Brian in Boston

2 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

The format should be easy for each city: Each one gets a group (which means three games at a site) and a First Round Knockout game. This gives each site a minimum of four games.

 

From there, you make sure that a Mexican site and a Canadian site (probably Mexico City and Vancouver) get at least two more games - a Round of 16 game and a Quarterfinal.

My understanding was that FIFA and the United Bid Committee has settled upon a schedule that would see 60 matches contested in the United States, with 10 matches each played in Canada and Mexico. The format you propose wouldn't square with the 60-10-10 split.

Of course, they could ultimately end up moving away from the schedule they were said to be eyeing. Time will tell.

On 6/17/2022 at 10:57 AM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

It's not going to happen in the US. Especially not after the NFL successfully hurdled the whole concussion thing a few years back. If that didn't slow the league down, nothing will. 

 

... American football isn't going anywhere.

The future of American football on the professional level has less to do with how successfully the NFL handled "the whole concussion thing a few years back" than it does with how said issue is dealt with at the youth through high school levels of competition moving forward. Further, gridiron football has always been amongst the most expensive of sports in which to launch and maintain a program (equipment costs, the size of rosters, etc.) at the youth club and interscholastic level.

American gridiron football's prospects for future survival are linked to parental concerns over the safety of the sport, as well as whether or not youth athletic organizations and elementary through high school athletic departments feel the cost of maintaining a program is a worthwhile expenditure. If participation in American gridiron football declines at the youth through high school levels, then it is going to eventually have an impact on the quality of the product at the professional level.

What will the NFL be willing to do to step-up and protect its status as the top-dog amongst major pro sports in America? We'll see.

12 minutes ago, TBGKon said:

IDallas might get the opener in the US since I feel like NY or LA gets the final.

I've been hearing quite a bit of chatter that AT&T Stadium and MetLife Stadium are the frontrunners to host the final. We'll see.

I count myself lucky to have scratched my World Cup itch as a media relations volunteer in Foxborough at both the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, as well as being gifted a trip - as a wedding present, from my wife's sister and brother-in-law - to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.    

9 hours ago, DoctorWhom said:

I am also curious how well Foxboro is going to handle hosting the Cup. Not everyday a suburb is hosting Fifa.   

One would hope as well as Foxborough handled hosting six matches (including the Italy vs. Spain Quarterfinal)  during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, five matches (including the Norway vs. China Semifinal) during the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, and four matches (including a Quarterfinal doubleheader of Brazil vs. Sweden and the United States vs. Norway) during the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. 

6 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

WTF is Boston doing there?

Robert Kraft has served as the Honorary Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of the United Bid Committee of Canada, Mexico, and the United States since the group launched its effort to host the 2026 World Cup almost five years ago. Reportedly, Kraft and FIFA President Gianni Infantino have developed a close relationship throughout the buildup to the trio of North American host-nations being awarded the event and over the course of the four years since. Gillette Stadium is in the midst of a $225 million renovation project that will see the construction of a new entrance plaza at the facility's north end, as well as the addition of 75,000 square feet of function and hospitality spaces to the inventory that the venue already boasts. Finally, Boston has long been a popular  destination amongst international travelers, with many of said tourists having first visited the city as students at one of the numerous colleges and universities that are located within the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area.

Frankly, while some prognosticators were claiming that Boston was a "bubble" candidate to be designated one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it would have struck me as a surprise if it hadn't been tabbed.

If anything scotched  Baltimore's chances of landing 2026 World Cup action, it was likely the fact that Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field - just 89 miles as the crow flies from M&T Bank Stadium - was amongst the venues selected.        

Rhode Island and Connecticut not playing in the New England region is asinine, particularly the Ocean State.

2 hours ago, stumpygremlin said:

That lightning bolt must be made of osmium because the falcon’s facial expression Is the very picture of  exhaustion and pain.

Seriously, take a look at this guy...



That isn't the countenance of a predator. It's the look of a sleep-deprived hernia-sufferer. 
 

From this latest batch of designs, I’m partial to #1 as a Cream City FC primary logo.

As for the secondary marks, I prefer #4.

The Cavaliers did what I feared they’d do. Namely, cobbled together disparate visual elements from different eras of the team’s history into a “Frankenstein’s Monster” of a visual identity.

Leave it to the Cavs’ brain trust to be of the  “Abby Normal” variety.

CF Montréal have unveiled their new badge.

On 5/26/2022 at 6:35 PM, Digby said:

I'd place a bet on a Union Station-Dodger Stadium gondola waaaay before one on a downtown LA Angels stadium.

All I need to know about the LA ART (Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit) Gondola is that it was proposed by Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies LLC, an entity created and controlled by McCourt Global. Yep... former Dodger owner Frank McCourt's outfit. Given the manner in which Frank's stewardship of the Dodgers came to a close - MLB concerns over the finances and operations of the team, an outside party being appointed by MLB to oversee the franchise's financials, and the club ultimately filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection - I'll pass on his gondola plan.

For the life of me, I can't understand why the Dodgers' current owners would want to be any more involved with McCourt than having to fork over the $14 million per year they've already agreed to as the cost for renting the Dodgers Stadium parking lots from an entity he holds a 50% stake in.    

Yes, indeed. The tragedy of Southern California's public transit history is that Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties were once linked by an extensive system of electric streetcars and interurban cars. The Pacific Electric Railway Company was the largest electric railway system in the world at its peak. Over 2,100 daily trains traversed more than 1,000 miles of track while  serving  cities and towns throughout Southern California.

On 5/24/2022 at 7:28 PM, Dilbert said:

If I remember reading right are the owners of Forward Madison involved in this?

Yes. The lead owner of Forward Madison FC - Jim Kacmarcik - is partnering with Kenosha-based Bear Development, a company with 36 years of experience developing hospitality, industrial, office, residential, and retail projects in 14 states.

The proposal calls for the development of an 11-acre site bounded by Michigan Street, North Sixth Street, and the I-794 /I-43 interchange. Anchoring said development will be an 8,000-seat stadium playing host to professional soccer, as well as the Marquette University men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams.  Adjacent to the athletic facility will be an indoor concert venue with a capacity of 3,500 people that the Pabst Theatre Group will operate in partnership with Kacmarcik Enterprises. Attached to the concert venue will be a 140-room upscale hotel  featuring a full-service bar and restaurant overlooking the stadium. The final component of the project will be a five-story,  99-unit apartment building.



 

1 hour ago, FiddySicks said:

Yeah but you say that with the assumption that whatever the Angels would set up wouldn’t be the mind-numbing, nerve-fraying, soul-sucking slog that is getting in and out of Chavez Ravine, and I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong assumption to make. It’s still Los Angeles, after all. If public transportation was set up better, I might buy into that line of thinking, but as it currently is, the very nature of the city is a mind-numbing, nerve-fraying, soul-sucking slog. 

My statements are based upon my experience as the owner of a Los Angeles Kings full season ticket plan from 2003 to present, a  Dodgers partial season ticket plan from 2005 through 2016, and a Los Angeles Football Club full season ticket plan from 2018 to present.

If I want to make sure that I'm in my seat at Dodger Stadium in time for the 7:10 PM start of a weeknight game, there is no way I'm electing to leave Santa Monica by car any later than 5:30 PM... and that's not necessarily going to guarantee I get there on time. And don't even get me started about exiting the parking lots at Chavez Ravine after the contest.  

Meanwhile, a 5-minute drive from my home gets me to the Metro station in Santa Monica where I can grab the E Line train to the Pico station, a trip that has never taken me longer than 47 minutes on a Kings game night. From there I'm a 5-minute walk to Crypto.com Arena (which sits adjacent to the plot of land Farmers Field was to be built upon).

Similarly, the trip from my preferred Metro station in Santa Monica to the Expo Park/USC  station for an LAFC match has only once taken longer than 35 minutes. That was on the night a car accident blocked the track... and the total time from Expo Park/USC back to Santa Monica was 50 minutes, even with the need to clear the automobiles from the intersection.    

There is simply no comparing the slog of fighting my way through traffic in an automobile to and from Dodger Stadium for a baseball game  with  the ease and speed with which I can travel via the E Line of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Rail System from Santa Monica to either the Expo Park/USC  or Pico stations for - respectively - LAFC matches and Kings games.  None.

There is a reason that Dodgers fans have gained a reputation for arriving late to games and leaving early: it is a chore getting to and from their stadium in a timely manner.      

4 hours ago, McCall said:

Even so, what is the likelihood that they draw that close to Dodger Stadium? Lifelong Dodger fans aren't gonna all of a sudden switch their fandom just because it's easier to get out of the parking lot. The Angels' best bet is to either stay in OC or try to get ahold of the outer region of Dodgers territory, i.e., Long Beach.

I'm not saying the scenario I've outlined is going to happen. In fact, I said the chance of such an eventuality occurring was "slim". That said, under Major League Baseball's current territorial rules for the Los Angeles market, the Dodgers could not unilaterally prevent the Angels from pursuing such a path.

As for the number of lifelong Dodgers fans that would "switch their fandom" if the Angels were to make such a move, all I can tell you is that - as mentioned up-thread - I have crossed paths with no shortage of baseball fans on LA's Westside who would enthusiastically leap at the chance to rid themselves of the mind-numbing, nerve-fraying, soul-sucking slog that is getting in and out of Chavez Ravine in order to consume the MLB product in this market. And that sample includes everyone from transplants to Greater Los Angeles with other primary MLB team allegiances to native Angelenos who have bled Dodger Blue their entire lives.

Now, granted, there are plenty of the latter fans who would tell you that they'd prefer it if the Dodgers were to make the move to the downtown Los Angeles ballpark I've described. Indeed, I know Dodger-loving seam-heads who can't understand why the franchise's current ownership group wouldn't want to rid itself of having to deal with former team owner Frank McCourt, who still holds a stake in the parking lots - and any profits that development opportunities on said landscape would generate - surrounding Dodger Stadium. Truth be told, the Dodgers likely wonder about that themselves from time to time. After all, the Dodgers current ownership group - Guggenheim Baseball Management - considered a deal that would have seen them build a replacement for Dodger Stadium on the downtown parcel that was being eyed for the Farmers Field development, with AEG building a stadium to house a National Football League team at the current Dodger Stadium site.

In any event, this much seems certain: Arte Moreno has gotten himself in a pickle... and Major League Baseball would seem to have another less-than-optimal ballpark situation on its hands. Certainly not as problematic as the state-of-affairs plaguing the Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum or the Rays at Tropicana Field, but troublesome nevertheless.                      

6 hours ago, McCall said:

According to Google Maps, that's only 3 miles from Dodger Stadium. I'm gonna go out on a very short limb here and say that might not get approved.

Major League Baseball's territorial rules state that the Angels and Dodgers share the same territory - Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura Counties - equally. While either franchise can veto the move of a minor league team - including one another's affiliates - into said territory, they cannot limit the movement of the territory's other MLB club within the three counties.   

 The team's future in Southern California under Moreno's stewardship seems doomed.

The guy alienated Angels fans in Anaheim and Orange County with his asinine "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" branding move. He's made little progress, if any, in helping the team achieve significant relevance amongst sports fans in Greater Los Angeles. The deal for land surrounding Angel Stadium that Moreno so desperately needed in order to engage in the sort of mixed-use real estate development that's become all the rage amongst pro sports owners has now been voided amidst allegations of corruption and vociferous public criticism.     

Best case scenario for Arte? That he could convince Phil Anschutz to buy a piece of the Angels, then talk the Los Angeles Kings and LA Galaxy owner (he also holds a minority stake in the Lakers) into joining him in building a ballpark on the site of the current West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, once the planned home for the Farmers Field football stadium project. Such a move would put the team in a location that sits next door to L.A. Live (also Anschutz-owned), has access to existing parking facilities, and is anywhere from a 5-minute to 15-minute walk from light-rail public transit stations serving 2 to 4 lines (Pico and 7th Street / Metro stops, respectively). That's the type of deal that could at least make the team more popular with potential L.A.-based fans. I know plenty of baseball enthusiasts on the Westside - Santa Monica, Brentwood, the Palisades, Venice, Marina del Rey, etc. - who would gladly hop on a Metro E Line train to a downtown Los Angeles Angel Stadium if it meant escaping their current experience as Dodgers season ticket-holders fighting rush-hour freeway traffic to get to Chavez Ravine and sitting in an auto-snarled Dodger Stadium parking lot for God knows how long after games. Of course, it would also likely create a permanent schism between the Angels and a majority of their Orange County-based fans.  

Now, the reality of any of this happening is slim. Anschutz has three times the wealth of Moreno and likely isn't interested in partnering with a guy who has managed his way into the predicament Arte now finds himself in. Phil doesn't need that sort of headache.    

Frankly, there's a better chance of Arte being forced to relocate  to another market. Hey, what about Tennessee? He could rename them the Nashville Honky-Tonk Angels!      

4 hours ago, Blindsay said:

Is this supposed to be Hermès? Because I don’t see how the former Avengers Logo would describe a Team called the Express.

I always took the wing-like portion of the Arena Football League franchise’s logo to symbolize the feathered appendages of an “avenging angel”. As a result, I similarly thought that the wing-like portion of WideRight’s Los Angeles Express mark was meant to denote the winged helmet of a speedy “messenger deity” like Hermes or Mercury.

So, what do Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula, not Tim Reid) have to do with elk... or football... or Edmonton?

3 hours ago, WideRight said:

 

 

I didn't know what I would think of this particular color scheme being applied to an L.A. Avengers-based logo set. That said, I absolutely LOVE it. 

So, it would appear that the Birmingham Stallions' new identity package is going to be based on this mark that Rick Bakas submitted to the Denver Broncos...



Meanwhile, I'm of the mind that the Los Angeles Express is going to be sporting a new logo package inspired by that of the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers.


 

3 hours ago, WideRight said:

Well, we know Birmingham is getting a new look, postponed 1 year.   The question is which of these elements from real life will make it into the new Stallion look?

1.   Unused St. Louis Stallions logo?
2.   Unused designs from 1997 Broncos overhaul?
3.   St. Louis Stampede Arena Football league logo?
4.   Milwaukee Mustangs influence?

One of those 4 will be key to the reimagined Stallions in 2000.

Of those sources, I'd say there are some marks amongst the logos that graphic designer Rick Bakas provided to the Denver Broncos that could make for a dynamic new Birmingham Stallions look.

As for the other, I'd pass on all of them as inspiration. The St. Louis Stallions logo is an uninspired mess, the St. Louis Stampede mark strikes me as being akin to something a third-rate rock band would adopt, and the Milwaukee Mustangs emblem is a dated mediocrity.       

2 hours ago, PascalHugo said:

  Reveal hidden contents

This is the team of my heart. It was officially born in 2010 when my friends and I created a championship made up of fictional teams (with real players) on Pes. As you can see, the logo follows that of Cerezo Osaka, I wanted to fix it a little but it's the same one I drew on a sheet 12 years ago. I am passionate about Basque culture and have always identified this club as the pride of a people. When I decided to create this universe I always thought about whether or not to include my team, but in the end I decided to do it. And I think it's a good idea.

 

Askatasuna Royal Club

 

 

I've loved your work in this series, but the shape of that shield, the decorative filigree surrounding it, and the scroll bearing the team name all bear a striking resemblance to the badge of J1 League club Cerezo Osaka. 

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