Sykotyk

1 hour ago, infrared41 said:

 

Dude, I live in Ohio. Paul Brown was born in the town where I lived until I was 16. I lived down the street from two of his nephews. Trust me, I know all about the Canton-Massillon rivalry. I've been to the stadium.*  I saw Go Tigers! and everything. I stand by what I said about high school football.

 

*I went to the USFL Championship Game last year and I've been to two HOF games there. I live about 90 minutes from Canton

So you just choose to ignore it then. So be it. But don't act like it isn't a thing. Would fans in Hilliard fans cheer for a team named the Wolverines?

Canton is a very small city. The fact it's even discussed as having a team is because USFL was desperate and didn't even give them their own team. This talk of them naming the team "Canton" or "Ohio" is probably not happening. They play there because it's cheap and it's available.

Small cities identify much more to their schools identity than a big city where most major pro teams reside. Small towns and small cities are different.

Quote

*I went to the USFL Championship Game last year and I've been to two HOF games there. I live about 90 minutes from Canton

I live 60 miles from Canton and also have been to Tom Benson Stadium. I've been on the field for USFL games there this past season. You think throwing that out there legitimized your point or something?

31 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

USL is attempting to add a pro/rel system at their next league meetings.  

For USL leagues. But I'm talking about pro/rel between MLS and the top level of USL.

14 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

If people are that into high school football, they have much bigger problems than the name of a USFL team.

Welcome to Ohio. Canton-Massillon is probably the most notable rivalry in high school football in the country.

https://massillontigers.com/history/massillon-vs-canton-mckinley/history-of-the-rivalry/

Also, the fact that the Maulers are playing where McKinley plays their games, and have for many decades, which is right next to the high school.

On 7/12/2023 at 12:42 PM, infrared41 said:

 

The Canton Bulldogs ceased to exist in 1927. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say there probably aren't many Bulldogs fans left in Canton.

As mentioned, Canton McKinley High School, the only public high school now in Canton (Timken combined with McKinley a few years ago), are nicknamed the Bulldogs. And honestlly, though Cantonites might enjoy the team having that nickname, good luck getting Massillon, North Canton, Plains Twp, Jackson Twp, or Perry Twp fans to show up and cheer for 'Bulldogs'.

Edit: Also, the high school team started in 1894.

This is going to veer toward Fantasy forum territory, but the big issue with pro/rel in the US and why it will NEVER happen is the fact that teams paid to be in the MLS to begin with. They're not leaving without getting reimbursed, etc.

However, one possibility would be the concept of a 'guest spot' in MLS for a USL team.

For instance, if there's 32 teams, add 2 'guest spots' for USL teams. Such as the best team in 2023 and the playoff winner (if different) gets to join MLS for the 24 season. After the season, the 24 best team gets to play in MLS, while the previous best team plays a two-game series against the second best 24 USL team to stay up.

Regardless where they finish in MLS. The one will always drop back down for at least a year. The other gets a shot at staying up for one more year. After that second year, they'd drop no matter what. So, at best 2 of 3 years in MLS. Unless they go through with actually getting an expansion team for MLS in the future.

You get 'pro/rel' in some form from below, but the MLS teams stay MLS, regardless of outcome.

For me, the late 90s until the NBC contract started was peak AFL. There was the 'big 4' and 'little 4'.

Tampa Bay Storm

Orlando Predators

Arizona Rattlers

San Jose SaberCats

And the little four were:

Iowa Barnstormers

Albany Firebirds

Grand Rapids Rampage

Nashville Kats

The Rampage were the 5th oldest team still playing in the league when they bounced during the first stoppage, behind the Big 4.

The NBC deal ruined so much of the AFL. But it was the aim for David Baker getting the NFL involved. It was always about that, and it kinda ruined the league, and the sport. Getting rid of Ironman, creating the penalty for forward motion stops, etc. The league almost immediately started losing field goals. Even on 4th and 20 from your own 5, you went for it. Because the goal wasn't to score more than your opponent, it was to  have the ball on the last drive because almost every drive now was a score. "Stops" became the key indicator of success.

In 1996, the average game had 88 points. Though 50 or 60 points were common for one team, it wasn't regular. 2003 was the second year the average game had over 100 points. By 2008, the average ballooned to 111. AFL 2.0 reversed the trend, going from 111 in 2010 to 86 by 2019.

But aside from the game itself, the NBC deal killed the AFL because it stopped caring about tried and true and successful, though small, markets and insisted on placing teams in major markets under the helm of NFL backed owners.

Three of the 'Little 4' left for bigger cities. Albany moved to Indianapolis. Iowa moved to Long Island. Nashville moved to Atlanta. New York had possibly the best player at the time (set the record for most points in a game at 99), but never created a big enough fan base to survive.

Indiana did modestly. Had fun rivalries with Grand Rapids and Chicago. But by then the league as a whole was suffering and the teams didn't see any increase in revenue from the NBC deal that led to its end and the league's overall demise the first time around.

3 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

I would have taken Unkel over the idiot calling the Crew vs NYCFC game. Gave the Crew 10 cards last night, and Cucho's second yellow was a foul, but normally no one gives a card for trying to play a ball and someone sticks their head down to try clear it. They also didn't look at two potential handballs.

Crew fan. That was bad. Cucho's card was.... Ugh. Glad we tied after that but shouldn't have been that rough

2 hours ago, zubazpirate said:

That old logo has to be one of the wordiest hockey logos in existence. 8 different words/place names by my count.

 

Also someone once told me that the Sagueneens logo was a reference to blueberries or some other sort of berry that grows in the region... is there any truth to that, or was my leg being pulled?

And I thought Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino was a long name.... Complete 180 from Iowa Wild or Iowa Cubs.

On 7/1/2023 at 11:44 PM, Cujo said:

Over/under on ppl who will actually attend?

 

 

https://www.cbs42.com/sports/usfl/despite-rain-fans-support-birmingham-stallions-during-victory-parade/

https://abc3340.com/news/local/fans-gather-in-rainy-victory-parade-held-for-birmingham-stallions-latest-usfl-championship-win

For the short notice, rain, and the fact that almost anyone who DROVE to Canton wouldn't be back in time for the parade, it seems better than I was expecting.

Much preferred the Coliseum thing over city street racing.

Instead of all the turns having two long straight aways and then two, one block turn arounds would've been cooler. Get those cars up to speed on a good half mile to 3/4 mile run. 

7 hours ago, adsarebad said:

LA Angels, Arizona,  and Houston's CC unis are 10 times better than the blinding Red Sox CC uni.

 

Nobody associates and connects  Boston to it's  marathon race.

New York has a marathon, so do many other cities ......

From Wikipedia:

"The Boston Marathon began on 19 April 1897, and was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. It is the world's oldest run annual marathon, and ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events" 

So yeah, I think Boston can lay claim to marathons. 

4 hours ago, Dynasty said:

Is Spire City really that prominently used within the Frederick area or is Brandoise just reaching for creativity again? I'm asking because I currently live about an hour away from there and have even visited the area on several occasions. Of all of these times, I have never seen a reference to the name.

Not really sure, but I'm not a fan of city nicknames being used in place of more common locations. City, State, Valley, Bay, Lake, Region, etc. So many names are reused (I'll admit Spire City seems unique) that something like "Queen City Monarchs" would have you questioning where they're from.

Trash City Rocket Pandas has about as much meaning as their correct name.

On 6/28/2023 at 6:35 PM, Wackyriderfan14 said:

The teams generally decide what pants to wear. It’s not New Era telling them they have to go mono

Funny thing came up with an interview with Joe Thomas years ago around his retirement. The big guys on the team always wanted to wear the dark pants and not white pants. So, when left up to the team, players have a large block who will probably always favor the dark pants. And if you ever saw the nearly seethrough white pants stretch, you can understand why the bigger players would prefer the darker colors.

White pants were just more common because you could just bleach them and they'd be clean. Modern washing doesn't have as many issues. Especially these fabrics

6 hours ago, LMU said:

Let's take a live look at Bristol, CT today:

 

 

Looks like the guillotine fell on at the very least:

Steve Young

Suzy Kolber

Jeff Van Gundy

Jalen Rose

Keyshawn Johnson

Todd McShay

Matt Hasselbeck

Ashley Brewer

Max Kellerman

LaPhonso Ellis

Joon Lee

 

And this isn't including the nontenders of Chris Chelios, Rob Ninkovich, and Neil Everett.

Thing about it is that ESPN has always cycled through talent when they started to get too pricey. Their finances are tied up in huge rights fees to air games. Who talks about them during the game or the hours of dead time matters very little. People are still watching Lakers-Warriors regardless who is calling it.

Honestly, ESPN's campus in Connecticut may be their downfall. In the 80s, Bristol was a fairly 'rural' area far from NYC that was cheap. Now, anywhere in CT is expensive to live in. That affects their costs for every employee they have.  Both talent and operations. They can only go so cheap and get new people when they let others go.

And with consolidation, there's a huge number of out-of-work TV sports operations people. They Disney deal put a lot of them out of work at the regional sports nets and they're all clamoring for work.

Given that the game is two weeks after the semifinals, it's predetermined location and they're wanting a big show of it, it makes sense for now to keep it in a dome. Later on after a few years they can move it and risk an outdoor venue. 

For TV, I think the 23 title game was handled like a major event and not just another game. A rainy, sloppy, lightly attended neutral site game could kill any interest other than the train wreck factor

Wonder how much the Pirates could've gotten from the fox affiliate in town? 

3 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Birmingham, with an actual home stadium vs. Pittsburgh, who doesn't have an actual stadium.

 

I can see the USFL pushing for Acrisure Stadium for the Maulers next year if it's not Canton.

As far as I'm aware, Acrisure is available. You just have to be willing to pay. And it won't be cheap. Being grass is also a problem with field prep. If they did get a lease they could afford the cost to paint the field any more than the white outline will probably be too much. 

1 hour ago, 4_tattoos said:

Attendance for the Stallions/Breakers game looks decent.

From what I've seen, they had a deal with a few TV/radio channels to have discounted tickets for the South Final. Looks like it worked.

Should have two mascots. One brown and 'alive', the other gray and in robes like the logo.

4 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

it doesn't help matters when Canton is closer to Cleveland than Pittsburgh and that those who are diehard football fans in Canton are either Browns fans or Bengals fans.  Those fans would have probably embraced the Maulers more in Canton if the Maulers had kept the Orange and Purple rather than Black and Yellow.  They could overlook the Pittsburgh name in the Maulers if they had kept their colors from 2022.  If you are fan of the Brown or Bengals living in Canton, what reason do you have to go to a Maulers game at the local stadium when they remind you of one of your rivals, the Steelers?

Just a minor note, since the Browns relocation in 1995 there was an influx of Steelers fans (combined with them being successful while the new Browns struggled for decades) that has led to the Steelers being a very popular team in Canton, Akron, Youngstown, etc. Maybe not the most followed team in a particular locale, but it's definitely more than a blip. Honestly, Columbus has been a confluence of all three teams. And honestly Bengals fans don't exist too far up I-71 from Columbus. You might see more Bengals fans up the I-75 corridor toward places like Findlay, Lima, Wapakoneta, etc.

4 hours ago, Sec19Row53 said:

I'll cut it down to this part of your post.

 

Being a fan of an NFL team doesn't mean you'll be a fan of a team in another league, regardless of the team's colors.

 

I love me some alt football, but sometimes y'all need to step back and read what you're saying from the perspective of a person who isn't one of us.

I explained this to someone else.

Cantonites that are Steelers fans are Steelers fans. They're not fans of Pittsburgh. In fact, they probably despise Pittsburgh in almost every other aspect and very rarely do you see Pirates fans anywhere in Ohio except maybe right along the Ohio River (East Liverpool, Steubenville, Martins Ferry, Bellaire, Shadyside, etc). Penguins had a little more following years ago because Ohio never had an NHL team and paired with the Pens being successful. But I can say that Pens fandom in and around northeast Ohio is definitely diminishing and only had a blip increase when Crosby had the back-to-back titles and it's waning again. If only the Blue Jackets had success. They'd easily take over.

Back to Canton though. They'll come out for the Steelers. Not for the Dollar General-brand Steelers.

2 hours ago, dont care said:

This is an awful comparison. A cycle isn’t the best thing that you can do on the field like a royal flush is. Are you really trying to say a cycle is better than 4 home runs?

Was going by odds of having it happen. It's on-par with Perfect Games and No-Hitters when comparing cycles and natural/unnatural cycles. If it were easy to game, the numbers would be much different. Or even to the point that no one would even care about it.

If the argument against a cycle is used, than a triple play is equally as uninteresting as it's a fluke. Many are from players running on a pitch and getting tagged out on a blooper to shortstop, or just bad baserunning.

There's been 733 triple plays in MLB history. Only 13 have been unassisted. Yet somehow that's always a highlight reel play. When that takes perfect conditions to happen: two on, no outs. A cycle can happen with any runners, any outs, any count, and still only happened 343 times.

7 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

baseball isn’t poker. That’s not even remotely a similar comparison. 

It's in terms of odds of happening. There's a reason why it's the better hand. 

Is a rarity. The fact 318 no hitters in MLB history and 343 cycles. 

23 perfect games to 18 natural cycles. 10 unnatural cycles. 

If you don't understand that rarity is intriguing in its own right you won't understand most sports statistic accomplishments. 

I saw Tulowitzki's cycle in Colorado and it was hugely cheered by fans. 

8 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Is Canton close enough to Columbus where they could claim having a connection to the Columbus Crew being the reason for the color change?

Canton is 94.6 miles from Acrisure Stadium. Canton is 129.1 miles from Lower.com Field in Columbus.

So, other than being Ohio, no the black/yellow is not at associated with Crew. In fact, the Crew had an uphill battle going with that color scheme since day one. Sure, there's a lot of Steeler bandwagon fans in Columbus and transplants (from out of state and eastern Ohio that is heavily Steeler area), but that put a lot of Browns/Bengals fans disinterested in ever visibly supporting the Crew day-to-day. It really is an odd decision by MLS/Lamar Hunt back in the 90s to go that route for colors.

As for the USFL switching to an Ohio or Canton branded name was just too late in the game. They were stuck with the Pittsburgh name and the already planned Pittsburgh rebrand. Pittsburgh has no other stadiums.

There's Acrisure (65k or so), PNC (35k baseball that is probably a definite no), and then... a few high school stadium sin the 10-14k range nearby. North Allegheny HS, Woodland Hills HS,... then some nice ones such as Pine-Richland, Mt Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, etc. But all far too small. The few colleges in and around Pittsburgh (Duquesne, Carnegie-Mellon, Robert Morris) have very tiny stadiums. In the 1k-4k range.

The only really big stadium closer to Pittsburgh that could work isn't also in PA. WVU in Morgantown is 75.2 miles from Acrisure. Slippery Rock University is 51.2 miles north of Pittsburgh. Seats about 14k. But a huge track, almost all bleachers, and in a town roughly bigger than the university.

Canton only got the hub because their relationship with the league hosting the playoffs in 2022. If they knew going in that there WASN'T going to be games in Pittsburgh,  I doubt Canton is anywhere close to hosting a hub. Detroit gets all 4, or they go all-in getting a PHI/NJ hub setup in eastern PA. They just gambled on Pittsburgh and lost.

5 hours ago, BBTV said:

Serious question - why does anyone care about a cycle?

If you're playing poker, getting 5 diamonds is good. Getting a 10, J, Q, K, and A of diamonds is far better.

See the difference?

51 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

So they changed to black and gold expecting to play in Pittsburgh.

 

Then they decided to rebrand to some other name (but they're still going to be in Pittsburgh, and they're relying on historical USFL names).

 

Then they aren't playing in Pittsburgh.

 

This timeline has me confused. If the rebrand were planned after Pittsburgh wasn't available, that would make more sense to me. They could even call them the Denver Gold and keep those colors. Heck - unless the team name includes a color, they could likely stay black and yellow.

No. The black and yellow maulers rebrand was planned before they gave up on Pittsburgh. Going to Canton was so late they couldnt rebrand again. So they just stuck with Pittsburgh and tried to make it work