BBTV

I agree that using a stadium in your own city is preferable. The reason I picked a bunch of college stadiums (and I suspect, the reason that Detroit also did for their Winter Classic) was historic significance and spectacle (not to mention the fact that the Wolverines already proved what a success it could be with the Big Chill). I also don't think once a year is too often if they make it into a spectacle, like bowl season is for NCAA football. Anyway, the point of using Penn State would be that it happens to be somewhat equidistant from both Philly and Pitt - roughly in the center of the state. Google Maps tells me it is a 2.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh, and 3.5 hours' drive from Philadelphia. (I realize that NHL teams take planes to cities further than 100 km away, but I'm just illustrating). 2.5 hours or 3.5 hours is a lot better on both teams than having to travel 6 hours to one city, and 6 hours to the other for the back-to-back. It also could put Penn State back on the national stage in a positive light...so there's that... Penn State is really considered "western PA". Other than college kids who happen to come from Philadelphia area, there's not really any reason to make Flyers fans drive 4 hrs to go to a game. I get it for a true "neutral site" game, but it doesn't make sense under your system where each team "hosts" a game. Not sure if the Eagles would ever let the Linc be used for hockey, but it worked pretty well at Citizens Bank Park, or... they could always bring back the vet.

Comparing Quebec to Green Bay is silly, since the NFL has a completely different revenue model and the packers are a huge TV draw Comparing Quebec to Green Bay is silly, since the NFL has a completely different revenue model and the packers are a huge TV draw

How can anyone post the word "confirmed" with a straight face anymore? I watched that "hot stove" link, and while it's true that I'm ignorant to who those people are and what they know, I feel pretty confident in saying that nobody outside of Gary bettman and whoever runs Glendale really has any idea what's really happening.

So I realize that many city-owned arenas hire 3rd parties to manage the operations. And I realize that costs money (I have no idea how much.) I also understand that many teams have their own arena management divisions and can handle the operations for events other than just their own (I worked for one.) What I don't understand, is how a team doesn't need to pay to lease the arena for their games, and at the same time collects a fee to manage it. Does the city get anything out of this deal? I don't care about the arguments that a pro team brings business and tax dollars in, because that's debatable, and the Coyotes aren't exactly a top draw. I've been following this thread since the beginning, but kind of lost track, with all the "deadlines" that have passed, all the elections and votes, and everything else that gets posted every day but in reality means absolutely nothing. Please tell me that I'm missing a big part of this picture, and that Glendale isn't really doing this. Also, are they still paying millions to cover losses?

Going dark is not an option unless the league made some unheard of concessions to the players affected. The union would flip. They'd have to declare the Coyotes players free agents, expand rosters for a season, and grant salary cap exemptions so that the number of players with jobs (and who pay union dues) doesn't decrease. Then they'd have an expansion draft or something in a year or whenever the team comes back on-line. Actually now that I type that out, that actually could be a possibility.

That helmet looks like it's 2 sizes too small for him lol! Minister of hate. The world is a better place without him in it.

3001-02 SCF - Phoenix Coyotes of Glenndale vs Death Star Bruins. Sucks the Bs had to move after that fiasco in 2763.

Unless there would be legal or union issues, I'm not sure why the NHL wouldn't favor that scenario - they would collect a large expansion fee without having to worry about managing a 31 team league or controlling one of the teams. I would imagine that the union would fight contraction, unless it was guaranteed that there would be immediate expansion, but if that's the case, I would imagine the door would be open for all kinds of legal challenges from perspective owners and maybe Glendale its stupid self.

I'll be in the People's Republic next Sunday, and I'm kinda looking forward to seeing how much fake gear is for sale near popular tourist destinations, and how much (if any) is being worn by the native Chinese, since in a lot of areas the younger generation tends to lean toward western fashions.

Not only does that look ridiculous, but so does Magic's incorrect font. Are all of the retired jerseys inaccurate like that?

Yeah I wasn't saying it was exclusively an east coast thing just that it's more common since there's a higher xoncentration of large urban business centers between Boston and DC. There's obviously others in the country. I'm curious about SFs MT. Isn't it true that they can't build subways on the west coast due to the soil or earthquake risk or something? Is it all light rail and buses?

What staff and security? Unless things are different in Philadelphia than any other major city I've been to, there's little-to-no security for downtown parking lots (and those with security are either with always-private lots or individual companies hiring security for public lots that are owned by someone else), and many lot attendants are being replaced with a pay-box, and Muhammed Jones comes by every half-hour or hour to check up on these lots. Well the valet garages in center city (commercial and residential) have "security", and the other lots at least have attendants. When I said staff and security, I was referring to the team-run stadium lots, where there are the fee collectors, the people directing you down a certain aisle, and security walking around (you may not actually see the security, because in some cases it's plain clothed. Typical East Coast US parking in a "downtown" region are significantly higher than that. That's not meant to start a "contest", just to make it clear that I'm talking about daily rates that equal the typical $20 - $40 stadium parking rates (obviously there are pro stadiums / arenas that charge more than that, but I'm considering that the average sporting event price.) Hell - the unsecured residential spot that I lease 3 blocks from my apartment is $200, and that's not a desirable spot. It wouldn't shock me if due to lack of vacancies at that lot (which is the cheapest in the "center city" district), I could put it up on craigslist and sublet it during the day and just use it at night. I know a few people that do this with their spots, for which they either bought the deed for the spot ($40k - $80k depending on location) or lease for $300 - $400 month.

In many major cities where any type of space is at a premium, and mass transit options exist and are convenient, I don't have issue with charging for parking, since it really is a service that they're providing, and they have to pAy for staff and security for it. Plus it encourages people to take subways and rail lines. You have to pay out the ass for parking anywhere else in the city (and a lot of times lots either have no vacancy or you have to sublet a spot), so why should a game be any different? I'm going to assume that mass transit really doesn't exist in AZ (at least not in the form it does on the east coast), as its just a cultural thing to drive everywhere, and cities / suburbs were designed around this. If that's the case, I'd be against them charging for parking if there's no other way for people to get there, unless they set up free lots farther away and only charged for the convenience of parking in well maintained lots closer to the arena.

Adding a Big 5 (6) team doesn't get you the philly market. It gets you the subset of the market partial to that team. It's very provincial and there's no "catch all" team that unafilliated fans follow.

Here's some other nice pro team "championship" belts: http://topropebelts.com/category/gallery/pro-sports-team-belts/

I don't think there are too many out there that would claim to dislike CBJ's uniforms. I think that they could use some slight tweaks, but they're very nice, even if I'm not a fan of navy. IMO they've always had nice unifroms (current alt excepted), even going back to the CB days (their original alt is still the only jersey I can think of that successfully blended navy and black.) As for Maryland, I really liked that look as well, however I hope that they tone it down a notch once they join the big 10.

Flyers have the "PECO Powerplay", which makes at least a little sense since PECO (Philadelphia Electric COmpany) is a power company.

How is that allowed? A promotion that gives incentive for the team to do poorly? You can't control how many goals you score, but you can control how many you allow. I can't imagine that there wouldn't be anyone suspecting crooked behavior in this case.

This has been an issue since day one of the new forum - when using Chrome and typing in the fast reply box, it seemingly randomly just moves your cursor, so half your word gets typed six words back and you have to go back and re-type everything. Doesn't happen with ie.

I never really understood why GM needed so many different brands, and what niche each was supposed to fill. Chevy - mainstream value line. Buick - nicer trim / nicer ride than Chevy (kinda like Infinity to Nissan). Cadillac - the flagship, top of the line. Then they had Pontiac, the "performance" brand, but that was diluted by having cheap under-performing cars that were just Chevy's with different logos. Oldsmobile - I have no idea where this fits in. We always had Oldsmobiles growing up, but they weren't really "nice". Kinda in between Chevy and Buick, but not significantly different than either. We had one of http://postmoderngentleman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Oldsmobile.jpg]these jawns. Then they had Saturn, which didn't really fit in anywhere. They didn't even share the frames or designs of the other cars. I guess that's a good thing - maybe all of the brands should have been more independent, but it's not financially feasible. Then there's GMC, which makes sense, except that everything GMC marketed was also marketed by Chevy. Never understood why the US car manufacturers just can't separate their brands better, and then market cars within each brand that actually make sense for said brand.

Is there a database anywhere would you can see all of the SC Champ banners, ECF / Wales conference banners, etc.? Seems like a logical extension of that awesome hockey uniform db, no? Though it'd also be cool to see for the other sports. Along the lines of the other sports, it sorta bothers me that division titles in NFL aren't celebrated (by most teams) as much as any other sport. Maybe it's because there's no real way to hang banners in most arenas, or maybe just because it's not the tradition. It really seems to devalue the accomplishment though (though the fact that for a time, 3 other teams in your own division could also qualify for the playoffs also kinda devalued it.) I know here everyone is furious with the Eagles for their lack of championship since 1960, but I think that looking around and seeing 8 division banners might soften the blow a bit (even if it's only the same amount as the other two teams besides the Cowboys would have.)

They're actually easily visible, even for the Arenas/St. Pats logos. In person they are actually quite beautiful. They're probably my favourite, due in part in them using the logos that were used at that time, perhaps they would have been more interesting if they used the Stanley Cup as it looked at the time. I think the Edmonton Eskimos have done that with the Grey Cup (which as gone through three versions so far.) Also doesn't the Flyers also have the Cup on their banner? Or have they changed that? No, the Flyers never had the cup on theirs. Here's a shot from google. Pay no attention to the Bobby Clarke banner, as the retired number banners were all redone last year to include action shots of the players.

I don't understand a 12-year deal, from neither the league's perspective nor the network's. The league isn't even finished growing yet. Are they even an offiial league yet? I would assume that they'd have to add a few more teams in order to be a legit basketball conference. What if one or two of those teams is a surprise and boosts the prestige of the league or the size of the markets enough that it makes the 12-year deal seem small? 12 years is a long time to renegotiate. Also frm the network's perspective, you're paying for an unknown. What if this "catholic 7" thing doesn't grow, or just doesn't work out at all, and teams defect elsewhere? Again, 12 years is a big risk.

It would be stupid for any new conference to include a number in its name, or for an existing non-already-numbered conference to add a number.