McCall

2 hours ago, Dilbert said:

USSF has granted division one status to the new USL Super League. The USLSL will be division one alongside NWSL in the womens pyramid. The USLSL will follow the European soccer calendar and begin the 2024-25 season in August with 8 clubs.

-Brooklyn

-Charlotte

-Dallas/Fort Worth

-Fort Lauderdale

-Lexington

-Spokane

-Tampa

-Washington DC

 

Eight other are already in line to join in future seasons

-Chattanooga

-Indianapolis

-Jacksonville

-Madison

-Oakland

-Palm Beach

-Phoenix

-Tucson

Yeah, I'm sure players are gonna leave the bigger markets of the NWSL to play in Spokane and Chattanooga.

14 hours ago, Red Comet said:

There’s a reason we don’t let kids drive, vote, drink or any other activity adults can do because they aren’t capable of fully comprehending potentially life-altering decisions. It would be an entirely different story if UnDeadSpin was covering an adult doing this. Maybe there would be some value in covering that. Going after a child like that regardless of what they’re doing is disgusting. Let the kid grow up to be a screwup. I’d ask why it’s so hard but it’s obvious that stupidity isn’t the issue. Malice is.

What "life-altering decision" did the kid make? Painting his face? Not to mention, the kid is actually part Native American.

2 hours ago, MiK said:

Not wild about any of the franchise looks. New leagues always go too far, too busy, too many colors. Simplify it down - look to the successful pro leagues to create strong brands. No more than two prominent colors, have supporting accent colors if needed to differentiate.

 

Will be interesting to see how LOVB brands compare once those are fully released.

This is a new women's volleyball league, not an established men's major league. The league and sport demographics are completely different. What appeals to one, does not automatically appeal to the other.

You would think they'd be able to put a mandate on how much carbon fiber can be exposed/how much area must be covered with paint.

5 hours ago, BottomlessPitt said:

NHL 2032

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE 

 

Atlantic

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders 

New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers 

Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals 

 

Northeast

Boston Bruins 

Buffalo Sabres 

Detroit Red Wings 

Montreal Canadiens 

Ottawa Senators 

Toronto Maple Leafs 

 

Metropolitan 

Atlanta Locomotives*

Carolina Hurricanes 

Columbus Blue Jackets 

Florida Panthers

Nashville Predators 

Tampa Bay Lightning

 

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE 

 

Central

Chicago Blackhawks 

Dallas Stars

Houston Apollos*

Minnesota Wild

St. Louis Blues

Winnipeg Jets

 

Northwest 

Calgary Flames

Colorado Avalanche 

Edmonton Oilers 

Seattle Kraken

Utah Coyotes**

Vancouver Canucks

 

Pacific 

Anaheim Ducks

Los Angeles Kings

Phoenix Meteors*

San Diego Seawolves*

San Jose Sharks 

Vegas Golden Knights 

 

 

*expansion 

**relocated from Arizona 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why would you move the Coyotes finally out of Phoenix and then expand right back to Phoenix? Also, "Atlanta Locomotives"? "Phoenix Meteors"?

4 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39473025/mario-balotelli-join-nani-7-vs-7-tourney-us

Nani and Mario Balotelli will be on one of the teams playing in the men's bracket this summer. They are the first team announced for this year's tournament

 

https://thetournament.com/tst/

This year's tournaments are split between a men's and women's tournament. The men are holding a 48 team tournament and the women are holding an 8 team tournament. No teams have been announced yet for the ladies. 

 

This guy?

1 hour ago, OnWis97 said:

If I take everything I read at face value, most MLB teams need to flee their urban hellscapes.  The Twins, Mariners, Giants, Dodgers, and Cardinals, just to name a few, better get to the suburbs or roll the dice on smaller markets.

Yeah, but that's ALL Oakland has going for it. At least the other cities have additional stuff to do in between car jackings and shoplifting flash mobs. Y'know, assuming you're out of the hospital or morgue in time to enjoy them.

9 minutes ago, DCarp1231 said:

Stencil font looks like when the Steelers use it.

 

Stencil font looks like when the Packers use it.

 

Stencil font looks like when the Commanders use it.

Well, the Commanders name is , and they play like , so why do you have a problem with them looking like ?

1 hour ago, HOOVER said:

 

Bull$h!t.  Period.

 

 

1 hour ago, Red Comet said:

Yeah. Their “primary” logo reminds me of the logo for the Repliforce from Mega Man X4

 

 

 

Only so many ways you can design a letter but all I can think of seeing the Renegades’ primary is wondering what I’m fighting for or how to stop a “coop”

 

 

It looks good for what it was designed to be; a 'DR' secondary logo, not an 'AR' primary logo.

The inaugural UFL Championship Game will be played at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis on June 16th, 2024.

https://pfnewsroom.com/news/st-louis-to-host-the-ufl-championship-game-on-june-16th/#:~:text=In the midst of the,the city of St. Louis.

Battlehawks alternate away and home every weekend. Much better than 3 road games to start last year.

12 hours ago, BC985 said:

Agree to disagree I guess. I really like that Angels hat myself. I think the all red hat with a red cardinal is too much. Fortunately the Springfield Cardinals have a nice Saturday cap that is close to what I have in mind.

 

The 'S' is the dominant feature of the logo, so, IMO, it doesn't fall under the same category as the Cardinals and Angels.

SIDE NOTE: Man, I haven't been to Hammons Field since my last day working there, almost 14-1/2 years ago.

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

North America won't be confused as to what to do with those stadiums once the World Cup ends.  FIFA will be like "Okay LIGA MX, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and the NFL, you can have your stadiums back."

NFL will be like, "We don't need 'em yet".

NFL players will be like, "Keep 'em longer. F*** preseason games".

31 minutes ago, BC985 said:

Not only is that Cards hat a retread, it would look way better with a navy brim and squatchee 

I actually disagree there. The logo being primarily red would make it look like a solid red hat with navy bill and squatchee. Those contrasting elements look better when the logo is also (mostly) a contrasting color from the crown. The Angels former BP hats did that. Looked off. I actually really like this hat as is. I had one similar back in like 2000, only the all the yellow elements were white. It was back towards the end of when recolored hats were the craze.

Good (squatchee isn't navy on this particular picture of the white B, but it usually is):

Questionable:

9 minutes ago, rwaters1221 said:

Here are the Rangers and Cardinals Spring Training hats

Literally wearing the previous BP version of this hat, in the "diamond" material, as we speak.

I would contemplate buying this hat, but the excessively thick outlines kill the logo.

3 minutes ago, leopard88 said:

 

Question answered?

 

Welcome to Baltimore, Corbin Burnes!

And the rest of the NL Central says, "Thank you!". Now the division is wide open... for any of the five 4th place teams to win it... because someone has to.

1 hour ago, TBGKon said:

Not saying its feasible, and the Royals might be the ones who would have to sign off on it, but Omaha has Charles Schwab Field which seats 24k.  Not ideal, but could be a quick stopgap too.

The return of the Kansas City A's (of Omaha... until Las Vegas)

I have seen nothing from MLB that indicates Salt Lake is getting any team, other than the A's, potentially, on a temporary basis. Seems like everybody thinks that because they're being looked at as possible home until the Vegas ballpark is done, and I guess couple with Ryan Smith's intended desires to get an NHL expansion team, it means they've jumped the expansion list. Even IF the A's stayed in Oakland (it's not happening), Nashville would be much more desirable, along with Las Vegas, than Salt Lake.

14 minutes ago, Walk-Off said:

 

To be fair and to be clear, my idea is that an MLB expansion team starting up during a hiatus of the A's would keep playing -- and, preferably, keep playing in its original geographic area -- well after a relaunch of the A's as a Las Vegas club and the debut of another expansion franchise that together bring MLB up to 32 teams.  In short, I am proposing a two-step, asymmetrical expansion of MLB.

 

I realize that my overarching idea is complex.  Then again, John Fisher, his underlings, and the MLB establishment have been entertaining an increasingly complex relocation of the A's, so, in that sense, what I am proposing would be all too fitting.

That's my point. Your plan calls for an expansion team to begin next year, in 2025. There is no market long term expansion-ready that quickly. The time it would take a market to be expansion ready would take about as long as the construction of the Vegas ballpark. Therefore, any market that would be expanded to and use whatever infrastructure already in place, would not be any different than the A's playing there temporarily. The A's playing there would actually better work as a test case without the guarantee of a long term commitment that an expansion team would. Which, again, would be greatly hampered by the short amount of time.

3 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

 

That's exactly why Salt Lake is so willing to be a temporary host. The MLB may not want them now, but a year or two of performing as strong hosts of a vagabond MLB team would do a lot to change the minds of big-league brass. 

Yeah, which makes sense as a host for the A's, but not the "expansion team with the A's on hiatus" team. Otherwise, it's an expansion team that may be gone in a few years, rather than an established team where it's already known that they'll be in another city after that time.

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

There's also the New Orleans Superdome, which has been renovated recently.  Of a similar size is the Alamodome; both stadiums seat more than 50,000 for baseball — not that that sort of crowd is going to be a concern of the A's.  

 

More to the A's level, we've seen Major League teams in temporary homes in San Juan and Buffalo that seat around 18,000. 

 

I think that this idea of the team going dark for a few years is very unlikely to happen.

First off, no way in hell the Blue Jays would ever let another team use Buffalo, even on a temporary basis. It's their Triple-A team in a city they consider part of their market. Secondly, you can't fit a near-regulation baseball field in the Superdome or Alamodome. The Rangers played an exhibition game in the Alamodome about 10 years ago. The dimensions were fine for that, but not for a full-time team for a minimum of 3 years.

1 hour ago, Walk-Off said:

When John Fisher and other A's officials visited the Salt Lake City area recently, what they were at least rumored to explore was the A's playing temporarily not at Smith's Ballpark, the Bees' current home, but rather at the presently-under-constuction future home of the Bees in one of SLC's southern suburbs.

 

What I was thinking, then, was that this expedited expansion MLB team would be awarded to Big League Utah -- which seems to be the best-capitalized of the groups vying publicly for an MLB team in a currently MLB-free area (in other words, more flush with cash than the Portland Diamond Project or the Music City Baseball group in Nashville) -- and would play its first few seasons at that suburban facility intended originally for the Bees while a permanent home for the team in SLC's Power District undergoes an expedited construction.

This would only work if MLB wanted Salt Lake in the league in 2025. So far, there's no inkling that they view Salt Lake as anything other than a potential temporary home, much less a market they're ready to commit a team to as soon as next year. And if they only want to give them a trial run, then there's no need to make them any other team than the A's.

33 minutes ago, Walk-Off said:

For several months now, I have been thinking that the A's might very well suspend operations between their final season in Oakland and whenever a new ballpark for them in the Las Vegas area is open.  Playing a few more seasons in Oakland is likely to come with too many strings attached for the A's and/or MLB to accept.  Crashing at Oracle Park for a few years might constrain the Giants too much.  Going straight to the Aviators' ballpark for the interim seasons risks giving off the worst possible first impression of the A's to people in the Las Vegas market.  Finally, playing temporarily at a minor-league venue that is in neither the Bay Area nor Southern Nevada (such as in Sacramento or Salt Lake City) comes with a high possibility of the locals being reluctant to support what would be a fly-by-night enterprise in their area.

 

As for how the MLBPA could be sold on letting the A's go on hiatus for a few years, I think that the answer lies in MLB staying at 30 teams by granting a single expansion franchise that would launch right when the A's start their hiatus.  MLB could put the A's players through a dispersal draft open to all existing MLB clubs in addition to holding an expansion draft to stock the new team.  With regard to the minor-league affiliates of the A's, either the expansion team could inherit the A's farm system outright or MLB could order or at least allow a reshuffling of minor-league team affiliations.  Finally, once the A's are ready to start life anew as a Las Vegas team, then MLB can grow to 32 clubs by having another expansion franchise debut alongside the revival and relocation of the A's.

Where would said expansion team play? The only MLB-"level" stadiums that exist outside of MLB is Olympic Stadium in Montreal and soon the Oakland Coliseum. Any other market would require new stadium construction similar to the time frame of the LV ballpark, which renders the proposed solution moot.