Mac the Knife

Actually...? I like loopholes more.

I just came across this answer, and read Item 18. I own or control several corporations. If you ever want your username changed here, PM me. I'll lodge a formal complaint on behalf of one of them. Item 18 doesn't specify what objection my corporation may have to a name or that I have to have a trademark associated with your user name; only that a corporation lodge a complaint. I like loopholes, damnit...

I'm of the opinion that every one of these situations should be handled thusly... Team: "We're opting out of our lease." City:

So to recap... The Mariners are squawking about their corporately whored stadium. The Diamondbacks want out of their corporately whored stadium. The Rays want out of their corporately whored stadium, and now The Angels want out of their stadium that's so old they can't whore it. So let's move 'em around... Los Angeles gets the Rays. Tampa gets the Mariners. Arizona gets the Angels. Seattle gets the Diamondbacks. Just for the lulz.

"My Hurricanes?" I grew up a Penguins fan. I've not gone to a game in years, and I've paid to attend precisely one in the 20+ years they've been here. I'd trade the Carolina Hurricanes for the Oakland A's, or a rebranded Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in a heartbeat and never shed a single tear over it. Go to eight divisions of four teams each, with the division champs guaranteed a playoff berth. Make the next eight, regardless of division, qualify - even if it blows out the Eastern/Western Conference concepts. Or give a playoff berth to the top two in every division. Or break it out by conference so there are four division champs and four wild card qualifiers. Or hell, go to a 24-team playoff in which the 8 division champions get a bye and the other 16 teams play a single game, "one and done" qualifier to advance against them. If you want Seattle in the same division as Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary? Fine. If you want one with Las Vegas, Arizona, Anaheim an Los Angeles? Fine. If you want one with Boston, the Islanders, the Rangers and New Jersey? Fine. If you want one with Florida, Houston, Winnipeg and Montreal together? Fine. Whatever. Do any format you like provided you have 8 divisions of 4 teams, and those division champs are guaranteed playoff berths.

I'm saying do it any way you want; just make it so that any team is only competing over the course of the regular season with 3 other teams for a playoff spot, rather than in a division with 7 others in a format where the deck is stacked against certain markets. My case against what they do now is best exemplified by the Metropolitan Division. Of that division's eight teams, five are in not major markets, but super markets (as opposed to supermarkets) which, while they can't offer players too much in direct compensation thanks to a salary cap, can offer them options to seek millions in other ways (endorsements, etc.) The sixth (Pittsburgh) has developed a winning tradition that is attractive to players along with the ability to be a big fish in a small pond, which can be equally attractive to players. By contrast, Columbus and Raleigh, each of which are great cities in their own right, stand no chance of developing into consistent playoff participants. Those markets' fans have zero incentive to see games unless their teams for some reason get hot and contend for one of the two coveted 'wild card' slots, because three of those other six teams in their division are guaranteed to have locked up those the division is guaranteed. So when Seattle's added? Keep the Metropolitan Division. Put the three New York area teams in there along with, say, a Boston. Go to an 8 division format of 4 teams each. Each division champ is guaranteed a playoff spot. From there? I don't care. If you want to make it so the top two in a division qualify to make your field of 16? Fine. If you want to allow all four teams from the same division to qualify? Fine. I just think the 4 division alignment and playoff format was a bad idea from the beginning, and I'd really like to see it end. If expansion to Seattle gets it done? I say, welcome, Seattle!

I was thinking about this last night... I want an NFL-style divisional alignment of 8 divisions of 4 teams when Seattle's admitted. Have the top two in a division qualify, have the 8 division titlists plus the next top 8 no matter what division they come from, I don't care. But this 'finish in the top three of your division and your in, and if not you might have a chance at one of two wild card slot' system doesn't work. There are NHL franchises that might as well not even play the 2018-19 season because they have no chance of making the playoffs based solely on this dumb-ass playoff format.

Meanwhile, the guys from Quebec City who applied before Las Vegas are saying, "So... when's our turn coming?"

Well, I'll thank you both. Though I noticed I've been 'demoted' from Generalissimo to Member as a result; that must've been the hitch - but I'll gladly lose my title for the functionality.

I didn't get it figured out, but somehow managed to reverse it. Don't ask me how, because I couldn't tell you. But I'm both now straight on that issue and able to post here (something I couldn't do until, well, just now). Thanks to @officeglenn for his assistance on this. I'm not sure what he did as to the latter issue, but I appreciate it.

I have no idea how I managed to do it, but somehow I went from desktop display mode to mobile phone display mode on my computer. Could someone walk me through the proper way to restore desktop settings? These three sentences are consuming the bulk of a 32" monitor's screen size, and while I'll admit I'm losing my vision, I'm not quite that blind yet...

I'll counter that with all baseball jerseys should have no names on the back, but 10" numerals, like the Phillies used to do. Between in-stadium introductions of every player, television graphic improvements and the traditional old game program? Names on jerseys aren't needed on jerseys anymore.

I honestly think it depends on the sport, but more on the person as an individual. First, the sport... I would reckon that baseball players would be far more inclined to wear their AL/NL championship rings than would conference champions in other leagues. The reason is a perception that the AL or NL title is a league championship in its own right, with a World Series title merely adding to its luster. In basketball, football or hockey meanwhile, the only prize that's cherished is the ultimate, overall championship - evidenced by some hockey teams refusing to even touch the conference championship trophies they're awarded after a successful season (yeah, I know, they did this year). Baseball players view the league championship as something special, regardless of the World Series outcome; perhaps not right away, but eventually. Conference championship seasons are rarely if ever afforded such attribution. Second, the person... if I had played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1959 to 1970, I'd have eight rings to show for it - every one of them a conference championship ring, what some in sports term "a symbol of failure." Would I wear them? Under those conditions, I reckon I would. But if I'd played two more years and won the NBA title on the 9th try? I'd likely be more apt to wear solely my 1972 ring, because it would mean more to me - especially after it having taken 9 tries to earn one. On the other hand, does a Bill Russell, Bill Belichick, Reggie Jackson or Derek Jeter value one championship ring over another? Does he potentially value a league/conference title ring more than a championship one based on the struggle the team had to earn it in comparison? I've won a boatload of trophies and awards in various facets of my life; to be honest, the baubles themselves are meaningless. There is work for which I received no recognition at all that, in retrospect, I'm more proud of. It's just an individual thing.

In the few months prior to its formal announcement on February 11, 1982, the USFL had already undergone a few changes behind the scenes... - The Los Angeles owner dropped out to buy a minority stake in an NFL team. That owner was Alex Spanos. - The partners in Oakland decided to split up amicably, with one taking over the L.A. market. The loser, Jim Joseph, went to L.A. - The partners in San Diego couldn't get the city to give them a lease, so they were awarded the L.A. market, which bumped Jim Joseph out just days later. - As consolation, Joseph was allowed to pick any city in the U.S. that didn't have a team. He chose Phoenix, Arizona. - This choice angered Dr. Ted Diethrich, a Phoenix-based heart surgeon who'd bought the Chicago Blitz, but had previously been told Phoenix was too small a market for the USFL. - The Detroit Panthers were renamed the Michigan Panthers after an organization using the name threatened to sue. - The Bay Area Invaders were renamed the Oakland Invaders after a deal to split home games between the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and Candlestick Park fell through. Other, random things... - Commissioner Chet Simmons, who had up to that point been ESPN's president, was primarily hired not to secure the league a deal with ESPN and firm up a relationship between the two parties, but to try and get them out of (or at least, vastly improve the terms of) a deal they'd already agreed to in principle with ABC. He was woefully unsuccessful. - Along with Simmons, more than half of the original ownership in the USFL was of Jewish faith - in Philadelphia, Washington, Birmingham, Michigan, Arizona, Oakland and Los Angeles. Two had fled Europe to escape the Holocaust.

On six days during the period from December 15, 2018 to January 1, 2019, there will be at least as many sanctioned college bowl games than were sanctioned for the entire major bowl seasons from 1916 to 1967: Rose Bowl - annually played since 1916 Orange and Sugar Bowls - annually played since 1935 Cotton Bowl - Annually played since 1937 December 15 - (5) - New Mexico, Cure, Las Vegas, Camellia, New Orleans December 22 - (4) - Birmingham, Armed Forces, Dollar General, Hawaii December 28 - (4) - Music City, Camping World, Arizona, Alamo December 29 - (4) - Peach, Belk, Cotton, Orange December 31 - (6) - San Francisco, Liberty, Holiday, Gator, Sun, Military January 1 - (5) Outback, Citrus, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar

The fact that the Hurricanes were paying for airtime tells you all you need to know about how badly that franchise has been run. I'm (ostensibly) part of the Raleigh radio market, and despite knowing what their actual listener numbers are (and while it's not 2,000, it's not exactly gangbusters, either), if you're in a situation where the station isn't paying you for the rights to broadcast your games? You're doing it completely ass-backwards. The Chuck Kaiton firing doesn't surprise me; to be honest while Chuck's a great guy, he's been overpaid for years for this market. Hopefully he finds a home in a real hockey town with an ownership group that doesn't have its head completely up its own ass. As for Dundon, this is another case of trying to put out a Karmanos fire by throwing gasoline on it. He's going to wind up moving the team; it's just a question of when. He might as well napalm the bridge from the outset so that by the time the NHL actually allows him to move 'em, he can say, "Look at all the changes I made and fans still don't respond."

I'm all for this. The Qataris literally paid off FIFA brass to get the world to watch their event in 2022, so why not make it 50% larger so that they can REALLY show what they're all about on a world stage? As for the competition itself, a 32-team format or a 48 won't matter, because the end outcome will be the same. Croatia is an aberration and not the new norm. The finals will likely be some combination of the Germans, Argentinians, French, Brazilians, English, Mexicans or some other traditional soccer hotbed. What I'd like to see in Qatar? A Cameroon vs. United States final. Simply because that's what the event deserves. 2022 is going to be a show any way it plays out - 32 team format, 48 team format, 192 team format, it won't matter. They'll be lucky if a player doesn't wind up dying on a pitch. You know the world's press will highlight how many people have died already in the name of building these stadia they're going to use for this farce.

I didn't have a dog in the Eagles-Patriots game back in February, but I will say this much: that Eagles ring is unquestionably better looking than whatever POS the Patriots would've had designed for them.

I hate to admit it, but I just bought some Bung Hammers merch. Window decals for $10, but still...

I've not seen a copy of their stadium contract. Could they pull a "Florida Marlins of Miami," perhaps?

Y'know, I've got to believe there's something to that, otherwise they'dve joined Vegas this year as expansion brethren. Meanwhile Seattle's going to be a slam dunk to be the 32nd franchise, while Quebec's application remains "pending," seemingly indefinitely. Houston wouldn't be a bad market for the NHL, but if it's Houston vs. Quebec? To me it's a no-brainer: Quebec all the way. On another note, I've tended to jump into VGK game broadcasts after the first puck has dropped, and am just now learning about what these guys are doing during pre-game festivities. Are they not doing some cool **** there or what?

Yeah, they bought the team during the off-season. FWIW, I've no problem with the Brewers powder blues. I've no problem with the old 80's uniforms, in fact I think they should go back to the pinstripe, either with "BREWERS" on the chest as before or the ball-in-glove on the chest, Yankees style.

As opposed to the rest of this thread?

NEW YORK -- In a bizarre series of events today, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred unexpectedly resigned from office, citing his plans to pursue his lifelong fantasy of becoming the first man to be chosen for the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover. This bombshell would be followed by the announcement of an interim Commissioner, MactheKnife, who upon introduction announced that the owners had agreed to explode the number of Major League teams beginning with the 2020 season, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1871 founding of the National Association. The plan put forth takes the existing 115 year rivalry between the American and National Leagues and adds two new players to the mix, in the form of the Federal and International Leagues. AMERICAN LEAGUE Northern - Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Minnesota, Toronto Southern - Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Eastern - Boston, New York Yankees, Indianapolis Western - California, Seattle, Oakland, Albuqerque NATIONAL LEAGUE Northern - Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus Southern - Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis, Norfolk, New Orleans Eastern - New York Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Buffalo Western - Los Angeles, Colorado, San Diego, San Francisco FEDERAL LEAGUE Northern - X Southern - Charlotte, Durham, Memphis, Nashville Eastern - X Western - Arizona, Reno, Fresno, Sacramento INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE Northern - Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals Southern - Florida Marlins Eastern - Louisville, Toledo Western - Oklahoma City, El Paso, Portland, Las Vegas Any suggestions for filling out the Federal League?