wdm1219inpenna

7 minutes ago, officeglenn said:

Merging this with the Interesting Sports Facts and Statistics thread, as it's a better fit. 

 

Also, allowing this to stay up because the post itself is relevant to sports and not overly partisan or incendiary, per the CCSLC guidelines. But please don't turn the discussion into anything overly partisan or incendiary.

To be sure, and thanks!

Here is a list of the years that the Yankees won the World Series, as well as who was President of the United States at the time:

 

 

 

Of their 27 World Championships, only 7 of them occurred while a Republican resided in the White House, and the last time it happened was way back in 1958!  The Yankees defeated the MILWAUKEE Braves....1958 was the first year that we had the Dodgers & Giants in California, just to put it into more proper perspective.

 

The Yankees won one pennant in 1976 when Ford was in office, but they got swept by Cincinnati's Big Red Machine.

 

They won another pennant with Reagan as President in 1981, but lost that World Series 4 games to 2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, after going up 2 games to 0 on LA no less.

 

From '82 - '93 the Yankees were dreck and did nothing.

 

I just found it quite curious about this "drought" of sorts the Yankees have with regard to this.  So for this reason alone, Yankee fans may be happy with the current President.  Time and history will tell...

NFL had AFL & NFL remained separate

 

Accounting for the current location of all 32 NFL teams, and assuming that the 1970 merger kept the original 16 NFL teams separate from the 10 AFL teams, putting all the teams that joined the NFL after 1975 into the AFL:

 

AFL EAST:

Baltimore Ravens (expansion 1996)

Buffalo Bills (Original AFL)

New England Patriots (Original AFL)

New York Jets (Original AFL)

 

AFC CENTRAL:

Carolina Panthers (expansion 1995)

Cincinnati Bengals (Original AFL)

Kansas City Chiefs (Original AFL)

Tennessee Titans (Original AFL)

 

AFL SOUTH:

Houston Texans (expansion 2002)

Jacksonville Jaguars (expansion 1995)

Miami Dolphins (Original AFL)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (expansion 1976)

 

AFL WEST:

Denver Broncos (Original AFL)

Las Vegas Raiders (Original AFL)

Los Angeles Chargers (Original AFL)

Seattle Seahawks (expansion 1976)

 

 

NFL EAST:

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington No Names

 

NFL CENTRAL:

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

 

NFL SOUTH:

Atlanta Falcons

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

New Orleans Saints

 

NFL WEST:

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota VIkings

San Francisco 49ers

32 team MLB:

 

 

 

16 teams in each league.  4 teams into 4 divisions.

 

Only division winners advance to the post season.

 

In each league, the Atlantic & Central division champions would play a best 3 out of 5 Division Series, the winner would become Eastern Conference Champions.

 

And the Pacific & Midwest champs would square off also in a best 3 out of 5 to become Western Conference Champions.

 

Then the East vs West champs would play in the LCS in a best of 7.  This brings back the East/West that was used from 1969 - 1993.

 

No interleague play.

 

Divisional games would be 22  (66 total)

Teams in the other division in your conference would be 12  (48 total)

6 games each against each of the other 8 teams in the other conference  (48 total)

 

162 game season.

 

The Houston Astros would return to the National League.  The Milwaukee Brewers would return to the American League.

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks would move from the NL West to the AL West.

 

Two expansion teams both in the NL, the return of the Montreal Expos (a new version of the Expos)...all the old Expos records and history would remain with the Washington Nationals.

 

The Portland Pioneers would be a brand new franchise in the National League West, the Pacific Division.

 

Most teams would now have natural interleague rivals, although personally I am not a fan of interleague play at all.

 

Texas is far too big to not have a National League representative.

 

Many rivalries would stay in tact while new ones (Washington vs Montreal) would prove most interesting (similarly to the Browns & Ravens in the NFL).

 

.

I'm very gratified at so many terrific responses.

 

I would add I miss Jim McKay and ABC having the Olympics.

 

And I also miss that both Summer & Winter games would be held in a leap year.  Now they stagger them.

 

I miss when the Olympics were about (or supposedly about) amateur athletes.  The whole Dream Team thing really shattered it for me, although from what I understand other countries had their professionals compete in the Olympics, so that really sullied the Olympic games for me altogether.

If you are a Yankees fan, you'll probably want a Democrat as President.

 

The last time the Yankees won a World Series with a Republican at the helm was way back in 1958 when Dwight Eisenhower was in office.

 

Yankees World Series victories since then:

 

1961 & 1962 (JFK)

1977 & 1978 (Carter)

1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 (Clinton)

2009 (Obama)

 

Yankees World Series losses since 1958:

 

1960 vs Pittsburgh Pirates (Eisenhower) Republican

1963 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Kennedy) Democrat

1964 vs. St. Louis Cardinals (Johnson) Democrat

1976 vs. Cincinnati Reds (Ford) Republican

1981 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Reagan) Republican

2001 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Bush) Republican

2003 vs. Florida Marlins (Bush) Republican

 

On 8/10/2015 at 11:07 PM, Robertsports said:

The 1923 New York Yankees, the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, and the 2009 New York Yankees are the only teams to win the World Series in the same year as opening a new stadium.

I thought the Boston Red Sox in 1912 also, the year Fenway Park opened, no?

For me, (I am 53 now), the good old days were during the 1970s.

 

I miss Phil Rizzuto, Bob Messer & Bill White announcing Yankee games on WPIX Channel 11, New York, including the "Here Come The Yankees" theme music.

Ditto Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner & Lindsey Nelson on WWOR Channel 9 including the "Meet the Mets" theme song.

Although not a fan of Philly teams, I even miss Harry Kalas & Richie "Whitey" Ashburn announcing Phillies broadcasts.

 

I also miss ABC's Wide World of Sports.  I loved watching Meadowlark Lemon & Curley Neal with the Harlem Globetrotters on those broadcasts.

 

I miss daytime MLB playoff baseball.

 

I miss Super Bowls & other NFL games being played in the afternoon in full daylight.

 

I miss Howard Cosell, Don Meredith & Frank Gifford on Monday Night Football on ABC.

 

A great many of the colorful uniforms from back then I miss big time too.  I've attempted to recreate some of them in paint.  Very very amateurish especially compared to a lot of the amazing artwork shared on here by so many gifted members.

 

Above all other things, I miss having my Dad, my best friend and my cousins to watch games with.  Many sweet memories made.

 

Oh and I miss the simple joy of collecting Topps Baseball cards back in the day too.  How I wish I had taken much better care of them...hindsight is like this year, 2020.

 

 

I'm a tad disappointed that there are no AFC or NFC logos in the end zones.

My NFL:

And I'd keep the 16 week schedule, and either get rid of the bye week during the regular season, or if they have to have it, give one conference off one week (week 8), the other conference off the following week (week 9). That would never fly due to television only getting 8 games to televise vs. 13, 14, 15 or 16. It would also never fly in this day and age because of fantasy :-\

I don't get why people want balanced schedules with a division structure, it makes divisions entirely meaningless and arbitrary. Might as well not have divisions at all if everyone has an equal schedule. In a divisional structure you should always play your fellow divisional teams more imo.

That's a very valid and logical argument. On the reverse side, one could argue in baseball for example, the Blue Jays, who haven't made post season since Bill Clinton still had dark hair, every year have to play about half of their games against only 4 teams, two of them being the high-spending Yankees & Red Sox. Meanwhile a team like Oakland gets cream puffs like the Astros and Mariners (although the M's are up and comers if their 2014 record is any indications). As for as baseball seeding goes, I don't think that really matters much anymore. The top seeds were once again eliminated in the first round of the playoffs this year.

I rather liked the balanced schedule used by the A.L. from 1977 - 1993 and the N.L. in 1993 when they too expanded to 14 teams. The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry would be a bit more special I believe if they only met 4 times a year, 3 game series for 3 times and one 4 game series. Seems to me with all the games baseball has, a balanced schedule could certainly work. One disadvantage to that though would be in theory, more travel.

But it was great once upon a time too, when the schedules were unbalanced. When there were just 12 NL teams, folks who live near Philly and who are Dodger fans would get to have 6 chances a year to see the Dodgers play. Now with 15 teams per league and so much interleague play and divisional play, the Dodgers (and all other teams outside of the NL East) come to Philly only once a year.

The "New" USFL (taking teams from the 1983-85 league). I contracted the Jacksonville Bulls, Oklahoma Outlaws and (insert city name here) Breakers. FYI and historical context, the Breakers were in Boston in 1983, New Orleans in 1984 and Portland, Oregon in 1985, hence the sarcastic (insert city name here) disclaimer.

Atlantic Division - New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, Washington Federals

Southern Division - Birmingham Stallions, Orlando Renegades, Memphis Showboats, Tampa Bay Bandits

Central Division - Chicago Blitz, Michigan Panthers, Houston Gamblers (sorry the helmet i just noticed was a bit sliced), San Antonio Gunslingers

Pacific Division - Arizona Wranglers, Denver Gold, Los Angeles Express, Oakland Invaders

18 game season (which is what the old USFL had). Each team plays 2 games against its 3 division opponents, home and away, and each team plays 1 game vs. the other 12, 6 at home 6 on the road on an alternating basis (e.g. New Jersey would play at Oakland one season, the next year Oakland would play at New Jersey).

Just like the NFL, there would be 6 playoff spots. The 4 division winners seeded 1-4, and 2 wildcards.

Wildcard Weekend 6 seed at 3 seed and 5 seed at 4 seed.

Divisional Playoffs 6,5 or 4 seed at 1 seed, and 5,4, or 3 seed at 2 seed.

USFL Championship Game - Neutral Site. No "bye" week between the Divisional Playoffs and the Championship Game.

As a follow-up to my 32 team MLB re-alignment post, here are the caps in the new divisional alignment:

I gave the Orioles back their cap from what they had just prior to going back to the grinning cartoonish bird. The Red Sox caps would be red again, as they were from 1975-78. I think they looked really sharp, and still do. The Blue Jays would go back to the white panel on their caps and have the 1977-96 logo.

The Charlotte Knights cap was easy to create, using their logo on a cap template. Team colors gold and black with a touch of silver for the head of armor. The person who made that Indians logo did a really nice and brilliant job. I never liked the Chief Wahoo logo, even when I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, I thought it was really goofy looking. I didn't have room for a 2 cap scenario, but only the Tigers would have 2 different caps in my baseball world. The white "D" for home games, and the orange "D" (showcased here) for their road games.

The Twins cap would have the white panel again, with the interlocking "TC". This would be used for both home and away games. The Texas Rangers would have blue caps, with the red "T". I never liked the red caps that the Rangers adopted back in I guess 1994.

The Anaheim Angels (no more of this Los Angeles of Anaheim hooey) would go back to having a navy cap with a red brim. Again, I never liked nor embraced their red caps. Too many red teams in the American League. The Diamondbacks cap is black with their "A" logo on it and the reddish/orange brim.

In the National League, the Nationals would always have a navy cap with a red brim. I dislike that there are so many "red" teams now in baseball. To me the Red Sox, the Reds and the Cardinals should have red, and that's it. For the Phillies, I married their current cap logo with their previous burgundy colored caps. I always have loathed the Phillies (all Philadelphia teams), but loved it when they had a distinct color. The re-branded Expos expansion team would go back to their 1970s & 80s cap, with the white panel in the front and the MLB logo.

The Pittsburgh Pirates caps would harken back to the days of Clemente in the early 1970s, with the mustard gold caps and the black P on it. The Florida Marlins (not Miami in my world) would go back to their original logo, and have the teal cap with black brim. Again, this was nice as it gave them some distinction.

The Brewers cap I made more of a bluish/purple hue. It might only be me but during the 1970s and early 80s, those Brewers caps looked almost purple to me. I made the "M" a more yellow hue. The Houston Astros would always have the orange caps. Again I loved that they had a distinct color.

In the NL West, the Padres would go back to their brown/orange/gold look. Again very distinct! The current set is about as thrilling as watching paint dry in my opinion. The San Francisco Giants' caps would always have the orange brim.

So there you have it, my re-aligned world showcased by how I'd want the MLB caps to look. Only division winners would advance to the post-season. Best 3 out of 5 series to determine the East & West champions. Best 4 out of 7 for the LCS and of course 4 out of 7 for the World Series. I'd simply alternate every year who was home team for the extra game in these post-season series, rather than have it based on record, but that could still apply I suppose.

I realize it can't happen, but I always find myself wishing the Milwaukee Bucks could be int he Central along w/the Bulls, Cavs, Pistons & Pacers. I'm not crazy about "Wizards" either. Federals I remember was the USFL team. Also I'm not thrilled w/the Pelicans nickname either....

1. Two expansion teams, one per league. In the American League the Charlotte Knights, in the National League a new version of the Montreal Expos.

2. The Houston Astros are moved back into the National League.

3. The Arizona Diamondbacks move to the American League.

4. The Expos/Nationals rivalry would be both international as well as similar to the Browns/Ravens type rivalry in the NFL.

5. The Miami Marlins become the Florida Marlins again, with their original logo. The Los Angeles Angels become the Anaheim Angels again.

6. Four 4-team divisions per league. Each group of 8 divided into East and West. and West champions play

7. Atlantic & Central Division winners play the best 3 out of 5 to determine the East Champion, Midwest & Pacific Division winners play the best 3 out of 5 to determine the West Champion.

8. East & West Champions play the best 4 out of 7 to win the League Championship Series.

9. League Champions AL & NL play the best 4 out of 7 in the World Series. In all post-season series, the home team will alternate every year. In Round 1, it will be 2-2-1, then 2-3-2 for the other 2 rounds.

10. No more wild card teams, only division winners qualify for post-season play.

11. No more interleague play. Being without it made MLB unique from the other major sports and should go back to that, especially since the AL has the DH rule and the NL does not.

12. 22 division games vs. the other 3, 12 games vs. the other 4 non-division teams in your own region, and 6 games vs. the remaining 8 teams from the other region in your own league.

Wow wdm, gotta give credit where credit is due. Maybe your variation is much better than mine. However, I don't like the "no interleague play" rule, despite that I agree with you on a standpoint that has allowed MLB its uniqueness from other pro sports leagues in the U.S. prior to 1997 (when interleague play was introduced). And what a great way to align the divisions/sub-divisions; but if it was in an interleague play standpoint, it almost allows every team to have a natural rivalry (i.e.: N.Y. Mets/N.Y. Yankees; Washington/Baltimore; Houston/Texas; etc.)

About the playoff format, nice format. But if it was me, I would add the wild cards, just for upsets.

Thanks kindly for the comments, they are greatly appreciated.

The way I did the grid, I tried to co-ordinate the "natural" interleague rival for all 32 teams...

Angels/Dodgers, Diamondbacks/Rockies, Athletics/Giants, Mariners/Padres, White Sox/Cubs, Royals/Cardinals, Twins/Brewers, Rangers/Astros, Knights/Braves, Indians/Reds, Tigers/Pirates, Rays/Marlins, Orioles/Nationals, Red Sox/Phillies, Yankees/Mets and Blue Jays/Expos.

Also, all 32 teams would have an in-league rival....

Yankees/Red Sox, Orioles/Blue Jays, Tigers/Indians, Rays/Knights (Ray Knight could attend!), Royals/Rangers, Twins/White Sox, Angels/Athletics, Mariners/Diamondbacks, Phillies/Mets, Expos/Nationals, Reds/Pirates, Marlins/Braves, Cubs/Cardinals, Brewers/Astros, Dodgers/Giants & finally Rockies/Padres.

1. Two expansion teams, one per league. In the American League the Charlotte Knights, in the National League a new version of the Montreal Expos.

2. The Houston Astros are moved back into the National League.

3. The Arizona Diamondbacks move to the American League.

4. The Expos/Nationals rivalry would be both international as well as similar to the Browns/Ravens type rivalry in the NFL.

5. The Miami Marlins become the Florida Marlins again, with their original logo. The Los Angeles Angels become the Anaheim Angels again.

6. Four 4-team divisions per league. Each group of 8 divided into East and West. and West champions play

7. Atlantic & Central Division winners play the best 3 out of 5 to determine the East Champion, Midwest & Pacific Division winners play the best 3 out of 5 to determine the West Champion.

8. East & West Champions play the best 4 out of 7 to win the League Championship Series.

9. League Champions AL & NL play the best 4 out of 7 in the World Series. In all post-season series, the home team will alternate every year. In Round 1, it will be 2-2-1, then 2-3-2 for the other 2 rounds.

10. No more wild card teams, only division winners qualify for post-season play.

11. No more interleague play. Being without it made MLB unique from the other major sports and should go back to that, especially since the AL has the DH rule and the NL does not.

12. 22 division games vs. the other 3, 12 games vs. the other 4 non-division teams in your own region, and 6 games vs. the remaining 8 teams from the other region in your own league.

MLB - Swap Arizona and Houston. I can't wrap myself around Houston being an A.L. team. Milwaukee to the NL back in 1998 I could buy, as the Braves were there.

By swapping Arizona & Houston, you'd have the following "natural" interleague rivals...

Texas Rangers - Houston Astros

Los Angeles Angels - Los Angeles Dodgers

Oakland Athletics - San Francisco Giants

Seattle Mariners - Colorado Rockies

Arizona Diamondbacks - San Diego Padres

The D'Backs are only 17 years old, the Astros 50+. Plus it would have been awesome having the Astros back in the NL West with their longtime rivals the Padres, Giants and especially the Dodgers. I still remember that 1980 NL West Division Series!

If MLB expanded to 32 teams - bringing back the Montreal Expos to the NL (And swapping Houston & Arizona), and adding a new A.L. expansion franchise in either Charlotte (Strikers) or Nashville (Knights), I'd do something like this:

EASTERN CONFERENCE - Atlantic & Central Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE - Metro & Pacific Division

*Note - Listing the teams in AL on top and NL on bottom, lined up with "natural" interleague rivals*

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

A.L. - (Atlantic Division) - Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays

N.L. - (Atlantic Division) - Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Expos

A.L. - (Central Division) - Tigers, Indians, Rays, Nashville Knights*

N.L. - (Central Division) - Pirates, Reds, Marlins, Braves

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

A.L. - (Metro Division) - Royals, White Sox, Twins, Rangers

N.L. - (Metro Division) - Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Astros (back in NL where they belong!)

A.L. - (Pacific Division) - Angels, Athletics, Diamondbacks (from NL to AL), Mariners

N.L. - (Pacific Division) - Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Rockies

162 game season. 12 interleague games on a 4 year rotating basis, would bring the novelty of Mets/Yankees, White Sox/Cubs back, rather than it being every year. Better still, I'd have no interleague games!

22 division games x 3 teams = 66 games (11 home & 11 road)

12 games vs other 4 teams in your conference = 48 games (6 home & 6 road)

6 games vs other 8 teams in your league = 48 games (3 home & 3 road)

Only division champions qualify for post-season.

Round 1 - CONFERENCE SERIES

The 2 Eastern Division champs play a best 3 out of 5 to determine the EASTERN CONFERENCE Champ, same for the Western Division.

Round 2 - LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

East vs West winners (akin to 1969-1993) best 4 out of 7.

Round 3 - WORLD SERIES

AL champ vs NL champ - best 4 out of 7.

I did a recent post about expanding to 32 teams, bringing back the Montreal Expos as team 31, and the Portland Grays as team 32. Portland could also be the Meadowlarks, or Larks, since the meadowlark is the state bird in Oregon. Montreal in NL, Portland in AL, move Milwaukee back to AL, move Houston back to NL. For further details, you can look at the post I did a couple of weeks back on here.

If contracting to 24 teams, contract the 6 newest franchises, swap Milwaukee & Houston and have this:

AL East:

Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees

AL West:

Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Anaheim (changing it back to that) Angels, Texas Rangers, San Jose A's (relocated from Oakland)

NL East:

Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, New York Mets

NL West:

Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves

While geographically, it should be Cincy & Atlanta in the East and St. Louis & the Cubs in the west, the Cubs put up a big stink in 1969 and again in 1993 about being moved into the Western Division.

Ditch interleague play, 18 games vs. your other 5 division opponents (90 games), 12 games vs. each of the other 6 teams in the opposite division (72 games). Division champs only in the playoffs, best 4 out of 7, advance to the World Series, best 4 out of 7. Home field advantage in the World Series would alternate every year, as it did for decades.

Miami has a new stadium, little fan turnout, terrible ownership. Tampa seems to not draw very well either. Arizona had to be bailed out by MLB. Colorado draws many fans at least. Toronto has been more or less irrelevant in the AL East since winning it all in 1993. They are one of just 3 teams to not make the post-season since the 3 division format started in 1994, with Pittsburgh & Kansas City being the other 2. Both of these teams are in the hunt at least this year. Seattle hasn't won the division, or been in the playoffs since 2001, and were very close in 1995 to losing their franchise altogether. So of the 6 newest teams, the only one that would be wrong to contract in my humble opinion would be the Rockies.

2015 Major League Baseball

1. Return the Milwaukee Brewers to the American League and the Houston Astros to the National League.

2. Adding 2 expansion teams, in the A.L. the Portland Meadowlarks, in the N.L. the return of the Montreal Expos.

3. Each league A.L. and N.L. would have 4 divisions, 4 teams per division.

4. Only division winners would advance to play in the Division Series. Wild card teams would be gone.

5. Each league's four divisions would be "Atlantic", "Central", "Midland" and "Pacific".

6. The Atlantic and Central divisions would be in the Eastern Region, the Midland and Pacific divisions would be in the Western Region.

7. The Atlantic and Central division champions would play in the Division Series to determine the Eastern Region champ, while the Midland and Pacific division champs would play to determine the West champ.

8. Both League Championship Series would be played between the East and West champions (as was the case from 1969 - 1993).

9. Final standings would no longer be taken into account with respect to "seeding". All post-season match-up sites would be pre-determined. This includes the All-Star Game's outcome having no bearing on the World Series.

10. No more interleague play.

11. AL Atlantic - Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays - EASTERN REGION

AL Central - Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays - EASTERN REGION

AL Midland - Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers - WESTERN REGION

AL Pacific - Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Portland Meadowlarks, Seattle Mariners - WESTERN REGION

NL Atlantic - Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals - EASTERN REGION

NL Central - Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals - EASTERN REGION

NL Midland - Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros - WESTERN REGION

NL Pacific - Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants - WESTERN REGION

Each team's 162 game schedule would consist of:

22 divisional games (11 home, 11 road) x 3 teams = 66 games

12 games vs. other 4 regional opponents (6 home, 6 road) x 4 teams = 48 games

6 games vs. other 8 opponents from opposite region (3 home, 3 road) x 8 teams = 48 games

From age 7 til about age 40 (I'm 45 now), I was a New York Yankees fan. I grew up in Ewing NJ, a suburb of Trenton, and my Dad would watch Yankees baseball on WPIX Channel 11. In the summer of 1974, he had me watch "Pride of the Yankees" on TV. I learned about Lou Gehrig and his life & legacy. That, coupled with my Dad being a Yankees fan is why I became a Yankees fan for many decades. The 1977 and 1978 teams will always hold a very special place in my heart, especially the 1978 Yankee team. I won't go into detail here, but suffice it to say, I wish I could write to Bucky Dent to thank him personally for the Home Run he hit in game 163 at Boston during that 1 game playoff for the AL East title. For me, that is my "shot heard round the world", and will forever be the single most significant home run ever to me personally.

I was a New York Giants fan in the NFL until the way they mishandled the whole Phillip Rivers/Eli Manning deal. When Eli said at the draft "We feel this is what is right for me.", that left a very bad taste in my mouth. "We"? We meaning Daddy Archie. Ever since then, I have called Eli "Pinocchio", Archie "Gepetto" and Peyton is "Jiminy Cricket". I don't root against the Giants per se, but that just left a very bad taste in my mouth the way that whole deal was handled when Eli was drafted. Yes I know the Giants won with him, yes I know the Giants had a huge upset vs. the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. For me it was like having an ex-wife who won the lottery. I don't feel bitter that I wasn't part of it, but I was happy for the Giants. I love Lombardi and the legacy that is the Green Bay Packers. I love what New Orleans has done. I've always pulled for the Steelers too, going all the way back to the mid 1970s when I first began watching the NFL. Any more, there are more teams that I love to HATE in the NFL.

I don't get into college much, nor basketball or hockey.

The NFL has a few alignment issues, which I know people can agree on. I know the NFL likes to keep rivalries in tact, but I think by realigning a few teams to make the division more regional could help teams with travel costs and such. Most of all, I would just like to see a consistent base.

In my changes, I made 3 in the AFC, and 2 in the NFC

I think the biggest change would be the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously they have huge rivalries within the NFC East, but being in the division makes absolutely no sense. The Houston Texans are in the NFC South, as should be the Cowboys. Both Texas teams need to be consistent. This same concept works with the Miami Dolphins. Tampa Bay is in the NFC South, but the Dolphins in the East? Yes, Miami is East, but definitely sits better South, in my eyes. Below you can see more changes. I believe that this makes the divisions regionally better.

What do you all think? What changes would you make?

AFC East

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Buffalo Bills

Baltimore Ravens (moved from North)

AFC North

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Indianapolis Colts (moved from South)

Cincinnati Bengals

AFC South

Miami Dolphins (moved from East)

Houston Texans

Tennessee Titans

Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs

San Diego Chargers

Oakland Raiders

Denver Broncos

______________________

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

Washington Redskins

Carolina Panthers (moved from South)

NFC North

Green Bay Packers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Minnesota Vikings

NFC South

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Atlanta Falcons

Dallas Cowboys (moved from East)

NFC West

St. Louis Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Arizona Cardinals

From a strict geographic sense, I love this. As a football fan since 1974, I'd miss the rivalries. To me, if I were to realign the NFL I would rename the conferences & the divisions too.

AFC renamed the Hunt Conference (For Lamar Hunt, founder of the A.F.L. & Kansas City Chiefs/Dallas Texans)

NFC renamed the Halas Conference (For George S. Halas, founder of the N.F.L. & Chicago Bears)

AFC East - Shula Division - Dolphins, Patriots, Jets, Bills

AFC North - Noll Division - Steelers, Oilers (back to Houston), Browns, Bengals

AFC South - Unitas Division - Colts, Ravens, San Antonio Texans, Jaguars

AFC West - Madden Division - Raiders, Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs

NFC East - Landry Division - Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, Giants

NFC North - Grant Division - Vikings, Lions, Packers, Bears

NFC South - Thorpe Division - Seahawks, Buccaneers, Panthers, Cardinals

NFC West - Walsh Division - Rams, Saints, Falcons, 49ers

Playoff format stays the same, 6 teams, 4 division winners + 2 wildcards per conference.

Starting in 2013, MLB re-re-realigns again. Were it to have gone my way, Houston would have not gone to the A.L. I would have moved Colorado instead, and put Houston in the NL West, giving more natural interleague rivalries.

That being said, one thing that makes baseball perfect are its imperfections. So we'll have 2 American League teams in the same state. We have had 2 National League teams in the same state (Pennsylvania) since the 1880s, so there lies a kind of "balance" of sorts.