeable parts; soccer's equivalent to a 0.0 WAR baseball player. Three swap spots with the other three and the ecosystem moves on. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Think of my MLS proposal in that same manner and the number begins to look less like a rigid limitation. 27 is an end point, but not technically the starting sum. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If pro/rel were to be adopted, then I could foresee Phoenix, Austin, San Diego, Detroit, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Louisville, Indianapolis, Raleigh-Durham, St. Louis, and Sacramento </span><u style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">ALL</u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> playing at least one season in Major League Soccer within my lifetime. They are big-money teams that could dominate Division II. Thus, the expansion process never really needed to get this ugly. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">There were enough chairs for everyone this whole time?!</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER X</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Enough with the college dissertation. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's dissect how this model would operate. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you stuck with me this long, your reward is a little Show & Tell: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNLO0M8Zr418YiAbqvNlozIonEPJfXYcs6_pplAplPTZgyoNHTqrmS6jXhJMHvMS2kM0F8EPC9yOXmQm7NeFwGhnfD2cuaOByvsEHpslvc8zxrSoPwNyWwIRIlwdWeLOSjBSFFXL1i0s/s1600/2022map.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNLO0M8Zr418YiAbqvNlozIonEPJfXYcs6_pplAplPTZgyoNHTqrmS6jXhJMHvMS2kM0F8EPC9yOXmQm7NeFwGhnfD2cuaOByvsEHpslvc8zxrSoPwNyWwIRIlwdWeLOSjBSFFXL1i0s/s1600/2022map.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'll be using this map, which depicts Saint Louis FC as the 27th (and final) franchise in the league. I see the red dots like a word search, using long ovals to link three near each other. Those are the divisions. The mock schedule is for the year 2022; the following is how it was constructed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Step 1</b>: Set the rotation for who hosts who among the non-conference divisions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This move assures everyone in the Colonial Division, for instance, plays LAFC at home. It keeps things fair for not just those in the Colonial, but also the Gold Coast. LAFC won't be the only one in its division flying to Foxborough in 2022; so too will the Earthquakes and Galaxy. In 2023, the direction of these flights would flip. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3toFOi921tDV665ORv9bqDWeYmIe7mu3zGHuKbrr7YO2QsKvGrIEznZBCusXEq2uYT6_m8oF-Vsbj1bCMtYnx1ljhXHet2hSak3G4qdTwovSqAsUI7p8Agck44L2_5Uw7wSMZGgVtkoQ/s1600/mls+2022+-+division+crossover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3toFOi921tDV665ORv9bqDWeYmIe7mu3zGHuKbrr7YO2QsKvGrIEznZBCusXEq2uYT6_m8oF-Vsbj1bCMtYnx1ljhXHet2hSak3G4qdTwovSqAsUI7p8Agck44L2_5Uw7wSMZGgVtkoQ/s1600/mls+2022+-+division+crossover.png" /></a><br />
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 2</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Set up the fixture parameters. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopLKyTACEm_Fwr_T0Y7QvnI45sTth3k8IZjD3oKo25lLuJKYVtlLbSL_Djgf6vHnb8vDE_jVecYswW_yb2KiVaOKPPVEPX1yxY1TqJru0ZODy4CeWGceed0qvJolEGCE1jrOrgHMr89U/s1600/mls+2022+-+schedule+parameters.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="856" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopLKyTACEm_Fwr_T0Y7QvnI45sTth3k8IZjD3oKo25lLuJKYVtlLbSL_Djgf6vHnb8vDE_jVecYswW_yb2KiVaOKPPVEPX1yxY1TqJru0ZODy4CeWGceed0qvJolEGCE1jrOrgHMr89U/s1600/mls+2022+-+schedule+parameters.png" /></a><br />
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;">Step 3</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">: Lay out the teams on the preset game board</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It only took about two years to perfect, but I think I'm as close as I can get. The bye weeks cascade down the matrix, with one right off the bat for over half the league. This soft opening puts the spotlight on the best teams from the previous year to kick off a new campaign. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each club is awarded three byes. Thanks again to the NFL, our culture is tolerant and mindful of off weeks. To hear "Inter Miami doesn't play this week" is no different than hearing "It's the Dolphins bye week." There's no outrage. It's more of an "Oh yeah" and casual scoreboard watching across the league. Remember, the club you support can't lose on a day they don't play. And, in some cases, it simply means your club is getting a Wednesday off, but is still playing back-to-back Saturdays as if there was no break in the action at all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only thing that a bye week ever negatively affects is Decision Day. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't see this as a tremendous issue. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not everyone played on Decision Day this year, nor in 2007 (13 teams), 2009 (15 teams), and 2012-14 (19 teams). This is actually old hat for the league. My system even improves the playoff odds for that lone team left out of the final regular-season weekend. That club </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">has their last match bumped back to the Wednesday before Decision Day, meaning the playoff rust can never be more than ten days old. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Something else to look out for: I also <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBTOZheNxGA" target="_blank">did away with draws</a>, but only for division matchups. If you are going to be revolutionary, you might as well test something out so FIFA can do better in crowning its major champions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here is the master schedule, page 1 of 3. Sorry, I'm not going to just give away the store. I'll mail you a spiral-bound 11x17 if you'd like. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLgDKm3QzQ4_NT0bhvOXdpxAyofWJ75UEXmdaSMu6eopbnoACjJBmKsGvObH25UxlE_XJPl2YbniTo5hONDEqv_FWQqnKE8wuHssmL70ylwBUWFuoB5t_Wn9uh77HHIZ0dpOixHIsSQw/s1600/mls+2022+-+schedule1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="941" data-original-width="1599" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLgDKm3QzQ4_NT0bhvOXdpxAyofWJ75UEXmdaSMu6eopbnoACjJBmKsGvObH25UxlE_XJPl2YbniTo5hONDEqv_FWQqnKE8wuHssmL70ylwBUWFuoB5t_Wn9uh77HHIZ0dpOixHIsSQw/s1600/mls+2022+-+schedule1.png" /></a><br />
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 4</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Use the NFL model and set up a regimented grid of "windows" for television viewership.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Picture the second leg of a CONCACAF Final on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 — in which an MLS club brings home the hardware. Then, you piggyback that success into Memorial Day weekend days later. You have Columbus v. Dallas (Pioneer Cup), Miami v. Orlando (Florida Derby), and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Vancouver v. Portland (Cascadia Cup) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">among the core games played that Saturday. Come right back the next day with the National Game of the Week: Kansas City v. St. Louis (Border War). Hold back two more matches for a Memorial Day double-header of Toronto v. Cincinnati (Trillium Cup) and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seattle v. San Jose (Heritage Cup).</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> This is the level of entertaining matches one can expect each week in this model. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A National Game of the Week becomes the MLS version of <i>Monday Night Football</i>. Running up against baseball in the summer, the Sunday late-afternoon start fits nicely after most early MLB games, and prior to the solo <i>Sunday Night Baseball</i> tilt on ESPN. How cool would it be for Saint Louis FC to host the Chicago Fire at 4:00 p.m. CT on July 24, 2022, with the Cubs also visiting the Cardinals that weekend? Whether the baseball game was the national broadcast or not, that Sunday series finale would either be over or hours from first pitch when the soccer match kicked off. It makes the multi-sport spectator brace a true (and epic) possibility. And by no means would St. Louis be the only city granted this opportunity. It's just the first and obvious one that comes to mind.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiow9_pFgR_EVjojj9G8BWRkjuXW0Bg3x2oTDNzpOd0TJzOw1TnTw-zssx0VumCqMJiVu7MgdbamTFXwSFw0xm0srOdRdhnViFanzCpynJRlLEaq15F7Kqk7OllIdHmT3IB_BQU86U0bNI/s1600/mls+2022+-+calendar+arrangement.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="607" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiow9_pFgR_EVjojj9G8BWRkjuXW0Bg3x2oTDNzpOd0TJzOw1TnTw-zssx0VumCqMJiVu7MgdbamTFXwSFw0xm0srOdRdhnViFanzCpynJRlLEaq15F7Kqk7OllIdHmT3IB_BQU86U0bNI/s1600/mls+2022+-+calendar+arrangement.png" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Step 5: </b>Identify the best primetime matches each week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is prescribed in an advance to assure that each club hosts at least one such contest. All but five of the games <i>[below]</i> are between teams in the same division, meaning 88.7% of the national broadcasts cannot end with the dreaded tie. You want that captive audience? No more* Games of the Week culminating in a nil-nil draw, with teams calling it quits after 90 minutes. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Still an 11.3% chance</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Contemporary hockey hands out a consolation prize. You can leave a building after tasting defeat with points gained. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's crazy. Losing on planet Earth is worth nothing.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> With my model, w</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in in whatever fashion you'd like to collect the three points. Lose and enjoy those zero points; regardless of the loss' appearance, any overwhelming stat advantages, or length of time the match stayed level. Extra-time heartbreak is aptly named. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Network program directors should assume every National Game of the Week will require the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBTOZheNxGA" target="_blank">shootout (first) and extra time (second)</a>. If the match is settled within regulation, time for a postgame show is built right into the allotted window. A studio show can use the void left from no "overtime" — to run their highlights and analysis. This program can run straight through to end of the scheduled match telecast. In this, extra time would never be seen as a burden that runs beyond what the TV Guide promised. Thanks to dependable start and ends times, soccer broadcasts can become even more of a favorite among network executive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Research would have be conducted to show what that maximum air time should be. It would be the sum of a full 90 minutes, plus a rarely-seen extreme amount of stoppage time, the league-mandated half-time, an above-average shootout length, <i>and</i> the 15-minute ET. Whatever it ends up, it'll still be quicker and easier to plan around than Yankees/Red Sox. My guess is 3 hours and 15 minutes. And that doomsday scenario would still come with a small buffer for a booth sign-off after the final whistle. Roll credits; next show is on time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Get an injury-free, low-foul regulation result and <i>MLS Rewind</i> would be given a full hour-long show to jump around the league's news. Taylor Twellman can stretch to fill that time with ease. The excitement of watching a great extra-time match, won on a late golden goal, would ease the blow of that same show being condensed to eight minutes. Win-win.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFncfH0uzDDGIT-P2AOgxT3WFOgsd3QL7kQXhpQOkmbUfw4Snr_2NwvE_idtOki8l2B2JJHaSWmqD9wXid1ahYRWJtUBaxGLQSRB3q1NKU50CDuMqJl0sRNGLt3P2ptOimzR9nuW8bc8/s1600/mls+2022+-+game+of+the+week.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="648" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFncfH0uzDDGIT-P2AOgxT3WFOgsd3QL7kQXhpQOkmbUfw4Snr_2NwvE_idtOki8l2B2JJHaSWmqD9wXid1ahYRWJtUBaxGLQSRB3q1NKU50CDuMqJl0sRNGLt3P2ptOimzR9nuW8bc8/s1600/mls+2022+-+game+of+the+week.png" /></a><br />
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 6</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Present fans with a better All-Star Game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Throughout the history of North American professional sports, All-Star Games have had various formats. I have defined them as:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Internal: the best players in one conference/league playing the best in the other </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Internal Hybrid: a single team from inside the league versus the best players from the rest of the teams</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">External Hybrid: a single team from outside the league against the best players from inside it</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Internal models convey the most strength and stability in a league. It proclaims "There is enough talent and star power within our rosters to create a truly entertaining event." However, this model takes time for leagues to establish the required depth in quality. It took the NHL, for instance, 22 years of an internal hybrid All-Star Game before they finally introduced an internal contest (1969). And even then, they still had some occasions of NHL All-Stars v. the Soviet national team. Today, they are the new gold standard in making the exhibition fun while being taken serious by all parties. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It took the NFL five years of internal hybrid All-Star Games — and an eight year hiatus — to iron out the current Pro Bowl format (1950). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Major League Baseball went on without a "Midsummer Classic" until 1933. But like the NBA (1951), MLB got it right — conference/league v. conference/league — from the beginning. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After starting with such a model in 1996, MLS now finds itself as the only pro sport in the U.S. still using a hybrid All-Star Game of any kind. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It shouldn't come as that much of a surprise that Major League Soccer's All-Stars have a winning record (8-7) against some of the most storied European clubs in soccer history. This is due, in large part, to the visiting club's need to travel across the ocean. And their level of preparation is equivalent to an MLB club during Spring Training or NFL team in mini camp. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the MLS roster wins, detractors are quick to say: "It took the combined talent of an entire league just to beat an opponent that is in preseason form and fitness." This only gets worse if the international side is down a few of their best players. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the MLS All-Stars lose, the haters are given even more fuel to utter things I cannot repeat here (other than #JokeLeague). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During the mid-90s, NFL Europe's All-Stars might have been able to beat the Denver Broncos — if the exhibition was held in Germany on a random July day, with John Elway nursing an injury at home. And if that would have happened, so what? Would NFL Europe have gained any more credibility from the sport's faithful? Would the loss mar the Broncos in any way?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The event is clearly a reach for a revenue spike at the gates; using the foreign clubs that many American soccer fans love far more than what's right under their nose. But, with the growth of the International Champions Cup (ICC), supporters can now get their fix in other places. The summer of 2018 saw 15 American venues host tune-up matches played by 18 top clubs from six overseas leagues. This total will only continue to rise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By 2022, it will be beyond time for MLS to cleave off this dependence and show a little more self-respect. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Return the focus of the league's celebratory day to the league and not on Real Madrid gracing us with their presence. It's not a charity event or a pity party. The MLS players deserve to be treated like All-Stars and not a <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/12/23/the-new-washington-generals-dont-want-to-be-your-punching-bag/" target="_blank">Washington Generals</a>-esque side show. Shine the light in on what you have domestically. Oh, and copy and paste that glorious page from the NHL playbook. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgIeuKDGfOFKhRlb0H2pt42LbGYw2X2gznEKWUvSetHwwGnggaGUTnIeWTOCARV_dL59a-Nw47AhIDZtrO8vAaZb9KfSQLHc2hKck1NkgUmlWan-1vthe3Bby7Bqspx-UHeXTwou2Czo/s1600/mls+2022+-+allstargame.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgIeuKDGfOFKhRlb0H2pt42LbGYw2X2gznEKWUvSetHwwGnggaGUTnIeWTOCARV_dL59a-Nw47AhIDZtrO8vAaZb9KfSQLHc2hKck1NkgUmlWan-1vthe3Bby7Bqspx-UHeXTwou2Czo/s1600/mls+2022+-+allstargame.png" /></a><br />
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 7</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Reference the table for naming the winners of each division.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The single Wild Card component keeps more teams alive for longer. Entering the last week of this simulated season, six clubs that ultimately missed the playoffs still had a shot. The fact that the Wild Card can come from any of the nine divisions means the scoreboard watching is coast-to-coast. On Decision Day, Portland and Chicago both needed a result — paired with a road victory for Houston in Dallas. That is great theater. Adding more than one Wild Card throws a bit of a wet blanket on this drama. Those in Major League Baseball's WC1 position experience the ultimate kiss of death: Treated like second-class citizens, but comfortably in the playoffs at home. Give me the one-and-only Wild Card that knows it squeaks into the tournament with the hardest row to hoe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A former MLS manager once told me: "With a two conference system, it makes it hard to stay interested in the standings because it's just about staying above the black-lined playoff qualification. Turning this system into a more regional conference format is a fantastic way to combat this."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBm5c7hGQIh-o1yioH_rsKu56c56U5mW3iPBxUampqdhZ79x-U0usOKiEx050Ja7phbmD8SeFZTtb6NlE3JYJri5Zs0_aFB-A-T46XmnhMlnntCjfTbFUOd2EENlnVCjTjrZgnONOLZco/s1600/mls+2022+-+table.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="776" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBm5c7hGQIh-o1yioH_rsKu56c56U5mW3iPBxUampqdhZ79x-U0usOKiEx050Ja7phbmD8SeFZTtb6NlE3JYJri5Zs0_aFB-A-T46XmnhMlnntCjfTbFUOd2EENlnVCjTjrZgnONOLZco/s1600/mls+2022+-+table.png" /></a><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 8</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Sort everyone from top to bottom, settling any/all necessary ties in points.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The beauty of a schedule where everyone plays everyone else is that you never have to go to things like strength of schedule or opponent's winning percentage to make the tough calls. Division record is passed over as criteria in determining overall league seeding; 1) Highest Overall Point Total, 2) Head-to-Head Record — if tie is between just two clubs, 3) More Total Wins, 4) Greater Total Goal Differential.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note for tiebreakers outside of the conference: Emphasis on the regular season is ever-present. A single early match — between members of different conferences — could determine who takes the league-wide Wild Card and who finishes 10th. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">True, the teams would be vastly different at season's end than they were when they met, and the home-field advantage would have tipped the scales to one side, but this model aims to settle everything on the pitch. That is something players and managers in all sports clamber for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I pitched this to someone higher up at the USSF, they replied: "I think your tenth playoff spot being up for grabs anywhere in the league is going to make Decision Day the truly nationwide watch party MLS has always hoped to have."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SIdtYmJc_CWYN84xpHXHkJSi1_cfv8oU3TzHVjXCSM5EtFp9NG1-bBmNJYC6BlKR-fTQJdysSUh6eFRMlfw9lx6Kf7LvRvCTUJYUPcdapyovzyjRftB9i3GktRZQ2tjES1srSBmbZ1M/s1600/mls+2022+-+full+standings.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="703" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SIdtYmJc_CWYN84xpHXHkJSi1_cfv8oU3TzHVjXCSM5EtFp9NG1-bBmNJYC6BlKR-fTQJdysSUh6eFRMlfw9lx6Kf7LvRvCTUJYUPcdapyovzyjRftB9i3GktRZQ2tjES1srSBmbZ1M/s1600/mls+2022+-+full+standings.png" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0hffBhHCpg2KRHU76LOsMLlxcdb__ky9P60eFssUCsUZBnojXpjZgwfL9qzByVdP2qNK314ck1CnFpeht5tUEQCjPuWfb2bAzx8bfcNH3BOTui4BtbuI36aNpF2A4nHEDJouGCDjYTA/s1600/MLS+2022+-+CONCACAF.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0hffBhHCpg2KRHU76LOsMLlxcdb__ky9P60eFssUCsUZBnojXpjZgwfL9qzByVdP2qNK314ck1CnFpeht5tUEQCjPuWfb2bAzx8bfcNH3BOTui4BtbuI36aNpF2A4nHEDJouGCDjYTA/s1600/MLS+2022+-+CONCACAF.png" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for the new manner in which I'd like to see CONCACAF Champions League positioning awarded, here is my hierarchy. Notice the importance placed on the U.S. Open Cup. Let's make that tournament really mean something again. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 9</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Roll out a shiny new MLS Cup Playoff format.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What do Americans (and Canadians) really want out of their brackets? Do we tune in to see the preemptive favorites meet? If that were the case, we'd collectively lobby for the removal of rounds or crown a champion in the regular season. Nah, we want a blend of parity and Cinderella stories. In 2018, the <a href="https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-cup-playoffs/2018/bracket" target="_blank">beautiful chaos</a> is playing out to a "T" once again. The Knockout Round saw three of four road underdogs advance. Now, as the Conference Semifinals enter their second legs, the number one seeds in both East and West (New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City) find themselves in grave danger. <i>Is there any other kind?</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But, we do still want our champion to be deserving; be able to stand up against all other greats in the history book. The first desire pushes brackets to include more potential "busters". The second pulls brackets in tight. The first downplays the importance of the regular season. If nearly everyone qualifies to a place where records get reset to 0-0, and anything could truly happen, then playing your stars in every non-playoff game isn't a necessity for coaches/managers. When said talented players only come to town once — and fans watch them sit instead of play — the riot-level frustration is palpable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The flip side of the coin: Constrict the size of the playoff pool and half the league will be all-but-eliminated by the All-Star Game. Watch that regular-season attendance dip down the stretch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So where is that equilibrium? I believe it is this: Two play-ins add some fun single-elimination matches early. But none of the teams competing in that round expect to figure in the semifinals or final. This is the "just happy to be there" crowd. However, winning it all from this position is laid out for someone to make that epic made-for-Hollywood run; no different than if Columbus were to see it through this year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In essence, the Knockout Round is there to burn two cards and start the real tournament with a stacked eight-card deck — what the inception of the MLB Wild Card Game aimed to do. From there, the re-seeded nature of the quarters and semis allows the cream a chance to rise to the top. Here's the "we're the best and out to prove it" section. I took away the two-legged structure of the current format's middle section. It is strange to have single games start the process, switch to two, and then finish back at one. Change in this department is <a href="https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/31/mls-playoff-format-fix-solution" target="_blank">definitely coming</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In my proposal, conference champions are granted the upper hand on all other division winners for the work they were able to accomplish in the regular season. Geographic supremacy protects them from slipping outside the top three seeds. Much like the NBA (prior to 2015), the 4 seed can sometimes finish with more points than the 3. Even though commissioner Adam Silver <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/5-things-to-know-nba-division-winners-not-guaranteed-playoff-spot/" target="_blank">did away with this quirk</a>, I like it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Every franchise kicks off the season with the same set of rules and same opportunities to handle the necessary business. Hence, you properly reward those that win a conference. If there's no top-seed protection, eliminate the distinction altogether. Why raise a banner for something that doesn't get you any sort of postseason advantage? Looking at you, <a href="http://thechive.com/2018/10/13/nashville-predators-raise-a-laughable-banner-internet-destroys-them-30-photos/" target="_blank">Nashville</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Overall, equality in geographic representation does not overpower this bracket's desire to showcase the best teams in the league. Three (or even all four) teams in the semifinals could theoretically hail from the same conference. Unlikely, but two members of the same division could even square off for the title. Hey, it was good enough for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_BCS_National_Championship_Game" target="_blank">2012 BCS National Championship</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This model recognizes that not all division winners are created equal. More points in a season treats you better, but it doesn't mean you truly are. Rather than protecting top seeds in half a bracket with familiar foes, this proposal throws challenges at teams from anywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other North American professional sports leagues have proven that a pre-arranged two-party finals structure (i.e. Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup Final, NBA Finals) does not always provide the highest-quality conclusion. If one of the two entities is suffering a downturn in quality teams, then the "real" championship could play itself out in a semifinal (ex: 2007 ALCS). This MLS bracket aims to prevent that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It all culminates with that glorious winner-take-all MLS Cup. Sure, it's not the best way to settle the grand debate, but there's a few reasons this standalone game is a must to remain: a) Our Super Bowl culture can't stomach an anticlimactic "big" game that only sets up a bigger game. If it's not an established best-of-seven series, multi-game championships don't work. b) Heritage/consistency, c) Ending the season before it's damn-near Christmas, d) The previous two rounds give the deserving clubs plenty of opportunities to get themselves to the final. Thus, it should be the best two clubs in the end. A coin-flip outcome is expected whether it's a home-and-home or single match, so market it as a solo to-do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you're wondering what in the world that STL FC logo is, the full design explanation can be found below the fold in one of my <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2018/10/major-league-soccers-troubling-lack-of.html" target="_blank">recent articles</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXn42uGAObVHQ_I9PTyVK82-0xd2vaU16uoR-J2U7spexMRy9HduCG9wVsplH5pkyTUpLz8pf-kApQ7cIRWLDQikokv3FmyyZpOcWQ_w8z-uE9tTUmRqEG04ntSgN7UYv6QC4UBGxXOKA/s1600/MLS+2022+-+bracket.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXn42uGAObVHQ_I9PTyVK82-0xd2vaU16uoR-J2U7spexMRy9HduCG9wVsplH5pkyTUpLz8pf-kApQ7cIRWLDQikokv3FmyyZpOcWQ_w8z-uE9tTUmRqEG04ntSgN7UYv6QC4UBGxXOKA/s1600/MLS+2022+-+bracket.png" /></a></div>
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 10</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: Link the season up with the 2022 World Cup.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The debate can also rage on as to whether or not Major League Soccer needs to adopt the international calendar — running operations from August through to May. I'm not here to say they should or shouldn't. But, for 2022 at least, the league is in the catbird seat. They unequivocally have a schedule structure that is better off than any other domestic league in the world. That's because a little get-together known as the World Cup is changing its tried-and-true summer configuration, due to Qatar's extreme desert heat. Look at how the final rounds of the MLS Cup Playoffs coincide with that global event. I bet a few casual fans — caught up in the wave of universal soccer love during World Cups — will tune into a domestic title game on the Saturday before it kicks off. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcqZIXf4WxhPxQaWuyySe9FwBHKMR6Zux0wuRZwLwBhyphenhyphenOEUnsmJg5l9ITLmkl63Obcz0SzrhPVZriL2RxKo7_7lxxr_NIK5zYkHRZeeee9lflCO67V7zNmNNbcdZG_pZPy_qoX5NEYKlU/s1600/mls+2022+-+calendar1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="744" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcqZIXf4WxhPxQaWuyySe9FwBHKMR6Zux0wuRZwLwBhyphenhyphenOEUnsmJg5l9ITLmkl63Obcz0SzrhPVZriL2RxKo7_7lxxr_NIK5zYkHRZeeee9lflCO67V7zNmNNbcdZG_pZPy_qoX5NEYKlU/s1600/mls+2022+-+calendar1.png" /></a></div>
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Step 11: </b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Save the owners money on travel expenses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Work smart, not hard. By keeping the focus on the pod concept, the cross-country trips are severely cut down. Having said that, each franchise visits all others every two-year cycle. It's really not location restricting more than it is being efficient with the process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A league source told me: "The number one thing that foreign stars like [Steven] Gerrard, [Thierry] Henry, and Beckham have said is that the travel involved with MLS is absolutely exhausting. The country is bigger than nearly all of Europe. It needs cut down to manageable distances."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here are your [more] manageable distances.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqC1dFHKhhFTwkgRPOY_jyKTCZZxkdWiqEGsfKjpYuNJnD7EHJb7CYPl0Om2kR8qDJU5Rid22N78h8sr82ozD6XxJ5_Lyj4P2NLpINPodjIo6MM2wLdF5v3PGIsIhr8uZWd3oHl5HMZH0/s1600/mls+2022+-+travel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="1168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqC1dFHKhhFTwkgRPOY_jyKTCZZxkdWiqEGsfKjpYuNJnD7EHJb7CYPl0Om2kR8qDJU5Rid22N78h8sr82ozD6XxJ5_Lyj4P2NLpINPodjIo6MM2wLdF5v3PGIsIhr8uZWd3oHl5HMZH0/s1600/mls+2022+-+travel.png" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CHAPTER XI</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At present, <a href="https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usmnt-friendly/2018/11/6/18062748/usa-usmnt-roster-november-friendly-england-italy" target="_blank">57% of the U.S. Men's National Team</a> plays its club ball overseas. Don Garber should be very pleased with that 43% that is "his." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am a staunch believer that best players in our country should aim to leave — with the caveat that there is significant playing time awaiting them on that other side. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To fully develop, young American players require actual minutes on the pitch versus sitting on some bench in the German third division. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Going over just to collect on the status surrounding European football doesn't do anybody any good. Supreme technical aptitude and world-class pressure situations are the items that Major League Soccer cannot provide. But, if you're not going to build upon either of those attributes, then stay local. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thus, there will always be a blend of MLS and foreign-league players. By their very nature, the young studs — legitimately playing for clubs abroad — should be the heavy lifters for the national team. But there is still extreme value in what Garber & Co. has established. The next World Cup shall atone for the sins of 2017 CONCACAF qualifiers. And the lion's share of the grit that belongs to this reborn USMNT is an MLS product. With a USSF that is still in turmoil, his league has been a stabilizing beacon. A deep run by the U.S. in Qatar '22 would have Garber's fingerprints all over the blueprint. It could be viewed as one of his finest accomplishments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In large part, it's because his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homegrown_Player_Rule_(Major_League_Soccer)" target="_blank">Homegrown Player Rule</a> has been successful at satisfying the needs of that in-betweener (honestly too good for MLS, but not quite ready to be a consistent Bundesliga or EPL contributor). As a big fish in a little pond, you get to taste that confidence-boosting success. Funny how seeing the ball go in the back of the net, at any level, breeds this perception that it can be done anywhere. And the reps are worth their weight in gold. You get to always train with the first team, with a very good chance of an aging legend is among that company. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Speaking of said <a href="https://www.worldsoccer.com/news/designated-players-mls-406545" target="_blank">Designated Player</a>: Isn't that guy way past his prime? Absolutely. But who in the top flight of Azerbaijan or Cyprus can match the name recognition of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic or a Wayne Rooney? Recently, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/3550308/atletico-madrid-striker-antoine-griezmann-wants-to-finish-career-in-mls" target="_blank">Antoine Griezzman</a> became the latest to announce a desire to end his career in America. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Superstars want to be in the United States — for reasons that far exceed having any playing skills left in the tank. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That is the social currency that is worth the most in Major League Soccer today. It is as popular as ever, which is to say that Garber (and bringing it full-circle to Beckham) blazed the right trail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I say all this to say: There are bright spots wherever you turn with MLS </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">2.0</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. Since taking office in 1999, the league has grown in every unit of measure a league can: dollars, players, viewers, and franchises. I'd hate for that last one to be the inflection point on his achievements. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since the day this proposal was completed, I never knew how to properly disseminate it. On February 27, 2017, an 18-page "booklet" was mailed to anyone and everyone MLS affiliated. <i>[Crickets chirping] </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since no one responded, a novella on this platform became my best follow-up solution, but took me nearly a year to write. I would add new information as it developed; Chapter I became an evolving prologue that aimed to stay topical. The research in my proposal occasionally required a revision or two. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I used to freak out that what I believe is an objectively sound business plan wasn't getting into the hands of any MLS officials. In my head, the expansion window was closing and if I missed my shot to change minds, there would be no recourse available. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These days, I'm far more at peace. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This plan has no rush for me to get it executed. Its shelf life for success is nearly infinite. I can place the message in the bottle and set it out to sea without any sense of urgency. I'm curious as to how well an organic drip promotion of this piece does. Social media sharing might just take it to the very eyes who need to read it most. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, I know very well 28 franchises will be formally announced. But, like a court ruling, no business decision is immune to being overturned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If I were commissioner after Don Garber, and I inherited his 28-team mess, my first move would be to shrink the league back to 27 immediately. That first season on the job would result in one relegated team, without anyone being promoted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But please do not misconstrue the many, many words in this piece; disagreeing with a singular decision does not tarnish my perception of an entire career. The recent </span><a href="https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/10/18/lamar-hunts-legacy-looms-large-over-garbers-hof-induction/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Soccer Hall of Famer</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> has done tremendous work for the growth of Major League Soccer. This is not an indictment on the totality of Garber's legacy. It is, however, a prediction that the final note of his swan song will be a sour one. While there's still time, I'm doing everything in my power to make that not the case. It may come out as crass, but so is pushing your friend out of the way of an impending bus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Garber's tenure does not have to end this way. The irony of ironies is that he likely </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">wants 28 to be the number he's most remembered for. Unless plans are changed, I think he will get that wish granted... but not for the reason he intends. </span><br />
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goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-69135526786225595582018-10-23T18:37:00.000-04:002018-11-14T00:35:14.044-05:00Major League Soccer's Troubling Lack of Biodiversity (And How To Fix It)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXzcy2U30kfbOj9HDeVIjqqbShosWAXNTyrGEEaF1tUcMcYlBkg5TERY9M4EE1kJBA6XpIDWGxSYZmqRjmtn49kYadqlN3gemFWtHdkx5FgD8NoQgD10qgaFBtZOhorrbTWyEuASuvWg/s1600/mls+animal+logos.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1569" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXzcy2U30kfbOj9HDeVIjqqbShosWAXNTyrGEEaF1tUcMcYlBkg5TERY9M4EE1kJBA6XpIDWGxSYZmqRjmtn49kYadqlN3gemFWtHdkx5FgD8NoQgD10qgaFBtZOhorrbTWyEuASuvWg/s400/mls+animal+logos.png" width="391" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Did you know </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that the eagle species has recently been reclassified into the <i>Accipitriformes </i>order, where one would also find the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">osprey, or "sea hawk"? Thus, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hat Super Bowl-winning bird in Philadelphia has a first cousin out there in Seattle.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> What about the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">fact that the jaguar, lion, and tiger are all members of the same <i>Panthera </i>genus? And, since there's truly no feline that goes by the name "panther," each labeled as such is actually a melanistic variant of another cat? That's right. In America, the black panther is simply a jaguar with a skin condition. So, not only did Carolina and Jacksonville both enter the NFL with the same mascot, but they did so in the very same year (1995). Unbelievable, but true. Furthermore, a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "colt" and a "bronco" can describe the exact same horse — provided it's a male and under the age of four. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What I'm alluding to: Nickname duplication isn't new or confined to Major League Soccer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But it is curious that MLS struggles with this issue, because the National Football League is far more traditional in giving all teams nicknames. It's as if the NFL has an unspoken aggression mandate, where the things with teeth, horns, and talons are a must. Their [over]use of animals has watered down the naming similarities to a point where we don't even really stop to notice how striking they are. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Same goes for the NBA, where the Wizards and Magic are essentially derivations of the other. Suns and Heat, too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">College is where you go to find eccentricity in athletic nicknames: </span><a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/about/mascot.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Banana slugs</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> <a href="https://bluehens.com/" target="_blank">figthin' blue hens</a>, <a href="https://gozips.com/" target="_blank">zips</a>, <a href="https://gopurpleaces.com/" target="_blank">purple aces</a>, <a href="https://sfajacks.com/" target="_blank">lumberjacks</a>, </span><a href="https://gomastodons.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">mastodons</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://stonybrookathletics.com/splash.aspx?id=splash_15" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">seawolves</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><a href="https://tkt.xosn.com/HomePage.dbml?SPSID=89987&SPID=10799&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=18300" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">kangaroos</a>, <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://gocamels.com/" target="_blank">fighting camels</a>, and many more. Hell, I went to the school with a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://kentstatesports.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">severed bird head mounted on a bolt of lightning</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> And </span><a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5npzb/a-definitive-list-of-the-funniest-names-in-minor-league-baseball" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Minor League Baseball</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">makes that deep end look like a kiddie pool. It's all a welcome effort to be different and not end up with 50 bulldogs to keep track of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But professional sports, where the sample size is much smaller, calls for professionalism. The clean-cut big cats, the notable birds of prey. Those two categories pretty much bookend the spectrum of what is acceptable in mainstream society today. Somewhere in the middle is an ironic war against man; wiping out much of the species that plays and watches the sports portrayed in the logos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In recent times, the trend of removing likenesses of people has continued. With a desire to be as timeless as the New York Yankees or Rangers, owners have no reason to believe humans age well in iconography. There's very little precedent to the contrary. After all, modern generations view most hand-drawn logos of each sport's golden era as being either <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/917/New_York_Giants/1956/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">ostentatious</a>, <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/17549101967/New_Orleans_Saints/1967/Alternate_Logo" target="_blank">cheesy</a>, <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/x5qgaefxmvbsmrkzw3k8qggwr/San_Diego_Padres/1969/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">anatomically freakish</a>, <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/6031/New_York_Knicks/1947/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">out-of-style</a>, or <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/wnyd2zhh84f50ux4uxyqbktbh/Cleveland_Indians/1986/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">offensive</a>. In fact, we've reduced nearly two dozen pro franchises to simpler wordmarks and neutral design elements — out of apparent market research that fans do not respond well to seeing our own kind. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's sad, really. The NBA's Cavaliers, Wizards, Pacers, Warriors, Knicks, and Nuggets; NFL's Giants, Chiefs, Steelers, 49ers, Saints, and Packers; MLB's Brewers, Braves, Mets, Pirates, White Sox, Padres, Reds, Indians, and Twins; and the Crew of MLS all once had fantastic human representation in their logos. And this doesn't factor in extinct franchises or ones that fell victim to a brand makeover. It has all been dumbed down in the name of broader acceptance/likeability. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Among primary marks in the "Big Five" North American leagues (including Major League Soccer), only the Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins remain. This is seven of 149 teams, or a little over 4%. Humans are practically extinct. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A few that survive are (objectively) so poorly constructed that, if introduced today, <a href="https://twitter.com/coachclites/status/937530996454502405" target="_blank">Twitter would devour the artist</a> within an hour of public release. But they last because of an iconic heritage; got over the hump and are now too entrenched to be changed. That, and they took advantage of a glitch in the way our brains are wired. Our minds have become so familiar with certain brands that they stop analyzing the details — consuming them at instantly-recognizable face value then moving on. Like seriously, what is up with the <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/slhg02hbef3j1ov4lsnwyol5o/Boston_Celtics/1997/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">legs of the Boston Celtic</a>? Please explain to me why his crotch looks like a butt and how his left knee is able to do that. Not to mention, the basketball is falling off his finger. And how does a Hollywood actor, in an archaic leather football helmet, pass as a pirate (Raider) just because of <a href="https://sportslogohistory.com/oakland-raiders-primary-logo" target="_blank">an eye patch</a>? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">P.S. - Vikings never actually wore </span><a href="https://www.history.com/news/did-vikings-really-wear-horned-helmets" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">horned helmets</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You see how this route begins to open up a team to never-ending criticism? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This all makes it really tough to come up with new things. People are out. The banal animals are too risky. The comfort zone is as narrow as it has ever been. So, expansion teams tend to play it safe with tried-and-true practices. And this has led to a serious overlapping of ideas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For instance, there are 32 franchises in the NFL. Dolphins, Lions, Bears, Ravens, Jaguars, Rams, Cardinals, Colts, Eagles, Seahawks, Falcons, Panthers, Bengals, and Broncos are obviously animals. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Add one more when the Chargers throw it back to their powder blue, equestrian-themed early days in San Diego. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You could make a compelling argument to include the Texans for their longhorn logo and the Bills representing their city with a sprinting buffalo. That is a full zoo. Including Houston and Buffalo, it is over half the league. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The well is so dried up that monikers like the Browns and Packers exist, despite making much sense in the 21st century. <i>Even if we wanted to, there's nothing left to call them.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The NFL did more than exhaust the usual suspects; they practically invented the list of options. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drive anywhere in the U.S. right now and you'll pass a high school whose athletic nickname is shared by an NFL franchise. You'll also see a familiar professional logo — done up in different colors — which is being used illegally, but not policing a mark is a topic for another story. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By the time 32 teams rolled around, it sure felt like there was nowhere in the animal world left to turn. Owners were digging so deep into the barrel that animals that had never been used in any athletic context (seahawk, raven, jaguar) were called upon. What was the reasoning behind the bold, off-menu selections? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">American football teams have helmets that define their identities. They need "things" and not vague concepts. Gone are the days of a standalone "G" representing an entire visualization package of a billion-dollar company. Animals do this best. In the early years, items like wings became a natural fit for adorning both sides of a player's headgear. They conveyed speed and power. As time passed, this expression only intensified. Any bird or cat that could look tough in the same orientation as the player's forward movement was applied. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Soccer has always been different, though. There isn't any equipment, per se. There's really only a short-sleeve shirt. You're not required to have a cute mascot or iconography that displays anything quite like the other North American sports do. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes a </span><a href="https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_columbus_crew_done_in-house.php" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">number on a circle with a meaningful pattern</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is all that is required. Remember, these are club badges and crests — not even called logos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, choosing anything living to grace the crest is much more symbolic than slapping a fierce animal onto a foam finger. It's not about pairing a city name with an alliterative suffix. Graphic Design 101 teaches us that, in making an object understood to the public, either pictorial representation is shown <i>or </i>words are used to define it, but never both. That juvenile gesture is reserved for <a href="http://www.furrygraphics.com/Free-stuff-flashcards.html" target="_blank">children's flashcards</a>. And apparently, North American sports teams. We sure love putting <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/hj3gmh82w9hffmeh3fjm5h874/Chicago_Bulls/1967/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">wordmarks above/below logos</a>, as if we didn't get what it was through the imagery. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">European football is far classier. You'll never find a club nickname underneath a shield. And they typically adapt creatures directly from the city's coat of arms. A selection rooted in history would be preferred over a non-native animal that elicits fear by its ability to hunt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The United Kingdom, specifically, doesn't buy into the need for these animals to be fearsome. Relatively </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">docile creatures have appeared up and down the Premier League table over the years: a swan (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swansea_City_A.F.C." target="_blank">Swansea City</a>), a fallow deer (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_F.C." target="_blank">Watford</a>), a fox (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_City_F.C." target="_blank">Leicester City</a>), a thrush (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bromwich_Albion_F.C." target="_blank">West Bromwich Albion</a>), a terrier (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huddersfield_Town_A.F.C." target="_blank">Huddersfield Town</a>), a bluebird (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_City_F.C." target="_blank">Cardiff City</a>), a cockerel (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Hotspur_F.C." target="_blank">Tottenham Hotspur</a>), a cormorant (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C." target="_blank">Liverpool</a>), two seahorses (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_United_F.C." target="_blank">Newcastle United</a>), a canary (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_City_F.C." target="_blank">Norwich City</a>), a seagull (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_%26_Hove_Albion_F.C." target="_blank">Brighton & Hove Albion</a>), and an owl (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Wednesday_F.C." target="_blank">Sheffield Wednesday</a>). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Try getting any of those included in American sports.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Remember, what you depict doesn't have to be a nickname literally painted onto the field of play, like an end zone. It's all <i>show</i> without the <i>tell</i>. There is no "Let's go, Cormorants, let's go!" chant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And there's way more mythology and fiction. Along with Cardiff City's bluebird is their dragon homage to Wales. Bristol City has a pair of unicorns. Wimbledon has a two-headed eagle. Coventry City boasts a phoenix, a griffin, and an elephant. Burnley one-ups everyone, with a stork, a lion, <i>and</i> two bees. With soccer, you can truly pick anything real or made up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There never has to be any confusion with established teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Others in the "Big Four" aren't so lucky. The basketball team in Memphis is called the Grizzlies, not the Memphis Bears, Bruins, Wild, or Cubs — which are all the same thing. North American professional sports have provided us with many</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> nicknames for indigenous peoples, but no two are alike: Indians, Blackhawks, Braves, Redskins, Chiefs, and Warriors (<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/5972/San_Francisco_Warriors/1963/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">though you can't tell anymore</a>). None of this isn't by accident. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Expansion cities have been quietly "forced" to bust out the thesaurus; carving out a new term for an old noun when selecting their team names.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Major League Soccer doesn't need to subscribe to this unwritten rule, however. People in Detroit won't have to worry about someone wearing an MLS t-shirt that says "Lions Soccer" across the chest. The sport simply doesn't market nicknames in wordmark form that way. They are just FC Cincinnati and Orlando City SC. The lion is all up to the viewer to extract out of an illustrated likeness. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's why I had to look up what species was actually shown on many of the English badges I used as earlier examples. The images are familiar, but there was a lot of "What exactly is that thing?" in the research. It's what makes the European crests true works of art; open to interpretation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And with that openness to different takes comes plausible deniability. If ever pressed for a unique nickname, FC Cincinnati could say they are the Pride or even the Fighting Simbas — and never have to outwardly express it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What FC Cincinnati can get away with externally isn't the same within the league it's about to join. It is unacceptable for set of franchises as small as Major League Soccer to wind up with two lions. All the options have not been exhausted first. Make potential ownership groups scour the globe to find anything new before they're allowed to pick something someone has already selected. Those are grade school rules of etiquette. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And the lions won't be the only culprits. At present, MLS is a league with two logos depicting male bovines (FC Dallas and New York Red Bulls). That makes a roster of two lions, two bulls/steers, the loon of Minnesota United FC, DC United's eagle, a snake for the Philadelphia Union, and the newly-announced Inter Miami CF heron. That's it: Six of 23 (26.1%) today and e</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ight of 26 (30.7%) by 2020. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_SC" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Nashville SC</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">doesn't appear to be of any help to this issue, when they enter the league in 2019.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If FC Austin does become club number 27, they have already announced a <a href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/sports/2018-08-22/austin-fc/" target="_blank">logo depicting a tree</a>. This means the 28th franchise will need to be an animal in order for MLS to maintain a breakdown over 30%. And that threshold is significant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Major League Baseball is 30 clubs deep. Seven are obviously represented by animals. I won't list them out. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Cardinals <i>are</i> notorious for their birds perched on a bat, but they were technically named to represent a shade of red and nothing to do with the animal kingdom at all. Alas, they now count. I</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">f you believe the Tampa Bay Rays still stand for the aquatic animal as well as sunshine, there's eight. Nine if you include the elephant that is in the graphic arsenal of the Oakland A's. In the "Big Four," that seems to be an important milestone to reach:</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>NFL - 16 of 32 (50%)</b>, counting the Texans as a steer, the Bills as a buffalo; not counting the Chargers </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>NBA - 9 of 30 (30%)</b>, counting the Mavericks as a horse; no longer counting the Pistons as one</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>MLB - 9 of 30 (30%)</b>, counting the Rays as a manta, the A's as an elephant</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>NHL - 9 of 31 (29%)</b>, counting the Canucks as a whale, the Wild as a bear; not counting the Sabres or Red Wings</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The striking difference between Major League Soccer's potential 32% (9 of 28) and that of the NHL, NBA, and MLB is in the duplication. How could three leagues — each beyond or quickly approaching its centennial birthday — have all their franchises claim unique animals, while the other will look like Noah's Ark (twice doubling up) before it even turns 25? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And it's such an atypical issue for soccer in particular. The 2018-19 lineup of clubs in the Premier League, for instance, consists of 12 crests with at least one animal present. That is 12 of 20 (60%). Zero duplicates. It's small proof that the sport is supposed to be a world of boundless animal possibilities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The compounded problem, with the lack of biodiversity in Major League Soccer, is the fact that there aren't many even heading down that path. It's like a game of throwing a dart at a board of 30 available zoo animals. How can we keep hitting the same one? The odds should be minuscule, especially when such a large percentage of the league chooses not to participate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is an inexact science, but my best judgment found that only twelve clubs attempted to depict a "thing" (other than a soccer ball) in their current crest. This number would have been thirteen until the Crew dumped the <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/ku5ltmts84hniong8nzwdiu20/Columbus_Crew_SC/1996/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">dudes</a>. By 2020, there will be the eight animals, <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/283698422015/Portland_Timbers/2015/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Portland's axe</a>, <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/2xkgg8fsj5zgywdhx5in779ed/Seattle_Sounders_FC/2009/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Seattle's Space Needle</a>, gave a pass to the mountains in <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/rkjf0o1eifa47lh6uhy4oj5qy/Colorado_Rapids/2007/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Colorado</a> (but voted against those in <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/vk6eh75qeug9nejz5g4k1evlo/Vancouver_Whitecaps_FC/2011/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Vancouver</a>), and <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/qtfoxrlfgs3gjvif4ao608tia/New_England_Revolution/1996/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">New England's flag</a> — which was a major artistic reach. Everything else is just stylized lettering (<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/548055242018/LAFC_/2018/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">LAFC's wing</a>) on an intricate canvas (<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/umsypmvh1fcxyefrqcfio0yfy/Chicago_Fire/2018/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Chicago Fire</a>), with geometric patterns (<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/33279522014/San_Jose_Earthquakes/2018/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">San Jose Earthquakes</a>/<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/hzgsk662crxwpeffygd9vazda/Sporting_Kansas_City/2018/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Sporting KC</a>), and stock design elements used as complementary decoration (<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/39441222010/Real_Salt_Lake/2018/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Real Salt Lake's crown</a>/<a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/ugsnhv0oteegw8sjs3e4wivvg/Montreal_Impact/2018/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Montreal's fleur-de-lis</a>). There's a definite lack of substance. How do you sink your teeth into anything the <a href="http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/h8ga63uac257c37js2m47hqke/Houston_Dynamo/2006/Primary_Logo" target="_blank">Houston Dynamo</a> shield provides? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By any count, a majority doesn't have any tangible item in their primary logo whatsoever. This skews the data to make matters even worse. Working off the theory that 13 went for the traditional look of an American logo, 16.6% of that total will be of lions — with another 16.6% set aside for mammals with horns. That's utterly irresponsible. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">New entrants have essentially had every species on earth at their disposal. And yet, we have very little differentiation in look. It's as big of a faux pas as wearing the same dress as someone else to that gala. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">MLS has already tried to loot everything from Europe football culture that isn't bolted to the floor. Why not take some chances on creatures that would be taboo to see on the 50 yard line or center court, but great for when the only application is in the upper corner of a player's shirt?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This subject matter had been buried deep in the back of my mind for almost two years now. But it became topical again when the aforementioned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/05/david-beckham-mls-soccer-team-name-inter-miami" target="_blank">Inter Miami CF crest was revealed</a>. The club's heron is officially set to become just the sixth different animal in Major League Soccer. And, much to my joy, it is a gamble on the unique bird spectrum. This was a welcome sight for broadening the options for future MLS clubs. What made it an unwelcome sight was the feeling that my work had been plagiarized. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You see, when I was working with one of the 2016 bids for St. Louis' MLS inclusion, I set out to find a name for the hopeful franchise that was unlike any other in any professional sports league, on any continent. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My strategy was to use a word that could be taken at face value as one thing, but also stand to define a seemingly unrelated image. It's story time, boys and girls. Time for me to lay down all the cards I had in my hand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In my experiences, group names of animals are the best place to turn to for achieving this goal. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the most part, they are singular nouns without an "s" ending; something Major League Soccer sure loves. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">I don't always give my MLS club a nickname, but when I do... I prefer it without an "s". </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The league's brief history has provided us with the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mutiny, Burn, Clash, Crew, "Wiz", Fusion, Fire, Galaxy, Revolution, Impact, Dynamo, United (x3), and Union. That's 15 of the 30 franchise names ever to exist in Major League Soccer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only franchises to carry a traditional American sports name are the Rapids, MetroStars/Red Bulls, Earthquakes, Sounders, Whitecaps, and Timbers. The eight most recent expansion teams are devoid of the "s"; most opting out of anything beyond city name and <i>FC</i> or <i>SC</i>, like someone's credentials on a business card. No one with a standard pluralization has entered MLS since 2011 (Portland) and they were the continuation of a legacy established decades prior. As were Seattle and Vancouver. The Red Bulls of 2006 were a concoction of their corporate sponsor. And the 2008 reinstatement of San Jose simply brought back the Earthquakes name first donned in 2000. In other words, unless there are extrinsic circumstances, modern MLS expansion teams don't put the "s" on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With that research in tow, here's what my list of options looked like: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvLm_wG5SBqAstnPxhHgP3HKsXX55Dvzx2fl07zmq4mtL9E4PZXo81zLgnqKtUi9_UFReeFLNR0ZdGz7wnc5qpLSop1_8iVtmzImfoClPlwQiYRIxVibvo_d4Vn-NK4T4907KeJOlw20/s1600/Smaller+4-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvLm_wG5SBqAstnPxhHgP3HKsXX55Dvzx2fl07zmq4mtL9E4PZXo81zLgnqKtUi9_UFReeFLNR0ZdGz7wnc5qpLSop1_8iVtmzImfoClPlwQiYRIxVibvo_d4Vn-NK4T4907KeJOlw20/s400/Smaller+4-1.png" width="312" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, I selected the sixth name down the list. "Siege" is Old French, just like St. Louis itself. In a sporting context, the word encapsulates stifling defense that blockades opponents from escaping their zone. It is also playfully alliterative without being too over the top. It has versatility in either being a prefix or a suffix. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What you see below was created in March of 2016. Full disclosure, I have been a Spurs fan since the late '90s. Any similarities to Tottenham's iconic logo is strictly coincidental <i>[eye roll]</i>. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuZvVFElGool0fEFuk4FQ1CUUcRsNsunkGUg8-vImRxvzF5bDAJoBYBb9AZFRqJCPp7KEADwghzdC3xlkJf5Tkd8PgwD-nVWV0_nI4Nsm6MMVC7BpVifY5x1lbnb2MO89xHrAxabnbUE/s1600/Smaller+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1600" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuZvVFElGool0fEFuk4FQ1CUUcRsNsunkGUg8-vImRxvzF5bDAJoBYBb9AZFRqJCPp7KEADwghzdC3xlkJf5Tkd8PgwD-nVWV0_nI4Nsm6MMVC7BpVifY5x1lbnb2MO89xHrAxabnbUE/s640/Smaller+3.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The symbolism had regionally-responsive purpose. The name was strong. The animal was unique. This was set to be <i>The End</i> on the topic. Whenever MLS commissioner Don Garber announced St. Louis as club number 25 or 26, this was going to be the team's identity. Life was going to be grand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then, 19 months after my proposal landed on the desk of MLS headquarters, Inter Miami decided to use a bird for their iconography. But not just any bird... a freakin' heron. You had to be kidding me. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, not an egret. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Couldn't possibly pick a crane. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wouldn't make sense to use the state bird, like Minnesota United FC did with their <a href="https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/06/02/why-minnesota-united-are-nicknamed-loons" target="_blank">loon logo</a> (northern mockingbird, by the way). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With a bold choice of pink for a men's professional sports team, and the pervasiveness of flamingos in Florida, that would have been a perfect marriage. Nope. It had to be a heron. Had to be shown in profile, had to be supported on one leg, set to play in 2020. It was four pounds of salt in a gaping wound. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From my point of view, the already-shallow ecosystem of MLS animals now had three pairs of the same species. I was livid. My whole goal was to avoid doubling up. I set out 180 degrees away from conformity. And yet the doubling up landed in my lap. It felt as though my selection would have been copied no matter what. If the St. Louis Screamin' Lemurs were chosen, then opening the press release about Inter Miami CF would have instantly changed to that of a lemur. That karmic black cloud was following my every move. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By this point, the needle on my conspiracy radar was off the charts. Then again, I might have been reading too much into it. Florida has every right to one of the most common occurring birds in North America. The white heron is all over the tropical coast of their state. But the similarities keep the thought in my brain. It all seems fishy. I'll let you be the judge:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuk22VglJnpRA_q8IJeroIJ251Bbig66JLMkABmoxayvmmB4Smc91hffNtxlsAby4CC3SKcvw_fRRe2uxa5JynDsr3nq__fWTGmEl-wpHPIXo2jUJY4ZzM67F3io5_8CVuARRrXoCQ8eA/s1600/Internacional_Miami_FC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="726" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuk22VglJnpRA_q8IJeroIJ251Bbig66JLMkABmoxayvmmB4Smc91hffNtxlsAby4CC3SKcvw_fRRe2uxa5JynDsr3nq__fWTGmEl-wpHPIXo2jUJY4ZzM67F3io5_8CVuARRrXoCQ8eA/s640/Internacional_Miami_FC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What pains me the most is that I absolutely love this badge. The full logo has some interesting geometric interactions/negative space I don't fancy — missing the mark of a Manchester City that successfully <a href="https://worldsportlogos.com/manchester-city-logo/" target="_blank">melds a shield and circle</a> — but the heart of what was created is gorgeous. I am a jealous mess when I see the work of other designers that make subtle gestures that I should have thought of. How the team locked the birds' legs, to create an "M", is an instance of that rage. <i>Gahhhh, why do you have to be so perfect? I hate that I love you.</i> It's enough to make you gloss right past the anatomical fact that birds' legs don't even bend in that direction. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In any event, the St. Louis club clearly cannot be called the Siege any longer. I mean, ownership could push through with it; no one really knows a group of herons is called a siege without an birdwatching book handy. But Miami undercuts the ability for an impactful double entendre — since I wouldn't dare double up on a heron logo. It would be tripling up on waterfowl, if you count the loon in Minnesota. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And it is a shame; they are wasting a great naming opportunity. Too many new franchises in sports are an ill-fitting proper noun slapped onto a city. This was a chance to dive deeper. The city could have avoided the kitschy feel of your son/daughter's youth club: St. Louis Surge, Lightning, Gators, et alia. Those are selected nicknames for the sake of having a nickname. It checks a box and sounds "cool" or "rugged" or "fierce" enough for an athletic context. I never wanted Siege to be that. And it wasn't. As a history nerd, the word had a really good story to tell in this market: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwP23y6KToADFfWQaqk0xArUre1G0muYGyy4_3T5iMenrN_z_hxSQvH2_QSvChUlDfPEv7l0jk5WPPA7Lwm2rWawUFPHrnpSrh5gM4CTxSnjpbIXmg0-2UNPxKQEtDg6UPLc1x6j1Bik/s1600/Smaller+4-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1600" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwP23y6KToADFfWQaqk0xArUre1G0muYGyy4_3T5iMenrN_z_hxSQvH2_QSvChUlDfPEv7l0jk5WPPA7Lwm2rWawUFPHrnpSrh5gM4CTxSnjpbIXmg0-2UNPxKQEtDg6UPLc1x6j1Bik/s640/Smaller+4-2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The presumed nail in the coffin was a <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/map-how-the-mls-stadium-vote-failed/article_2dc4be87-9bfb-5d62-917e-037bcdeb5ce5.html" target="_blank">failed public vote</a> in April of 2017, focused on a bond issue to finance the stadium. Major League Soccer was "done" in the St. Louis. My attentions were diverted and life moved on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then, almost 18 full months after the time of death was called, </span>St. Louis somehow found itself <a href="https://www.ksdk.com/article/sports/push-to-bring-mls-to-st-louis-is-back-on/63-598384919" target="_blank">back in the MLS expansion game</a>. There was clearly a ton of work being tended to behind the scenes. And much to the surprise of all those tracking this expansion process, the defibrillator paddles — i.e. a new ownership point person and revised private stadium plan — shocked a pulse back into St. Louis. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It also revitalized my opportunity to assist in the graphics department. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even with new players in the brain trust, the extent of the plan is still to elevate Saint Louis FC — currently playing in the United Soccer League (USL) — one rung up on the United State Soccer Federation (USSF) ladder. The thought process has always been to bring what already exists in the "minors" with the franchise as it moves to MLS, if and when that time comes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To me, this cannot be the play. It was my stance in 2016 — when I was putting together my work for the Siege — and it remains steadfast today. The USL crest (established in 2015) is far too stagnant and overly derivative; exactly </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like a green and blue Atlanta United shield. Compositionally, the "A" and fleur-de-lis are the same triangular shape. The only difference between the five vertical stripes, alternating in color, is their widths. This should not be allowed to come in on equal footing as the others in MLS. Animal duplication is one thing, but this is straight-up copying your classmate's homework and changing the name at the top. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFtOHiTeFL2xJasYp1ZZJXczvBk1E7dCRJQgRU6z1unOfwHTrSmmxdXAf1zSDkAlkO9yNtstOk_-hjfogiZUDLO7ZBCvYei8-BgwvR0Lpy8oqbxvSkEroEU9BEEoa_gRfE_mwi9nW-gc/s1600/stl+fc.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="858" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFtOHiTeFL2xJasYp1ZZJXczvBk1E7dCRJQgRU6z1unOfwHTrSmmxdXAf1zSDkAlkO9yNtstOk_-hjfogiZUDLO7ZBCvYei8-BgwvR0Lpy8oqbxvSkEroEU9BEEoa_gRfE_mwi9nW-gc/s640/stl+fc.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Additionally, the 1764 is a cute way to get county people excited about the city, but it is irrelevant to anything pertaining to the club's formation... or its inclusion into any league. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thus, this established date comes across as a panic move to fill space, much like Atlanta opting for those two unnecessary/unrelated curved lines. The numbers </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">half-ass the year-as-a-nickname scheme made famous by the San Francisco 49ers (NFL) and Philadelphia 76ers (NBA); since replicated by many, including Reno 1868 FC of the USL. Since the 64ers would be as audibly pleasing as wood screws in a blender, and Saint Louis 1764 FC wouldn't be original, ditch the digits. They're not doing anything for the brand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For me, the Saint Louis FC crest would need a full overhaul. And 1764 would be the first of many items on the chopping block. Here's what else you won't see (and why):</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">No Fleur-de-lis </b><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> </b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Missing from my proposed design is the fluer-de-lis. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sure, the image is centrally placed on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_St._Louis" target="_blank">St. Louis city flag</a>. But that cannot be the only hurdle to clear. Three of these French marks appear on the Louisville flag. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Five show up on Detroit's. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And wouldn't you know it, both of their soccer clubs (USL and NPSL, respectively) also use the fleur-de-lis on their crest. It is now viewed as low-hanging fruit; the new-age equivalent to the stars and stripes. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There has to be more imagination expelled.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, dibs were called decades ago. T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o most Americans, the stylized flower — in an athletic context — is the sole property of New Orleans. The NFL's Saints, MiLB's Zephyrs, and the NBA's Jazz, then Hornets, now Pelicans have made it difficult to separate Louisiana's French heritage from each team's own branding. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">New Orleans is certainly not the only U.S. city that uses a fleur-de-lis to display its European influence, but on a professional sports level, it got their first. In 1967, the artwork was used a standalone logo on the Saints' helmets. It was as powerful as the Dallas Cowboys' star. Of course, others are allowed to throw stars on their uniforms. But the simplicity of that mark now belongs to Dallas — not legally (can't trademark something so common) — but definitely in the court of public opinion. I feel this is also true of the fleur-de-lis: It's either NOLA or its Quebec and there's not room for others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Any older fan of the NHL would remember the Nordiques and their use of the fleur-de-lis. Beginning in 1979, the bottom hem line on both home and road jerseys was adorned with three such flowers. Two more were placed on the shoulders. It still is an iconic look, even though the team has now been in Colorado (rebranded the Avalanche) since 1995. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In Major League Soccer, Montreal Impact joined the fray in 2012. The New Orleans of the Great White North went back to the trusted well on imagery for their badge. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's too uniquely artistic for multiple applications in Major League Soccer; no different than my issue with doubling up animals.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The focus of this piece is about avoiding iconography duplicity, and Montreal settled on it first. Oh, and there's that little language thing that makes their French ties a tad bit stronger than modern-day Missourah. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrqqCBCK1JwsHKEgIQQyBrCS71q6-ILP7UjiD1FupbWORKhrCl35GfK3wovRHgvboV-aRqCrdjAuEAlyI9glNeosdSdJFOwjt3K1S9xJF1yLwIHQAG9gIVcQoF9bS35Vvhs5ga_jpquI/s1600/Smaller+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrqqCBCK1JwsHKEgIQQyBrCS71q6-ILP7UjiD1FupbWORKhrCl35GfK3wovRHgvboV-aRqCrdjAuEAlyI9glNeosdSdJFOwjt3K1S9xJF1yLwIHQAG9gIVcQoF9bS35Vvhs5ga_jpquI/s1600/Smaller+5.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I see this as a glass-half-full situation for Saint Louis. Strike the played-out tropes from the list and it opens the mind up to a world of other possibilities. It is also a mark that some have called into question as racist. Runaway slaves, in colonial France, were reminded of their status as property — emblazoned with a fleur-de-lis on the shoulder. Better to leave that one alone completely. It's not an issue at present, but when it becomes one someday, you'd wish your team selected something as universally-unoffensive as a butterfly. </span><br />
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">No </b><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Gateway Arch</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Similar to the fleur-de-lis, St. Louisans need to move past this icon. Most inhabitants of the world only know the town for its 630-foot-tall curved piece of steel. Though an innovative feat and masterful structure, its purpose is curiously celebrated. At the end of the day, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial commemorates people who used St. Louis like a 19th-century version of a truck stop. The arch is arguably more about our nation's settling the Pacific coast than it is about the state of Missouri at all — as pioneers moved on to richer fortunes in the West. Thus, it is odd to harbor a sense of pride with its "keep moving" or "don't settle here" undertones. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The city needs to be seen for so much more than the start of a journey elsewhere. That paradigm shift begins to take place if/when a new franchise jumps on the national stage without the Gateway Arch in the logo. Dependence on it, as the only way people recognize St. Louis, is laziness in design. And doing it does the citizens a disservice. The easy way is often the cliche way. It plays into the narrative that there is only one thing to know about the city. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And St. Louis isn't the only city dealing with this. My beloved Cleveland Indians are hosting the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. The logo for the event has caught some flack from locals, because it's <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2018/08/mlb_all-star_game_guitar_logo.html" target="_blank">yet another guitar theme</a>. It's easy, it's familiar; design firms feel like it's what people would want. The result is vending machine food: It's the safety net you know is there if you absolutely cannot come up with better. Saint Louis FC </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>can</i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> do so much better.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is why you're also not going to see any statues of King Louis, even though someone in the <a href="http://www.slsgsoccer.com/" target="_blank">local soccer community</a> would sure like to see him. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All these icons are overused in the corporate identities throughout this Midwestern town. In this same vein, it's why Budweiser must be kept out of any stadium naming rights or kit sponsor discussions. Progress </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">beyond the expected is necessary or else outsiders can continue to unfairly reduce St. Louis to one or two cultural contributions.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As they say: <i>Constructive criticism without an alternative solution is just bitching.</i> Thus, I'm not about shooting down the current Saint Louis FC crest without proposing something else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I kept the side dishes of my original Siege crest, but began looking for a new main course. This time, I shied away from anything aviary. They proved to be more trouble than they were worth. I did, however, continue the search for something that belongs in St. Louis; an animal that already calls the place home — both in real-life habitat </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">and</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> within established local imagery. Admittedly hypocritical of my own city flag argument, I went straight to the state flag of Missouri. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fun facts: There are 56 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_U.S._states_and_territories" target="_blank">state/federal district/territory flags</a> in the United States. There are 13 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_flags" target="_blank">provincial and territorial flags</a> in Canada. Out of that 69, a bear only appears on two of them: California and Missouri. The Show-Me-State has two standing bears, posting up with the <a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/symbol/seal" target="_blank">Great Seal</a> that includes a hidden-in-plain-sight third. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've personally gone to this well once before. That political bear theme also appeared in the summer collegiate baseball league I co-founded, as a 2014 expansion team. Winners of the 2015 Discovery Cup Championship, the Lemay Governors were one of the best dressed clubs in the Lewis & Clark Baseball League:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqNmp9UlNOtj42-4Ne_enyhwKLvcsU5fh1lniAHEfDycH1M0ts27hqXRdVAplZlAteQsEwpvTR0XY_881y9QmqFNLxQgP7PdHisg8Fx4nEtBM_h0bEpACEr3OL_rV8Qn5fTbuSv-gnzI/s1600/governors.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="769" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqNmp9UlNOtj42-4Ne_enyhwKLvcsU5fh1lniAHEfDycH1M0ts27hqXRdVAplZlAteQsEwpvTR0XY_881y9QmqFNLxQgP7PdHisg8Fx4nEtBM_h0bEpACEr3OL_rV8Qn5fTbuSv-gnzI/s400/governors.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If St. Louis can't have the Siege, then it should rush to claim the bear. True, Sacramento Republic FC already has dibs. Their crest features a small California grizzly at its base. This </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Republic_FC" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">current logo</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> was constructed in 2013, but first put to use on the field in 2014 — as a USL expansion team. However, if Saint Louis FC is promoted to Major League Soccer, it will likely come at the expense of Sacramento. Thus, the 28th MLS franchise would be a bear one way or the other. No duplication; winner of the expansion bid gets to take it to Tier 1 of the USSF pyramid. The league would get its ninth total animal, seventh unique species. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A bear would definitely be a strong addition to Major League Soccer's limited animal kingdom. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is a staple that "needs" to be in every American professional league; already found in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB. The reasons it would work in Sacramento are evident. But even in St. Louis, the selection makes a ton of sense: It's not the state mammal (that would be the unsavory mule), but is prominent in all things related to Missouri's government. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This means a bear would take a playful shot across the bow of Sporting KC; reminding everyone involved that they are a <i>Kansas</i> team and not Missouri. Secondly, there's the trolling of the Chicago sports scene. Stealing some of the brand power from the Bears is one thing, but subtly saying you're a more mature version of a Cub is priceless. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are also ties to Washington University in St. Louis and Missouri State University — both nicknamed the Bears. The former has had a long history of national success in the sport (both men and women) at the NCAA Division III level. The latter has appeared in three men's and two women's NCAA Division I tournaments out of the Missouri Valley Conference. I would have paid homage to the 10-time D-I National Championship-wining <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Louis_Billikens_men's_soccer" target="_blank">men's soccer program at Saint Louis University</a>, if anyone on the planet knew exactly what to make of their terrifying charm doll mascot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for the corresponding name, I don't feel it should be the Saint Louis Sleuth — the group name for bears. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">An argument could be made for Aurora (a group of polar bears) working well. But having one in the local zoo is a pretty flimsy tie in a city known for its excessive summer heat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, neither has the same gravitas as Siege. While that stood for the one and only heron in professional sports, bears are all over the landscape. This means that both Sleuth and Aurora would come across as full "Bengals mode;" my term for </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">labeling a plain-as-day animal by an off-shoot name simply to avoid stepping on another team's toes. Not even the people of India and Bangladesh call that cat a bengal... it's a region, not an animal. You wouldn't dream of shortening the African elephant to just the Africans. Yet, somehow it's accepted for the Bengal tiger in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It's very bizarre. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Instead, I would recommend a "nameless" Saint Louis FC to continue. Its advantage, thanks to the sport the team plays, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is that nothing depicted in the crest needs a formal introduction. There is no suffix after the city name required in soccer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ergo, no identity confusion with the established Bears, Cubs, Bruins, or Grizzlies; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">even though what you see technically fits the description for all four</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. This logo gets away with duplication by leaving the nickname open for interpretation, and not committing to any official wordmark on club merchandise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I can live with the green and navy, in lieu of the red, white, and blue. I concede, that was not a strength of the initial Siege proposal. If you think some animals are overused, look at the traditional American colors prevalent in MLS franchises. Saint Louis would do well to swim away from that red ocean, even if it blends the city flag with the primary colors of the two pro sports teams left in the town. This updated combo would be a relatively unique one in the league; Seattle is more of an electric green and softer blue. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The bear is a grizzly, to match the state flag; even though a few hundred black bears in southern Missouri are the only species left these days. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">She (yes, she) is shown in a pose that suggests a warning shot is being fired. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Come any closer and there's going to be a problem</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. This posture fits well in the triangular numerator of the shield's fractional design. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Whereas the heron in the Siege crest was colored solid blue (because a blue heron is a thing), this animal is left as an outline drawing. Coloring her blue or green wouldn't make much visual sense. The Blackhawks are famous for brown, yellow, green, and orange all appearing on their predominantly red, white, and black uniforms. The look should clash and be downright awful. Instead, going that far against the their team colors — in the name of realism — has turned Chicago's Indian chief <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/ct-spt-blackhawks-uniform-best-all-time-20180102-story.html" target="_blank">into an icon</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don't see that gesture as necessary in this case, though. Without nearly a century of social currency, it's also really difficult to pull off these days. So no brown or black bear with yellowish orange eyes just because. No overdone motion accents, <a href="https://www.branex.ae/blog/top-8-trends-to-follow-in-2018-to-create-a-logo/" target="_blank">translucent overlays</a>, or vector shadows — seen all-too-often in modern computer graphic design. The color restraint keeps the logo light and not as busy/bulky. It also adds to a timeless feel; could have been created in the 1920s, could exist well in 2020s. Think of it as an agitated </span><a href="https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_atletico_madrid_by_vasava.php" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Atlético Madrid</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">bear, ready to rip your face off rather than curious over a few apples. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5ouXCmgB8XEidE5qlwHtCLr9uyXJ3QYI_sVTuG1E5TAgONYl1o3jsfLAKGzCV_OoXYFNuR1ExHv7Oxy8_21-3yCrSyowoizSmUnvwNLkr-yfuioG-SSaMlqfzRlqrVF8DSqGobE2Dcw/s1600/saint+louis+fc+logo1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="522" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5ouXCmgB8XEidE5qlwHtCLr9uyXJ3QYI_sVTuG1E5TAgONYl1o3jsfLAKGzCV_OoXYFNuR1ExHv7Oxy8_21-3yCrSyowoizSmUnvwNLkr-yfuioG-SSaMlqfzRlqrVF8DSqGobE2Dcw/s400/saint+louis+fc+logo1.png" width="368" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All the other elements — and their deeply-rooted meanings — remain the same: Mound City, chess board, St. Louis Stars, City/County, Missouri/Illinois, Bosnia & Herzegovina, the whole nine. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That subtle Bosnian tie-in is a must. The nation's dense population base in St. Louis will make up a large constituency in the stadium. On that same front, the color change is also beneficial by downplaying the Croatian feel of the denominator's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">pattern. The variance does become less attractive to Nestle Purina as a "title" sponsor — since their brand would no longer be embedded directly in the shield. But I think World Wide Technology and Enterprise Holdings can make up for that loss. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you want it, there's also an angle to be played with the <i>Ursa Major </i>constellation. You know the one; the great bear in the sky that contains the "Big Dipper." There's ample symbolism that can be drawn from that famous formation. For starters, that bear is a female; representative of the club's woman-led ownership group. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Additionally, stars have played a large role in the naming of various St. Louis sports teams for nearly a century. There were the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League (1922-31, '43) and Negro American League (1939-41). That ballclub used the talents of future Hall of Famers — Cool Papa Bell, Mule Suttles, and Willie Wells — to win three pennants in four years (1928-31). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Decades later, the St. Louis Stars reappeared as the nickname for the city's professional soccer club; first in the NPSL (1966) and promoted to NASL the following year (1967-77). Even the National Football League's first stop in St. Louis (1923) was with a team called the "All Stars." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This fails to even mention the obvious love affair nations like ours have for starry iconography.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wouldn't that be fateful if Saint Louis FC could begin play on the 100th anniversary of the St. Louis Stars' inaugural season?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I, for one, prefer the non-starred bear, but went through the exercise just to be absolutely sure. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If an overt </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Ursa Major</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">/Captain America</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> theme is your cup of tea, here's what that amalgam would look like:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It certainly isn't perfect. But it'll work as a jumping-off point for someone to improve upon. As they say, the first tee shot is safely in the fairway. It's up to the others in my group to grip it and rip it for something better. You want a different animal? Be my guest. I'm not wedded to the bear. Use the rest of the components </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as a template and implant whatever you want in the white triangle. I think I've laid out the reasons why it needs to be an animal. St. Louis needs to clean up a biodiversity mess it had no hand in creating. As long as it's not a bull or lion, you should be good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, be on the lookout for my next installment of Siege Saint Louis' 2016 failed bid. You know I have even more thoughts on stadium location and design. For now, I'll leave you with a glimpse of what could have been. </span><br />
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goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-8952040027082121912018-10-01T00:00:00.000-04:002019-02-22T13:12:51.245-05:00The Best Season Few Talked About & Even Fewer Came Out To See<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRc1DvTIo9pXXLdVlr7p_oyvI5XsEGdPO9LxRVqEXUrygi_2au8Mu68q9_XZ5Nx34or6Kb0M8ZlVhKaJLHvxhk9EQM__4J5xsT6J1Y3PGUXgjUscE4B8xBZt-N5w033QYtR-2bCvp9QE/s1600/Kevin+Cash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="921" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRc1DvTIo9pXXLdVlr7p_oyvI5XsEGdPO9LxRVqEXUrygi_2au8Mu68q9_XZ5Nx34or6Kb0M8ZlVhKaJLHvxhk9EQM__4J5xsT6J1Y3PGUXgjUscE4B8xBZt-N5w033QYtR-2bCvp9QE/s320/Kevin+Cash.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pop quiz: How many wins did the Tampa Bay Rays end up with this season? Seriously, don't cheat. Attempt a guess, or at the very least, come up with a range. <i>75-80, right?</i> <i>A few games over .500, maybe?</i> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In major league seasons such as this, where all ten playoff teams were settled prior to the final Sunday, the average fan's stock response goes something like: "It was a busy Week 4 in the NFL. I know there's a tiebreaker or two on Monday, but I don't have a clue how the other teams ended up." </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, would you trust me enough to not fact check it on your own if I said the Rays got all the way to 90-72? </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And I'll do you one better. Take a look at all the promising teams that didn't make it to the 90-win plateau. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A sexy sleeper pick by many, this was supposed to finally be the year where the Seattle Mariners' </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seattle-mariners-new-kings-of-playoff-droughts-2018-1" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">17-year playoff drought</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> would end </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(89)</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sparked by a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/cardinals/2018/07/14/cardinals-manager-mike-matheny-fired/786127002/" target="_blank">managerial change</a> in July, it sure looked like the St. Louis Cardinals could get there, but they had an abysmal final week (88). A prohibitive favorite, and several writers' pick for participant in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2018/03/29/almost-everyone-predicts-the-nationals-will-win-the-division-as-for-the-playoffs/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cc76d0ecfda9" target="_blank">2018 World Series</a>, the Washington Nationals could never get the train on the track (82). The Arizona Diamondbacks now own a mystifying footnote to their 2018 campaign: They were in first place in their division on the first of each and every month of the season (yes, including September) and somehow didn't make the playoffs (82). Stop me if you've heard this one before: the Los Angeles Angels squandered yet another MVP-caliber season out of this <a href="https://calltothepen.com/2018/09/21/los-angeles-angels-overlooking-mike-trout-al-mvp/" target="_blank">generation's best player</a> (80). Everyone's midseason darlings, the Philadelphia Phillies, completely fell off the wagon with only eight September victories (80). The Minnesota Twins were allegedly a year early in 2017, when they shocked us all with a Wild Card berth; I guess not (78). There was a ton of noise coming out of Queens this year, but a broken-record lack of substance (77). </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In an attempt to get back to that even-year title spree, the San Francisco Giants went all-in with a <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/article/Giants-season-preview-Veteran-team-has-talent-12774081.php" target="_blank">veteran free-agent</a> approach that was abject failure (73). The Toronto Blue Jays could never find anyone to pitch (73) and the Texas Rangers could never find anyone to pitch or play defense (6</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">). </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And the funniest part about all of this: the </span><a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/preseason-2018-mlb-power-rankings/c-269855176" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">preseason expectation</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> was that the Rays weren't supposed to be better than any of these teams. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2018 became just the second season in seven years of the current playoff format in which all ten teams reached 90 wins. For the second year in a row — seventh time in league history — three clubs got to the century mark. And yet, </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">twice in the recent past (2014 and 2016), an MLB-record four teams made the postseason with fewer than 90 wins. The point is: Baseball is cyclical and silly. The</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Tampa Bay Rays have nothing to hang their heads about; some years are just like that. Realigned to the American League Central and they likely push the Cleveland Indians all season for their automatic ALDS bid. Swapped over to the National League </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and they are battling it out for the two seed on that side of the playoff bracket. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">T</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he Pittsburgh Pirates were a similarly fun surprise to the Rays. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They carried that cute factor well into the second half, generating some <a href="http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24170695/mlb-real-not-pirates-contenders-all" target="_blank">national buzz</a> for their showing. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On August 11, Pittsburgh was four games over .500. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By contrast, the Rays were three. The difference in the publicity was all in the context. Pittsburgh was only 4.0 games back of Atlanta for that second Wild Card spot; Tampa Bay was 9.0 GB of Oakland. It's all about staying in arm's reach.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What I'm alluding to is that Tampa Bay's narrative was out of their hands. They played as well as National League counterparts that kept our attention for longer. But t</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he bar to clear in this year's American League was near historic heights — the Central Division and its three teams with 97+ losses not withstanding. It took 98 wins just to host the Wild Card game. So, without that immediate proximity to the playoff teams, the quality season in Tampa Bay was skewed. Fair or foul, commentaries like this piece aim to calibrate what occurred into its proper perspective. Objects in mirror are <i>better</i> than they appear. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With all due respect to Bob Melvin in Oakland, Alex Cora in Boston, and Aaron Boone in New York, Kevin Cash is my overwhelming favorite for American League Manager of the Year. And his Tampa Bay Rays might have completed the most astounding, better-than-alright ("okayest" to my hipster millennial readers) regular season in modern baseball history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In every sport and at every level, coaching has always been more about "Johnnies and Joes" than the "X's and O's." The players you have define your success. Period. With that, look at Tampa Bay's final 2018 roster and tell me who else squeezes a 90-win season out of it. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In doing so, Cash's club joined three blue bloods — Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers — as the only teams in Major League Baseball to post six 90-win seasons since 2008.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At .556, The Rays laid claim to a tie for tenth-best winning percentage in all of baseball. Their record equaled that of the Atlanta Braves; one behind the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cleveland Indians — all of whom will be participating in this year's postseason in some capacity. Juxtapose their week ahead with that of the Rays. Same 90-72, but Cash and his players are free to make a tee time for Monday morning. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sadder still, Tampa Bay was once again at the bottom on the league's attendance figures (29th; ahead of only Miami). T</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">heir </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">51-30</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> home record was third-best in the league, but f</span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or the ninth time in the franchise's 20 seasons, Tropicana Field failed to draw more than 1,300,000 fans. And it's a shame so many missed out on a deceptively-good product. Bolstered by left-hander Blake Snell's improbable Cy Young season (21-5, 1.89 ERA, 221 SO), the Rays closed out the year 34-16.<b> </b></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The only thing more preposterous than these numbers is how well they went undetected for months.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Truthfully, I began this article last Friday and was hoping for 92 or 93 victories. Then, a 4-6 stumble to the finish line arrived and killed that plan. Alas, the Rays still got to 90, which is optically significant. </i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even with a hot second half, the Rays never got within real striking distance of either the division or Wild Card race. The final count was 18 games back of Boston in the East and seven<b> </b>shy of Oakland for WC2. This made it easier for the national media to adhere to its annual coverage strategy: Ignore Tampa/St. Petersburg until the team is within two games of a playoff spot. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he Rays beat the Red Sox 6-4 in front of 31,042 at The "Trop" on Opening Day — an annual clean slate full of so much optimism league-wide. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Rays are going 162-0! </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But b</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">y April 8, that first win remained the only victory for Cash's club (1-8). They had already fallen well beyond the threshold of Casual Fan Interest Level (CFIL). There was no line of major networks fighting to get Tampa Bay games on their national broadcasts. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of the teams whose season ended on Sunday, at least a few had glimmers of hope. The following shows the n</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">umber of days spent in a postseason spot (among non-playoff teams):</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Arizona Diamondbacks - 120 </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Philadelphia Phillies - 98</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seattle Mariners - 83</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. Louis Cardinals - 56</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Los Angeles Angels - 46</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">New York Mets - 31</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pittsburgh Pirates - 31</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Minnesota Twins - 15</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Toronto Blue Jays - 8</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How about the Rays? Zero. 90 wins and not a single day. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While no one on this list will walk away with a consolation prize, these teams at least had moments to reflect and build on. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A 162-game season can seem a lot like a game of musical chairs. The glass-half-full approach is to say "If the music had only stopped on the right day, then we would still be playing." </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This just wasn't ever the case for Tampa Bay. And yet the club never packed it in. Again, huge</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> credit goes to Cash and his staff.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Getting all the way back to .500, at 26-26, was seen as a minor miracle. However, they dug themselves too big of a hole for any of that compensatory winning to matter. By that point, May 28, the Red Sox were already 20 games over .500; Mariners (in the final postseason position) were 13. That's a tough row to hoe. And in baseball, if you can't sustain that below-the-fold "Storyline To Keep An Eye On" through the All-Star Break, it's tough to be relevant nationwide. The sport that has become too regionally popular for Tampa Bay's second half to stay on everyone's radar.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">The Rays sure didn't do themselves any favors in trying to garner exposure, though. It was tagged to be a lost season as far back as last November, so ownership began to liquidate anything that wasn't bolted to the floor. As the calendar flipped to 2018, it appeared that Tampa Bay had officially hit full rebuild mode. Decisions like these are toughest on fragile franchises — where the age of the club is that of an unstable toddler, and there is no rich pedigree of championships to fall back on. The latter is important. Banners in the stadium remind us that a "tank job" can have the ultimate reward (2015 Royals); that the ebb can be followed by a flow. MLB executives with a ring on their Wikipedia page are entrusted with a slightly longer leash. But if you've never successfully executed a 50-win turnaround, there is little buy-in that entering that black hole is in fact a tunnel and not a cave. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The public relations hit was real for the Rays in 2018. Have kids and live in West Florida? There was a high probability that your young child's favorite Tampa Bay player was traded away this year; a good chance his/her top three all left. That's a tough pill for a talent-starved market. Stars sell, and the Rays cast off nearly every one they had. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Over the course of the last ten months, the club parted ways with a fairly comprehensive portion of their 2017 roster: The face of their franchise (Evan Longoria), their four-time Opening Day starter (Chris Archer), a Silver Slugger-winning catcher (Wilson Ramos), a guy coming off a 47-save season (Alex Colome), another coming off of 38 homers (Logan Morrison), a 29 year-old with a career OPS over .820 (Corey Dickerson) in left and a 20 HR/20 SB threat (Steven Souza Jr.) in right, the best defensive infielder (Adeiny Hechavarria) in their system, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a 12-game winner (Alex Cobb), and </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a ten-game winner (Jake Odorizzi). </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This initial list fails to include valuable complementary pieces like Brad Miller, Tim Beckham, Lucas Duda, Colby Rasmus, Peter Bourjous, Tommy Hunter, and Matt Andriese. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even the newest guy to join the team, Denard Span — acquired in December's Longoria trade to add a veteran presence — lasted only 43 games before being shipped off to Seattle. If you're keeping track, that is turnover at nearly every position.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the case of Longoria, any time a club loses its franchise statistical leader in games played, runs scored, doubles, home runs, and runs batted in, it is going to sting. Furthermore, Archer, Cobb and Odorizzi were Tampa Bay's four, five, and six. No, not in their projected 2018 starting rotation... in rank of most career wins throughout the history of the Rays. They purged proven talent in a baseball town that is hanging on by a thread; a bold play for sure. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Rays had also taken a few gambles on injury-prone free agents. Nathan Eovaldi — who underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career in August of 2016 — was brought in this winter to stabilize the starting staff. The 27 year-old right-hander missed all of 2017, so no one knew exactly what he would bring to the table. After a minor <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-nathan-eovaldi-to-have-elbow-procedure/c-270004586" target="_blank">hiccup</a> in Spring Training, Eovaldi came back healthier than ever and outperformed the wildest expectations. He became a fantastic bargaining chip with contenders in need of another starter. The Rays flipped him to Boston in July, after only ten starts in Tampa. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the winner for most successful transaction, from a humankind perspective, involved <a href="http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23462326/inside-jonny-venters-emotional-comeback-35-tommy-johns-later" target="_blank">Jonny Venters</a>. As a Ray, the left-handed pitcher returned to the big leagues after 2,048 days and three (and a half) demoralizing elbow surgeries. In a similar vein as the Cardinals' <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/12/14/stephen-piscotty-trade-oakland-cardinals-mother-als/952980001/" target="_blank">trade of Stephen Piscotty</a>, Rays' general manger Erik Neander did right by his player's best interest. Though the reasoning behind the deal couldn't hold a candle to Piscotty's story, the Venters move was equal in one way: A gesture that reminded us all goodness still exists in a cut-throat industry. The starter-turned-reliever was traded to Atlanta, where his career had begun with such promise... and where it tragically fell apart. It was a first-rate decision by both parties. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It rarely works this way, but the Rays pulled the lever and hit jackpot on every deal — and non-deal. Not many among the group came close to matching his production value from 2017. Cobb had a 15-loss, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4.90 ERA</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> season in Baltimore; Archer's alarming trend of allowing multiple base runners per inning (1.375 WHIP) continued in Pittsburgh; </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Odorizzi posted career highs in walks, WHIP, and full-season ERA </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in Minnesota. His Twins' teammate, Morrison, only hit </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">15</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> bombs with a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.186</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> batting average. Souza had to split time in Arizona's outfield after a pectoral injury sidelined him for the most of the year. Longoria, clearly on the back-end of his illustrious career, posted a slash line of .243/.281/.413 with 16 home runs and 54 RBI — his lowest totals as a pro. They sold high on nearly all their precious assets and came out smelling like a rose. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of the guys that were low-cost, high-ceiling additions (Span, Eovaldi, Venters), each worked out beautifully as trade bait. The Rays were able to leverage the timing of their peak performances to demand more cash and minor leaguers. The Red Sox gave up their seventh-best prospect in LHP Jalen Beeks for Eovaldi. Span (along with Colome) fetched RHP Tommy Romero and RHP Andrew Moore; Venters simply landed the Rays an opening to sign a future international player. Who knows how these youngsters will pan out, but it is the calculated version of the lottery that every small-market GM must play each year. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fire sales like this are typically met with a winning percentage under .400 that following season. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So how did Kevin Cash piecemeal this mess into a team that won 56% of its games? </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For starters (pun very much intended), the Rays used 31 unique pitchers in 2018, 17 different starters, and four position players on the mound — all the most in Major League Baseball. Their 726.0<b> </b>IP out of the bullpen is a new big-league record. As is only having two pitchers make more than 17 starts. If for no other reason, Cash should be presented Manager of the Year simply by picking up a win in a ballgame where his <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/04/tampa-bay-rays-jesus-sucre" target="_blank">back-up catcher pitched</a> (Jesus Sucre, June 3). </span></span><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Players from Tampa's Triple-A affiliate in Durham obviously had to step up with all the roster voids. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was no surprise to find that the Rays used </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">20</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> rookies this season. That is a club record and third most in the big leagues after the Angels and the Marlins. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tampa Bay's rookies combined for </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">767</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> games, more than anybody. The Rays' rookie pitchers contributed to </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">569.2</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> innings, most in the American League. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm sure many in the community had their infamous </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Major League </i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">moment: "I never heard of most of these guys." No offense to them, but Brandon Lowe and Nick Ciuffo aren't exactly household names. But they sure gained some valuable experience. Coaches that cannot stand tanking typically point to the negative effect losing has on young players. The theory is that being okay with getting your butt kicked night after night will make you numb to it. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">When it's finally time to flip the switch and begin winning again, will they remember how?</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> If this was a rock bottom season for the Rays, fans are in for a treat. Their rookies experienced far more happy days than sad.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Guys like SS Willy Adames, 1B Jake Bauers, 2B Joey Wendle, RHP Ryne Stanek, and LHP Ryan Yarbrough stepped up and had really nice seasons. Yarbrough and Wendle, in particular, played like seasoned vets: 16-6, 147.1 IP, 3.91 ERA, 128 SO and .300 AVG, .354 OBP, 33 2B, 16 SB respectively. If not for the video game numbers that Yankees' third baseman Miguel Andujar put up </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(.297 AVG, 27 HR, 47 2B, 92 RBI, .855 OPS)</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, either could have captured the Rookie of the Year Award. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/09/26/joey-wendle-is-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-for-rays/" target="_blank">well documented</a> that Wendle may never have what it takes to remain at the game's highest level. He spent the better part of two seasons in Triple-A for Oakland and, despite a few call-ups, that appeared to be his ceiling. When he was traded to Tampa this offseason, it was to compete for a platoon role at second base. No one in that organization could have expected a full season with 145 hits; the man only had 29 in the bigs prior to 2018.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wendle's exit from Sunday's finale (in the eight inning of a 9-4 win vs. Toronto) epitomized Kevin Cash's appeal. The manager clearly had the pulse of his young team; knowing how to execute nearly every moment, down to when to pull his third baseman. The move allowed the 28 year-old to cap his rookie year with a .300 batting average. The scene was a master class in class. The only down side was that the standing ovation — and subsequent curtain call —<b> </b>was not orchestrated by more fans. <b> </b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During the Rays' hottest stretch, Kevin Cash rolled out a fairly-consistent lineup with an Island of Misfit Toys written in as hitters two through six: Tommy Pham, Matt Duffy, C.J. Cron, Ji-man Choi, and Carlos Gomez. Each ran out of time and/or patience in their former place of employment. Management began to see them as money-pit projects that would be better served having some other club try their luck. For Pham, it was the </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cardinals' crowded outfield issue; the Giants thought Duffy would never be able to match the pinnacle of his rookie season; Cron had exhausted all his minor-league options with the Angels; to the rebuilding Rangers, Gomez wasn't worth the trouble; and Choi had already been given up on by the Angels, Yankees, and Brewers midway through his third major-league season.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pham, especially, proved to be a brilliant acquisition. The 30 year-old outfielder will carry a <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/rays-tommy-pham-extends-on-base-streak-to-31-games/" target="_blank">32-game streak of safely reaching base</a> with him into 2019. He hit .331 with 19 XBH and a 1.042 OPS in only 38 games as a Ray. I think the Cardinals might have been able to use that of production this past week. They would likely be playing on Tuesday if they hung onto him. Instead, Tampa Bay now has a cornerstone two- or three-hole hitter to build around. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Over time, the revamped roster of 2018 evolved into something that stylistically better fit the Rays' home field. As the team got younger, the dome turned into a race track. Led by Mallex Smith's 40 steals, the Rays went from a team that swiped 88 bags in 2017 to 126 in 2018. The year-to-year philosophy overhaul shed even more light on Cash's versatility; everyone can manage a club that hits 250 bombs. Manufacturing more wins, despite 78 fewer home runs this season, is a true testament to his baseball IQ. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All season long, Cash had a knack for getting the best out of <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/08/23/tampa-bay-rays-bullpen" target="_blank">unconventional means</a>. The man spent half the year revolutionizing the game with use of an "opener" — a short-use reliever that begins the game. Instead of trying to get a starting pitcher as deep as possible into his outing, Cash never let an opener face more than nine batters. The next man in took on that lion's share responsibility, the traditional task of a starter. He would reap the benefits of a specialist facing the opposing team's best hitters in the first inning. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's like a risk management course in liability exposure; brilliant for teams in need of some smoke and mirrors. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fifth starters are guys a manager can call upon for 160+ innings a season (macro) and to consistently get through a lineup three times (micro). If you're the Rays and don't have that veteran hanging around the clubhouse, this is a creative way to protect young arms and egos. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sure, Cash didn't invent the position, but he recognized that it would be perfect for his circumstances.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He took a wild concept — perfect for the repercussion-free world of bar debate and television sets — and put it to the test at the game's highest level. It took some serious stones. It earned my respect when I realized it was </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">utilizing a quirky, stat-driven strategy out of need rather than just to be gimmicky. When it comes to things of that nature, today's day and age has turned me into a cynic.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The experiment first showed up on May 19 in Anaheim and was employed on 55 occasions. On that initial date, the Rays' 4.48 ERA ranked 22nd in Major League Baseball.<b> </b>To mark the effect of the change, look no further than the Rays' final team ERA: 3.75, fifth-best in the league. As is said, t</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he proof is in the pudding. Fittingly, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the final game of the year began with a reliever (Ryne Stanek) on the mound; a game in which they won. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">People like me will remember to tell the grandkids that use of an opener — a mainstay by 2040 — all began in 2018 with the Rays. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Part of the necessity for going to the opener was the division in which they reside. They annually take on the </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yankees and Red Sox — essentially all on the road — 19 times apiece. This year, the gravy on that perennial sadness sundae was that both won 100 games for the first time in their 116 seasons of co-existence. Think of that when you want to discredit Cash's candidacy by playing the "They got to beat up on the Orioles" card. </span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the world was fair, two major individual MLB awards (Cy Young and Manager of the Year) would compensate for the Rays' bleak third-place position in the standings. The honors paint a more genuine picture: One of the greatest seasons this century... versus the expectations of the outside world. I'm not a betting man, but I like to turn to the Vegas' Westgate SportsBook for more accurate assessments of teams as they break camp. People in the Nevada desert always seem have that really good intuition and intel. As such, the win total for Tampa Bay was set at 73.5 — equal to that of the San Diego Padres.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At its fundamental core, shouldn't the guiding principle behind voting for Manager of the Year be to identify who trounces their expected win total by the most? If it is not, then I don't know why we even hand the award out. As a coach, I'm only going to be as successful as my talent ceiling can be pushed beyond. Or else give me the best players in the league. Place the Red Sox trio of Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez in the Rays' meat of the order and Cash could go win a 100 games, too. He should not be punished for playing the hand he was dealt, for he played it better than most would/could.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, if we continue down the path of Westgate SuperBook's preseason over/under as our gold standard, then here's the </span><a href="http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/22586812/chalk-complete-list-2018-mlb-win-totals-odds-playoffs-division-world-series" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">objective data</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> on the subject:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">75.5 - Oakland Athletics, <b>+21.5</b> (97-65)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">73.5 - Tampa Bay Rays, <b>+19.5</b> (90-72)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">92.5 - Boston Red Sox, </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">+15.5</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> (108-54)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">75.5 - Atlanta Braves, <b>+14.5</b> (90-72)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">83.5 - Milwaukee Brewers, <b>+11.5</b> (95-67)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">81.5 - Colorado Rockies, <b>+9.5</b> (91-71)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">74.5 - Pittsburgh Pirates, <b>+7.5</b> (82-79) </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">94.5 - New York Yankees, <b>+5.5</b> (100-62)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">86.5 - St. Louis Cardinals, <b>+1.5</b> (88-74)</span></li>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As you can see, the Rays are second on the list with a jaw-dropping +19.5 wins over expectations. I have some grievances with the A's +21.5, but more on that later. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We do all these preseason rankings/mock standings for every sport on the planet, but those lists are rarely used for anything — except gambling, of course. Major League Baseball would never openly push its writers to measure managerial success solely off of a sports book in Las Vegas, but they should at least nudge them in a comparable direction. I don't care if it's Westgate, <i>Sports Illustrated</i>, the pundits on MLB Network, or something else. "Experts" make predictions, and their numbers are a barometer in gauging the national perception as to how a ballclub is likely to finish. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pick your poison and use it as a third-party baseline. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From there, it's really up to the front office, manager, and his coaching staff to marginally change that consensus</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> for the better. When the year draws to a close, do the simple math, and </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">voilà</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">there's your Manager of the Year and/or Executive of the Year. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look to the National League for an example of demolishing expectations <i>and </i>winning your division. The Manager of the Year vote will undoubtedly go to Atlanta's third-year skipper, Brian Snitker, and second place should be distant. The man was tied for the lowest-paid non-interim manager in the bigs ($800,000). The Cardinals <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinals-fire-manager-mike-matheny-after-another-ugly-loss/article_67e0881d-b9ae-5fdd-a12f-230f744711c5.html#1" target="_blank">paid Mike Matheny</a> more money to have him stop coaching and go away. And given the remotely suburban location of new SunTrust Park, there's a strong chance much of Atlanta's population probably doesn't know who Snitker is. Using the purely objective numbers as a measuring stick, they got themselves a good one. Probably time to learn his name. The Braves' over/under was set at 75.5 — a projected fourth place in the NL East. Snitker's youthful bunch wound up posting </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">90 wins, 14.5</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> over expected; the greatest jump in the Senior Circuit, plus an NLDS host.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To me, the award all boils down to expectation management. Overachieving, shocking the world, outkicking the proverbial coverage; call it what you like. But it certainly isn't reserved solely for the doormats that turned out to be mediocre instead. I don't want the pendulum to swing to a point where the format only rewards tanking teams that can't even get that right. Playoff teams that people knew would be playoff teams can still amaze fans with impressive growth. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Slated to be a contender (10-1 odds to win the World Series entering the season), Boston's 108 wins outperformed their predictive total by 15.5 games. It goes down as the most victories in the illustrious 118 years of Red Sox baseball. But, to say that first-year manager Alex Cora is the best in franchise history — or even better than his recent predecessors — is short-sighted. Except Bobby Valentine. That's not too early to be decided. I don't enjoy casting aspersions on people I don't know or have never met, but all roads point to Valentine being incompetent for the better part of three decades. He is, however, a poster boy for how talent maketh the man-ager.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No matter how bad Valentine was, the guys making millions of dollars to play the game ultimately affect the outcome of a season far more. And as hard as I can be on Valentine, his lone season in Boston (2012) didn't include Xander Bogaerts, Mike Napoli, Jake Peavy, John Lackey, Jonny Gomes, Koji Uehara, David Ross, Stephen Drew, Shane Victorino, or Jackie Bradley Jr. With that 2013 influx of big-name veterans and upstart youngsters, new skipper John Farrell was able to capture a 28-game improvement in the win column — as well as runner up for Manager of the Year. But how much of that World Championship was to do with Farrell's leadership? We will never know if Valentine could have produced similar results if those personnel acquisitions were granted to him. It should make you think long and hard a manager's ability to really sway anything that wouldn't ordinarily happen on its own. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Baseball analysts these days cannot shut up about WAR (wins above replacement). I, for one, think the stat is admirable in its objective attempts, but ultimately a <a href="https://medium.com/@joelkupfersmid/stat-talk-whats-wrong-with-war-wins-above-replacement-cf391eb4153" target="_blank">total farce</a>. Until we know how to better catalog defensive metrics, it's a fool's errand to even attempt a read out. Save your time punching the numbers into the machines, it's all too context neutral anyway. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What you could convince me of, however, is that WAR has a legitimate place in the game when applied to managers. How many more wins do the 2018 Yankees put up with Aaron Boone than if they were managed by Al Pedrique (their Triple-A skipper)? Do the 2017 Golden State Warriors still win the NBA title if coached by a bag of flour? Now that is something I'd like to use empirical data to find out. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When it was finally Farrell's turn to get the heave-ho, Cora stepped in to similar next-season success. But with him came potential AL MVP (and damn near Triple Crown winner) J.D. Martinez in free agency. Hmm, a star power arrives in Boston and the win total jumps. As Yogi Berra — a seven-year MLB manager in his own right — famously said, "It's like déjà vu all over again." </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cora is going to have to prove to his fan base that he can cash in on a great regular season. There has to be justification for firing a manager in John Farrell who was coming off back-to-back 93-69 seasons and brought the town a title not that long ago (2013). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The point is: It is very rare for any manager to really cause an uptick in performance that isn't directly tethered to front office acquisitions of proven commodities. This makes the case for Kevin Cash in 2018 even stronger. He had nothing short of a proven commodities exodus... of near biblical proportions. <b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b><b> </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is precedent for someone like Cash taking home this hardware. Oddly enough, the only American League Managers of the Year that finished in third place in their division won the award in back-to-back seasons — 2003 (Tony Pena, Royals) and 2004 (Buck Showalter, Rangers). In 1987, Buck Rogers led his Montreal Expos to a nearly-identical 91-71 record as Cash's Rays, also only good enough for third place. Rogers was still able to win the National League honor. So too was Joe Maddon in 2015 with his third place — yet postseason qualifying — Chicago Cubs. Ah, gotta love expanded playoffs and loaded divisions. Maddon would go on to validate the voters' selection by taking his second Wild Card to the NLCS that October. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fun piece of trivia: The only fourth-place finisher in a division (and the only award winner with a losing record) was 2006's Joe Girardi-led Florida Marlins; 78-84. He won it because of expectation management. The club already had the third-lowest payroll in 2005, but cut it by $45.4M entering 2006. It remains the largest year-to-year salary dump in the sport's history, both in total dollars and percentage of previous (75.2%). 17 of the team's 25-man roster made the league minimum that year. It was thought to assure a 100-loss season for the Marlins. But, by coming up a mere three wins shy of a .500 record, Girardi was aptly rewarded. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The 30-member panel of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) clearly love a sexier narrative than shear dominance. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since the awards were first handed out in 1983, there have been thirty-six 100-win seasons in Major League Baseball. However, only seven managers of teams that hit triple-digit W's were chosen by the writers. There's clearly something more to it and/or win totals are graded on a curve based on extrinsic factors. </span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How would I go about thwarting Bob Melvin from winning the award? Well, that suggests I think he isn't worthy. Let's be honest, the A's manager will win the award. And that will be more than tolerable. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Picked to finish last in the AL West, Melvin's club had a projected win total was 75.5, ending the year with 97<b>.</b></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I need a crack team of researchers to tell me if any other team has ever before shattered its projected Vegas win total but </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">21.5</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> runs; I can't find an instance that insane. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He did it all with the lowest Opening Day payroll — $62.6M, slightly below Tampa Bay's $69.6M. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However, if you want me to split hairs, I gladly will. I stand by Cash's qualifications over Melvin for some key reasons. Right off the top, Oakland's</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> payroll wasn't truly the lowest in baseball. On Opening Day, sure. But when the season hit crunch time, Oakland began spending to retool their roster. Unlike the A's, the Rays were sellers up to (and through) the July 31 trade deadline. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By bringing in five established big-league right-handed pitchers: Mike Fiers (Tigers), Fernando Rodney (Twins), Edwin Jackson, Jeurys Familia (Mets), and Shawn Kelley (Nationals), the final tally of Oakland's payroll "skyrocketed" to $80.3M — good enough for <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/" target="_blank">28th in all of baseball</a>. That's a $17.7M midseason increase while Tampa Bay managed to shed an additional $1.2M.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even with expanded September rosters, the Rays only retained four players who made a million dollars this year (Kiermaier, Gomez, Romo, Cron). The Dodgers had 19; 10 of whom made more than Kiermaier's $5.6M. All by himself, Kershaw's $35.5M challenged Tampa Bay's dead-last standing on the final 25-man payroll ranking. And they're not even getting reliable production out of what little money they do spend. Their highest-paid player missed </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">74</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> games due to injuries this year; another </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">44</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> without Gomez. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm not saying that a payroll increase that takes you from 30th to 28th complete negates Melvin's affect on the season, but it certainly changes the perception that Oakland had a bunch of nobodies. And that's exactly what VP of Baseball Operations Billy Beane has learned to manipulate so well. Since he took control of player personnel decisions (1997), the running theme has been that his club is haplessly undermanned and slept on by the media. Quite literally, 60% of their games are played past the bed time of the nation's biggest sportswriters. But I'm not buying the "woe is us" routine Beane peddles. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Expect Oakland to win their way into the postseason four of the next seven years. And if that comes to be, it doesn't have to signal a corresponding <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/09/the-many-problems-with-moneyball/245769/" target="_blank">book deal, movie script</a>, or Manager of the Year Award.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A track record for success has to start accounting for something. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They aren't a club without a World Series title (they have nine, four in Oakland) playing in their 20th season (50 in California alone). They may not play in front of many fans either, but they also don't play in the American League East. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last team to win 90 games with an Opening Day payroll under $70 million came in 2013 — the 96-win A's. This is their schtick. When are we going to start calling them solid from Spring Training regardless of what that payroll number says? </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's not Kevin Cash's fault that those setting the over/under line for Oakland got caught in Billy Beane's trap once again.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If we do an All-Star comparison, it shows how the A's are not as big of a surprise as you would think. Oakland finished the regular season with a respectable eight former All-Stars with 11 total appearances: </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fernando Rodney (3), </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Jonathan Lucroy (2), Matthew Joyce (1), Blake Treinen (1), Jed Lowrie (1), Trevor Cahill (1), Edwin Jackson (1), and Jeurys Familia (1). </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When Chris Archer was dealt to Pittsburgh in August, the Rays closed 2018 with only three such players and four total appearances (Romo - 2013, Gomez - 2013 & 2014, and Snell, 2018).</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In essence, the A's were closer to a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">97</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-win team back in March than the Rays were to a being a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">90</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-win team. </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Can't stress it enough: [Offensive] players win you ballgames. They had the major league leader in home runs (Khris Davis) and a future MVP + Gold Glover at third base (Matt Chapman). Five A's finished with 30 or more doubles (Rays only had one); five A's had an OPS over .780 (Rays had two); four A's eclipsed 80+ RBI (Rays didn't have any); the A's scored 813 runs and had a +139 run differential (Rays scored 716 with a +70). </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is an argument to be made that the Rays were better than the A's defensively. Tampa had a +60 RTOT (Total Zone Runs) rating, which is a sabermetricians way of saying "They got to batted balls other teams wouldn't and cut down runs others couldn't." Oakland was a +34. If you were born prior to 1980, thus requiring total errors as your be-all-end-all for team defense, I present the following: OAK - 89, TB - 85. Doesn't appropriately depict the margin between the two, but it at least acknowledges there was one — in archaic-enough language for the layperson. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As a broad generalization, the pitching debate was a wash. The rotations were equally nameless (going into the season at least), but highly productive. The two were only separated by .05 in final team ERA. In addition, the back-end relievers were eerily similar in nailing down victories: T</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he A's bullpen secured </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">44 saves in 62 opportunities (70.9%), while </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rays' relief pitching was </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">51-for-72 (70.8%</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last point of comparison comes with their Pythagorean Win-Loss Record. The iconic Bill James' construct shows the effects of a little good fortune during the course of 162 games. Call it baseball's version of "puck luck" or "the ball bouncing our way" — to steal from hockey and football. According to the formula, the A's were a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">94-68</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> team, while the Rays finished with a Pythagorean W-L of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">89-</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">73</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. This shrinks the gap between Oakland and Tampa Bay even more. Something else super nerdy for you to consider when judging the seasons of the two. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you're like me, you subscribe to the theory that baseball seasons should be graded like Olympic diving. No? Just me on this one? Well, hear me out. The name of the game is all about that base (difficulty value) and then execution scores as a kicker. There is no denying that Oakland put up a lofty score on this, or any, scale. The panel of judges would be giving several 10s for what they were able to achieve in 2018. But, in my opinion, Tampa Bay carried a much higher degree of difficulty — greater than anyone in Major League Baseball that finished with a winning record — which boosted their aggregate score to the top of the list. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No matter where the final win totals fell, Oakland should have finished ten games clear of Tampa Bay in the AL standings. But they didn't. I contest that has value; and it wasn't anything the A's didn't do. Kevin Cash did more with less, even though the initial payroll numbers aim to skew that fact.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's no secret that this blog is authored by a <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2017/09/remind-me-again-why-arent-indians-world.html" target="_blank">diehard Indians fan</a>, so I had to slow play my adoration for Kevin Cash's 2018 performance. As his players really caught fire in the second half, I had to continue sitting on my hands. </span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I wasn't going to trumpet the greatness — err, not terribleness — of the Rays until all of my team's business interests were sewn up. But as soon as the year-long formality of an AL Central crown was finally put to bed, I was given </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">time to reflect on Tampa Bay's season with wider-encompassing reverence. Color me a fan adjacent.</span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not much of what the Rays were doing positively had any direct bearing on the Tribe, so there no reason to not pull for them.</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Their six head-to-head games all took place within two weeks in early September; Cleveland went 2-4 but still managed to see their magic number to clinch decrease. The only thing the late-season match-up did hurt was Corey Kluber's back-to-back Cy Young chances, for Snell grabbed two more wins and 18 strikeouts against two total earned runs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's very little to hate about the Rays (sans "Devil"). </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They have always been a fun team to observe from a distance. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All too often, they valiantly throw themselves in front of the Evil Empire(s) in the AL East as an out-manned and out-gunned stumbling block. Those elsewhere in the American League respect the hell out of that. And as a general fan of the game — with hope for its indelible growth — of course I want that franchise to get more popular and succeed. I own a Tampa Bay cap, but to be fair I own at least one from most of the MLB clubs. Note: None have been purchased since the <a href="https://uni-watch.com/2016/09/20/new-era-logo-to-appear-on-mlb-caps/" target="_blank">logo creep of New Era</a> turned the authentic on-field collection into amateur hour. I bought my Rays lid in 2008 when I jumped hard on their World Series bandwagon. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even though I "have to" get to Tropicana Field to complete my stadium odyssey (currently at 21 of 30), part of me wants to skip St. Petersburg — in what would go down as the weakest form of box-office protest the commissioner's office would never feel. But for real, get them a new stadium and play outside already. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Looking at that Rays' record — only one game behind<b> </b>that of the Tribe — leaves me feeling one part resentment and two parts praise (enough so to pen this and lobby for him). </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When Josh Donaldson's was acquired, Cleveland finished the year with 13 rostered players (14 if you include Danny Salazar) who have at least one All-Star Game appearance on their resume. That lauded group has been named to the Midsummer Classic a grand total of 27 times. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With two legitimate MVP candidates, a duo of 100-RBI men, a trio of 30+ home run hitters, a quartet of 200+ strikeout pitchers, another foursome of 20+ stolen base guys, three straight division titles, and a former Manager of the Year of our own, how were the Indians not better? </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But my bitterness soon fades, when I think of the ALDS the Indians get to go compete in. Sure, it is largely the byproduct of a historically-awful division where two clubs (Kansas City and Chicago) eclipsed </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">100</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> losses, another got close (Detroit, 65-97), and only Cleveland possessed a winning record. The framework of the postseason won't allow Cash to continue his team's magical season, but allows the Indians' to continue theirs. And for that, I feel strangely enough... guilty.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cash still feels like part of this current Cleveland family. When Tito Francona took the Indians' job in 2013, he made Cash his very first hire, as bullpen coach. While in that role, he urged the Tribe front office to take a flier on a lesser-known Brazilian-born catcher named Yan Gomes. In the 2014 offseason, when Cash was offered the shot at becoming the league's youngest manager, the situation played out like the penultimate scene in </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Good Will Hunting. </i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francona was losing a confidant and Spring Training roommate, but couldn't have been happier to see him go.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When he returns to town, however, Cash has to stay on his toes. The consummate practical joker, Francona isn't the easiest buddy to have. While the Indians hilariously took the </span><a href="https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2017/05/indians_manager_terry_francona_12.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">first battle</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, Cash ultimately slammed the door shut on the 2018 </span><a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/kevin-cash-has-terry-franconas-scooter-for-bp/c-293037266" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Prank War</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Beneath all the degrading high jinks, there is a ton of mutual love, respect, and admiration between the two skippers.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Francona would never admit it, but I don't think there's any other person in the business that he would willingly turn his managerial keys over to — if and when it ever comes to that in Cleveland. But the Tampa native, managing minutes from his childhood home, might be tough to convince to ever leave. He can clearly get winning results no matter how much ownership gouges his budget. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In sports, you're hired to be fired. 99% of the time it is a question of when and not if. Cash b</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">egan his fifth season on the job 3-12. This occurred in the very same season where the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2018/04/19/reds-fire-manager-bryan-price-after-3-15-start/33976589/" target="_blank">Reds fired Bryan Price</a> after a similar 3-15 start. It's not hyperbole to say that in today's instant gratification climate, Cash's managerial seat — after a mere three weeks into a 27-week season — was as equally hot as Price's. They were supposed to be bad, but not that bad.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thankfully, ownership allowed Kevin Cash to think his way out of the problem. The result was his first winning season as a big-league manager, but oddly enough, his third year with 80 or more wins. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The age-old question in sports is whether a season that doesn't end in a title/finals appearance/playoff series can ever be labeled anything but a failure. This 2018 Rays' season was a resounding "yes". </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Don't get me wrong, they were an extremely flawed team. Last <a href="https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2018/9/20/17884984/jays-score-7-in-the-9th-inning-and-beat-the-rays" target="_blank">Thursday night</a> in Toronto, the Rays took an 8-2 lead into the ninth inning and somehow found a way to lose. Partly because of nights like that, Cash </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">should take home American League Manager of the Year honors. He had 95, 96, 97 wins right there in his grasp; talent gaps have a tendency to rear their ugly heads at some of the most inopportune moments. And the top managerial award should come with its fair share of gray-hair-inducing, frustratingly sleepless nights. Can't picture too many of those in Boston or New York this year. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Since it's truly a full coaching staff award, Cash would get to share it with, among others, first base coach Ozzie Timmons. I've singled him out in particular because the man does ten </span><a href="https://www.mlb.com/cut4/ozzie-timmons-does-pushups-when-the-rays-score/c-290587402" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">push-ups</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> for every run the Rays score. Last year's best dugout storyline was hands down the Indians' </span><a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/photo/2017/09/13/cleveland-indians-baseball-dolls" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">collection of player baseballs</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. 2018 could very well go to Timmons. Second place might go to closer Sergio Romo's annual </span><a href="https://www.mlb.com/cut4/sergio-romo-serves-as-rays-batboy-in-final-game/c-257053540" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">bat boy cameo</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> in Game 162, this time in a Kevin Cash jersey — hand-drawn dollar sign on athletic tape under the nameplate. Chalk these shenanigans up as things about this Tampa team you would have liked, if you had only tuned it. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">At the very least, give Kevin Cash & Co. a raise. The Rays got the tenth-best record out of the 21st highest-paid manager. The David Copperfield trick he executed should be worth more than a million bucks per season. Better give him two and ask to see it again.</span></span></span></div>
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goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-34990111647915679342018-05-26T16:52:00.001-04:002023-06-09T09:32:17.184-04:00How The NHL Gift-Wrapped A Cup Contender To The Desert: An Analysis on Expansionism<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcZUMPJOXR4DUFqgl_lHIPZvED-Kj4Sm0AG09csEFwOYrfOK_rTemKonO_pt-sxrW-4d-pJbr0HhGDN29vgm3DdNHyDSwNghROifw2FQEHGfjLwxuzPjtn3Wy0SNnrRim9IRHAHZzTJU/s1600/902412128.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="612" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcZUMPJOXR4DUFqgl_lHIPZvED-Kj4Sm0AG09csEFwOYrfOK_rTemKonO_pt-sxrW-4d-pJbr0HhGDN29vgm3DdNHyDSwNghROifw2FQEHGfjLwxuzPjtn3Wy0SNnrRim9IRHAHZzTJU/s400/902412128.jpg" width="400" /></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I certainly don't wake up every morning with the intention on being a cynic. But sometimes people like NHL commissioner Gary Bettman come along and make it so damn hard not to be. It would be amazing if my mind could allow me to take the 2018 Vegas Golden Knights at face value: The "feel good" story of yet another tragedy-marred city rallying around its major sports franchise. The captain-less team of discarded talent. Cinderella making it to the Stanley Cup Final in under 250 days of existence. Sorry, I just can't go there. And it's a shame, too. There's not a bigger fan of goaltender <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2017/05/the-power-thats-returned-to-flower.html" target="_blank">Marc-Andre Fleury</a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">At present, there are 32 teams in the National Football League, 31 teams in the National Hockey League, and 30 in both Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. That's 123 if you lost count. With that, there have officially been 71 modern-era "expansion teams" into the four major North American sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) — 26 in hockey, 18 in basketball, 14 in baseball, 12 in football. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Only one, the California Golden Seals of the NHL, outright ceased operations. Technically speaking, their brief California-born, Ohio-raised history still lives inside the current Dallas Stars. But that's a wild story for later in this piece. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Every other expansion team is playing to this day, in some form or fashion. Many entered and have already been renamed or altogether relocated. Only two can lay claim to joining as an expansion team and changing cities* twice: Kansas City Scouts - Colorado Rockies - New Jersey Devils (NHL), and Buffalo Braves - San Diego Clippers - Los Angeles Clippers (NBA). Talk about some failed market research. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">*<i>The </i></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><i>Chicago Packers/Zephyrs - Baltimore/Capital Bullets - Washington Bullets/Wizards of the NBA were not included. The 1973 relocation of Baltimore to Landover (30 miles away) kept the team in Maryland while carrying a "Capital" moniker. A year later, they changed it "Washington" to fully represent the metropolitan area. This means the subsequent move to a downtown D.C. arena (1997) should not be characterized as a city change. </i></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The rest of the 123 pro teams — the "Original 52" — </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">can trace their lineage back to either charter membership in a extant league (think Cincinnati Reds, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bears) or absorption into a present-day league from one that is now defunct (think Indiana Pacers, Edmonton Oilers, and Kansas City Chiefs). </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Of the 71 built from whole cloth, the following were the only franchises to ever enter a "Big Four" league all by themselves. Note: The number at the end is the team's winning percentage in their inaugural season:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1925 - New York Giants (NFL) - .666</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1953 - Baltimore Colts (NFL) - .250</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1960 - Dallas Cowboys (NFL) - .042</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1961 - Chicago Packers (NBA) - .225</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1961 - Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - .214</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1966 - Chicago Bulls (NBA) - .407</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1966 - Atlanta Falcons (NFL) - .214</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1967 - New Orleans Saints (NFL) - .214</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1974 - New Orleans Jazz (NBA) - .280</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1980 - Dallas Mavericks (NBA) - .183</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1998 - Nashville Predators (NHL) - .346</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1999 - Atlanta Thrashers (NHL) - .238</span></li>
<li><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">1999 - Cleveland Browns (NFL) - .125</span></b></li>
<li><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">2002 - Houston Texans (NFL) - .250</span></b></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">2004 - Charlotte Bobcats (NBA) - .220</span></li>
<li><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">2017 - Vegas Golden Knights (NHL) - .665</span></b></li>
</ul>
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<div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Excluded from this group — at my discretion — are the 1991 San Jose Sharks. And here's why: Did they enter that season as the only new team in the NHL? Yes. Were they the only team to take part in a talent-redistribution draft that offseason? No. And this is where it gets fascinating. It's also</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> where the Barons story comes full circle. Certainly n</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">ot my strength, but I'll try to make this concise: </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Cleveland's own George and Gordon Gund initially held a minority stake in the California [Golden] Seals — officially born from scratch as an NHL club in 1967. From the get-go, the situation never worked in Oakland. Couldn't get an arena deal done in San Francisco. They convinced the majority owner to come "home" to Northeast Ohio in 1976. Called themselves the Cleveland Barons. Limped across the finish line in year one, dead last in their division. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Financially, nothing was really any better after the move. Rent was "too damn high." Majority owner sold his interest to the Gunds and was out. The brothers tried to inject some into the club the following year, but results were relatively unchanged. After year two in Cleveland (Richfield to be exact), further relocation seemed imminent. But they weren't the only ones in the unstable league with that same problem. Owners in Minnesota were somehow in worse financial trouble and planned to close up shop for good. NHL president John Ziegler agreed to a plan in which the Gunds bought out the North Stars while retaining the Barons. The two rosters would then be merged into a super team — in quantity and not quality. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The brothers felt Minnesota was the better place to base their amalgam franchise: cheaper arena to operate, deeper hockey roots, longer tenure in their city, etc. Did not have any plans to call the "new" team the Cleve-sota Star Barons </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">like the Philly-Pitt Steagles of 1943 </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">(total missed opportunity if you ask me). The Gunds brought along their team's history and statistics from time spent in Oakland and Cleveland, blended it with anything prior accomplished by Minnesota — who entered the league the same year as the Seals -- and carried on as the North Stars like nothing ever happened. Essentially, it revised history to say the 1967 NHL expansion only brought in five clubs (Penguins, Flyers, Blues, Kings, and North Stars) instead of six. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The team actually got to the Stanley Cup Final three years later (1981). About this time, the brothers also bought the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not pertinent to this story, but it did save the NBA franchise from moving to Toronto. Fun fact. Times were good, but of course, they didn't last long. They needed out of the money pit that Minnesota had become. <i>Didn't the guy you bought it from want to leave? Why would it be any different for you? </i>Their solution: Back to Northern California. </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Really?</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">You were just there and it didn't work.</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">You moved twice just end up in the same place? </i><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Even though it was San Jose this time around, and not San Francisco or Oakland, Ziegler said no to that plan. If they wanted to be in the Bay Area, they had to sell the North Stars to a league-approved owner and submit a bid for an expansion team. In 1990, they did and they did. The North Stars became someone else's problem and the Gunds were granted the San Jose Sharks. Definition of irony: the Sharks played their first two seasons in an arena, called the Cow Palace, that the league deemed unfit for NHL play way back when the Seals hoped to use it. It hadn't gotten any better. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">But, taking a chance on an upstart Silicon Valley, 14 years after leaving the region, did prove to be the right call. They got a new arena built in 1993 and have won six division titles in the 2000s. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Also, ditching the North Stars worked out quite well. That team had to move to Dallas in 1993 for a myriad of strange reasons you'd never believe (Anaheim was already promised to Disney so a kid's movie could be marketed, the owner's wife made him move the team due to sexual harassment charges, and there was even a good ol' fashioned Coca-Cola/Pepsi dispute). </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">All these crazy, intertwined plots</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> shed light on how volatile</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> the National Hockey League was in the 1970s. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">They also</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> explain how goaltender Gilles Meloche ranks fifth all-time in Dallas Stars' wins </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">by playing games 250 for California, 105 for Cleveland, and 327 for Minnesota. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Told you it was a good story.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">So what does any of this have to do with keeping the 1991 Sharks off the list? Well, since the sale of the North Stars and the assumption of ownership in San Jose were both being brokered by the same group, there needed to be a formal set of checks and balances. The Gunds were entitled to take members of the North Stars' roster they had constructed with them to California, but only after new ownership was given a chance to create a protected player list. Otherwise, San Jose could have run off with all the North Stars' best players (foreshadowing, Cleveland). The teleconference will forever be remembered as the "1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts"; the first of its kind in any sport.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Minnesota roped off 14 skaters and two goalies into the untouchable zone. This included a 19 year-old Derian Hatcher and a 21 year-old Mike Modano. The Sharks then had the ability to draw that same quantity away from what was left of the North Stars' organization. After that initial redistribution of wealth, the two teams — now with an equal total of sixteen players to their names — went back-and-forth plucking unprotected players from the league's 20 other teams; traditional two-franchise expansion draft. Ergo, San Jose never entered the NHL under the same setting as a Nashville or Atlanta, even though they were a solo expansion team. They were undermanned by having to split a talent pool just like so many before. Their inaugural season provided fans with just 17 wins (only 11 in year two), allowing the most goals and scoring the fewest. The ordeal sent a crippling blow to Minnesota as well. A year after appearing in the Stanley Cup Final, they finished with a 32-42-6 record (70 points) and lost in the first round of the 1992 playoffs. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Meanwhile, in the NFL: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The Cleveland Browns make the solo-entrant expansion team list, even though their settlement with Art Modell would have you believe otherwise. When new Cleveland ownership bought back their ancestry from Baltimore, official record keeping had to be fudged as to who was actually entering the league. The Browns had feverishly (and successfully) negotiated that it be known their "Est'd." date was to remain unchanged as 1946 — with a three season hiatus from play. But someone had to account for the expansion NFL experienced in the late '90s. The fallout from that deal is in the archives, on a page the league hopes future generations gloss right over. In their neat and tidy world, our great-grandchildren will accept that the 1996 Baltimore Ravens were the expansion team and not ask further questions. The Browns never moved; simply pushed pause to come back just the same in 1999. It is utterly ridiculous, but look it up. It makes for a hilarious disconnect from reality: Of the 57 guys that dressed for the Browns during their 1995 season, 31 appeared the following year in the purple and black of the Ravens. Talk about an expansion team with an affinity for members of one team in particular. It's like they stole the whole team. </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">These aren't the [Browns] you're looking for. </i><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I guess we're also supposed to believe the team that just drafted Baker Mayfield first overall is somehow the same organization as the one that joined the NFL in 1950 — as part of a merger with the All-American Football Conference. Okay, whatever you say, Cleveland. And all Germans were on vacation from 1939-45. The Browns 2.0 were clearly the expansion team, from the draft of that same name they took part in (February 9, 1999) to the 2-14 record. I'm not going to allow the NFL to whitewash the ugliness of that franchise relocation, so for this piece, Baltimore is not going to be retroactively labeled as the franchise that popped up out of nowhere.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"></span></div>
<div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The 1960 Dallas Rangers (renamed the Cowboys six days after the expansion draft) were a tough call on whether to omit or keep. They were formally accepted into the NFL in January of 1960, meaning they missed out on the opportunity to select any college players. The draft was held on November 30, 1959. With twenty rounds, what could have easily become one-third of their roster went to other teams around the league. Clearly, Dallas remained on my list to bolster the sample size. But their on-field success — or lack thereof (0-11-1) — carries an asterisk. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Major League Baseball did not have a single franchise make the list. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">117 years since the American League and National joined up and never once. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">And kudos to them for that. Although it doesn't seem like it should be all that hard to achieve. With every sport, there always seems to be a handful of cities that are willing to bend over backwards for a professional league to come their way. From a stability/competitive balance point of view, it makes no sense to disrupt the homeostasis of an even-numbered group of participants. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">As for the NBA, it was constantly course correcting. Most instances of a single expansion team were to get the league back to even numbers after oversteering. Ironically, the 1966 Bulls righted a wrong created by a previous Chicago expansion franchise. The Packers had caused the imbalance of nine in 1961. But their move to Baltimore, three years later, left a void in the Windy City for a new team to make the NBA ten. After a couple more rounds of two-by-two expansion, the new odd number (17) came from 1970's expansion of three: Cleveland Cavaliers, Buffalo Braves, and Portland Trail Blazers. It was four years before the New Orleans Jazz came around to level the conferences. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Four teams from the American Basketball Association (Indiana, San Antonio, New Jersey, and Denver) were swallowed up in 1976 and brought the total to 22. The league's oversight was in thinking four years was enough time to expand again. Against all better judgment — with a television ratings dip of 26% and 18 clubs losing money the prior year — Dallas and Minneapolis were both awarded expansion bids in 1980. Naturally, Minnesota fell through and the Mavericks entered by themselves. The whole ordeal was rushed and the league was left with 23, a nightmare for the OCD sufferers among us. A second Minneapolis NBA franchise wasn't ready for play until 1989. Worse, 13% of the NBA resided within a 150-mile radius in Texas — that basketball powerhouse state.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Bringing in the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat together was "smart", from a traditional tandem perspective. But that 1988 expansion didn't help the odd numbers any. Nor did the one the following year — the aforementioned Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic. 1995 saw the NBA double down on Canadian franchises, ushering in the short-lived Vancouver Grizzlies and long-overdue Toronto Raptors. Look it up, kids; the first professional basketball game was played in Toronto. It took the league up to 2004 to finally settle on that 30th team, the Charlotte Bobcats. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">You can see that the Golden Knights are hardly the first to ever join a league by themselves — sixteenth, in fact. So what's my issue with them being good right away, while the others on the list get a pass? Let's first examine why three of them are denoted in bold.</span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Interestingly, the darkened teams only begin to show up recently on the timeline. That's because a little item known as the "hard" salary cap didn't pop up in the sports vernacular until the mid-1990s. Sure, wage ceilings date all the way back to the Great Depression. Pressures of the financial times forced owners to keep player compensation low. Even the great Babe Ruth took a major pay cut from 1931-1933. But the first league to ever implement a true league-wide sanction on spending was the National Hockey League. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">That same era of MLB belt-tightening forced the NHL to put the bar at $62,500 per team. It was a pool of money that no club could exceed, nor dedicate more than $7,000 to any single player. It was the first legislation of its kind in professional sports. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Since the Great Depression salary cap of the NHL was necessitated by crisis rather than free will, historians tend to award the first salary cap to the National Basketball Association in 1983. And who spearheaded that initiative? None other than Gary Bettman, then the NBA's third in command — behind commissioner Larry O'Brien (current championship trophy namesake) and executive vice president David Stern (commissioner from 1984-2014). </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">That cap was, and still is, "soft" for professional basketball. But it was always the desire of Bettman to get a firmer grasp on wage regulations — those that were unilaterally agreed upon by all franchise owners. In 1994, a decisive precedent was set, that would aid his long-term vision. T</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">he National Football league gave the world the first "hard" salary cap. At this point, however, Bettman had lost all authority over what the NBA could negotiate with its players' association. He was wooed into the foreign (for him) world of hockey. In 1993, the league was transitioning from a president-led system to that of a commissioner. They tabbed Bettman as their man and he won the election in a landslide. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">As chief representative of owners' interests, Bettman came in swinging with the idea of a hard salary cap. The NFL "victory" was the wind in his sails. He may not have been able to fully execute it in basketball, but had a new guinea pig in hockey. To Bettman's dismay, he was viewed as too much of an outsider — proposing too many new changes, too early on — to have any measure pass. A labor dispute cost each NHL club 36 games of the 1994-95 season, courtesy of a 104-day lockout. The players were none to pleased to hear that escalating salaries were on the chopping block. The owners were certainly all ears, though. Whenever the time for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) rolled around, you could bet a cap was going to be high on the wish list. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Without fail — exactly one decade later — players (and fans) lost all leverage to prevent a salary cap from coming. The entire regular season and playoffs were cancelled in 2004-05; the first year without awarding the Stanley Cup since the 1919 flu epidemic. The inability to display their talents in living rooms across the world left the NHLPA helpless. They had to concede something to owners to get the lights turned back on. Hence the relentless booing that awaits Bettman whenever he makes his annual on-ice appearance to present this year's trophy. It's become a unified, timed-honored tradition of the NHL supporter, no matter which team wins. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The devastating low point for the sport made conditions ripe for sweeping changes to the league. Most notably, the NHL would return in 2005-06 with not just any type of salary cap, but one that is ironclad with its upper tolerance. The numbers have steadily risen over the years since, but this unwavering system is the same one in place to this day. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">This makes Vegas just the third major professional sports franchise in North American history to enter a league as the one and only expansion team </span><b style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">and</b><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> have a hard salary cap in place. That is huge. That is the piece to this discussion that everyone seems to be skimming past.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">True, the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets, Part II) did become the NBA's newest franchise under the framework of a salary cap. However, they are not in bold over a key distinction; the league's soft cap grants numerous exemptions on spending for player retention. The NHL's salary cap, or as it is cleverly translated in lawyer prose — the "Upper Limit of the Payroll Range" — has no such wiggle room. There's no "I'll go way over the number and just pay a slap-on-the-wrist luxury tax" like there is in Major League Baseball. This is important to understand as the sports economics go on. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Why do any of these distinctions matter? Well, when you enter a league as a new club, there's an Expansion Draft. And the salary rules and restrictions of said league will play a really big part in which names gets placed on an existing team's protected list and who is free to leave. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">As we hone in on Vegas, the 2017 Expansion Draft protection lists began to look unlike any in the history of the sport. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">That's partly because this was the first such draft in the league's history after the adoption of the salary cap. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I like to examine the team that came up a game or two short of lifting Lord Stanley's Cup in the year before a new franchise entered. The timing of an Expansion Draft has to hurt this organization the most; they were arguably one small piece (or some puck luck) from a title and must forfeit a player instead. In 2017, that team was the Nashville Predators. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">They initiated the first of many eyebrow-raising offseason decisions that would permeate throughout the league.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">James Neal is a way better offensive talent than Calle Jarnkrok. Don't @ me; that is objective fact. At the time of Vegas' Expansion Draft, Neal — a ten-year veteran — had never not scored 20 or more goals in a season. He was still only 29 years old. In addition, the second-line winger for the reigning Western Conference Champion was a two-time NHL All-Star. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Jarnkrok's highest goal total of his four prior seasons was 16. By Neal's age 25 season, he had already amassed 254 points. Jarnkrok had 88. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">So why would Nashville guard against Vegas taking Jarnkrok and expose the rights to Neal?</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The New Paradigm in Sports Business: a $5 million hit to the salary cap is why. That, and only one remaining year on Neal's contract before he hit unrestricted free agency. To lock up talent elsewhere on the payroll, Preadators' general manager David Poile had to dangle a star out there to the league as trade bait — only to watch him join the new Western Conference champions for free. Welcome to the new reality of the National Hockey League. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">If you want to make another deep run at the Cup, do you need a James Neal? Probably. But what do you do if you already know you won't be able to afford him in two years when his contract needs renewed? Without the advent of a hard cap, the Nashvilles of the world are able to hang onto more aces and kings in their hand, discarding the decent-enough 9s and 10s instead. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">So, right off the bat, we have the salary cap effect on an Expansion Draft. Vegas should have a 26 year-old, 16-goal scorer in Calle Jarnkrok and not a three-time All-Star in James Neal. The 2002-03 Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild sure had their fair share of Calle Jarnkroks. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Nashville was hardly alone in this. The recent protected lists were jokes of obvious salary dumping. It broke the spirit of an Expansion Draft's purest intention — that of talent retention despite stocking up a new team with able bodies. Credit the inception of a salary cap for this exercise ultimately being taken in a different direction by GMs. It is now an amnesty bag of players deemed "unsignable long-term." The protected list gave management the freedom to part company with expensive talent without the same backlash a fan base would expel over a trade. <i>Our hands were tied. We had to give up players to Vegas.</i></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">It also helps when you have an incompetent franchise in existence to prey on. Over the course of these playoffs, the casual fan has learned who Jonathan Marchessault is. Now, have those same folks answer the question: "Who is Mark Pysyk?" The former was exposed by the Florida Panthers in the 2017 Expansion Draft, became one of the Knight's alternate captains, bought himself an infamous </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattrybaltowski/2018/05/30/jonathan-marchessault-keys-stanley-cup-run-with-vegas-golden-knights-themed-lamborghini/&refURL=https://www.google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Lamborghini</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">, and is currently leading Vegas in postseason goals (8) and assists (11). The latter — a six-year veteran defensemen — has only 59 career points to his name, along with a cumulative -23 (with two teams) and a minuscule 0.88 hits per game average. He's not a lock-down blueline defender nor a scorer, which means he was clearly more of a cornerstone piece for the Panthers to hang onto </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">[eye roll]</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">. Unequivocally, Florida filled out their form with the proper intentions of staying competitive now. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">To many in the business, Marchessault was dangled out there as bait. His conditional status on the unprotected list ensured that any selection of him would also include a trade for Reilly Smith. Even though the 26 year-old forward collected 15 goals and 22 assists in his first (and only) season in Florida, the 5 yrs./$25 million about to be triggered in his contract were hardly appetizing to a team desperately trying to shed cap space. In today's NHL, the Entry Draft (the normal one, with college-aged kids) is ten players deep followed by a whole heap of question marks. Places like Florida know the best way to get better is to assure they'll end up in the "sure thing" land (pick 1-10). We give you talent. We throw in an extra player. We'll even throw in a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-icehockey-nhl-wpg-vgk/nhl-once-kicked-to-curb-golden-knights-coach-heads-to-cup-final-idUSKCN1IM002" target="_blank">new coach and a few assistants</a> if you need those, too. You give us a measly fourth-round pick. We tank. You win. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The issues arise when more than a handful of these tanking clubs decide to off load more than one valuable asset in the same Expansion Draft. Dozens of teams steered Vegas to choosing this guy over that guy, all by using additional rostered players or draft picks as incentives. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">After the breakout performance of Matt Murray in net, the Penguins did everything in their power to soften the dismantling of their back-to-back Cup winning teams. They threw in a second-round draft pick if Vegas went down the path of Marc-Andre Fleury instead of a skater.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Vegas essentially collected Alex Tuch from Minnesota and Shea Theodore from Anaheim as "thank you" notes for not selecting some of their better unprotected players. Boo hoo, Vegas had to settle for Erik Haula (MIN) and Clayton Stoner (ANA) by virtue of those particular package deals. So what? That's four players for the price of two. The conditions were so low-risk for the Golden Knights; they only needed 25% of that particular haul to be worth a damn. Anything beyond that was a bonus. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">These stories of bundling talent and prospects/picks to sway outcomes of Expansion Drafts are not rare in using Vegas as a case study. They are also not unique to just hockey or just the hard salary cap era. What is unique is not having to share that pool of talent with anybody else. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">And let's throw in yet another monkey wrench into this: a newer NHLPA-bartered creation, the "no-movement" clause. In instances like Ottawa, ownership would have certainly loved to rid themselves of a terrible contract given to an injury-plagued Dion Phaneuf in 2016. But, because of a no-movement clause (that each player must voluntarily waive), he could not be exposed to Vegas. That's right. The Golden Knights not only got better because teams dumped talent and draft picks in their laps, but their future opponents also had to retain dead weight to ensure that they stayed worse. In a world where you can't save everybody, it sure sucks when you're contractually obligated to save someone you'd rather not. With one less protected player to grant to defenseman Marc Methot, he became a Golden Knight for two hours, then flipped to Dallas for a goaltending prospect and a 2020 second-round pick. Ottawa is now weaker while Vegas became so awash in riches that they could flippantly take a flier on a prospect and lottery ticket. Just by existing, they earned an unjust right to have more talent than they know what to do with. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">For perspective, we'll use the last NHL Expansion Draft prior to that of Vegas: the pre-lockout/salary cap 2002 inclusion of Columbus and Minnesota. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The protection rules were the same in 2002 as they were last summer: 12 or 15 depending on what you wanted to do with your netminder situation. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Teams could protect one goalie, five defenseman, and nine forwards OR two goalies, three defenseman, and seven forwards. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">However, the obvious difference was in the number of teams pulling guys away from existing clubs. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">26 teams gave players; new-ish franchises, Nashville and Atlanta, had their entire rosters protected. Two teams splitting a pot of unwanted fourth-liners and platoon defensemen, since all 26 clubs that participated had no upper limit to their spending habits on existing talent. This is how God intended this process to occur. This is Noah's Ark Expansionism: everything entering two-by-two. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Seattle wasn't ready to enter in 2018, but has already been tacitly granted the 32nd franchise for 2021. I have theories regarding collusion on this matter, as Quebec City's bid to make it a two-team Expansion Draft was conveniently deferred. Rather than wait for Seattle, Bettman & Co. pushed on ahead with imbalanced Eastern and Western Conferences. It sure felt like the league only wanted one team jockeying for the the available talent.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Las Vegas is a lucrative town, but (pun intended) it was a gamble. There's no track record there to gauge sustained professional sports interest and it is a town where the countless entertainment options put both locals and tourists into a conundrum on what to do with disposable income. If the Vegas team isn't winning, why in the world would you go? Now, that's true in every sports market, but not like Sin City. The "what else would you rather be doing" question is easier answered. In short, it needed to work in Vegas right away or it wasn't going to work at all. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Having Seattle at the table would have put the long-term success in both cities in jeopardy. If you follow a "Best Available Player" ideology for a two-team mock draft, Vegas would have picked Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) and Seattle would have likely grabbed a solid defenseman in Nate Schmidt (Washington). Vegas would have then reunited Fleury with former teammate James Neal (Nashville) and Seattle would have selected Jonathan Marchessault (Florida). Debate that order if you must. Either way, you see how this begins to look like two, independent 70-point teams pretty quickly? The system is ordinarily designed for cannibalization.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">When the Minnesota Wild left their expansion proceedings, they walked away with 27 players and two draft picks (as a reward for not taking Evgeni Nabokov from the Sharks). All told, the Vegas Golden Knights received <b>37 NHL players and 12 draft picks</b> this go 'round. I'd say that adequately stocked the shelves; quite a haul for one weekend in June. And the league was more than complicit in this. They did not want to have another Atlanta on their hands — an expansion team that required ownership change and/or relocation barely a decade into the process. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">So, is Golden Knights' general manager George McPhee really such a genius? The odds-on General Manager of the Year is being portrayed as the <a href="https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2018/04/18/dont-blame-expansion-draft-rules-for-vegas-success-blame-your-gm/" target="_blank">man who took all of his peers to the cleaners</a>. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Let's pump the breaks on that talk. </span>Even the league's worst front office should be able to find 23 players out of that deep of a pool to dress on a nightly basis.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Some voters will anoint McPhee the league's top executive simply for the blind faith in one man: William Karlsson. T</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">he Swedish forward "flamed out" in both Anaheim and Columbus, arguably due to poor expectations management and not because he lacked the requisite skills. He was a second-round draft pick in 2011, but failed to post a double-digit goal season in any of his first four years. I'll contend that Karlsson was discarded because he never got the chance to take on the big minutes and goal-scoring responsibilities. He simply needed to get out of situations where the team he was playing for already had two cohesive, well-established, star-studded forward lines. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">In his first season, the 2014-15 Ducks won the Pacific Division and fell a win shy of the Stanley Cup Final. They were so loaded with top-line scoring (Corey Perry: 33 G, Ryan Getzlaf: 25 G, Matt Beleskey: 22 G, Ryan Kesler: 20 G, Andrew Cogliano: 15 G, Kyle Palmieri: 14 G, Jakob Silfverberg: 13 G) that they could part with offense for defense. So, Anaheim packaged their 22 year-old rookie to Columbus in a trade deadline deal for defenseman James Wisniewski. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Life in Columbus was more of the same: a top six forward not granted the chance to crack the top six. The symmetry was uncanny. Last season, the Blue Jackets posted an almost-identical record to '14-'15 Ducks — 50 wins, 108 points vs. 51 wins, 109 points. One way Karlsson's new team did surpass those Ducks was in number of forwards over the 12-goal plateau (8) — Cam Atkinson: 35 G, Nick Foligno: 26 G, Brandon Saad: 24 G, Sam Gagner: 18 G, Boone Jenner: 18 G, Josh Anderson: 17 G, Alexander Wennberg: 13 G, Scott Hartnell: 13 G. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">But because Karlsson was not among <i>that</i> list, he found himself on another. Executives placed the young center in the club's pool of Expansion Draft-eligible players. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Columbus finished 2016-17 fifth in the entire league with 3.0 goals per game. Like his time in Anaheim, the team did nearly everything right — requiring the eventual Stanley Cup champion to eliminate them. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Someone please show me where there was room for more production out of Karlsson in limited third-line minutes. I'm not sure how anyone could label him a bust for either organization. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">So, to me, this <i>Cinderella</i> story is not as much of a scrapheap reclamation project as the national media would have you believe. Karlsson never had to carry a team in scoring; he was always on a roster with at least four guys coming off a season of 20+ goals. This just wasn't the case in Vegas. Of the bodies that broke camp with the Knights, only Jonathan Marchessault and James Neal posted a 20-goal season the year before (30 in Florida and 23 in Nashville, respectively). Someone had to step up. And it wasn't all that shocking to see "Wild Bill" Karlsson be that guy. It's not atypical to witness a 25 year-old get better, more mature. The game slows down and the change of scenery takes the pressure off. How much of the slack he picked up (43 goals; third in the league to Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Liaine)... now that was surprising.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">In writing this, I discussed its subject matter and my stance on it to several friends. Most said something to the tune of "Stop being such a Debbie Downer." Note: Their language was cleaned up and amended for print. I get it, though. I'm supposed to sit back and let this fun wave wash over me. It's a great story and putting the NHL in living rooms and parts of our country it hasn't ever been before. Insta-contenders are good for the sport... then I stop myself. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">What am I caring about any of that for? I'm a hockey lifer; spending 13 years of my childhood outside of Pittsburgh will do that to you. I would be perfectly content if hockey had a fanhood entrance exam. I'm not out to grow the sport beyond my core group of friends, former players, and diehards like me. I could care less about the casual fans who enjoy this storyline. #SorryNotSorry</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">With terrible hockey (and even worse finances) in places like Arizona, I still don't know why we needed a 31st franchise in the first place. Put the 30 teams we do have in their proper locations before you move on. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I don't want any new team to jump the line and win a prize as prestigious as Lord Stanley's Cup this soon. Great Canadian Hall of Fame players are rolling over in their graves. I think of friends that live in St. Louis, my home since 2010. A modern commissioner has created an unfair formula that has repercussions felt by a century-old league. How can you hand the Cup to this city and ever show your face in a place like Buffalo? The very salary cap you put in place to help small-market clubs has backfired into a race to simply be the newest face in the crowd. Get ready for immediate success, Seattle. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I even let my mind go to Vegas' final opponent, the Washington Capitals. Even though I despise them, I would rather see them hoist their first — in their franchise's 37th year — than have a record-setting inaugural season get even more absurd. And that makes me sad. I don't like killing fun things and always looking for the worst. This Cup victory could mean a three-peat for my favorite Penguin for nearly a decade. There's not a guy on Vegas I don't like. But that clouds the objective judgment that this is all wrong.</span></div>
goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-91747322480450630992017-10-16T21:24:00.000-04:002018-12-29T23:23:18.031-05:00Small-College Athletic Planning, Part I: Studying the Great Predecessors <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ecz6YJApxYB-rFBkUt1JaIWdYg6hC-gYKRtUJlpXzE2F7UmCv4Y0h8pbg7RUziyZ1AvRGz_WQPF2ggBY47Q8j7MkJCL9YMvKiOi7L0Ai8BpYTK7DB-EDlwJbcUIpK9r-6piRMnB5MAI/s1600/new_infield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="980" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ecz6YJApxYB-rFBkUt1JaIWdYg6hC-gYKRtUJlpXzE2F7UmCv4Y0h8pbg7RUziyZ1AvRGz_WQPF2ggBY47Q8j7MkJCL9YMvKiOi7L0Ai8BpYTK7DB-EDlwJbcUIpK9r-6piRMnB5MAI/s400/new_infield.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The struggle for most small-college </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">athletic departments comes from an </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">unsatisfied need for facilities to call their own. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even my alma mater, Division-I (and FBS) Kent State University, has had to deal with the chaos of disjointed athletic facilities over the years. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our "new" (1999) softball field was placed two miles east of the baseball field (1966); which, in its own right, is a mile south of the school's main gymnasium — headquarters for the entire athletic department. Nothing was convenient. Winter baseball practices, held in the football/track teams' fieldhouse, were nearly a town away from the classrooms and dorms. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am told the weight room could also found there somewhere. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anyway, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the reason for this sprawl is all too common across collegiate sports — not just for the D-I mid-majors and below. Timing is everything. An institution typically builds when it can, where it can. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Naturally, stadiums have different shelf lives and sometimes the older ones lie in a section of the college opposite contemporary expansion. In Kent, Ohio, the off-campus football stadium (1969) was viewed as the cornerstone for anticipated eastward growth that, as of today, has never fully bridged a serious gap. Decades later, when the university gobbled up additional property to the south, developers abandoned the east plan altogether. Some sports never left their established roots among the academic buildings. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The result is a piecemealed map with scattered islands of athletic grounds from different eras.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That elusive linked athletic complex of new (or renovated) facilities is tough to pull off. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The modern price tag of a single stadium/arena is a non-starter for many institutions. Asking a board of trustees or local government to finance more than one at a time? Not a chance. Thus, i</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">t takes serious forethought and restraint to execute a seamless network of nearly-simultaneous new builds specifically for sports. The master plan needs long-term buy-in, so any change in regime cannot derail the train; funneling</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the earmarked reserves towards a different vision. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes this means convincing a large group of people that an empty lot should remain empty until the necessary cash for a stadium is present. When respected deans and professors envision this recently-purchased university land as the shiny new home of their department — for a fraction of the cost — a ballfield or gym becomes a dead-on-the-vine proposition. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The patience component comes into play as giant stadium projects take more time to complete than ever in history. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Getting an in-house "yes" vote is not as much of win as it used to be. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Simply accruing the adjacent acreage can be a gauntlet of red tape. Ground breaking ceremonies sure are fun, but the final reward may not be truly capitalized for a decade. Sorry, high-school junior, it'll be built the year after you graduate from our university. </span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Everywhere can't be College Station, Texas — the perfect combination of room for expansion, a cohesive plan, an unrivaled affinity for sports, and the type of boosters/alumni that will stop at nothing to fund continued athletic success. Texas A&M is one of many big-name schools with a main campus that truly makes you question the administration's order of importance for education and sport. I've colored their campus map red to show all the acreage that is devoted to athletics (<i>below</i>). It is a preposterous percentage of the total land owned by the university, and does not even include the parking lots created for the sole purpose of supplementing these stadiums and arenas. </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Certainly not the only offenders, Texas A&M's College Station campus begins to resemble a factory driven by collegiate-athlete revenue. The f</span></span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">orm follows its function: Resources go to the line item in the school's budget that can show the greatest ROI.</span></span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> It's tough to hate on it; that's just good business. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="724" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pEWz69WCgtPmSzzXD87sb0NOkRhbb_jA-dxNZBnU6FRoxJC_nCiP8WrGy3D87fQNArY5d0Mx5f4dyVJXw0JJ2wJ9jAitUn-yQY6cnEeiC4x1rEaCqiVb1118exkUaIqrVYr9Lj3MZOo/s400/college+station.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Combining Texas A&M's three largest sports venues, there are over 121,000 seats; a school of 69,000 </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the Division-III level, it is literally a different world. But t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he endowment sure ain't the issue. Hell, some private D-III schools could buy a Texas A&M if they wanted.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Able to match ambitious master plans of their SEC counterparts, these money-rich small colleges wisely choose to stay in their respective lanes when it comes to sports. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In recent times, the highest echelon of collegiate sports has clearly jumped down a rabbit hole. The argument/absolution for an athletic architecture binge typically follows this consistent line of thinking: If a school desires to educate, train, and prepare a chemistry major to be the finest chemist in the post-graduate work place, then the laboratories on campus need to reflect the best physical resources at the "real world's" disposal. This tricky double-standard gets played against academia — in favor of athletic infrastructure overhauls — as more and more students join the workforce in the sports industry every year. The training ground has to look the part of the pros in all fields of study. </span><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the lower levels of the NCAA, however, you don't have to keep up with the Joneses in quite the same manner. Locker rooms and athlete lounges that rival palatial hotel lobbies — all done to lure five-star blue chippers — are unnecessary expenses. Without a single dollar in athletic scholarships able to be dulled out, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">future stars of the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball are beyond a rarity in Division III. Since the s</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">tudent-athletes have an undeniably lower athletic ceiling, there's a similarly modest bar for student-body enthusiasm in attending games. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This means no need for that 100,000-seat football stadium or 25,000-seat arena. </span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The games remain purely extracurricular, amateur activities. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The over-arching focus of the small private college is (justifiably) placed on the academics. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">T</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">his doesn't mean that nicer sports and recreation facilities are not as important to Division-III coaches from a recruiting angle... or university presidents as an enrollment enhancer.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">With athletic venues as the catalyst, Western Pennsylvania's Washington & Jefferson College and southeast Michigan's Adrian College discovered a path to increased academic interest. Since the turn of the century, both</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> have achieved major student population spikes due to a similar sports-based "admissions yield" model. The new concept had a simple — yet radically against the grain — order of operation for future capital improvement: Stadia, first; academic buildings and student housing to follow. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Though the endpoints appear alike, the institutions arrived in two distinct ways. W&J chose the </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Swiss-Army approach; a striking, singular facility that could be configured several unique ways. Adrian, on the other hand, had an abundance</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> of old farm land under control. This allowed them to opt for a volume scheme; a greater quantity of new fields/courts/rinks than the school even had offered sports. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These excellent case studies, on small-college success, played out in areas of the country I'm quite familiar with. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">W&J is a mere 60 miles from my boyhood home in Ligonier, PA, while my parents have resided in Adrian, MI since 2001. Too small for most folks to know of their existence, these liberal arts institutions were actually quite present in my consciousness growing up. </span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">And I do recall hearing rumblings about their plans for "wild spending" on recreational facilities. After all, my father was in the industry (an executive director at several YMCAs) and I was an aspiring architect (with a passion for stadium design). But in both examples, I fell a day late and a dollar short on fully appreciating the brilliant work done by Jeffrey Docking and Rick Creehan — right in my "backyard." </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The tandem first came together at W&J in 2002, with the arrival of a Creehan as the school's new athletic director. At that time, Docking was the dean of student affairs. As luck would have it, the region was experiencing a bit of a sports boom. I</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ndependent professional baseball was coming to town. The Frontier League's Canton Crocodiles,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> renamed the Washington Wild Things, had a new ballpark under construction — four miles southwest of W&J. The 3,200-seat stadium, off I-70 in North Franklin Township, became a magnet for the business development interests of Washington & Jefferson College. Like so many American communities (Arlington, TX; Kansas City, KS; Bridgeview, IL; Glendale, AZ; Sandy, UT; Cumberland, GA; and dozens more), a stadium placed in a once-vapid suburban setting suddenly became an oasis of activity in a desert of major interstate exchanges. For western Pennsylvania, Falconi Field (now <a href="https://mlblogstheballparkguide.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/consol-energy-park-panorama-home-plate.jpg" target="_blank">CONSOL Energy Park</a>) was that nexus for supplemental growth (hotels, restaurants, etc.) around its perimeter. </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Creehan and Docking rode this wave of local athletic investment to roll out their Enrollment-Growth Model 1.0 — establishing men's and women's lacrosse, men's water polo, and field hockey as new W&J offerings. It was the first of several instances where these two men would lay out a path to consistently larger freshmen classes, beginning and ending with expanded sports programs. The next move was to create a new home for men's and women's soccer, baseball, and the freshly-minted lacrosse teams. In two short years, Ross Memorial Park (baseball) and Alexandre Stadium (soccer/lacrosse) — then the largest continuous expanse of FieldTurf on the planet — was completed. The multipurpose complex, in the shadow of CONSOL Energy Park, adapts its 233,000 square feet (5.34 acres) to accommodate the five varsity sports. Setting up for various practices and games throughout the year is a choreographed dance. But even with temporary fencing for the outfield wall, the facility truly looks the part. So much so that the site has been frequently called upon to host the Mideast Regional of the NCAA D-III baseball tournament. </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Independently, each program has a top-notch Division-III facility. Together, the collection of fields is a testament to pooling resources. From a cost-saving, ecologically-conscious perspective, Ross Memorial Park is not unlike the "cookie cutter" days of American stadium architecture. The 1960s and '70s gave us the nearly-identical <a href="https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/RFK_upclose_AP.jpg" target="_blank">Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium</a> (Washington, DC - 1961), <a href="http://2sei0v2s93y31n9ndy1lrzmh.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Shea-stadium-online.jpg" target="_blank">Shea Stadium</a> (New York - 1964), <a href="http://www.thisgreatgame.com/afcs-main.jpg" target="_blank">Fulton County Stadium</a> (Atlanta - 1965), the <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/ae/6a/3aae6afebcbf944c3baef516bd4a335b.jpg" target="_blank">Astrodome</a> (Houston - 1965), <a href="https://tours.atu2.com/files/venues/480.jpg" target="_blank">Alameda County Coliseum</a> (Oakland - 1966), <a href="http://stlouisbbwaa.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/08/busch-stadium.jpg" target="_blank">Busch Stadium</a> (St. Louis - 1966), <a href="http://www.thisgreatgame.com/qualcomm-panorama.jpg" target="_blank">Jack Murphy Stadium</a> (San Diego - 1967), <a href="https://theclio.com/web/ul/23210.49522.jpg" target="_blank">Riverfront Stadium</a> (Cincinnati - 1970), <a href="https://deadballbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/pittsburghpostcard.jpg" target="_blank">Three Rivers Stadium</a> (Pittsburgh - 1970), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/vet10950.jpg" target="_blank">Veterans Stadium</a> (Philadelphia - 1971), and the <a href="http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/kingdome_topv2.jpg" target="_blank">Kingdome</a> (Seattle - 1976)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. Throw in Cleveland's <a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ckPWs-mafmY/hqdefault.jpg" target="_blank">Municipal Stadium</a> (1931) and Minneapolis' <a href="http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/metro16_top.jpg" target="_blank">Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome</a> (1982) and nearly half the U.S. cities that had an NFL franchise </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> an MLB club erected one of these ghastly multipurpose concrete donuts. Print them all out as flashcards and watch your grandkids fail the "Who's Who" quiz. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Model of Efficiency: W&J maximized every inch of their six off-campus acres </span></i></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKi250hSTN_vX4LbZRyxI_OFjBHCkfTIqmph9HIO1yOZuSS6uDArhKCH-_TvLnFNeL6z6caLcIYOw51swEf5dYCjfyC9MC8lFTaG7TZl_r3kemvTmAFexlksXDMlf4UC_HMafZW6XLJs/s1600/ross+memorial2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But, from an aesthetic perspective, Ross Memorial Park & Alexandre Stadium couldn't be further from those atrocities of the past. Its small scale becomes the saving grace in deeming the project a greater success. There are 400 chairback seats in Washington & Jefferson's athletic complex, not 60,000. The placeless symmetry of all the aforementioned professional stadiums existed because of a simple revenue-optimization formula: Get the most butts sitting around an adaptable field using the least amount of material. A circular footprint will get you there every time. But sports should be about so much more than that. The character and charm — abundant in modern baseball stadiums especially — were noticeably absent, as none of the design elements needed to respond to contextual site constraints. The sites were all empty. </span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">In short, multi-sport does not have to mean bland. With a little creativity, each tenant can be provided with individualized care and attention. Whether its lacrosse, soccer, or baseball, the goal is to place the spotlight on game/match day. Make the sport du jour feel like it is being played in a standalone entity and have the others fade to the background. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The genius of Ross Memorial Park & Alexandre Stadium is its orientation and overlapping. The three pitcher's mounds — two bullpens and the main stage — are never in conflict should the soccer or lacrosse teams need two concurrent fields. Thus, the "bump" doesn't need to be a portable turf variety. It is constructed with honest-to-goodness dirt and clay, as is the home plate circle. A rarity in today's synthetic sports world, having hitters actually dig in and catchers get dirty is the way it should be. The whole place feels quirky like the Golden Age of Ballparks, rather than stodgy like the forgettable multipurpose days in the pro ranks. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The true testament to a successful element of sports architecture is if the quality of design/construction trickles down to the players. Look good, play good [sic]. If that's the accepted standard, then you can officially call Ross Memorial Park a success. In May, W&J's baseball team fell one win short of a D-III National Championship, losing two games to one in the final series. It was the school's first College World Series appearance, and only the second sport to finish as National Runners-Up — the top honor in the W&J trophy case. They are a program on the rise in more ways than one.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Washington & Jefferson College was a nice appetizer for Docking and Creehan, but Adrian College was the real <i>pièce de résistance</i>. As Dr. Docking said, "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The problem was that I wasn't the president there [W&J], and neither was Rick, so we couldn't convince the administration to put the entire plan in place. When I got the presidency at Adrian [in 2005], one of the things I said to myself and to Rick was, 'I'm the decision-maker. We're going to put this entire thing in motion.'"</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Titled "Renaissance", the bold, two-phase campaign called for an immediate shopping spree on new athletic facilities: An on-campus football stadium with its corresponding practice fields, soccer/lacrosse field, dedicated stadium for track and field, baseball and softball complex with indoor batting cages, twelve tennis courts, and ice arena. Sounded reasonable for a small school hemorrhaging $1.2 million a year. </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Cue up the Ray Kroc monologue to open <i>The Founder</i>; where Michael Keaton (fellow </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kent State alum)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> speaks directly to camera: "Increase supply, demand will follow. Chicken and the egg. Do you follow my logic?" Fortunately for all involved, the Adrian College board of trustees did. They signed off on the "forward-thinking" idea.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It only took six years for enrollment to double — now over 1,670 students. In that same span, the operating budget more than doubled to $55 million. Fundraising exploded, a trend capped in December of 2011 by the single largest gift ($20 million) in the school's history. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">U.S. News & World Report</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> has taken notice of the transformation; ranking Adrian as a Regional Top Baccalaureate College in the Midwest every year since 2009. On three recent occasions, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Adrian has been named the "#1 Up-and-Coming School in the Midwest".</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for the athletics — the focus of all that initial investing — one of the worst-performing colleges in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) saw unprecedented success. The improvements of their baseball team, specifically, worked their way into my life one spring day in 2012. New to the Division-III landscape, I was checking the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">national rankings on my computer. My jaw dropped to see Adrian College two spots ahead of the Washington University in St. Louis team I was coaching. The last time I knew anything about Adrian baseball, they had endured a three-year stretch of dreadful results; a 45-76 record (.371 winning percentage) from 2000-2002. During that same time, my American Legion baseball team shared Adrian's Riverside Park with the college. Had there been an in-house competition, it is fair to say our collection of talented </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">high schoolers</span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> would have won quite handily. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet, in 2012, there Adrian College was: 20th o</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ut of 220+ </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">competing schools. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The correlation between Nicolay Field's inaugural season (2008) and the school's nine consecutive MIAA Championships</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> cannot be ignored. The Bulldogs </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">have now won 30+ games each season for ten straight years. They didn't make a coaching change. They didn't overhaul their practice routines or abandon their old philosophies. They did, however, change the entire culture of athletics in that town through mass construction of new facilities. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A top-tier venue garnered a sizable increase to the number of high-quality D-III athletes in Adrian's recruiting class. The rest has snowballed off the positive inertia; that first taste of success bred even more to follow. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To date, the school has had eight players earn All-American honors; each played for Adrian College after the "Renaissance" project was completed. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More than any other tier of organized team sports, coaching in college is more about "Johnnys and Joes" and not the "X's and O's". A program can experience a total turnaround with the right bodies among the incoming freshmen class. And the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2011/11/22/2577616/oregon-football-nike-uniforms" target="_blank">data</a> is finally out there to substantiate a long-held claim: Athletic victories pile up for the schools with the stadiums and uniforms that are annually deemed the most attractive by 17 year olds. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Asked if the "admissions yield" model could have worked by fast-tracking a science building instead of a football stadium, Creehan once told <i>Athletic Business Magazine</i> emphatically no. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"The problem is that science professors don't typically sit at their desk night after night making recruiting calls to future scientists. But it's in coaches' DNA." Of all the offices on a college campus, those belonging to each sport's recruiting coordinator are the most active contributors to a sustained enrollment base. With each new athlete comes a new student with an area of study and its healthy volume of classes. Label the schooling a "side effect" or an "afterthought" all you want, but the number of minds for professors to mold <i>does</i> increase. At the Division-III level, this model is certainly taken more seriously. Create more small-college athletic venues — to house these narrow-focused coaches — and the academic side experiences a win as well. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn8HTB7xTRVB_uFGFhMgGDVOld-iA1J4aoOh1cBr6eWHTWAc4-0eZvksILKQjVqK8LLJuu0ywrydbMntSBMuZ7962_jD0iXzSqGApxMJukz0zs3B0CEq6NJ0I2WzaqwOiZxt-CK_aHb0/s1600/adrian-college-facilities-master-plan-square-01_0-460x460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="460" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn8HTB7xTRVB_uFGFhMgGDVOld-iA1J4aoOh1cBr6eWHTWAc4-0eZvksILKQjVqK8LLJuu0ywrydbMntSBMuZ7962_jD0iXzSqGApxMJukz0zs3B0CEq6NJ0I2WzaqwOiZxt-CK_aHb0/s400/adrian-college-facilities-master-plan-square-01_0-460x460.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Small World: St. Louis-based Hastings + Chivetta did the Adrian College master plan</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One such facility request made by Docking was especially puzzling to Adrian's hiring committee. The college had never sponsored any ice sports in its then-146 years of existence. Essentially, Docking was suggesting "build what you don't need now... because someday soon you will." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All told, "Renaissance I" proposed eight new varsity sports, with three requiring a sheet of pristine indoor ice. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">"We have to [build the rink]. This is cold-weather country up here; there is not a whole lot going on between Halloween and the spring thaw in April. Secondly, we have the Red Wings, a dynamic organization, an hour and a half down the road, and there are tons of kids who play hockey up here. There aren't enough places for them to play. If you build an ice rink and tell kids they can play hockey at Adrian, I'm telling you, they'll come out of the woodwork." </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was a little different mindset than the famous </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Field of Dreams</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> adage, because this model focused on creating demand rather than satisfying one that was unknowingly</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> out there.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Docking's rationale behind the $6.5 million Arrington Ice Arena remains a huge takeaway for me; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">something able to be applied in my current hometown. Take his quotes on the reasons why a hockey rink was a natural fit in Adrian. Replace the "cold-weather" with "100%-humidity", then "Red Wings" with "Cardinals"; shorten the distance of said pro team and flip the sport to "baseball". The modified result is just as pertinent as a battle cry for something this community desperately needs. St. Louis <i>is</i> a baseball town — but one without enough high-quality fields. As it currently stands, you either need to be a Dragon (St. Mary's H.S.) or Billiken (the high school or college version) to play amateur baseball on an above-average adult-sized field in the City of Saint Louis. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I believe I have located the perfect location for a local institution to strike a joint venture with the City Parks Department. But who? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint Louis University (D-I), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lindenwood University (D-II), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Maryville University (D-II),</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the University of Missouri-St. Louis (D-II), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Washington University in St. Louis (D-III), Missouri Baptist University (NAIA), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Harris-Stowe State University (NAIA), and St. Louis Community College-Meramec (NJCAA) all have on-campus facilities for baseball. That only leaves Fontbonne University and Webster University as "homeless." The former rents Field #7 inside municipal Shaw Park, where Clayton High School is the primary tenant. It is not even close to sniffing modern collegiate standards. The latter splits time with the Frontier League's Gateway Grizzles and another college (Lindenwood University-Belleville) at GCS Ballpark. The 6,000-seat stadium's only drawback is its location — a 14-mile commute for ballplayers and fans from Webster Groves, MO to Sauget, IL. Pick the wrong time of day and the trek across the Mississippi can take close to an hour. Fontbonne could have far better and Webster could have much closer. They just need the knowledge of precedents set by peers like W&J and Adrian, paired with an out-of-the-box concept. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">My plan doesn't suggest either member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) should build a hockey rink, so clearly I'm not as adventurous as Docking/Creehan. However, it does generate a hybrid of their "Renaissance" playbook. Call it a little of Column A (Washington & Jefferson College's venue adaptability) and a little of Column B (Adrian College's image reinvention). </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Ross Memorial Park & Alexandre Stadium showed the D-III world that a multipurpose stadium can be as beautiful as it is efficient. In a level of the NCAA where sports don't generate revenue, a facility like the one in Pennsylvania provides the blueprint to an exception. You can print money as a regional host in several sports, as well as a non-stop summer camp machine. One continuous playing surface becomes a blank slate for nearly year-round recreational functions. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Meanwhile, Nicolay Field, Arrington Ice Arena, et. alia proved that small colleges need to flip the cart (new athletic facilities) and the horse (winning sports programs). As backwards as it sounds, D-III athletic departments with low on-field success need to be the ones pacing the field with swanky new buildings. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Locally, this describes Fontbonne to a "T" — one shaped like the cross of </span><a href="https://www.fontbonne.edu/wp-content/themes/fontbonne/library/images/logo-fontbonne.png" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Saint John</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">The school is down to an undergraduate enrollment of only 893. Their varsity athletics compete in NCAA Division III. The baseball, softball, track and field, and soccer teams currently pay a fee to practice/play off-campus. Not a one has any future plans on the books to build a university-owned stadium. Any (all) of this sound familiar? Talk about the perfect candidate for the tried-and-true Docking/Creehan Enrollment-Growth Model 2.0. </span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Expansion is tough enough for small colleges, but doubly so for universities that call major metropolitan areas their home. A more densely-built neighborhood means p</span>laces like Fontbonne are hamstrung on perimeter growth. Moving off-campus is an unfortunate inevitability when you become figuratively boxed in. The property values of the professorial mansions — that cozied up to elite private schools in the beginning of last century — are now too astronomical to acquire. There is no chance city institutions like these will ever gain the rights to bulldoze a row of gorgeous houses to put up a pad of concrete and some chalk-lined grass and dirt. Even a staunch athletic complex developer like myself admits that's probably for the best. </span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">The balance must be struck between movement and staying rooted in a community. Image is everything. If satellite campuses are a must, relocation shouldn't drastically alter the college's existing epicenter. Rumors are currently circulating that Fontbonne University is interesting in buying the recently-closed John F. Kennedy High School in Manchester, MO. From a sustainability (and humanity) perspective, I applaud the efforts in saving education facilities in this country. Use of the existing buildings would bolster Fontbonne's offerings to West County adults, who generally require nights and weekend classes if they are to go back for that degree. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">As you read below the fold, however, you come to find that Kennedy High would also become the new home to several athletic teams — baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse. One point for trying to consolidate sports that are littered all over town, but negative 50 points for grabbing at the low-hanging fruit. "They have old fields, we need fields" is too easy of a solution. And when an answer is that simple it usually means it's wrong. Heading west on I-64 the necessary 15 miles is the same problem (in reverse) that currently plagues Webster University baseball players. We've got the West County school going to Illinois and the St. Louis City-ish school going to West County. Someone explain to me how that makes sense to anyone. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">If I'm a future Fontbonne athletic recruit, I have to be told that my practices (six days a week) are — on a good day — 20 minutes away. That sure doesn't seem to be a satisfying message. If I'm going to spend that much time out in Manchester, why would I even bother showing up to class? I'll live out there (in an apartment or with mom and dad) and take the courses online. That, or I'll just go to Maryville or MoBap; they have on-campus athletic complexes and I would pass them twice a day on my commute to our fields.</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">In either case, admissions will struggle to get new bodies to actually step foot in Fontbonne's main-campus buildings. The Clayton location could fade away altogether. At small colleges, especially, the full-time enrollment relies heavily on a student-athlete population. Combine the men's soccer, basketball, and baseball rosters together; you'll have 86 of the 445 undergraduate males at Fontbonne. That is an insane proportion, but not unlike that of a high school. To put these numbers in the context of a large university, <i>The </i>Ohio State University would need an additional 4,193 roster spots — if it was required that 19% of the school's undergraduate men played those three sports. Bringing in student-athletes is more vital to a Fontbonne; they account for a greater percentage of desks in a classroom. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Fontbonne moves athletic facilities even further west, the well of out-of-state candidates will slowly dry up. You see, s</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">tudent-athletes are also heavy contributors to every school's geography diversity. The opportunity of playing a sport collegiately makes incoming freshmen more willing to cross a few borders. Young adults tend to move to places far away for the fun things (pro sports, museums, big concerts, beaches, etc.) they can't get back home. Fontbonne's been dealt a great hand in that department. They are situated in the most desirable location of any school in their conference; easily top 50 in all of Division III. A legitimate city is hard to come by in a landscape full of faith-based private colleges -- with their woodsy beginnings in 6,000-person towns that haven't evolved. But Fontbonne brass seems dead set on giving up this lone marketing chip. Soon, a Griffin student-athlete will be spending a bulk of their extracurricular time in unimaginative suburbia; a place that is readily available at a hundred other Division-III schools. Pizza Hut after practice, anyone?</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Fontbonne needs to think long and hard before it decides to run to West County full go. Manchester, MO is just another Greenville, Eureka, Carlinville, Elsah, or Jacksonville — towns in Illinois that are home to SLIAC rivals. Become just like them and I'll bet recruiting's competitive edge flies right out the window. If this essay has taught nothing else, it is this: Fontbonne has one shot at overcoming the distance. They must build an athletic complex grand enough to make student-athletes forget all about it's lack of convenience and connectivity. Hey, it worked for us at Kent. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">For my take on what and where they should be building, please read Part II of this article. Spoiler alert: It's three minutes from my house.</span></span></div>
goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-18707552138934510302017-05-11T00:00:00.000-04:002018-12-29T23:47:06.276-05:00The Power That's Returned to 'Flower': Revising Marc-Andre's Postseason Legacy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFDBFLUdgPBCcvif-sFug1QFeWrFipPhD-58TiL28d-KI4kcg08MgmQ0_LwJPTbiDWjSca7jDHqJI1vSKEPYKLIJmKWPzpoGyr3XB4caF2_kdA4PC8t1k96ZpcvK0FhOD28hj6-9CN68/s1600/9907810-nhl-pittsburgh-penguins-at-dallas-stars-850x560.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFDBFLUdgPBCcvif-sFug1QFeWrFipPhD-58TiL28d-KI4kcg08MgmQ0_LwJPTbiDWjSca7jDHqJI1vSKEPYKLIJmKWPzpoGyr3XB4caF2_kdA4PC8t1k96ZpcvK0FhOD28hj6-9CN68/s400/9907810-nhl-pittsburgh-penguins-at-dallas-stars-850x560.jpeg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the life of me, I cannot come up with anything comparable for what Marc-Andre Fleury is doing in these playoffs. Resurrections of this magnitude rarely appear anywhere outside of the New Testament. Yet, here he is; back from the dead, leading (yes, leading) Pittsburgh to the Eastern Conference Final. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The liability has been converted to an asset, and share-holders that stuck with him through his penny stock days (i.e. me) are loving it. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is a theme of this piece centered on rebounds. On the micro level, Fleury was able to respond from a 5-2 beat down in Monday's Game 6. In a hostile Verizon Center, he stopped all 29 Washington shots in Wednesday's series finale -- stealing the 2-0 <a href="https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-wsh/2017/05/10/2016030227#game=2016030227,game_state=final,game_tab=stats">victory</a><span id="goog_1704296597"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1704296598"></span><span id="goog_1704296588"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1704296589"></span>. He was nothing short of spectacular in Round 2's only shutout. Fleury's name was apropos for the the barrage sustained. Even 5-on-5, the ice tilted in the home team's favor from the onset. To the nervous spectator, the game's first eight minutes read like a continuous power play for the Capitals. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Throughout all 60 frantic minutes, however, Marc-Andre Fleury met every challenge. He single-handedly kept the lid on Pandora's Box. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A Washington win would have spelled abject disaster for Pittsburgh's fan base. The Capitals/Penguins "rivalry" is built on a principle that the latter will always have the postseason upper hand. It's why labeling it as such is tongue-in-cheek. Historically, the head-to-head playoff tally is lopsided: 38 wins for the Pens to 24 by the Caps. Nine of the ten series victories have gone to Pittsburgh, with the path to all four franchise Cups passing through D.C. That's called a good omen for number five this year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is not unlike the playoff prowess the Yankees once held over the Red Sox. That all came crashing down with one particular get-together known as the 2004 American League Championship Series. In </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a string of four consecutive October losses, a curse was seemingly lifted for all-time. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Look at what that match-up has become since: three World Series titles in Boston and one in The Bronx, New York. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This hockey iteration was not that same 3-0 lead, but the repercussions of a Washington win would have been just as disastrous. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Allowing a rival to finally get past their ever-growing road block -- in comeback fashion, no less -- breaks their mental shackles forever. You'll never scare them again. Worse, the Law of Averages has years' worth of retribution to bestow upon the once-dominant side. Fortunately, all that comeuppance was delayed for at least one more year. Thanks, Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist. Kick that can down the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wednesday's e</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">pic Game 7 will go down in hockey lore, not just in Pittsburgh. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yeah, yeah, at long last "Mr. Game 7" -- Washington's Justin Williams -- lost one (falling to 1-7 in his career).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the lede is being buried by national sportswriters. This is not about the Washington "Choking Dogs" (Tony Kornheiser's delightful nickname). Sure, they moved to a lifetime record of 4-11 in Games 7s; with the Penguins now carrying a 6-0 mark in such games on the road. This isn't about what Washington (and Columbus) could not accomplish. So, if you came here looking for yet another "Monkey Still Squarely on the Back of Alex Ovechkin" story, you're about to be let down. The Presidents' Trophy winner did nothing to stop themselves on Wednesday. An antagonist had to actively participate -- and participate well -- to prevent relief and joy from being felt by that sea of red. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This brings me to the macro-scale rebound in this article. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first star of last night's contest was an unlikely one (to many). It was an oft-scorned 32 year-old goaltender, who shook off the cobwebs of five pucks getting behind him two days prior. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He has been the stabilizing force throughout this postseason push for Pittsburgh. If this were a handful of seasons ago, he would have been more likely to allow five more goals in Game 7 than pitch a shutout. Reputations are difficult to amend. In that, we are seeing a Fleury do the most non-Fleury things he's ever done. Rather than wilting, this "Flower" is back to blossoming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Much like flat-Earth theory, saying "Marc-Andre Fleury is not a good playoff goalie" is an ideal folks are going to have to let go of. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">None of what's negatively transpired this May has been his doing. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">An argument that once had merit is being disproved each and every day the sample size grows. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A 2013 <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/5/8/4312126/marc-andre-fleury-stats-penguins-nhl-playoffs-2013">article</a> insinuated the Penguins were trotting out the league's worst-possible option in net. Back then, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">it was sadly tough to dispute. Fleury was skittish, constantly lost a feel for his posts, was a step slow to recover on wrap-around attempts, overly aggressive to leave the crease, pawed at loose pucks like a kitten at its water dish, and cleared out enough head space for his opposition to comfortably reside. His inauspicious postseason play, to open this decade, pushed the "yips" as close as they have ever come to the hockey vernacular. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">"You can set your watch in April by a Fleury post-season meltdown. Guess in Pittsburgh it's a Doomsday Clock." </b><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">-- CJ Stevenson</i><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">"I watch goals like the Foligno one in OT and it makes me think the Penguins will never, ever win another Cup with Fleury as their No. 1 goalie." </b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>-- Ken Campbell</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Google it for yourself; the videos warrant it all. I couldn't stop shaking my head as I watched the GIFs. They were memories I </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">attempted to block out </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(particularly the misplays from the 2013 series vs. the Islanders). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's like the second the rinks installed the "Stanley Cup Playoffs" paint -- near both blue lines -- Fleury would panic. A majority of those on hand would follow suit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The various titles representing ineptitude were especially disheartening because this same man carried the Pens to two-straight Stanley Cup Finals; reaching the top of the mountain in 2009. Recency bias and the prevalence of social media certainly tarnished the legacy of a solid goaltender. How bad do you have to be for outsiders to glance past multiple Cup runs and nine career playoff shutouts? To reach "worst ever" status, though, the poor play has to be sustained for some time -- to upstage and overshadow any remnants of good. Alas, there's no arguing these numbers:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game: SV/SA Result</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2011</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 5: 10/14 L</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 6: 17/21 L</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 7: 22/23 L</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2012</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 1: 22/26 L</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 2: 23/30 L</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 3: 22/28 L</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 4: 22/25 W</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 5: 24/26 W</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 6: 18/22 L</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 1: 26/26 W</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 2: 38/42 L</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 3: 32/36 W</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Game 4: 18/24 L</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The capstone moment occurred on May 7, 2013. He stopped a mere 18 of 24 New York Ranger shots. It was rock bottom for faith in Fleury. The loss brought his record to a dismal 4-9 over 13 consecutive playoff starts (three straight losses to end 2011, four more in 2012, and two before he was mercifully pulled in 2013). During that span, he could barely keep the puck out of his net on 85% of his opponents' attempts (294/343). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 2011, doubt first crept; his playoff quality -- and the 3-1 series lead -- both evaporated in an instant. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The three straight losses to Tampa Bay were particularly head-scratching, given how well Fleury played that year. He was named an All Star, the team's in-house MVP, posted a 36-20-5 regular-season record, had his highest-ever Hart Trophy finish (9th) and then-highest result in the Vezina Trophy vote (8th). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That first-round handshake line was supposed to be full of congratulations and not condolences. Fleury's playoff scar tissue and the "Curse of Consol" began garnering serious concerns. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The disconnect from his regular-season results and that of the postseason became staggeringly disparate. In seasons where he knocked on the door of Vezina Trophy conversation, he came up smaller and smaller in late April and early May. There was no real explanation. And n</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o one had the gall to ignore his positive results in the 82 tune-up contests. What were the Pens to do in the playoffs (even they knew it wasn't going to end well)? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After that 2011 meltdown, his troubles snowballed rapidly. Polished and sound in games September through March, he became a pee-wee blooper reel in the league's tournament. Every time he stepped on the ice, a caricature of his stellar regular-season self took the net. The word "choke" popped up frequently </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in corresponding Fleury publications. Some people went so far as to trace his letdowns, under the brightest lights, to a </span><a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/look-back-at-2004-wjc-final-between-u-s-canada/c-793161" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">4-3 collapse</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> in the 2004 World Juniors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">His string of six consecutive playoff losses, stretching over two seasons, was historically awful. Fleury made only 116 saves (average of 19.3 per game) on 142 combined shots; a measly .817 SV%.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In one overly-embarrassing early playoff exit (2012), Fleury gave up 26 goals (4.63 GAA) in just six games to the Philadelphia Flyers. That .834 save percentage sure looked like the end of his days in the sun -- even if the team he was on experienced success. He was forever going to be known as the goalie you win "despite" not "because of". Even among the most diehard supporters, Fleury was the enormous anchor weighing the </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">S.S. Crosby-Malkin</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The national sentiment quickly evolved: pick anyone from a set of 50 contemporaries, put them on any of those "underachieving" Penguins teams ('10, '11, '12, '14, '15), and that deep roster would advance to the Conference Final -- at least -- each time. Tomas Vokoun practically proved that supposition to be true. Never brought into Pittsburgh to be a world-beater, it was he, and not Fleury, that started all the games in the 2013 Conference semi and final. That run was the deepest the Penguins advanced in the playoffs between their two most-recent Cup victories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The fact that a past-his-prime 36 year-old journeyman took the reigns in the most important games of the year was telling. Vokoun outperformed Fleury, if judged simply by advancement in the bracket. If not for his untimely blood clot surgery -- and subsequent midseason retirement -- he might have taken full-time control of the Pittsburgh net in 2013-14 and beyond. Then-coach Dan Bylsma clearly preferred that scenario. He was set to once again ride Vokoun through the playoffs, in that subsequent year; meaning more reps as the #1 in the regular season leading up to it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fleury was that annoying gnat that wouldn't go away. His constant availability was his best asset. At that point in time, he had only missed 39 starting opportunities (out of 738 team games) due to injury. A lone ankle sprain in 2007 was his blip on the radar. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Former GM, Ray Shero, infamously inquired, "Where am I gonna find a goalie on short notice who starts 65 games a year every year?"</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Perhaps Fleury was bailed out by the absence of a <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1796476-what-are-the-pittsburgh-penguins-best-options-to-replace-tomas-vokoun">Plan B</a> (free agent, viable trade partner, or qualified draft selection) to replace Vokoun -- and likely take over. By the time Vokoun was officially ruled out for six months, the window to bring in a proven second goaltender had closed. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">S</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">couts said prospect Tristan Jarry, the team's 2013 second-round draft pick, wouldn't be ready for a few years. Unheralded minor leaguer, Jeff Zatkoff (2006; third round), was brought in as a stop-gap to spell Fleury. Star of the '16 Final, Matt Murray (2012; third round), wasn't even on the radar yet. Recalling him was out of the question that early. So the fates were really on Fleury's side. Essentially, he stayed the starter by default -- or lack of established options. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sticking with Fleury in a primary role for '13-'14 was a risk, as the noise around "when will the great Sidney Crosby ever win another Cup?" grew deafening. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He did reward the team with stellar regular-season play... again. In the subsequent three seasons, as a full-time #1 goalie, Fleury posted the following stat line: 108-55-20 / .919 save percentage / 2.33 GAA</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> / 20 shutouts (NHL high during that span). It was his first mini-resurrection. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In that same three-year string of regular-season brilliance, his playoff line read: 8-11 / .916 save percentage / 2.36 GAA / 2 shutouts. For all intents and purposes, Fleury was "Back 2 Good". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, that ugly "C" word just had to derail his progress. You know, the evil injury bug that seems to hit the Pittsburgh Penguins' locker room harder than any modern franchise: concussion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was entirely plausible for Fleury to lead that Amazin' Pens team to the same greatness as Matt Murray. The midseason <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/mike-sullivan-takes-over-as-pittsburgh-penguins-coach-after-mike-johnstons-dismissal/c-792513">coaching change</a> -- from Mike Johnston to Mike Sullivan -- formed a true team of destiny. Their second-half run was so unstoppable that even a mediocre Fleury should have been able to seal the deal. If he wasn't suffering from post-concussion symptoms, this playoff legacy revision could easily have come a year ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Last year's Cup win was the ultimate bittersweet exuberance. Fleury's name is again etched on the legendary trophy, but he did very little to contribute to its recent acquisition. His health prevented him from appearing in more than 79 total minutes of playoff hockey. Meanwhile, Murray tied a rookie record with 15 playoff wins (matching Patrick Roy and Ron Hextall). The hero of the moment narrative cemented the haters' belief that it could be done without Fleury. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The issue is that Murray wasn't exactly groomed to be the team's short-run future. He's not exactly the first overall pick that Fleury was. I believe his small frame will always make him a chronic lower-body injury risk. But, performance a year ago </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">was too strong to ignore; the hands of Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan -- entering his first full season -- were forced. They had to give Murray a contract extension and #1 goalie status, respectively. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It left Fleury in trade-deadline purgatory. His regular-season successes warranted suitors. This sure </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">would have been different if he wasn't able to play through his tribulations. Any other team or circumstance and Fleury might have splinters in his butt old enough to be in kindergarten. His value would have hit the floor. Since he had a recent track record, however, n</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">o general manager in the league would have second-guessed the Penguins' decision to part ways this March (dumping his $5.75M/year contract for a veteran blue-liner and future second-rounder). However, Rutherford and staff stuck with a man who has been with them from his beginning (2003, as a 19 year-old). Call it an insurance policy that's paid off.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The team inevitably felt captive by an emotional debt. How do you tell locker room glue -- with two Stanley Cups -- to pack his things and leave? Fortunately for all those involved, side-stepping the awkwardness has played itself out. And the potentially uncomfortable moment (Fleury lifting his third Cup, while only having six career wins in the Final) won't come to fruition. If there is a 2017 championship banner in this team's future, it'll mean Fleury has likely reached double-digit career victories in the Final. Ah, the benefits of staying loyal (err, sweeping a problem under the rug). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No athlete, in any sport, has had his stars cross and uncross as often as Marc-Andre Fleury. He was lucky to keep his starting job in 2013-14, unlucky to lose it </span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2016/04/13/penguins-start-playoffs-marc-andre-fleury-look-jeff-zatkoff/83009298/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">last year</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, and luckiest to get it back -- right as the 2017 playoffs kicked off. In reality, Fleury was ten minutes of </span><a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/penguins-goalie-matt-murray-leaves-ice-warmups-fleury-start/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">pregame warm-ups</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> away from never touching the ice this postseason. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There were no signs to suggest otherwise. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With Murray's health status 100% entering the day, o</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">nly a true professional would have been prepared to play -- from the opening puck drop, on short notice -- in that Game 1. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This continual preparation is why it didn't take Fleury long to feel comfortable being "the guy" every night. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Very few figured he would ever return to form. He was never going to get a vaccine for his epidemic of soft goals. He was never going to be comfortable in raucous road arenas; simple, smooth, and square with his technique and rebound management. There was no chance we'd ever again see the goalie with a hidden dial to make the game slow to his pace. In short, Marc-Andre Fleury was never going to do exactly what he's doing this spring. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For perspective, Fleury has surrendered 31 goals this entire postseason (six more than 2012 in twice as many rounds). This new, galactically-stupid playoff format has pit him against two of the league's four best teams. The series that just concluded was the third-ever to include a Game 7 between two teams with 110+ regular-season points. The shame of it all is that it occurred this early in May.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> He has had to square off with two Vezina Trophy winners in back-to-back rounds (three if the Rangers had won their series). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In spite all the talk surrounding shot blocks,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">his corps of defensemen -- minus Kris Letang from the outset and Trevor Daley in Game 6 -- has still let a ton of attempts get through. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Penguins have been out-shot </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">425</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-335</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> in these playoffs. Likewise, the penalty kill has been mediocre -- </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">80.0% (T-10th best)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. In their quest for the Cup last season, opposing power plays were thwarted 85.1% of the time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In twelve playoff games this season, the Blue Jackets and Capitals did well to tame the unbridled speed of Pittsburgh's top nine forwards; forcing role players to want to chip in. Their attempts to play out of character has translated more to playing out of position. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In perceived "need to score" scenarios, D-men -- either entering the rush, failing to clear simple pucks, or outright turning it over -- have extensively hung Fleury out to dry. True, the gamble of the blue-line pinch may have been the reason why the Penguins won Game 7. But there is a flip side of that aggression. Yielding o</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dd-man chances</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is a postseason category Pittsburgh would rather not be leading the league in, but are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During the Game 6 home loss to Washington, the postseason "boo birds" -- typically aimed at Fleury -- were, in fact, raining down on everyone but him. The educated fans understood the score was not indicative of the goalie's performance. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And it's been a trend as of late. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When his squad fails to tally the game's opening goal, you can see the pressure of leveling the score in the eyes of the stars. The issue -- in this Washington series specifically -- was that all the open ice vanished. The Pens had no room to set up shop, and so the gravity of chasing a deficit increased. It's an account that needs to be rewritten next round if this year's club desires a repeat championship. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stacking the deck even more against Fleury, he only started three of Pittsburgh's final 11 games (0-2-1 record). His last win was on March 19, nearly a month prior to Game 1. He was as rusty as it gets. As a cherry on the sundae, Sidney Crosby missed a game and a half to yet another concussion. Since rejoining the starting unit, the greatest player in the sport has been what you'd expect from a recent (and frequent) sufferer of head trauma.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And with all of those impeding factors, Fleury looks like a 24 year-old version of himself; maybe better than we've ever seen him. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Engage him sporadically, with fewer than 25 shots a game, and expect disaster. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The contrary has played out so far, which is why Fleury is 8-4 between the pipes. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As a volume goaltender, he's at his best when focus is required at a rate of once every other minute (30 shots). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is also true of the quick turnaround in playoff scheduling. It's easier to have short-term memory -- that proverbial "athletic amnesia" -- when the games come in quicker succession than the regular season. The rare loss presents a nearly-immediate chance at redemption; sometimes as close as 40 hours after one game ends. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If things are going well, the ice retains your groove. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It all helps to explain Fleury's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.927</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> save percentage</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> (nearly .100 better than his performance five years ago). H</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ere's how he measures up with the primary goalies in this year's playoffs: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Goaltender: SV% (GAA)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pekka Rinne: .951 (1.37)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Martin Jones: .935 (1.75)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Jake Allen: .935 (1.96)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Carey Price: .933 (1.86)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Marc-Andre Fleury: .927 (2.55)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Henrik Lundqvist: .927 (2.25)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Devan Dubnyk: .925 (1.86)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cam Talbot: .924 (2.48)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tuukka Rask: .920 (2.24)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Frederik Andersen: .915 (2.68)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Craig Anderson: .914 (2.49)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Braden Holtby: .909<b> </b>(2.46)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">John Gibson: .908 (2.80)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Corey Crawford: .902 (2.83)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sergei Bobrovsky: .882 (3.88)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Brian Elliott: .880 (3.89)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This list puts two things in perspective. 1) That Blues/Predators series was an unworldly goalie duel. 2) Marc-Andre Fleury ain't the worst playoff goalie. He may have been, but he's clearly exorcised some of those demons. Pressed into action, one would expect to see a fill-in Fleury at the bottom. What historical precedence hinted that anything close to this ranking was possible? This </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is why I say I've never seen a turnaround like this before. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Additionally, Sabermetrics have begun to bleed into hockey. There are new stats that further support the notion of a reformed goalie in Pittsburgh. I'm not usually one to buy into any of that advanced mumbo jumbo, but their existence definitely comes in handy when the numbers favor your viewpoint. Without wading into the weeds on what they are and what they mean (not entirely certain myself), Fleury is tied for fifth among 17 qualified playoff goalies in GA%- (92) and third in GSAA (2.80). Something called Corsi(?) has also been uncharacteristically bad for the Penguins, meaning Fleury's had to be stellar to overcome it. Re-entering Lesser Nerd Land, his 326 even-strength saves rank second in these playoffs. Moral of the story: Fleury isn't holding the Pens back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I tend to gravitate towards Chicago goalie, Corey Crawford, as an objective baseline from which to properly judge Fleury. Both are 32 years old, both have lifted two Stanley Cups and appeared in two All-Star games. To many, their achievements (200+ NHL regular-season wins) are nothing more than the byproduct of insanely-talented offenses on their side. Right or wrong, postseason award shows suggest the infamous "game manager" perception -- a backhanded compliment slapped on blase quarterbacks -- is there. Neither has really figured in any Vezina Trophy vote. Writers and analysts never confuse Crawford or Fleury with the premier puck stoppers of their era. Regardless, they can (and have) won their team titles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The 2012 playoffs, in particular, showcased the similarities in what should have been mirror-image career trajectories. The 27 year-olds posted 2-4 records, with save percentages in the .800s, in first-round exits. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The obvious discrepancy was in experience in the fabled "Second Season". It took Crawford much longer to earn the #1 goalie status for the Blackhawks. He finally seized the reigns when Antti Niemi was traded away the season before. By that time, Fleury had already started 56 playoff games for the Penguins. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is why the 2012 criticism for Crawford was muted; he was "young" and "growing into" his first dozen playoff games. For Fleury, he was a victim of his own glory days. Though the same youthful age, he wasn't given the same pass by the media. Previous accomplishments raised expectations to an unfair heights; making it more difficult for fans to stomach. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That year marks a crossroads in mapping their respective playoff careers. As one goalie got better with every future series he played, the other saw all four wheels fall off his wagon. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Undeniably, age is the not the same as mileage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ostensibly equal in every on-paper way, the eye test suggested something quite different. One looked fatigued -- possibly to the point of early retirement -- as the other was arriving on the scene. Crawford and Fleury were like the </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Looney Tunes</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> allegory of Sam the Sheepdog punching the clock as his replacement, George, clocks in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The skill set of a star goaltender is supposed to diminish, not go careening over a cliff. Crawford is a great case study on a natural regression. His </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">playoff save percentage in 2013: .932 (1.84 GAA). This year, five seasons later: .902 (2.83 GAA). The save percentage has slowly, but steadily, decreased each and every year -- with the GAA obviously increasing. The (2x) Cup winner is a half step slower than when he was in his twenties. It's cost him roughly 0.7% in playoff save percentage per year. This is the consistent slope that has fans, of any sport, referencing the idiom: "Father Time is undefeated". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Like a starting pitcher, a goaltender's worst enemy is a deep scouting report. In both sports, longevity actually breeds advantages to the offense. Pitchers and goalies have tells, rhythms, defaults, routines, tendencies, ruts, etc. They have to make the first move. The hitters and skaters study up and, in the split-second height of the game, react accordingly. Look how often the Capitals went high glove on Fleury. If you're in the mood -- and this subject matter interests you -- check out the sharp decline in Justin Verlander's </span><a href="http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2016/05/detroit_tigers_gameday_justin_79.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">numbers vs. the Cleveland Indians</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">; as he's started against them year after year after year. It was a long way to go for a "Tigers can't change their stripes" pun, but I made it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Essentially, the length of a career will naturally shave a goaltender's stats down over time. If Fluery annually lost 0.7% in playoff save percentage -- from his highest career value of .933 in 2008 -- then he should be hovering around a .870 figure in 2017. In two games last year, he had a .875 number, so that value falls in line with this hypothesis. It shows that last year he finally settled back into a comfort zone; he simply lacked starter's reps. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The shock of it all is </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">how abruptly he's swung the pendulum -- past the midpoint -- to the other extreme. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Marc-Andre Fleury has deviated so drastically from the norm (of his peers, based on age) that it makes this development all the more intriguing. At his worst, he was hemorrhaging playoff SV% to the tune of 1.6% per season. When Matt Murray went down, how could anyone honestly expect the first-round fate of the Penguins to be any different than Crawford's 0-4 outcome? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The ship was taking on water for years. It just got patched up enough for experts to call it serviceable, and yet its sailing at speeds it never did when new. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No one has their best playoff performance in their 11th go-round. And no one that talented has ever missed the mark -- on the newly-named "Crawford Line" (graphing consistent decline in expected playoff save percentage after a career best) -- as bad as Fleury did in 2012. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The craziness is how </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">below the average his deepest valleys were and how high this current summit he's climbed is. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Typically, when an athlete is done, he/she is truly done. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Thanks" to a lower body injury to Matt Murray, Fleury has been given the role of Lazarus on the 2017 big stage... and he's nailed the performance thus far. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I, for one, never lost faith that this was still possible. You can check older social media posts of mine for proof. Okay, maybe I expected an eventual dead-cat bounce, not this boomerang. But the organization deserves a ton of credit, for not discarding floundering personnel. His salary is steep for an "understudy"; those whose value becomes pillaging the occasional regular-season win on the second night of a back-to-back. The front office was gazing into a clear crystal ball. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Say all you want about inflated goaltender statistics in the modern game. Fleury will undoubtedly exit Steel City someday, but he'll do so as the leader in wins, save percentage, and goals against average for a proud hockey franchise. And he'll do it all in spite of the early struggles of the team in front of him. Truly, the plane barely got off the ground; his initial record in the league was 17-41-8. It means that since the start of 2006, when the tides finally shifted, he's had the best regular-season win percentage of any NHL goaltender. If nothing else, these two weeks have provided a more-contemporary playoff high note to share with our kids -- as to why number 29 is up in the rafters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Interestingly enough, his playoff numbers have quietly eclipsed that of team icon, goalie Tom Barrasso. The fellow two-time Stanley Cup winner was 61-54 in 119 career postseason games; .902 SV% and 3.01 GAA. Wednesday's win gave Fleury an identical 61 wins (to 49 losses), lifted his career save percentage to .908, and lowered the GAA to 2.64. I love Tommy Barrasso as much as the next Penguins fan. The man is a legend of the stack pad generation. I'd still take Marc-Andre Fleury in any big game in the history of Pittsburgh hockey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What people have quickly forgotten is how bad those pre-2005 Pittsburgh Penguins actually were. It's not like they stumbled into Sid the Kid's top selection because they were a put-together roster. I refer to the time period as the Jan Hrdina era; remembering a 2001 Tribune-Review full-page "Meet the Team" feature that left me with lots of uncertainty about the future. It was every bit the "who are these [blankin'] guys" scene in </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Major League</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. But out of that downturn came a cornerstone -- around which the current championship foundation stands -- Marc-Andre Fleury.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Through it all, Fleury has remained the consummate teammate. He's been selfless in his back-up role and captain positivity. If you don't believe me, peruse all the names of past friends from the locker room he carries with him on his newest </span><a href="http://ingoalmag.com/masks/marc-andre-fleury-honors-favorite-teammates-new-mask/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">mask design</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. The man has a genuine team-first attitude and cares deeply about his brothers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No matter how this plays out, I'm beyond pleased to see one of my all-time favorite players regain true form. Sure, it may be short-lived. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He could easily revert to old ways against Ottawa. It will not change my sentiments that Marc-Andre Fleury is a big-time performer. He's proven enough in this 2017 journey to get the haters off his case once and for all. And it is jinx proof to say that. If he continues to play well, great. If he doesn't, there's a more-than-capable contingency waiting in the wings. What a luxury to have a Cup-winning #1 goalie safely stored inside the "In Case of Emergency Break Glass" box. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Matt Murray has fully recovered from his apparent groin pull; on the bench as Fleury's back-up in Wednesday's Game 7. Even so, the net belongs to "Flower" in the Eastern Conference Final. You have to ride the hot hand. But the smallest slip-up against the Senators -- or Western Conference foe in the Final -- will return order to the regular-season hierarchy. Expect a quick hook if starts giving up "cheapies" (<i>see</i>: third period, Game 5, Round 2). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Regardless, Fleury will finish with a .500 record (or better) this postseason. Knowing he didn't cause an early playoff exit -- this time around -- </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">might have to stand as his sole parting gift. Pundits have his days in Pittsburgh running out momentarily, despite surviving close calls for years. The irony is that it might take the creation of a 31st NHL franchise, in Vegas, to finally reel in Fleury.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">An expansion draft, this June, adds a potential landing spot. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should he voluntarily waive his no-movement clause, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Penguins will not be able to provide any resistance. If he wants to be a #1 again, dusting off the metallic <a href="http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/event/stadium-series-pittsburgh-penguins-v-chicago-blackhawks-181114127#fans-cheer-during-the-singing-of-the-national-anthem-before-the-2014-picture-id475959527">gold pads</a> (worn in the 2014 Stadium Series) might be his best bet. Indeed, Pittsburgh would be "hurt" by a lack of compensation, but the quiet departure -- to a member of the rarely-adversarial Western Conference -- would nip revenge-driven pariah headlines in the bud. That garbage couldn't be further from the truth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For all we know, this could turn </span><a href="http://thehockeywriters.com/9-surprises-that-could-shock-at-the-nhl-expansion-draft/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">bizarre</a> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in a hurry. One thing is for sure; contract discussions will not breakdown into a Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers soap opera. Unlike that Hall of Famer, Fleury relishes his mentor role. His desire to make sixty starts in a season (for the seventh time in his career) will never overtake his respect for team.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fleury isn't blind to all the hypotheticals playing out in the media. His current out-of-body performance could definitely stem from its audition nature. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I believe Marc-Andre Fleury's got a lot left in the tank. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He is not even close to old, especially for a net-minder. 500 career wins is a milestone definitely within reach; sitting on 375. If it comes to fruition, I'd like to be on-hand for that special night. I'd love it more if he is still accumulating those lofty totals in <i>Pittsburgh </i>black and gold. B</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ut I understand the business side of professional sports enough to forgive any front-office decision. T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hat's all talk for some future day.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If he must go, I can envision no better chapter closure than winning the last game on the league's calendar. Lifting that third Cup would be an indelible memory for me. It would epitomize perseverance in a career marred by unfair criticism. Then, w</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">herever and whenever it's needed, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'll stand at the pulpit in defense of his complicated postseason reputation. Legacy: revised. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Footnote:</i> What's in a name? How superstitious do you want to get? Perhaps the fact that it's not Consol Energy Arena anymore has something to do with it. Entering these 2017 playoffs, Fleury was an anemic 6-13 on home ice -- since moving out of Civic/Mellon Arena. As a playoff starter in the new building, he only once won multiple home games in the same series: 1-3 (2011), 1-2 (2012), 1-1 (2013), 3-4 (2014), 0-2 (2015), and 0-1 (2016). Changing its corporate naming partner to PPG Paints has seemingly flipped the script for Fleury; he's 4-2 at home this year. His next opportunity comes Saturday night, with Game 1 against the Senators.</span>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comSt. Louis USA38.636181912597443 -90.2114868164062538.238412412597441 -90.856933816406254 39.033951412597446 -89.566039816406246tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-26678069536457921132017-05-01T10:56:00.000-04:002018-12-29T02:11:57.595-05:00If You're Not First, You Can Be Second (And There's No Shame In That)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2zHeutyicPE1p-ejzwRmd5z4UoE4Xej-fBuJ6ExalWF5snMswIyWwiEmsWc3xwGuNdmdIFWyw9CYVfWKXtWLQqxbHlJ2wXLlIABUJ_4BqABQ9M-3cli6Qpv21hLOUhsxOEqAbAjOJyE/s1600/dele-alli-tottenham-arsenal_31azch4pcjcl1lah6aa3w0rdf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2zHeutyicPE1p-ejzwRmd5z4UoE4Xej-fBuJ6ExalWF5snMswIyWwiEmsWc3xwGuNdmdIFWyw9CYVfWKXtWLQqxbHlJ2wXLlIABUJ_4BqABQ9M-3cli6Qpv21hLOUhsxOEqAbAjOJyE/s320/dele-alli-tottenham-arsenal_31azch4pcjcl1lah6aa3w0rdf.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This has been a season to remember for Tottenham Hotspur. The trophy case won't show much for their efforts, but I sure am proud to support this club. Regardless of whether we chase down Chelsea (likely not), this pressure-filled "must win" run in proves Mauricio Pochettino & Co. are building a new culture and not just a new stadium. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Spurs have been pests that will not go away. That is backhanded praise I don't think anyone could have uttered in years past. This same roster was unable to chase down Leicester City last Premier League season; fizzling to a third-place finish. The lights got their brightest and the up-and-coming Spurs wilted in its immense heat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But this year has been different. With their 2-0 result over Arsenal on Sunday, Tottenham has </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">nine straight league victories for the first time since 1960 — 13 straight at home. Sadly, the train is going to run out of track. There's just no time left to chance down the Blues, whose remaining fixture list is absurdly soft. Even if the Spurs win out (4-0-0), the 89 points are seemingly not enough. To win the league — on goal differential tiebreak — Chelsea would really have to stub its toe (2-2-0).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Where would these two draws magically come from? I could try to make an argument for The Hawthorns (West Brom) in two weeks and maybe at home v. Watford three days later. I can't objectively see either of these happening. Chelsea's opponents unfortunately have nothing to truly play for down the stretch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But let's not leave on a down note. Here are some historically positive things this specific Tottenham club could potentially check off the list this May:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> They'll (finally) finish above Arsenal in the table for the first time since I was in fourth grade (1996). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> They're going to amass the club's most wins in 56 years (with four fewer matches than the top flight of the past).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> They are on pace for the greatest goal differential for a league runner-up. The +34 from last year matched the club's best since 1978; with an asterisk because it was back when THFC was a member of the relegated Football League Second Division. This Spurs side should obliterate that mark, and could finish 50 goals on the positive side of the ledger for the first time since (you guessed it) 1961. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> If they finish with three losses, it will be the fewest in any of their 125 seasons — at any level.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> Fittingly, they can go undefeated at home, in White Hart Lane's retirement year (which would be the 14th such instance in Premier League history). Tottenham is the only member of the "Big Six" to have never accomplished the feat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> With a little hot streak, the team could have a trio of 20-goal scorers — over all club competitions — for the first time ever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">> This might coincide with Harry Kane winning back-to-back EPL Golden Boot honors. It would be the first time a Tottenham player won consecutive top-tier English football scoring titles since the great Jimmy Greaves three-peated in '63, '64, '65.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To many across the pond, these "cute" facts will be moot. The Spurs will have a top-four finish and nothing more. Their impressive margin over those who also qualify for UEFA Champions League play will be irrelevant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I respectfully disagree. Experience in any sport matters. There's no way to practice adrenaline-filled road matches; no way to emulate a situation like the Spurs faced last Wednesday at Selhurst Park. Goalless in the 78th minute — in a "lose and it's over" predicament — Christian Eriksen responded with a monumental blast from 25 yards out. The players didn't press, collapse, or look nervous. It was the Spurs doing the most non-Spurs thing I've ever seen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Moments like that are my takeaway from this current campaign. Even a heartbreaking FA Cup semifinal loss (to Chelsea, of course) was oddly a step in the right direction. I do subscribe to the adage that there are no moral victories to be extracted from defeat. How they played did not correlate with the 4-2 scoreline. Anyone who watched the match could see that a rung in the ladder had been, in fact, climbed. Give me that exact same match-up in next year's installment and I like the Spurs chances to avenge the loss.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With a payroll that is dwarfed by its primary competitors, this </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tottenham squad has slowly built itself into the true definition of team; chemistry over a collection of stars.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Maybe it's because I tend to watch <i>Miracle </i>two or three times a year (one such viewing in the last week), but I see some Herb Brooks in "Poch". In a world where managers/coaches sign talent — and run into challenges on how to maximize them — both Brooks and Pochitteno sought specific pieces necessary only to their unique puzzle. The scheme is rigid and players adjust; not the other way around. On the pitch, the modern iteration has come together as organically as that archetype team did on the ice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's what leaves me believing the future looks really bright: the tight-knit core of Eriksen, Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Heung-Min Son, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Hugo Lloris, Danny Rose, and Kyle Walker (if he isn't signed by Bayern) are all still climbing their world-class trajectories. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This team is poised to make a hardware sweep in 2017-18. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But THFC should not be shooting for a singular title with a window of opportunity this wide open. Hardware in bunches is going to take one more big-time (not necessarily big-name) star. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's no denying the need to spend more on player wages to sustain top-tier finishes in today's Premier League and especially UEFA Champions League. Spurs have to join both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, and Chelsea in the £200m payroll stratosphere. Currently, they rank sixth in English football, with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">£</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">121.2m spent on players.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Keeping up with the Joneses — in the on-field arms race — does not scare me. I trust the current ownership/manager tandem to bring on the proper supplemental acquisitions. The team dynamic will not be sacrificed by providing Pochettino with a shiny new toy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Undoubtedly, Tottenham will shop smarter than several disastrous case studies, most recently Leicester City. Following their surprising 2015-16 Premier League trophy grab, the Foxes doubled their payroll for half the results — </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">£36.6m to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">£66m while dropping 11 spots in this season's table</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. That's the type of roller-coaster movement that exists when you try to rush a dynasty; spending just to spend. Flash-in-the-pan greatness won't happen with this particular Tottenham brain trust. The foundation is stable enough to support a decade and not only a year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The far-more-likely train derailment — to the success of the club's current path — is a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> full season of home matches in Wembley Stadium. I'm holding my breath on that one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, let's hope they close out hallowed White Hart Lane in style — with a win over Manchester United in two weeks. What could be better than ending the year on a 13-match EPL win streak? 89 points would tie the record for the highest runner-up total in English football history. It would send the message to all: we didn't lose it/gift it away this year; the race simply ended too soon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having said that, even a 0-0-4 stumble across the finish line cannot change my stance on this matter. They've earned the right to remain at 77 points and not have the word "choke" enter the conversation. In my opinion, anything more is icing on the cake. If style points mattered at all, most pundits would say Tottenham's had a year of more consistent quality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Preventing Chelsea from a month-long victory lap around England has earned some serious respect in rival camps. Other fan bases have taken to social media to tip the proverbial cap; thanking the Spurs for never letting the Blues get more than four points clear. The longer Chelsea has to wait to clinch the title limits the time we all have to put up with their gloating supporters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In all seriousness, kudos to Chelsea if they finish it out. By pushing them to the brink, I believe we've actually helped the league — and soccer in general. Coasting to a trophy isn't exciting. If it takes 90+ points (with a result on Survival Sunday) then isn't everyone a winner? Hell, it might take an EPL record 30 wins to sit atop the table. Who can be mad if you fall just shy of that pace?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With no traditional postseason tournament — a purely American construct — we'll sadly never again witness this 2016-17 Tottenham squad clash with Chelsea; one more time, Super Bowl style, for all the marbles. What a pity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is the Scott Van Pelt age-old question: "Can a season, that does not end with a championship, be labeled a success?" Emphatically, yes. It's about to happen in North London. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'll sure remember</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> who finished second in 2017. </span><br />
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</span>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comSt. Louis, MO, USA38.6270025 -90.199404238.230193 -90.844851200000008 39.023812000000007 -89.5539572tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-59273305127371660582013-11-15T01:22:00.001-05:002020-10-16T14:16:33.147-04:00Gently-Used Stadium for Sale: $200 Million (OBO)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Monday, the Atlanta Braves announced that they are moving out of Turner Field after 2016. That makes sense. That stadium is almost 100 years old.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wait. Rewind. What? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <i>Braves</i> are getting a new stadium?! They're going to demolish a building in decent shape before its twentieth birthday? Before we dive in on the reasons behind this shocking headline, let's talk about some teams that are getting skipped at the buffet line. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At the top of the aggrieved sit the Oakland A's. They are the last remaining team in Major League Baseball to share a facility with an NFL franchise. The 48 year-old [<i>Your Name Here</i>] Coliseum is in extreme disrepair, and has never been an ideal place to watch a baseball game. It came cheap ($25 million); comparable to a single-occupant Dodger Stadium in the same state, size, price tag, and era. The difference is the current renovation efforts. Los Angeles' ownership group is investing $500 million to upgrade the historic ballpark. The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has no such plan on the books. The lease is up and one, or both, of the tenants could be exiting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The issue in Oakland is its annual transition period. All the moving parts required to go from A's to Raiders (and back) have aged the building more than most. For both sports, it is a house and not a home; there is nothing permanent enough for either the A's or Raiders to "take their coat off and stay awhile." If the Raiders left for Los Angeles, staying in the Coliseum would not be the top choice for the A's, but it would at least give them a chance to invest in baseball-only upgrades. Stay tuned on this one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A baseball-only Coliseum would still be at the bottom of the MLB's list of fan favorites </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in an era where nearly every city has built new </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> but nothing will ever be worse than Tropicana Field. A dome with fake grass in a sun-drenched city? Check. Poor attendance due to its placement in a New York snowbird haven? Check. The Tampa Bay Rays are tucked in the corner of the reception hall; forgotten about as the tables get called to the dinner line. And with today's announcement, they must idly watch the Braves go up for seconds before their first helping. If Tampa Bay is really hungry, they could go after the scraps left on Atlanta's table.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In all seriousness, the Rays organization should consider making a pitch to save Turner Field. Professional athletic facilities are never this young when they hit Craigslist. In 2006, Tiger Stadium had no shelf life left and still fetched double of what the Rays would pay for something operable in Atlanta. The two organizations need to come together before the Braves go all Miley Cyrus on their gently-used facility. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the surface, this appears like an easy thrift-store transaction: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a product has fallen out of favor, but would be cherished by a lesser-off new user. If the Rays could concede what most baseball minds speculate </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> that they are eventually leaving town </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">this would be the best-case scenario for a turn-key relocation. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Would you rather spend $500 million on a new stadium on the Gulf Coast of Florida, or move into the discarded digs of the Atlanta Braves for $1? Now I know there are various hiccups, obstacles, legal implications, and these dollar amounts are exaggerated for effect, but for the sake of a conversation, let's hypothesize a markdown price that would favorably make the Atlanta Rays a reality. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Socio-Economics 101: What is going wrong in Atlanta?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />I was shocked when the Braves publicized their intentions to move to a new ballpark in four short years. As the headline crawled across my TV screen, my initial thought was strangely not about Atlanta at all. My focus was miles away with the two teams I mentioned above. </span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"How wasteful!" "What a middle finger to the Rays and A's!" "Talk about First-World Problems; a ballpark that is 16 years-old isn't good enough for the Braves!"</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I had nothing to really say regarding the prospects of a fancy new ballpark in the majors. Typically, I would be scouring the internet for proposed renderings and nerding out architect-style. Instead, I was distracted by my aggravation, aimed at the audacity of the Braves ownership. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the more I read, the more I understood the deeper grievances of the Braves. Clearly, something is awry in the city of Atlanta. In recent years, the </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">disconnect between on-field success and the thousands of empty seats has been striking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While in Turner Field, the team has won 10 NL East Division titles, including postseason appearances in each of the last two seasons. Despite this, the Braves were inexplicably 13th in MLB attendance last year. The stadium rates even lower in credible popularity contests; </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Turner Field came in at 20th and 21st in two recent MLB fan votes (based on value, aesthetics, and fan experience).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Boohoo" says most of Major League Baseball, especially in places like Seattle and Cleveland. Even with wins and newer ballparks, the fans are not showing up like they should. But for a successful franchise with the money to spend, I could hardly fault the Braves for exploring corrective measures. Their goal is to get attendance figures and the fan's perception both in the top-5 league-wide. It is where they envisioned their franchise was headed after mid-90s success. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Monday's announcement of a new stadium is an admission that Turner Field could never achieve that goal; actually setting the team's growth back a decade. The city planners surrounding the Centennial Olympic Games hoped that building in a discarded area of town would lure businesses and residents. When the Games left town, the predicted influx never filled the void. The Utopian plan, that landed Atlanta the historic world-event, could never make good on their campaign promises. In fact, the more history I uncovered, the more I applaud the Braves for not trying to get out sooner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just another case of "white flight" to some, I personally think the Braves are using advanced predictive analytics </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> unseen in the sports world </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> to maximize their revenue opportunities. In the past ten years, the Braves got caught in a game they never wanted to play: leapfrog. Modern doormats like the Twins, Mets, Marlins, and Padres used amenities, and not victories, to provide a better fan experience than the Braves. The world passed them by, as they were stuck in a ballpark without character. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Rays could have helped them understand that winning baseball in a stale ballpark is not inversely related to losing baseball in a cutting-edge venue. Even winners need beauty. Breathtaking fields and unforgettable food menus draw fans </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> regardless of the standings. In this, the Braves and Rays are oddly cut from the same cloth. Neither current ownership group had a true say in the identity that was portrayed in their architecture. They play in whatever the city was willing to give them; generous gestures for the creation of baseball-only facilities, but certainly not Target Field and Petco Park. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like my mother always says, "never buy a woman shoes." Similarly, never build a ballpark <i>for</i> a professional sports franchise. In both cases, supply them with a large portion of the funds and let them pick out what they want. Thanks to poorly-designed home fields and a ton of envy, the fans and front offices in Tampa Bay and Atlanta long to go shopping. Each have met with Populous </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the unrivaled firm that has 18 of the 30 MLB stadiums in their portfolio </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and drafted up that distinct, regionally-responsive ballpark they missed out on decades ago. The difference: the Braves are finally exiting the tunnel of a bad lease, while the Rays' tunnel looks more like a cave. They sold their soul away to St. Pete. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This time around, the Braves are listening to the data instead of plopping the stadium in the first cost-effective lot that comes available. This is something the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) could have looked into back in 1990. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1996, the world was caught up in the pageantry of the Atlanta-hosted XXVI (and Centennial) Olympiad. When the Games faded away, the Braves were like a kid opening an undesirable Christmas gift. "Thanks, ACOG, this is what we always wanted!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The track & field stadium </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">was</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> a step up from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but never a perfect fit. <i>Oh yeah, we'll just turn it into a baseball field afterwards. </i>It felt like doublespeak, included in Atlanta's proposal only to impress the IOC's selection committee. They were passionately in "Win the Bid at All Cost" mode; they said a lot of things that would get kicked down the curb for other politicians to actually deliver. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1990, with sustainable architecture becoming a decisive factor, the finalists had to show forethought for their primary buildings' lifespans. The ACOG had a favorable plan: instead of demolishing their proposed stadium, they would re-purpose and gift it to the Braves. It ultimately got them the nod. But t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he retrofitting of what became Turner Field looked like someone called Atlanta with an off-suit 2, 7. Construction scrambled to assemble the grandiose Optimus Prime; ambition that made more sense on paper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over the years, I have seen several games in "The Ted" and it has been average from the beginning. This is coming from a guy that grew up with Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and Three Rivers in Pittsburgh. Today, Turner Field feels like the awkward teenage offspring of those late multi-sport cookie-cutters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is a baseball stadium in the sense that the sport takes place in front of you. The s</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ight lines, oddly-shaped concourses, and the bland symmetry of its outfield have left Braves fans wanting more. It is not embedded in Atlanta's downtown and does little to visually stimulate. Not surprisingly, it feels like half an Olympic Stadium. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For some strange reason, the city never took a cent from any of its citizens. If the Braves played one more year (1997) in their old building, and/or raised a modest public fund, Monday's headline would have been delayed at least twenty years. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />To make matters worse, Turner Field is now showing the signs of rushed de(re)construction. Take notes, IOC. This is what you get when you design a nine-figure stadium that serves its primary purpose for one measly month. My argument against the validity of binge-spending for the Olympic Games is a topic for another day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Liberty Media, the group that now owns the Braves, has said that there is a $150-$250 million cost associated with face-lifts and a better fan experience. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For that price tag, any team could move to the ideal location and build something better-suited. And that is exactly what the Braves are doing. See, ACOG, you should have just gone with a gift card. The sweater you thought the Braves would love is now on the $2 rack at Goodwill. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enter the "beggars can't be choosers" portion of the argument.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Say Turner Field needs $200 million to be a top-10 field in Major League Baseball? The Tampa Bay Rays could cut that capital improvement budget down to a mere $50 million and still offer their fan base a ballpark experience lightyears ahead of their current offerings. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At this point, they would kill to have a stadium that is in the top-20.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Why should the Tampa Bay Rays front office try to enact tax hikes and public support for a new ballpark in a place that </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> the attendance figures show </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> is apathetic to the local team? Even during periods of sustained on-field success, Tropicana Field drew an average of 18,645 fans in each home game last season. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks to its capacity, the stadium hosted 40,947 fans in the 2008 World Series, fewer than four teams </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">averaged</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in the 2013 regular season (two of whom did not make the playoffs). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have attended games at Legends Field (both Minor League and Spring Training) that have drawn more interest and excitement than midseason Major League Baseball games across town. But it is not the Rays fault. The franchise was set up to fail from the get-go. It is a Yankee town and always will be. Retirees flock to Tampa to see their pinstripes from February to April.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These people have been fans of teams like the Yankees, Phillies, and Red Sox for twice as long as the Tampa Bay Rays have existed. That is a tough row to hoe. Their best bet is with current school-aged baseball players, free of allegiances. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks to modern innovations in MLB coverage, these fans could</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> live just about anywhere and still follow the Rays. If the franchise moves to a different city, it would hardly kill off the previous generation of fans. The Atlanta Rays would have a more storied history in Georgia than Florida in no time. This storyline has numerous chapters in the history of professional baseball, including the Braves moving from Milwaukee. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, for a speculative $50 million, the Rays could pioneer a new way to procure a stadium: the Craigslist route. If the Braves could halt the demolition, there is no better way for the franchise to upgrade its dismal ballpark situation. The Florida Suncoast Dome cost $200 million (in 1990 dollars) and has done nothing but underwhelm baseball enthusiasts. They obviously want out, while staying the Tampa Bay Rays. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am staunchly against the relocation of pro sports franchises. But this is a glaring exception; an offer (not that the Braves have made one) that no one could refuse. This is not asking the Rays to travel to the West Coast and alienate its fan base. The relocation is a state away, in the same time zone, in the same climate, in a region where all professional franchises have young roots. The term "second-generation Rays fan" hardly exists yet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is also the righting of two wrongs: Atlanta building a disposable stadium that they marketed as a long-term baseball solution, and Major League Baseball granting an expansion team to an unsupported market. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Throw in some brownie points </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in the court of public opinion, for saving an American landmark </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and the Rays could be welcomed with open arms. Have the Braves sell that thing they were going to destroy for a $1 and suddenly it </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is a win-win.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If the ballpark isn't working for the Braves, why would it for the Rays?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To answer this, we must first understand why Braves ownership wants to move to Cobb County, Georgia. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Their Turner Field lease is up in 2016, granting them flexibility to move anywhere in the Atlanta metropolitan area. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to reports, t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he city's transportation system never adequately serviced Turner Field. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The stadium is situated on a constantly log-jammed I-75/I-85 superhighway. The city's population, like most American urban centers, has sprawled further into the suburbs. Even those that do wade their way through airport traffic cannot be guaranteed sufficient parking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">None of these complaints could deter a fledgling team like the Tampa Bay Rays. I have a feeling their management would long for those to be the <i>only</i> headaches. On a beautiful August night in St. Pete, with a first-place team, the Rays might draw 20,000 fans for ESPN's spotlight game of the week. Of those fans, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">25% are Florida transplants, rooting for the visiting team. 100% of the fans cannot enjoy the night sky. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you put the Rays in Atlanta, you would never hear "we </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">only</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> had 30,000 fans tonight!" Rays owner, Stuart Sternberg, would be screaming "we had 30,000 fans tonight!" If Turner Field comes cheap on the secondary market, the Rays could take half the money they are willing to spend on a new ballpark, in Tampa, and put it towards supplementary infrastructure enhancements in Atlanta. All the superfluous things that are plaguing Turner Field </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">— the things a "wealthy" team like the Braves never got to </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> could ironically be fixed by a team ranked dead last in Forbes' MLB team values.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Did I mention the history involved in Turner Stadium? The Summer Olympic Games have been hosted by the United States only four times (St. Louis, Los Angeles twice, and Atlanta). Ask a Chicago politician where their city is on that list and you will know how big of a deal it is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although highly reconfigured, the Rays would join USC football as the only "major" sports team that plays in a U.S. Olympic Stadium. There is brand equity attached with that venue; the site of Muhammad Ali's incredible Opening Ceremony torch lighting and Michael Johnson's record 200 meter dash. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the next months and years, there will be groups in Atlanta that step forward </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> ready to support anyone who could save Turner Field. Community social responsibility (CSR)</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> could be the least important factor for the ownership of the Rays, but that is not how it would read in the local papers. A strictly lucrative business decision could be spun as an environmental or historical preservation initiative. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This situation is the very definition a feasibility disparity in major sports. If the Braves want to move on, they have every right and the economic means to do so. Good for them. But demolishing a historical site, a very serviceable stadium, is short-sighted and wasteful. It is in the perfect price range for other owners. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>What about their loyal fans in St. Petersburg?</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rays ownership recently announced that only about 300 season ticket holders have permanent St. Petersburg addresses. The stadium is in the wrong part of town, but not from the typical socio-economic standpoint. St. Pete is plenty affluent, plenty beautiful, and plenty populated to support the Rays. Without getting too technical, the empty seats do all the talking. The management group that brought expansion baseball to the region missed the boat on where their fans call home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is exactly what the Braves just realized. The people buying their tickets are coming from Cobb County, not Fulton. What are they doing about it? They are letting the lease run out, after the sun sets on their 2016 season. The Braves intend to remove the shackles that tethered them to a Turner Field that never really suited their needs. Like LeBron James, they have earned this right to leave and chase the dollar (the richer, better-connected neck of the woods). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Rays would love to have the same community flexibility; the opportunity to make a comparable "Decision" as LeBron and the Braves. They would move across the Bay, to their fan nucleus </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> if you could call it that. Trouble is, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">St. Petersburg mayor, Bill Foster, has insisted that the franchise honor its contractual commitment to stay in his city until 2027. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By that time, Turner Field will be a distant memory and this whole proposal will be moot. It will take contract opt-out clause, an early St. Pete exit strategy. Rumors have swirled that one could come to fruition in the next few years. If this is the case, the Rays ownership should thoroughly evaluate its long-last free agent status. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whenever the Rays do finally get out from underneath their dreadful Tropicana burden, they should test the market. The United States is full of second-tier professional sports cities that would love to build them a new stadium. Right now, the belief is that the team will forego being wooed. If a quick move to Tampa is all they consider, I feel it is grossly short-sighted. They are making a blind assumption that Tampa is their version of Atlanta's northwest suburbs; that anything better than the sterile Tropicana Field will immediately draw 40,000 people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Monday's announcement by the Braves serves as a cautionary tale for a new generation of ballpark developers. If the Rays do not run the right analytics, they could be bound, for forty (plus) years, to a lease in their Tampa equivalent of Turner Field. In no way would it utilize their leverage or help to cultivate a better MLB market. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This Bay Area is not Oakland-San Francisco, which has two teams. I do not feel either side of this Spring Training, Minor League, and retired transplant haven can sustain professional baseball. Jumping from one side of an disinterested town to the other </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">would</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> get them shiny new digs and not much more. We see how that has worked well for the Marlins. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If they do entertain options, where would a cash-strapped franchise go to find greener pastures? </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If New Orleans does not come calling, Stu Sternberg could save some serious money with a move-in-ready place up I-75. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Could Atlanta support two teams?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I say yes. And I say this because Atlanta is a sports oasis. The geographical market share of MLB allegiances is dominated by the Braves in the South. With Houston now in the American League, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington, and Miami are the team's four NL neighbors. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This island effect would work in the Rays favor even more; Baltimore is the only AL franchise within 750 miles of Atlanta. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Rays and Braves would hardly step on each other's toes. The two stadiums would be roughly 15 miles apart, nearly twice as far as Yankee Stadium (Bronx) is to Citi Field (Queens). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the standings, the two teams would continue to play in opposing leagues. This model has existed in professional baseball for over 120 years (begun in the boroughs of New York in 1890). These cities unite against anyone that talks trash about their town, but is lovingly cantankerous when their two teams are pitted against one another. This occurs so rarely that fans could have vested interest in both. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Furthermore, the metropolitan statistical area of Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ranks ninth in the nation. After losing the NHL's Thrashers to Winnipeg, the city of Atlanta became the largest in the United States to not have four franchises in the major sports scene. It is as prominent as St. Louis, Boston, and Philadelphia were when they each had two MLB teams. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It would certainly be unique to the region and have its fair share of growing pains. The tribulations that currently plague the Braves would not go away. The hope would be that the casual fans in the city would inherently pick a side. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is a comfort in that city where people either answer "Braves" or "I don't like baseball" when asked about their favorite ballclub. This is not all that unlike St. Louis. With this move, Georgians would have an option to be different than their sibling or spouse or neighbor. It takes the building of a fence to get people off of it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Rays would have the appeal of being the team that actually represents the city, not the Atlanta suburbs. That is a distinct marketing advantage, given cities that also have two teams are very territorial in their nicknames (South Siders, Bronx Bombers, etc.). The Braves have done their homework in tracking where their ticket-buying fans live. If they are correct, and the northern portion of Atlanta comes out in droves, then the south side residents will be the ones who balk at the commute. The neighborhoods around Turner Field will not be able to afford the sticker shock associated with a new stadium's seat price </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a 15-mile drive. This would give the Rays a local pool of fans, priced out of the market by their own hometown team. They could stay the course with cheaper prices and draw 10,000 fans right away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My hunch is that Atlanta citizens would sure appreciate seeing a game, twenty years from now, in a renamed Turner Field </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> even if it is not their beloved Braves' home field. If it means that they have to put up with another team encroaching on their turf, so be it. They can be that cross-town annoyance that no one thinks about until an interleague match-up comes around. I feel they would rather keep the memories of that stadium alive. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With harmony and balance in a 30-team MLB, why would franchise relocation be a good thing?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, let's look at recent contentious moves across the sports landscape. Certain franchise relocation plans have startled, baffled, and angered the local fans. Others were an inevitable necessity for survival. I'll do my best to place a potential move from Tampa Bay to Atlanta on this <i>Scale of Detriment</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are several tangible factors that go into this decision: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">year</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, since this century has been unbelievably stable in its expansion and relocation compared to the last half of the 20th century.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">team</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, for the winning (or losing) tradition of each relocated team plays a huge part in how the fans react.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">miles</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, because the distance is everything; if a team moves far enough away, the wounds can heal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles can be misleading. If a team moves just across state lines, a franchise might be able to keep a regional fan base in tact. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thus, the <b>number of states</b> (or provinces) that the team moved away has some merit. I agree that </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the significance of this stat is skewed, since states come in all shapes and sizes. But state pride has no size; certain borders add to the animosity of a franchise changing hands.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quantity of </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">championships</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> the franchise logged before they were uprooted is arguably the most important factor. Ripping off the band-aid hurts fans more if banners were raised in the team's old hometown.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lastly, the </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">tenure</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> of the team in its previous city matters. Uprooting a franchise is easier when the roots never fully grabbed a hold. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2004, the Expos moved 590 miles to Washington, D.C. In doing so, they crossed over four states and an international border. The franchise never won the World Series in its 35 years in Montreal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following that same format (year, team, miles, states, titles, tenure): </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1953, Braves, 980 miles, 6 states away, 1 title, 83 years in Boston</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1955, Athletics, 1100 miles, 5 states away, 5 titles, 53 years in Philadelphia</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1958, Giants, 2700 miles, 11 states away, 5 titles, 74 years in New York</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1958, Dodgers, 2600 miles, 11 states away, 1 title, 73 years in Brooklyn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1961, Senators, 1050 miles, 6 states away, 1 title, 59 years in Washington</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1983, Colts, 580 miles, 3 states away, 4 titles, 30 years in Baltimore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1993, North Stars, 930 miles, 4 states away, 0 titles, 26 years in Minnesota</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1994, Whalers, 600 miles, 6 states away, 0 titles, 15 years in Hartford</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1994, Rams, 1800 miles, 5 states away, 1 title, 48 years in Los Angeles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 1995, Browns, 370 miles, 2 states away, 4 titles, 49 years in Cleveland</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 2008, SuperSonics, 2000 miles, 7 states away, 1 title, 41 years in Seattle </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the 2017 Rays, the distance is only <b>480</b> miles, <b>one</b> state away, <b>no</b> championships, after spending <b>19</b> seasons in St. Petersburg. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The move would be the second-shortest (miles), the fewest states away, and the second-shortest lineage of any on this list. This puts Tampa Bay to Atlanta very low on the <i>Scale of Detriment</i>; it is conceivable that local fans could see a team leave town and understand it was truly for the best. At the very least, they would be more consolable than Browns fans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From the department of "if you love something, let it go", t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he Rays could have a boost in attendance from a new city. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All these decisions ultimately come down to what is best for the business and not what is best for the fans. The Atlanta Rays would be a rarity in the sense of potentially being better for both. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The turnstile tally shows a substantial portion of their current fans prefer the living room or bar to the seats in Tropicana. Would their allegiance be drastically affected? I say no, not when the viewing experience would only get better </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> grass field instead of artificial everything. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Would the result benefit the Rays and/or the league?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since "exorcising" the Tampa Bay Devil Rays name in 2007, the franchise has really turned a corner in the competitive American League East. After ten straight years of losing 91+ games, the Rays have now logged six consecutive seasons with a winning percentage over .518. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This move would be the next evolution of credibility for an underdog team with national appeal. They are slowly gaining traction among baseball purists as the surprising Moneyball A's of the Southeast. Joe Maddon is lovable and his team likely has more fans outside of Florida than it does within. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The team has a decent fan base built up in the Carolinas; deliberately or inadvertently wearing a hue very similar to Carolina blue more and more each year. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">North Carolina holds its AAA affiliate, the infamous Durham Bulls. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Moving to Atlanta shrinks that road trip time and ups the reward at the end of that journey </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> outdoor baseball.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chalk it up to an era of new ballpark construction, but the odds suggest there is something to World Series success and a new home field. Five of the last eight World Champions won a title in the first ten years of their stadium's existence; two (St. Louis and New York) won a championship in the year one of a new building. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The team would need a name change if it relocated to Montreal, but not Atlanta. From coast-to-coast, the city's colloquial nickname is </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hotlanta</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. Hot = Atlanta sun = Atlanta Rays. No brainer, right? It's not like we're moving the Jazz to Utah and keeping the name. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Major League Baseball would be one step closer to having each franchise in a new (or gently-used) baseball-only, outdoor (or retractable-roof) facility. Only Oakland would need a new place to call home, and only Toronto would need natural grass. Everyone else is locked into something that barely requires a fresh coat of paint for another 20 years. What an asset for the league's bottom line: stability. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The move would put two teams in the same city in four different regions of the country: Midwest (Cubs, White Sox), West (Dodgers, Angels), Northeast (Mets, Yankees), and Southeast (Braves, Rays). It would not affect the division layouts or the current schedule format. The movement a</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ctually helps Miami, too. It gives MLB fans in the state of Florida one team to rally around. Let that crazy cathedral/fun house in South Beach be the shining beacon for all of Florida baseball. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is there an opportunity for a compromise?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is not a unique leverage situation. In the late 1980s, Tropicana Field was commissioned to lure a professional team down to the Sunshine State. The White Sox were enticed enough to threaten the city of Chicago into building a new Comiskey Park. If Turner Field can get on the table as a viable option, it might be enough to get what the people in Tampa Bay want. Without a place to go, the leverage for Floridians is non-existent. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ironically, it could be a defunct stadium that does to Tampa's team what the city attempted decades before.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It sounds as surreal as an episode of</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with my suggestion of a landmark changing hands </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> but it is plausible. It starts with Braves ownership loosening his "if we don't use it, no one can have it" stance. Postpone the demolition indefinitely. Give a team like the Rays time to satisfy their St. Pete lease and still have that standing as an option. Tigers Stadium stood for nearly ten years before it was razed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let's say certain political factors all the Rays to get out of their lease by the end of 2022, five years early. Turner Field would be vacant for a mere six years, and only 25 years old. That is nothing in stadium years. Even in total disrepair it would be a sound investment, with a long life let to live. That is why Liberty Media needs to stall the demolition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> the stadium formerly known as Turner Field is somehow still standing, the Rays would be ideal suitors. Let's say their franchise has $300 million to spend on a new ballpark (half from the public and half from the private sector). Starting from scratch would develop them a nice place on the waterfront, either in St. Petersburg or Tampa. But would it truly address their attendance issues? My guess is that the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will always feel like a trip to Florida is a home series. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Building the Georgia fan base from scratch would be hard, but building the stadium would be easy. And since Major League Baseball is a business, the latter is a bigger proponent for the move. Stadiums are inherently solidly constructed. Without doing advanced analysis on Turner Field, I have to speculate that the same $300 million the Rays hypothetically have to spend would go further in Atlanta. Even if the venue is stripped down to the core, time and money would be saved </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> move-in ready in one offseason. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If the Rays someday have the option of new or used, used would sure make the green-washed, eco-friendly people happier. The embedded energy in that discarded Atlanta field would all go up in smoke. Anybody that remembers the greatness of the 1996 Olympic Games would be happy to see a piece of history saved. The Atlanta sports scene would be satisfied by becoming a bigger baseball town; a rivalry of recent playoff teams injected into their city. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For all these reasons, in a seemingly counter-intuitive way, I think the refurbished route would even make true Rays fans happier, too. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conclusion</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am a college baseball coach, I have a master of architecture degree, and I have a master of business administration degree, so I get why this pops into my head. But I cannot be the only person thinking about this. People see the value of buying a 100 year-old house, but they cannot see that flipping a commodity like a 25 year-old Turner Field would not yield an economical incentive? It is like baking cookies: sure, building from scratch produces better taste, but when you find that ready-bake rolls are available at half the time and expense, you are foolish to say no. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In this case, with how bad of a stadium Tropicana Field is, the metaphor can be taken a step further. The Tampa Bay Rays burnt their first batch and have never really tasted a good cookie, so no one would hardly notice that this iteration was store-bought. Who cares if it was built by the hands of another? The fans would be appreciative of the upgrade, even if a cross-state relocation is required. </span>goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-4588554109377495502012-02-03T19:22:00.000-05:002018-11-14T16:22:20.604-05:00Introducing The World To The Big Train Award<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtZ0XYn3hKwHBmr0PlgzRFpJMcaDG0pHymBEima9sYh1oNiVvUyzvBJ3WuduCJW5we-yl6DSi91RChTgxkkRwDDDmp1_GGo31Wq2IUqUsW5m0RwfMQr1-IJBjfMlvYeDaaVkEeNQXcqA/s1600/big+train+4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705074606650397186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtZ0XYn3hKwHBmr0PlgzRFpJMcaDG0pHymBEima9sYh1oNiVvUyzvBJ3WuduCJW5we-yl6DSi91RChTgxkkRwDDDmp1_GGo31Wq2IUqUsW5m0RwfMQr1-IJBjfMlvYeDaaVkEeNQXcqA/s400/big+train+4.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 369px;" /></a><br />
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<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426379?access_key=key-1l7njvzr22xg9oxl5bxy">Title Page</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/full/80426736?access_key=key-zqgw6z6fst5qmqiokef">Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426723?access_key=key-2hm6uoh3ds1fia576jp6">1890-1916</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426726?access_key=key-131540c8gdhpizy8a51s">1917-1943</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426728?access_key=key-20ax21cwbevhdw1e0pox">1944-1970</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426731?access_key=key-12ty3mf3bjgz2pj548s6">1971-1997</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426732?access_key=key-ou5chknfz2h0kr9mvyn">1998-2011</a> (Plus Multiple Winners Table)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426733?access_key=key-15my1alg3jk78c4q2a89">National League Data</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426734?access_key=key-1ipi1sx48lg53jofuduc">American League Data</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/80426735?access_key=key-11cbtg81xp1bvqwc4kos">Comparative Analysis</a></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial";"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial";"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial";"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i></span>Saint Louis, MISSOURI -- Four years of painstaking solo research, trial and error, gathering data, punching numbers, and formatting graphics has finally come to an end. The bow has been tied on the package, known only to me as the <b>Walter Johnson Awards</b>. The "Big Train" should have his name on the trophy; he was the league's best pitcher in more seasons than anyone. Trouble is, Johnson died 66 years before anyone could hand him that distinction.<br />
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If you haven't been following along with my blog, Pitcher Rating is my baby. It is an oft-tinkered with, secret Excel formula that will stay with me to my grave (or until someone wants to pay me millions to see it). It has ten variables that were repeatedly checked and double checked against a sample size that filled my notebooks. Needless to say, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/">baseball-reference.com</a> became my homepage quickly. The project all started with a simple question: <i>How many Cy Youngs would Cy Young have won?</i><br />
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I soon realized that by any measure, he would not be the all-time leader in annual best-pitcher honorees. The unrivaled champion in that category is Johnson, with seven wins. This doesn't make him the greatest pitcher in history, nor the one with the most wins or strikeouts. But, in the context of individual seasons, no one had more of them -- relative to the field -- than Johnson. The proof is exhibited in his membership to the National Baseball Hall of Fame's inaugural class. And the ironic comedy of the plaque in Cooperstown that bears his name: It should read "7x Cy Yound Award Winner - A.L. 1913, '14, '15, '16, '18, '24, '25". The other pitcher in that HOF class, Christy Mathewson, would have finished his illustrious career with six such years -- same as Young.<br />
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Now, if you've ever questioned how good Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson were, read deeper into the subtext surrounding that Hall of Fame vote in 1936. At that time, professional baseball was already 60 years old. The game had seen more than 10,000 pitchers grace the mound. Yet, the Hall decided only two pitchers were special enough to be inducted.<br />
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Today, the Cooperstown museum includes over 90 players whose careers had ended prior to 1936. Thus, people clearly thought a sizable quantity of early ballplayers was good enough to be inducted. But, by recognizing only five players, the Hall of Fame truly made a statement that some individuals were better than not only the common man, but even better than future Hall of Famers from the same era.<br />
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According to the 1936 vote, Johnson and Mathewson were even better than Cy Young and Grover "Pete" Cleveland Alexander. Young and Alexander combined for 884 career wins. Each had retired by 1930, so it is not like the committee was awaiting a close to their record books. Their body of work was clearly Hall-of-Fame caliber. In spite of all that, both legends had to wait for another Cooperstown summer. It just shows how great Johnson and Mathewson were.<br />
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Even Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, who notoriously won 59 games in 1884, had his entry into the Hall of Fame delayed for four more years.<br />
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These days, a Hall of Famer represents greatness during a small window of time, as short as a decade. That first Hall of Fame class was reserved for the best players in all of baseball for over a half century. Those circumstances will never be replicated, and so no Hall of Fame class will ever be any better than the original. It stood as a time capsule, containing the five players everyone in future generations should know about. Now, we certainly do.<br />
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All of the aforementioned legends find their names on the Walter Johnson Award on more than one occasion. Gun to my head: the list of 21 pitchers that have won three or more of these fictitious awards would be my vote for greatest arms to ever play the game. The fact that my formula recognized these few as such only validated that my recipe was doing something right.<br />
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For the better part of two seasons, I have been using it to post <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2010/08/wainwrights-top-spot-completes-st-louis.html" target="_blank">articles</a> on various different blogs. I labored through 122 MLB seasons and still haven't found an undeserving league leader in the PR category -- the yearly winner of a "Big Train" Award. Check out the bulleted links [above] for all the details. Because we can go back in time (of sorts) and make contemporary calculations, the award posthumously rewards greats of yesteryear. In that, it carries a tongue-in-cheek established date of 1890.<br />
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For those of you who have never spent a Friday night crunching the Run Support Average of a 1920s pitcher, you do not know what you're missing. Maybe I <i>am </i>crazy because I felt it needed to be done. A common complaint among historians is that there are too many different eras of baseball that prevent players today from being measured against the past. Under the same parameters? Absolutely. But that is a weak obstacle that no one truly challenged with anything more than an asterisk.<br />
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Pitcher Rating's main goal was to take a pitcher, regardless of role or time period, and grade their season-long contribution against any other. I feel this is achieved with the fluctuating "Points Possible" that reflect changes made to the game. Showing that the Cy Young Award voting has consistently been a joke was simply a joyful byproduct.<br />
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It is my humble opinion that the creation of an objective, strictly mathematics-based, postseason award would solve some sports fans' issues. Computers are extremely useful at taking dozens of opinions and statistics and translating them into one value.<br />
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Statistics created by Bill James and Rob Neyer carry ridiculous-sounding acronyms, and the common fan has no clue what a good score is. Go to a baseball game and you may hear the person next to you saying, "His xFIP is one of the best DIPS in the league, but his BABIP is still over .300." Even the biggest baseball fan wants to punch this person in the face.<br />
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I have written articles on this site that have challenged ESPN for giving Mr. Neyer a <a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/features/cyyoung/_/year/2003">Cy Young Predictor</a>. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and my formula is no better or worse than his, it is just different. In principle I like that team James/Neyer set out to create a vacuum, where arguments sparked by comparing players like Barry Bonds to Babe Ruth could be "settled." Somewhere along the way Sabermetrics fell into the hands of too many people that still live with their parents.<br />
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And as for its predictive value: ESPN's Cy Young Predictor (created in 2002) has been less accurate than Pitcher Rating in selecting the league's voted-on best pitcher. A common glitch in their algorithm centers on the closer. They routinely overvalue their worth: an incorrect Keith Foulke in 2003, Eric Gagne in 2004, and Billy Wagner in 2006. While their predictor faltered, my "Big Train" research hit the nail on the head. This porridge is just right.<br />
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Disclaimer: Mariano Rivera was drastically better than Bartolo Colon in 2005. Period. That was a big miss we both got "wrong." I will happily mail Rivera a Walter Johnson Award as consolation.<br />
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I would like you to believe that my work is not that crazy. The formula is more-or-less straightforward; it does not forecast anything, only summarizes what was done in the past. Its acronym is only two letters and there is a similar stat in circulation in football (thus precedent for widespread acceptance among casual fans), and works just like an academic test score (thus approachable because everyone understands the need for a curve). It takes an apples-to-oranges argument and makes it apples-to-apples.<br />
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The best part is it never needs to come out of a spectator's mouth at a game; it's an end-of-year tabulation and not something pretentious the guy sitting behind you in Section 247 says to his girlfriend so all can hear how smart his is. Pitcher Rating certainly won't bring about world peace or stop hunger, but stopping that might just be the best thing on this earth I can do.<br />
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Then again, it's also good for <a href="http://www.thinkingmansga.me/2011/07/bochys-bad-calls.html" target="_blank">All-Star selection shows</a>, too...</div>
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goldenflashes21http://www.blogger.com/profile/14819869089690151437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062314159274847655.post-49799614038950264482011-07-03T17:36:00.000-04:002012-07-04T16:11:21.238-04:00Bochy and Washington's All-Star Bullpen Blunders<span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazQ9KPfrlE6mI76psvcxlPNN-DpcI_lGbgnlOu_dJ2aKeYdRo2Rl5Ad1TB6NXe6N47mj6OKgRQZKMy6ScEfqP-FtToZ2TMvZ-XScxWLKuHKydPCcxFxFNmW0W9VCqmYXBA7eZ3D-djds/s1600/pool-san-francisco-giants-v-texas-rangers-game-3-ron-washington-bruce-bochy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626624569637682450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazQ9KPfrlE6mI76psvcxlPNN-DpcI_lGbgnlOu_dJ2aKeYdRo2Rl5Ad1TB6NXe6N47mj6OKgRQZKMy6ScEfqP-FtToZ2TMvZ-XScxWLKuHKydPCcxFxFNmW0W9VCqmYXBA7eZ3D-djds/s320/pool-san-francisco-giants-v-texas-rangers-game-3-ron-washington-bruce-bochy.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a></span><span style="background-color: white;">W. Ross Clites</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Your City Sports-Cleveland</span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><br /></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Saint Louis, MISSOURI--The rosters have been set for the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game next week in Arizona. Yet again, it appears that the managers who make the tough decisions need some serious help.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These guys obviously make it more difficult than it needs to be, by not to relying on objective data. They do not have the time to watch every single pitcher around the league, keeping tabs on their nightly performances.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This year's scapegoats are San Francisco skipper, Bruce Bochy, and Texas' Ron Washington. For appearing in the 2010 World Series their prize will be a handful of angry colleagues from the teams in their respective league, a few scorned players, as well as thousands of fans of said scorned player.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The solution is quite simple: give people parameters/rules of the game and the complaints magically dissipate. If Major League Baseball would simply adopt a minimum criteria a player must meet for selection, the game (now to be taken seriously) will be better off. For the second year of its existence, Pitcher Rating could have been this savior from all the headaches and gripes.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Formatted the same as last year, the table below shows statistics of the top 45 pitchers (based on Pitcher Rating) in baseball, as of the Selection Sunday. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Players highlighted in dark blue are 2011 All-Stars. Those shown with an asterisk are the token representative from their club.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Moving our way down the list, the first nine selections are no-brainers. Quickly, things begin to get questionable. Tommy Hanson should undoubtedly be in Phoenix next week, and odds are he will find his way there. There are several aces that will pitch on the Sunday before the Midsummer Classic. The close proximity means they are unavailable on Tuesday, and (by rule) will be replaced. Thus, Hanson is a lock to get a call. The same is true of CC Sabathia; highly possible for Dan Haren.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If this hold true, the top 15 pitchers will be in Arizona.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we hit number 16, the debate begins. Bochy and Washington each passed on an unexpected ace of 2011. The early-season performances of the upstart Michael Pineda and the hometown representative Ian Kennedy should have been rewarded. They were snubbed simply because their greatness has not been sustained over the course of several years. Remember this fact when we get to Ryan Vogelsong.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Picking up Pineda and Kennedy--matched with the actual selections of Felix Hernandez, Jonny Venters, David Price, and Matt Cain--would have put the top 21 pitchers in the All-Star Game.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If only Bochy followed along with a selection system based on Pither Rating. Of his 13 possible selections, he would have the top 11 National League arms; needing to stray from the list only to pick up a player from the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres to meet the representation criteria.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Heath Bell would have fit the bill, and he was the logical decision for Bochy. He only dropped down to 28th to get the San Diego closer. To fill the Washington spot, however, Bochy dropped the ball. Drew Storen should have been a lock to represent the Nats. Instead, Bochy dipped down too far to Tyler Clippard--ranked 47th in Pitcher Rating.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By not following along with the Pitcher Rating, Bochy has opened himself up to some severe criticism. He selected two of his own; Tim Lincecum (6-6) and Ryan Vogelsang (with a Pitcher Rating comparable to Johnny Cueto, and very little to show for his journeyman career). It should be interesting to see how this plays out in a ballpark where a divisional foe called all the shots.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ron Washington did not fair much better. If he followed along with Pitcher Rating, he would have the top 12 pitchers before needing to jump the tracks for Kansas City. You could certainly argue that he should have looked to Alex Gordon or Melky Cabrera for that. This is partly due to the fact that Joakim Soria is having a down year, and mainly because the rest of the Kansas City pitching pool is quite shallow.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With that token spot going to a position player, Washington would have been able to use that 13th, and last, bullpen selection on a closer. If he truly believed Jose Valverde warranted an All-Star selection, it should have been the only closer he picked.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bullpen selection is not a fan-based portion of the event. Mariano Rivera (ranked 54th in Pitcher Rating) did not warrant a spot. The same is true of Chris Perez (ranked 59th), who should have waited another year for his arrival.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If this game is to mean something, the days of taking three or four closers makes no sense. There is only one ninth inning. Starters would be more accustomed to throwing in the eighth inning than most of the All-Star closers selected. The starters typically have a larger array of pitches to combat a potent All-Star lineup.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />The save is a watered-down statistic as it is. Each manager should take the one guy they feel would best shut the door and leave the rest at home.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Case and point, Brandon League. He was not a must; Seattle had plenty of representatives given their sub .500 record. And if you are going to take a second pitcher from the Mariners, make it Pineda.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Aaron Crow? Seriously? Aaron Crow ranks in the 100s of Pitcher Rating. There is no reason for any All-Star manager to dip that low. Selection should be an honorable moment, not a stretch. Combining wins, holds, and saves, Crow has only ten total. That is not an All-Star.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Using Pitcher Rating would help ease all these tensions that other managers currently have with Bruce Bochy and Ron Washington. They should not only implement the system, but put a cap on the number that managers cannot go below. If you cannot do away with the mandatory team representative, then we must be able to find better pinch hitter/runner options than cut-rate relievers. Steal bench guys from the basement-dwellers and leave the 13 bullpens spots for the best available.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/59475784/Pitcher-Rating-July-3-2011?secret_password=2c1j13exnktw9mfatlwe" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto; text-decoration: underline;" title="View Pitcher Rating July 3 2011 on Scribd">Pitcher Rating July 3 2011</a> <object data="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf" height="600" id="doc_74212" name="doc_74212" style="outline: none;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="FlashVars" value="document_id=59475784&access_key=key-ri7lmkykoz43bue8ywh&page=1&viewMode=list"> <embed id="doc_74212" name="doc_74212" src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=59475784&access_key=key-ri7lmkykoz43bue8ywh&page=1&viewMode=list" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="600" width="100%" wmode="opaque" bgcolor="#ffffff"></embed> </object></span></span></span></div>
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