rams80

500,000 people. That's 12,000 a game. The "best case scenario" involves being dead last in league attendance by a wide margin. Keep on reaching for the stars, Yvonne. These people are dumber than dog . Pretty sure the "500,000 people" was a generalized guesstimate and a sort of blanket statement when talking to the media. Her math is all about positive cash flows not actual calculations. And by paying for the hockey team, you further restrict access to actual knowledge by your citizens. It's amazing. All towns should have hockey teams.

What the... That only makes sense if they know there won't be a season next year... Which is impossible unless... Wait a minute, the CBA is expiring? ... ... ...

Oh get off the Predators' jock y'alls. When it comes to playing style and skill they make the current Blues look like the the Gretzky Oilers and yeah, only have the attendance they do have because enough of the locals said awww we're going to lose our status symbol if somebody doesn't start coming to games.

Problem: The Coyotes' most likely opponent next round is Nashville. Just based on ticket sales, teams take in nearly $1 million. Add in whatever concessions get sold, and that number just goes higher. Based on TicketMaster's site, Game 5 is sold out. I assume Games 1 and 2 were also sold out. Just based on tickets, that's already nearly $3 million taken in. And since the Coyotes are guaranteed at least one more home game after today, they'll most definitely take in another $1 million in tickets, whether it be a Game 7 vs. Chicago or two games in the second round. I'm not sure what the average ticket price is for Phoenix home games, so I used their cheapest available ticket price for a possible Game 7 vs. Chicago ($40) as the average price, which I think is a little on the low side to begin with. Per game, just on ticket sales, that's $685,000. To reach $1 million, they would need each fan to spend roughly $18.50 on food/drinks or items in the team's store. OK, I'll reframe this for you. Chicago has a large expatriate community in Phoenix that can be counted upon to buy tickets to watch their Blackhawks in the playoffs for pennies on the dollar. Nashville has neither the local community nor the fanbase to do likewise. That's the problem. The Coyotes aren't going to be facing an opponent that will allow them to gloss over their lack of local support; unlike the last few years.

I'm going to need to see something from something more reliable than the New York Post before I believe it.

Problem: The Coyotes' most likely opponent next round is Nashville.

George Mason and VCU play club football. What are the odds of them jumping over to NCAA? I heard that Richmond doens't have a proper Division I FCS stadium right now, and there's no drive for VCU to have a varsity football program right now, so the Rams are out for now. Don't know about George Mason. What do you think this is?

Move the team to Quebec and combine the victory parade with the new team parade while citing the fact that the team showed a massive loss despite making the Conference Finals as reason why they should give up on the market.

The library kind of needs its own in house IT techs because (assuming that budget hadn't been cut) they are going to be providing access to video media, internet workstations and computers for patron use, electronic readers, and cataloging systems for book searches. A decent chunk of the modern library involves working with technology, and that chunk is going to increase rather than decrease. And more importantly, while its not "special" technology per se, the diversity of problems you're likely to get such as: homeless guy looking at porn downloaded a crippling virus to the entire network/dumbass neo-luddite can't figure out how to use this e-book thingamajig/dumbass kid doesn't know how to use the formerly cutting edge (say, back when Clinton was in the White House) legacy technology lurking around in the collection, is. Not the same things as figuring out the water supply and pay schedules, and the library can't exactly wait to come up next on the docket for the city's IT techs; patrons don't want to wait a couple of hours. Actually I suspect the library would sooner volunteer firing somebody in acquisitions or make cuts in reference than axing the IT staff.

"They said we could call them the Glendale Coyotes! Was that a lie?"

*BYU joins Big 12*

Didn't we find out after the fact though that Atlanta's players got wind of a likely move back in February?

Isn't Abbotsford still thrashing around and twitching?

I thought the 1970s problem was that both the NHL and WHA had expanded too far too fast and were therefore teetering on the brink of collapse when it came time to add Seattle and Denver, so that was why the league cancelled the expansion.

Not if the objective is to actually build rivalries (and thus, fan enthusiasm in the league). You missed the point that the first two rounds of the playoffs will be played in the divisions. Honestly, this likely will be the alignment the league goes through with; with the move of Phoenix to Quebec you can keep the sacred Conference playoffs and make everyone happy.

Eastern Conference Eastern Division Quebec Nordiques Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres Florida Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning Atlantic Division Pittsburgh Penguins Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers New York Islanders New Jersey Devils Washington Capitals Carolina Hurricanes Western Conference Central Division Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks Columbus Blue Jackets Nashville Predators Minnesota Wild Winnipeg Jets Dallas Stars Pacific Division San Jose Sharks Anaheim Ducks Los Angeles Kings Vancouver Canucks Edmonton Oilers Calgary Flames Colorado Avalanche Top 4 in each division make the playoffs, with first two rounds played in the division before conference championship and Stanley Cup finals.

True. Kind of odd they aren't using the Edmonton/Calgary model of arena sharing though.

They must not like Patrick Roy that much.

Or they could sit back and wait for Karl Benson to blow up yet another Conference.

And the Sabres would...?

It wouldn't surprise me. You don't play home games in the Georgia Dome as a start up with an ultimate goal of the CAA. And C-USA/MWC would love to get a toehold in Atlanta.

I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of thankful he wasn't able to buy the Rams.

Because I think Chicago State has administrative and financial issues at the moment. With regards to drowning IUPUI athletics in the bathwater perhaps Indiana (whose system de jure heads up the school) and Purdue can take a page from Alabama and encourage them to start up a football program. And then starve their athletic department of resources during trustees meetings. It's worked swimmingly for Tuscaloosa.

I thought about Kansas too, and I really wouldn't be upset if they joined the B1G. Their brand of football and basketball would fit right in, they'd be both a natural and traditional rival for Nebraska and they'd definitely boost the league's basketball profile. Something tells me that if the B1G did extend and invitation to KU, nothing short of a bill passed by the Kansas legislature would prevent the Jayhawks from abandoning K-State. Kansas State is probably more attractive than Kansas actually. 1. Kansas State is actually competent at football. 2. Kansas State actually cares about being competent at football. 3. Kansas State is good enough at basketball to be competitive, insofar as basketball matters here in this discussion. 4. Kansas State is getting this lovely billion dollar federal research facility that I'm sure the CIC would love to get in on. Kentucky would never leave the SEC.

The true excitement comes in 2013 (when the all-sport move becomes official)...if you thought the 'Nova-Temple rivalry was fierce before, wait 'till it becomes a conference one! Once again, two questions come up: 1. Which FCS school is the MAC going after to replace Temple for football? 2. Which school is the A-10 going after to replace Temple for all other sports? 1. None likely 2. None likely