2013 NFL Off-Season Thread

[BlueSky]

There was no picture of the soccer setup that the Wilfs are supposedly going after for the MLS.

during the unveiling there was along with basketball and even a hockey set up

Here's the baseball setup

there will not be any cut out slide pads from what I recall about the baseball setup

Gee, I wonder where the dugouts are? I hope they extend the backstop netting to protect that scoreboard.

Did whoever designed that roof know that the Astrodome's roof was originally clear? That didn't work because fielders couldn't see the ball. The roof was painted, the grass died...and we ended up with AstroTurf.

[dfwabel]

There was no picture of the soccer setup that the Wilfs are supposedly going after for the MLS.

during the unveiling there was along with basketball and even a hockey set up

Here's the baseball setup

there will not be any cut out slide pads from what I recall about the baseball setup

Gee, I wonder where the dugouts are? I hope they extend the backstop netting to protect that scoreboard.

Did whoever designed that roof know that the Astrodome's roof was originally clear? That didn't work because fielders couldn't see the ball. The roof was painted, the grass died...and we ended up with AstroTurf.

And technology and design have improved.

Populous already designed Forsyth Barr Stadium in New Zealand has a transparent roof and natural grass.

[ninersdd]

Another Seahawk is in trouble for roids, Bruce Irvin is out for the first 4 games of the year.

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=9287069&top&wjb=

[BBTV]

The Eagles have a lot of TEs now and some sucky OLBs so they're going to try and make TE Clay Harbor an OLB. If this works, he'll be the only defensive player that I'm aware of with a number in the 80s (I'm assuming he wouldn't switch since he'd probably still be on the depth chart as 5th TE or something).

[BlueSky]

There was no picture of the soccer setup that the Wilfs are supposedly going after for the MLS.

during the unveiling there was along with basketball and even a hockey set up

Here's the baseball setup

there will not be any cut out slide pads from what I recall about the baseball setup

Gee, I wonder where the dugouts are? I hope they extend the backstop netting to protect that scoreboard.

Did whoever designed that roof know that the Astrodome's roof was originally clear? That didn't work because fielders couldn't see the ball. The roof was painted, the grass died...and we ended up with AstroTurf.

And technology and design have improved.

Populous already designed Forsyth Barr Stadium in New Zealand has a transparent roof and natural grass.

The turf wasn't my point (see bolded part above). They're not fielding fly balls in New Zealand like the Golden Gophers will be, are they? Look at the bottom llustration - can you imagine the outfielders trying to see a baseball against that light and glare?

There's also a lot of shadow on the field. Remember how much it sucked to watch sunny day games televised from Texas Stadium?

[IceCap]

The Vikings' church stadium is all well and good, but I can't shake the feeling that the Twin Cities' stadium situation is a bit redundant. You have the new Vikings stadium, which in addition to pro football can also be used for baseball, and is large enough to house a MLB team. You also have Target Field....which houses a MLB team. You have the Target Centre for basketball and the Xcel Energy Centre for hockey, when you really only need one for both.

[Kramerica Industries]

Well, back when the Raptors and Leafs were busy bitching at each other, wasn't there talk about building a separate venue for the Raptors (the ACC) and a different venue for the Leafs, both inside of Toronto?

There's also the situation with the Heat and the Panthers, but that was before I realized that Sunrise was, like, 40 miles away from Miami. And you wonder why the Panthers always have such sucky attendance, besides behind a south Florida hockey team for 'cripes sakes.

[pmoehrin]

The Vikings' church stadium is all well and good, but I can't shake the feeling that the Twin Cities' stadium situation is a bit redundant. You have the new Vikings stadium, which in addition to pro football can also be used for baseball, and is large enough to house a MLB team. You also have Target Field....which houses a MLB team. You have the Target Centre for basketball and the Xcel Energy Centre for hockey, when you really only need one for both.

I do think you need a football and baseball only stadiums. You can tell right away when the place is multipurpose. If you want to argue that need is more artificial because of all the new money being pumped into sports, I won't disagree with that. Its just the way things are now.

But to have a hockey and basketball arena in the same city? Yeah I think that's pretty redundant. Even going back to when they built the Target Center, you think someone would have said, hey maybe we should make this multipurpose so the North Stars don't leave and I'm sure there was more then one person that said that as well. It just comes down to political and ego BS in the end with anything like that.

[The_Admiral]

So now the stupid Gophers have ruined two stadium situations by insisting on their own football palace and then making the Vikings shoehorn a baseball field into their new stadium necessitated by the Gophers' insistence on not sharing football stadiums. You're the best perpetual 6-win team ever, guys! Keep up that great Big Ten fart-sniffing, though, because that's worth more than any win on the field.

[IceCap]

Well, back when the Raptors and Leafs were busy bitching at each other, wasn't there talk about building a separate venue for the Raptors (the ACC) and a different venue for the Leafs, both inside of Toronto?

There was, yeah, and the Raptors in the SkyDome was one of the dumbest things ever.

Thankfully sanity prevailed and the two now share the ACC.

There's also the situation with the Heat and the Panthers, but that was before I realized that Sunrise was, like, 40 miles away from Miami. And you wonder why the Panthers always have such sucky attendance, besides behind a south Florida hockey team for 'cripes sakes.

The team also drew well and didn't need to tarp off the upper bowl when they played in downtown Miami.

[Still MIGHTY]

There's also the situation with the Heat and the Panthers, but that was before I realized that Sunrise was, like, 40 miles away from Miami. And you wonder why the Panthers always have such sucky attendance, besides behind a south Florida hockey team for 'cripes sakes.

The team also drew well and didn't need to tarp off the upper bowl when they played in downtown Miami.

They also went to the Final that one time. That probably helped.

[CS85]

Via Adam Schefter: NFL and NFLPA are on verge of pushing back draft to May and moving up start of league year to before combine, per sources.

[FiddySicks]

Via Adam Schefter: NFL and NFLPA are on verge of pushing back draft to May and moving up start of league year to before combine, per sources.

Why?

[smith03]

The Vikings' church stadium is all well and good, but I can't shake the feeling that the Twin Cities' stadium situation is a bit redundant. You have the new Vikings stadium, which in addition to pro football can also be used for baseball, and is large enough to house a MLB team. You also have Target Field....which houses a MLB team. You have the Target Centre for basketball and the Xcel Energy Centre for hockey, when you really only need one for both.

it is not MLB ballpark. the distances are 324 to left 400 center and only 300 to right. the Gopher baseball coach had complained about that for a few months, he wanted something like 325 to right and Vikings wanted 285 so the compromise was 300, but yeah the twin cities have always had separate arenas for basketball/hockey and for 20 years had a football team play in baseball stadium followed by 30 years of a baseball team using a football stadium and reguiring the new football stadium to be able for amateur baseball, meanwhile building a 54 million minor league baseball stadium in st paul without a roof that could have solved the gopher baseball problem.

[dfwabel]

Via Adam Schefter: NFL and NFLPA are on verge of pushing back draft to May and moving up start of league year to before combine, per sources.

Why?

They would like to have an "event" in every month during the non-playing season.

March= Combines

The NFL-owned regional combines would be run first first with invitations to the Indy combine, a non-NFL event, as the last stop in the process and to reward the smaller school draft eligible players.

April= Free Agency

May= Draft

2014 also has a scheduling issue with Radio City as Easter falls on April 20 and the NFL cannot get in due to Radio City's Easter/Spring shows. Goodell spoke about next year's scheduling issues before this year's draft.

[DEAD!]

Well, back when the Raptors and Leafs were busy bitching at each other, wasn't there talk about building a separate venue for the Raptors (the ACC) and a different venue for the Leafs, both inside of Toronto?

There was, yeah, and the Raptors in the SkyDome was one of the dumbest things ever.

Thankfully sanity prevailed and the two now share the ACC.

Yeah, the Raptors were going to build a basketball only facility, then the Leafs wanted to build on top of Union Station... which is next door to the ACC, so good thing sanity prevailed in the end.

[HedleyLamarr]

Via Adam Schefter: NFL and NFLPA are on verge of pushing back draft to May and moving up start of league year to before combine, per sources.

Why?

The NFL wants a big event for each month, and I'm thinking it's also likely to clear out the dead cap space before free agency begins.

For instance, Michael Turner's contract is still in the Falcons' books until like June 1st (or whenever the new calendar begins), which is delaying the Falcons' ability to sign their drafted players while staying under the cap. It's kinda dumb that the fiscal calendar lasts so long after the end of the season.

[dfwabel]

Via Adam Schefter: NFL and NFLPA are on verge of pushing back draft to May and moving up start of league year to before combine, per sources.

Why?

The NFL wants a big event for each month, and I'm thinking it's also likely to clear out the dead cap space before free agency begins.

For instance, Michael Turner's contract is still in the Falcons' books until like June 1st (or whenever the new calendar begins), which is delaying the Falcons' ability to sign their drafted players while staying under the cap. It's kinda dumb that the fiscal calendar lasts so long after the end of the season.

The 2013 League Year began on March 12, when all teams had to have their Top 51 roster players under the salary cap.

Turner was released on March 1, before the start of the 2013 League Year, but was designated as a June 1 cut. Each team has the ability to designated two players are June 1 cuts prior to that date.

If a player is on the roster, but cut on or after June 1 (or designated to do so), only the 2013 part of the unamortized signing bonus counts against the cap in 2013, while the remainder counts against the 2014 cap. They designated Turner to allow for them to spread it over two years.

[FiddySicks]

I really hope that the NFL puts SB 50 in Santa Clara. It would be a real disappointment to see the 50th Super Bowl be just another rehash of a Miami Super Bowl.

[TheOldRoman]

I really hope that the NFL puts SB 50 in Santa Clara. It would be a real disappointment to see the 50th Super Bowl be just another rehash of a Miami Super Bowl.

Miami isn't getting another Super Bowl until the city and state come up with hundreds of millions to renovate JoePlayer SunShark. Miami is now in the same boat as San Diego. New Orleans was on the list, but they recently got off.