The What-If Thread

[Guest]

What if the MLB had a salary cap?

[KDubK414]

What if the MLB had a salary cap?

You as well as me and a whole bunch of other people will still be asking that same question in 20-30-40 years. Unless the Players Association breaks down and there's still owners out there that are willing to pay the sky high salaries, there will not be one.

[Lights Out]

I think the growing number of empty-stadium markets and studies showing that new markets will only be viable with a salary cap will force the issue sooner rather than later.

[Dilbert]

what is bud selig, dave stern, gary betteman and roger goodell were not comissioners?

[Guest]

Then there would be a lot less booing during every Stanley Cup presentation, for starters.

[Lights Out]

what is bud selig, dave stern, gary betteman and roger goodell were not comissioners?

The MLB wouldn't be stuck in 1940 and also wouldn't be a yearly BosWash circlejerk. The NBA would actually have some semblance of parity. The NFL would probably still be extremely popular without Goodell. And the NHL would actually resemble a major league instead of a fly-by-night independent league.

[KDubK414]

I think the growing number of empty-stadium markets and studies showing that new markets will only be viable with a salary cap will force the issue sooner rather than later.

Yeah, I can see that. The gorilla in the room is still the MLBPA and add into that agents like Scott Boras who love it just the way it is. There has to be some shaking up there before any serious talks towards a cap can even remotely start to occur.

[knnhrvy16]

What if Sandy Koufax never developed arthritis in his pitching arm mid-career? People forget, he retired at the peak of his career (he even won the Cy Young the very year he retired). It's mind boggling to think about what he could've done with more years and a healthy arm.

Aside from his artritic elbow, I forgot to mention the crushed artery in his pitching hand he recieved in (I think) 1963, and the possible circulatory problem he had. As great as he was, he was unbelievably banged up during the last half of his career. Yet, he still won three Cy Youngs during that time. If he were ever healthy....man. As I said before, it's mind boggling what could've been.

[pmoehrin]

I'm actually thinking of writing a very detailed summary of what could have happened had Terry Bradshaw been beat out by Joe Gilliam for the starting job.

Main things I'll be focusing on is what would have become of both the Steelers, Bradshaw and how Joe Gilliam's arrival would have led to black QB's being more accepted earlier and what the results would have been.

I'll give you a sample of where this would be going and if people like it, I'll write more.

During the 1974 season Bradshaw's off field problems get the best of him forcing him to lose his starting job to no name Joe Gilliam out of Tennessee State. Gilliam leads the young Steelers to their first ever Super Bowl apperance where they fall in a classic battle to the veteran Minnesota Vikings in a very tightly faught game. Gilliam's 2 INT's prove to be the difference in a hard faught 13-10 victory which see Fran Tarkenton led the Vikings to a winning TD on the final drive of the game in what many hail as the greatest Super Bowl ever played.

During that offseason the Steelers actively shop around Terry Bradshaw who demands to be sent to place where he can start and prefers to go to one of the southern NFL teams. The Steelers find a perfect fit for him with the Atlanta Falcons who finished dead last in the '74 season in passing and seeing very little in terms of QB depth for the '75 draft decide to send their second round pick (Ralph Ortega) to the Steelers in exchange for Bradshaw. With the QB position set, it allows for the Falcons to focus on another concern on offense for them. The running game. Because of this the Falcons never select Steve Bartkowski with the first overall pick in the '75 draft and instead take a chance on Jackson State product Walter Payton. In turn Bartkowski winds up falling to the Chicago Bears who also desperately need a QB following the failure of the Bobby Douglass project.

In this scenario, I think that the Steelers may have taken an offensive lineman like Bill Bain or Burton Lawless in the second round instead of Ortega.

As for Bradshaw in Atlanta, though, if he can make it fairly unscathed to the Leeman Bennett-Eddie LeBaron era, maybe he leads the Falcons to a SB title by 1980, Bennett doesn't lose his job by the end of 82, and the Falcons don't become doormats by the mid-80's.

I like this timeline, though. I would like to see more.

I thought the second round pick wasn't important to the story and would like to keep it as simple as possible. Didn't see alot of big time options for the Steelers if they had a second round pick.

What would have become of the Falcons with Bradshaw as QB, Payton as the running back and Jerry Glanville's gritz blitz defense is still a few years down the road.

The next part which I'll probably write in a few days will focus on the rest of the 1970's. What happens with the Steelers no longer being a dynasty but still the best team in the AFC over that time period? With black QB's more accepted does that mean Warren Moon gets taken instead of going to the CFL? Who else would be effected?

[YessSir32]

What if Verlander pitched another no-hitter today?

[DnBronc]

I'm actually thinking of writing a very detailed summary of what could have happened had Terry Bradshaw been beat out by Joe Gilliam for the starting job.

Main things I'll be focusing on is what would have become of both the Steelers, Bradshaw and how Joe Gilliam's arrival would have led to black QB's being more accepted earlier and what the results would have been.

I'll give you a sample of where this would be going and if people like it, I'll write more.

During the 1974 season Bradshaw's off field problems get the best of him forcing him to lose his starting job to no name Joe Gilliam out of Tennessee State. Gilliam leads the young Steelers to their first ever Super Bowl apperance where they fall in a classic battle to the veteran Minnesota Vikings in a very tightly faught game. Gilliam's 2 INT's prove to be the difference in a hard faught 13-10 victory which see Fran Tarkenton led the Vikings to a winning TD on the final drive of the game in what many hail as the greatest Super Bowl ever played.

During that offseason the Steelers actively shop around Terry Bradshaw who demands to be sent to place where he can start and prefers to go to one of the southern NFL teams. The Steelers find a perfect fit for him with the Atlanta Falcons who finished dead last in the '74 season in passing and seeing very little in terms of QB depth for the '75 draft decide to send their second round pick (Ralph Ortega) to the Steelers in exchange for Bradshaw. With the QB position set, it allows for the Falcons to focus on another concern on offense for them. The running game. Because of this the Falcons never select Steve Bartkowski with the first overall pick in the '75 draft and instead take a chance on Jackson State product Walter Payton. In turn Bartkowski winds up falling to the Chicago Bears who also desperately need a QB following the failure of the Bobby Douglass project.

In this scenario, I think that the Steelers may have taken an offensive lineman like Bill Bain or Burton Lawless in the second round instead of Ortega.

As for Bradshaw in Atlanta, though, if he can make it fairly unscathed to the Leeman Bennett-Eddie LeBaron era, maybe he leads the Falcons to a SB title by 1980, Bennett doesn't lose his job by the end of 82, and the Falcons don't become doormats by the mid-80's.

I like this timeline, though. I would like to see more.

I thought the second round pick wasn't important to the story and would like to keep it as simple as possible. Didn't see alot of big time options for the Steelers if they had a second round pick.

What would have become of the Falcons with Bradshaw as QB, Payton as the running back and Jerry Glanville's gritz blitz defense is still a few years down the road.

The next part which I'll probably write in a few days will focus on the rest of the 1970's. What happens with the Steelers no longer being a dynasty but still the best team in the AFC over that time period? With black QB's more accepted does that mean Warren Moon gets taken instead of going to the CFL? Who else would be effected?

Can't wait to read the rest.

[charger77]

What if Verlander pitched another no-hitter today?

The space-time continuum of the MLB would remain the same.

[YessSir32]

What if Verlander pitched another no-hitter today?

The space-time continuum of the MLB would remain the same.

Yeah, pretty much. I was upset at the game yesterday.

[BigBubba]

What if the Leafs didn't trade for Kurvers?

What if Bergeron hadn't thrown someone into Roloson?

What if Gelinas' phantom goal counted?

What if Frasor didn't miss his optometrist appointment?

[FiddySicks]

A couple I've wondered about myself.

Baseball

What if Steve Bartman had gotten up to get a beer (or a Coke, since it was past the 7th )?

What if Warren Spahn had struck out Willie Mays instead of dishing up Mays' first career home run? Remember now, Mays was 0-12 and at risk of being cut before that hit.

Football

What if Rickey Proehl had dropped the pass in the endzone? Or in the very least, what if Shaun King's pass to Bert Emmanuel on the next series had been ruled correctly?

What if Kevin Dyson had been able to break Mike Jones' tackle?

What if Frank Wycheck's lateral had been ruled a forward pass? (As you can see, the 1999/2000 NFL Playoffs were particularly exciting for me)

(One that many people seem to wonder) What if the Bucs hadn't screwed the pooch vs Detroit last season?

Waht if TO had dropped the pass, or even more likely, what if Steve Young would've slipped and fell?

Hockey

What if Eric Lindros had never acted like a whiney little bitch?

Basketball

What if Robert Horry hadn't drilled that game-winning buzzer beater?

[DnBronc]

Waht if TO had dropped the pass, or even more likely, what if Steve Young would've slipped and fell?

Mariucci would have been fired, and Holmgren would have went to San Francisco to take his place after the Packers lost the next week to Atlanta (which they would have). You also would have seen Andy Reid be his successor instead of Mike Sherman.

What would that have meant for the Eagles and Seahawks?

Here's another twist, though: What if the Packers win that game and the next game, and then the Vikings beat Green Bay for the NFC Title (which they would have)?

The coaching landscape for the 2000's would have been very different. In addition to the possibilities I mentioned, you also would have had Brian Billick staying in Minnesota one more year instead of going to the Ravens.

That Wild Card game definitely affected three organizations (Seahawks, Packers, Eagles) and maybe even a fourth (Ravens) that went to a Super Bowl in the 13 seasons that followed it.

[GO2HELL]

What if The Canucks offense showed up in game 7 vs Boston?

[FiddySicks]

What if The Canucks offense showed up in game 7 vs Boston?

Vancouver would've still burned.

[It Needs A Bow]

What if The Canucks offense showed up in game 7 vs Boston?

Vancouver would've still burned.

100% agreed.

[NEW.ERA]

But it would have been a peaceful burn right, like Burning Man. Just burn a giant effigy of Zdeno Chara.