spartacat_12

These aren't awful, but the monochrome blue isn't good. Gold pants would go a long way in improving the set. As for the numbers being minimized, I believe most CFL jerseys are sold blank, so it makes sense to have a logo on the front otherwise it'd be a fairly plain jersey.

I'd say the emergence of Auston Matthews and ASU playing Division I hockey has helped keep interest in the sport. The Coyotes have also had their practice facility in Scottsdale for a while. This article paints a pretty good picture of the last 20 years of the Coyotes: https://www.gophnx.com/2022/04/28/the-glendale-years-for-the-coyotes-it-was-the-best-of-times-but-mostly-it-was-the-worst-of-times/

It's been well known for a while that the majority of the Yotes fanbase lives in the East Valley (Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa/Chandler). They had originally looked into building an arena in Scottsdale before moving to Glendale, but couldn't get a deal done. Now instead of forcing most of their fans to drive over an hour each way for games, they'll be within 30 minutes of the rink. They'll also be closer to a wider variety of pre/post game entertainment options, instead of just a small entertainment district surrounded by desert.

Yeah...that's not going to happen. The league & Coyotes aren't happy about this situation, they're just trying to make lemonade. It's no different than the Chargers playing in an MLS stadium 1/3 the size of most NFL stadiums before Sofi got built.

I'm pretty sure the host team/owner don't get any of the revenue from the Super Bowl. Minneapolis went fine, but I don't think the sponsors/media members loved spending a February weekend in Minnesota instead of Florida/Arizona/California. Detroit got their Super Bowl at Ford Field, and I don't see that happening again.

Pretty sure the league has said that the games will rotate between LA, Vegas, Miami, Arizona, and New Orleans for the most part. Once in a while they'll throw a bone to a team with a new stadium, but those will just be one-offs. Minneapolis got to host, but that's not happening again. Tennessee should be able to get one, but they're not going to be part of the regular rotation. There is 0 chance that they ever have an outdoor Super Bowl in Buffalo.

This tweet isn't all that clear. Maybe the orange alternates become the primaries, or maybe the reverse retros are going to be orange. Vegas going to be the quickest team in NHL history to wear 5 different coloured jerseys

Meh, something like this just feels like a lateral move compared to what they went with:

Well they literally just swapped the gold & white portions of their away jersey.

Well you started by saying you "get it", then immediately followed it up by saying "I really don't".

What don't you get about supply & demand? They're going to have a quarter of the supply that they've had at Gila River, so theoretically they're envisioning that a single seat at ASU should have 4 times the demand. If the current average ticket price is $50, a sell out brings in $915,000. To bring in that same revenue at a 5,000 seat arena, the average ticket price should be $183. We'll see how it works out for them, but I understand the pricing strategy. As for Seattle, if they're selling out the building with ticket prices what they are, why would they sell for less? They paid $650 million for the franchise, so they're obviously going to try and strike while the iron is hot, and before the novelty wears off. If you're looking for cheap family entertainment there are 2 WHL teams in the Seattle area. If you have young kids they probably won't notice the difference. Baseball is completely different. There are twice as many games, the stadiums are twice the size of NHL arenas, and there are only a handful of markets capable of selling out every game, regardless of how the team plays on the field. When you throw in the fact that a large chunk of games are played on weekday afternoons, it should be clear why tickets are typically easier to come by.

I like the gold Vegas jersey, but it really should just stay as an alternate. If they have decided to make the switch hopefully that doesn't mean the end of the grey set. Also, if they do make gold the primary look, I wonder if the black pants get scrapped. Both the gold & white jerseys are completely devoid of any black, aside from the logo. The grey pants would probably look pretty solid with the white jersey.

Actually yeah, you're right. Not sure why I thought those were the socks they wore back then. Must've just been something he found in a sporting goods store or something.

Marc Methot wearing the 2D jersey for a fantasy camp in Ottawa. Funny that he's wearing the pre-edge white socks, which he also never wore as a player.

It's also the only sport that plays day games during the week, which is always going to be a tough sell. Having most of the season take place during the summer means way more competition for people's entertainment dollars. Aside from a handful of the top-tier markets/franchises, every team is going to go through stretches with lower attendance. Toronto pulls fans from all over Ontario, but they still have gotten lost in the shuffle when they haven't been competitive/relevant on the field. Not to mention that the PA isn't going to be ok with suddenly cutting 50-60 major league jobs for their players when there are viable markets willing to welcome in a franchise.

The guy acts like he's the first player in the history of the league to get heckled by fans. This stuff has been going on since the dawn of spectator sports, and I'm sure the taunting he deals with is 1000 times tamer than what players were putting up with 30 years ago. Part of being an elite athlete is tuning out the fans and staying focused on actually playing basketball. Those people pay a lot of money to sit close to the court, and unless their comments drift into racist/homophobic territory they're allowed to yell at players.

I have a feeling the Devils wouldn't be too pleased about not being included in an outdoor game being played in East Rutherford. Also with MetLife being home to 2 NFL teams, I don't think it would be feasible for them to host a New Years Day game there. Some likely future ones I can come up with: Columbus vs. Detroit/Pittsburgh/Tampa at Ohio Stadium Seattle vs. Vancouver at either Lumen Field or T-Mobile Park (maybe in a few years once the Kraken are more competitive) Buffalo vs. Boston at the new Bills stadium And some out-of-the-box ideas: Washington vs. Philadelphia at Camden Yards Minnesota vs. Chicago at Lambeau Field Vegas vs. Colorado at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, UT Pittsburgh vs. Washington at Mountaineer Field in West Virginia Carolina vs. Rangers/Bruins at Rentschler Field in Hartford (not sure how former Whalers fans would feel about this though)

For anyone who doesn't have an Athletic subscription, here are some highlights: Melnyk was frequently intoxicated at games, to the point that staff members would try to keep him away from the cameras & the dressing room. After being eliminated by the Ducks in the 07 Cup Final, he tried to give a reassuring speech to the players in the room, but was all over the place. He claimed he used to be a goalie and started miming saves, and apparently didn't recognize most of the players, aside from stars like Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley. When Alfredsson left to sign with Detroit, Melnyk openly called him a prick & an a**hole when the front office discussed how to handle his departure. He didn't want the team promoting Alfie's first game back in Ottawa, and suggested tripling the ticket prices for that game. In 2019 the team released a marketing campaign for their Valentine's Day game using the slogan "Love is Love", which featured images of same-sex couples embracing each other. Melnyk was not consulted about this beforehand, and snapped on the executives who were behind it. Melnyk sneered at the images and derided the campaign: “We are the laughing stock of the NHL right now!” Melnyk’s rant continued, lumping in previous marketing efforts involving pet rescue missions: “They think we are so desperate that we have to advertise to gays now. Dogs and gays.” Also that year, Melnyk sent a threatening email to a female employee who had not responded immediately to an email Melnyk sent her. When she finally wrote back, reminding Melnyk she was on a scheduled vacation, he responded in all caps: “YOU :censored:ING C – – T – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? WHEN I SAY CALL YOU DO IT. WHEN I TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU DO IT. YOU ARE DONE!” During “Blackout Tuesday” not long after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in May 2020, Melnyk sent an email to some senior staffers instructing them not to post a blank black page that many teams had posted in support of Black Lives Matter: “No social media today. People are posting completely black pages and it is some type of social distress that is causing this,” he wrote. “Let’s just not post anything today, but I would not bother posting a black screen. Check to see whether any other NHL team is doing it.” This didn't sit well with Anthony Duclair who was the team's lone black player at the time. Front office staff made several comments about the toxic nature of the workplace. Compensation was referred to as "a grey area" and "a crapshoot every year". Melnyk would sometimes hand out bonuses at his sole discretion and create arbitrary reasons to justify withholding them. CEO Jim Little was fired less than a year into the job after apparently getting into a heated discussion with Melnyk.

It's manufactured because 3 years ago a 7 seed clinching a playoff spot would be a footnote, not some massive milestone worth throwing a ticker-tape parade over. But the league decided it was a good idea to give teams 10 & 12 games under .500 a chance to play in the playoffs just so they could add a couple more "win or go home" games to the TV schedule. Seeing the players celebrate the way they did just tells me they're satisfied enough with just making the playoffs.

I could understand the fans being this excited, but it just seems way too over the top for the players. This is a completely manufactured moment by the NBA, but I guess that's the whole point of these play-in games. Did we ever see teams going this crazy about clinching the 7 seed in the playoffs in the past? It wasn't even a one & done game. The Clippers lost, and still get to host a sub-.500 team to lock up the last seed.

The Chargers would only be comparable to the Rays if they couldn't decide between basing their brand around the lightning bolt & the horse imagery. I'd say Tampa should go back to putting the fish front & center. It's a bit ironic having a ray of light as your logo when you play in one of the most depressing indoor stadiums in America. I'd also do a bit of a combo of eras and go with a powder blue & dark green combo. It'd be completely unique to pro sports, and still feels fitting for a Florida-based team. Tulane has some nice baseball uniforms.

Considering red & black matches the actual hurricane warning flag, and they moved into a building shared with NC State, I understand the colour choice. They originally had 2 elements that separated them from the other red & black teams: red pants, and the use of silver. They've already basically eliminated silver, so they need to keep the red pants around. Luckily the fans don't seem to happy about the change, so hopefully this is the last time we see this. But I said the same about Vegas's chrome helmets, so we'll see.

He took a leave last fall to deal with some health issues, so hopefully this doesn't mean things have taken a turn for the worse. If he is able to recover, he'd be a good fit for the Sens front office, maybe in a President of Hockey Ops role. He grew up in the city and played junior for the 67's. Would bring a lot of experience and credibility to the organization. It'll be interesting to see what direction the Sharks decide to take. They've got 5 guys signed for $7+ million into their late 30s, so going full rebuild will be tough.