Sports What Ifs.

[FDW]

WI Peyton Manning declares for the NFL draft after his junior year? The Jets had the #1 pick in 1996, and rumor was the only reason Peyton stayed a Tennessee Volunteer in 1997 was because he didn't want to play for the Jets. If Peyton goes and the Jets draft him, the Peyton-Brady rivalry is even more fierce than in OTL.

Well, I'm not going to argue about the first part. But would Brady even be drafted with the three years of Butterflies to take into account? At Michigan he had a difficult time just getting opportunities to play, so he could've easily ended up burning out. Or maybe he transfers to Cal, and helps pull that team out of the gutter. And maybe The Jets end drafting Tim Rattay (Who was also recommended by Rehbein OTL) as Peyton's backup.

 

[dsp19]

Well, I'm not going to argue about the first part. But would Brady even be drafted with the three years of Butterflies to take into account? At Michigan he had a difficult time just getting opportunities to play, so he could've easily ended up burning out. Or maybe he transfers to Cal, and helps pull that team out of the gutter. And maybe The Jets end drafting Tim Rattay (Who was also recommended by Rehbein OTL) as Peyton's backup.

I don't think Brady's performance at Michigan is overtly affected by Peyton Manning being drafted a year earlier. Drew Henson's performance at Michigan (if he outplays Brady to the point where Brady can't get in the game) and his dedication to football over baseball might cause Brady to burn out or transfer to another school in an ATL

 

[FDW]

I don't think Brady's performance at Michigan is overtly affected by Peyton Manning being drafted a year earlier. Drew Henson's performance at Michigan (if he outplays Brady to the point where Brady can't get in the game) and his dedication to football over baseball might cause Brady to burn out or transfer to another school in an ATL

Everything is affected by everything, that's the butterfly effect in it's simplest form. I've mentioned that the likeliest place that Brady would transfer to would be Cal (Which was a local school for him, being from the Bay Area), which was going through the shitter at the time.

 

[brunohusker]

Just for a change of pace, let's ponder some future history sports WIs:

--The Detroit Lions go bankrupt.

--India makes a major investment in its national soccer team and turns it into a World Cup contender.

--A major U.S. pro sports franchise suffers a tragedy similar to the 1958 Munich air crash that devastated Manchester United.

I know you said pro teams, but would you agree that the Plane Crash involving Marshall University was kind of like the Munich Air disaster?

 

[superjames1992]

What if Ayrton Senna doesn't die in 1994?

 

[RCAF Brat]

Here's an NHL POD: What if Edmonton's Steve Smith didn't score on his own net during Game 7 of the playoff series against the Calgary Flames? That goal, coming late in third period, stood as the game winner that sent the defending Stanley Cup champions home early.

So what do we get if that doesn't happen, and the Oilers repeat yet again and then go on to make it five in a row?

 

[mattep74]

What if Ayrton Senna doesn't die in 1994?

Since i have seen the documentury about him i would say that he would retire since he was fed up with the politics in the sport

 

[mattep74]

--India makes a major investment in its national soccer team and turns it into a World Cup contender.

--A major U.S. pro sports franchise suffers a tragedy similar to the 1958 Munich air crash that devastated Manchester United.

Not just soccer. If India started to invest in their whole sports structure we could see them in the top of the medal standings in the Summer Olympics(maybe in the Winter Olympics also since they got Himalayas). To get to that position they would need to have a foundation in having kids play and dragged from poverty.

If a NHL team have such a tragedy the board of that franschise call in their farm team players and then tell the players they have drafted to get to their team(after paying a modest sum to the club that owns them).

Same goes for MLB. I think MLB and NHL have such events covered considering that they got multiple farm teams, and in NHLs case, players still playing in Europe.

A NFL team that crashes i think would resemble the movie "We are Marshall"

 

[mattep74]

Here's an NHL POD: What if Edmonton's Steve Smith didn't score on his own net during Game 7 of the playoff series against the Calgary Flames? That goal, coming late in third period, stood as the game winner that sent the defending Stanley Cup champions home early.

So what do we get if that doesn't happen, and the Oilers repeat yet again and then go on to make it five in a row?

Didnt Gretzgy say in his biography that if that hadnt happened the motivation the coming season wouldnt has been as big as it was? According to him that was the best thing that could happen for Edmonton to continue winning

 

[dsp19]

A good Formula 1 WI

Keep Williams a dominant force in F1 after Renault scales down their involvement with them...remember Renault supplied Frank Williams with some of the best engines in F1 in the 1990s

 

[Brennus]

If a NHL team have such a tragedy the board of that franschise call in their farm team players and then tell the players they have drafted to get to their team(after paying a modest sum to the club that owns them).

Same goes for MLB. I think MLB and NHL have such events covered considering that they got multiple farm teams, and in NHLs case, players still playing in Europe.

A NFL team that crashes i think would resemble the movie "We are Marshall"

There are rules in a few of the major NA leagues (NHL, NBA, and I think MLB. Not sure if the NFL does it too) where if most, if not all, of the players on a team were to perish the league would hold an "Emergency Draft." Kind of like an expansion draft where the affected team can pick players off of other team's roster. Of course, you also have their farm teams to supplant the roster in some cases.

 

[The Dude Bro]

Random thought: How would the NFL and the sports world react if a star player killed them self over a super bowl?

To make the hypothetical more concrete, let's say Scott Norwood kills himself the night he misses the kick that costs the Bills the Super Bowl? How would the media react? The League react? His teammates and Buffalo react?

 

[Maverick721]

What if John Schierholtz had stay in Kansas City instead of going to the Braves?

 

[flippikat]

Here's a good non-American sports WI.

What-if Twenty-20 Cricket was invented earlier? (Perhaps a 20-over game is preferred by Kerry Packer's rebel World Series Cricket competition).

 

[High Plains Drifter]

What if John Schierholtz had stay in Kansas City instead of going to the Braves?

IOTL, John Schuerholz was the Kansas City Royal’s Scouting Director 1977-1980, Assistant General Manager 1981, and General Manager 1982-1990. He oversaw a fair amount of success in nine years as GM in Kansas City: Two playoff appearances, one World Series victory, and 754 wins against 702 losses (.518 winning percentage).

Then he became the Atlanta Braves GM from 1991-2007. Though only winning one World Series during this time frame, the Braves had one of baseball’s greatest runs of winning. In those 17 years the Braves won their division 14 times, went to the playoffs 14 times, made the World Series 5 times, and won 1594 games against 1092 losses (.593 winning percentage).


The impact off Schuerholz not going to the Braves will be significant, but maybe not too significant. Bobby Cox was GM of the Braves from 1986 through 1990. He replaced the manager with himself in June of 1990. Schuerholz IOTL came to the Braves in the fall of 1990. The team that went to the World Series in 1991 was one already constructed by Bobby Cox, not by Schuerholz. The homegrown core of young talent that fueled the Braves in the 90s, Gant, Avery, Justice, Klesko, Chipper Jones, Lemke, Blauser, Javy Lopez, Glavine, and Smoltz were either drafted by or traded for by Bobby Cox while he was GM.

Terry Pendleton , the 1991 NL MVP, was signed by a Free Agent in December of 1990. Does Schuerholz or Cox get credit for that one? I suspect they share it. Schuerholz doesn’t make that free agent signing unless Cox gives him the green light. Same with the Sid Bream signing that year.

Give Schuerholz most of the credit for the 1993 signing of Greg Maddux, amateur signing of Andrus Jones, drafting of Kevin Millwood, and the Fred McGriff trade; the 1996 signing of Marquis Grissom ; the 1997 signing of Kenny Lofton and trade for Denny Neagle; 1998 signing of Walt Weiss and Andres Galarraga; 1999 signing of Brian Jordan. Schuerholz had a good eye for signing quality free agents.

But Schuerholz also had the luxury of having the necessary money to sign free agents and keep paying his core of stars. The Braves during the Schuerholz years always had a very high payroll thanks to being owned by first Ted Turner and second by Time Warner, and being supported by their very own Cable superstation – TBS. Schuerholz seldom had to make the decision of which star do I have to trade or not resign in order to make payroll set by ownership.

Schuerholz never had to prove whether he could hire a successful manager of the Braves because Bobby Cox managed the team from 1990 to 2010. Who had more decision making power during Schuerholz’s run, him or Bobby Cox? I don’t doubt they worked very well together, but I’m betting on Cox being the single greatest source of decision making power in the Brave’s front office. To me, Schuerholz rode on Cox’s coat-tails in Atlanta. Granted, he did a really effective job of doing so. Braves probably won’t be as good as they were during Schuerholz’s 17 year stretch, but they will still be the class of the National League.


If Schuerholz had stayed with the Royals, payroll limitations would have significantly impacted his roster management options. Kansas City is one of the smallest metropolitan and media markets in major league baseball. Kansas City has no cable superstation based out of it. The Royals very generous original owner, Ewing Kauffman, died in 1993. The Royals were then “owned” by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, basically a trust to run the Royals, from 1993 to 2000. Ownership by committee is seldom successful. From 2000 they have been owned by the mega-rich David Glass (Walmart heir), but he has shown zero interest in significantly increasing the team’s payroll in his decade of mismanagement.

During his 9 year tenure as Royal’s GM, Schuerholz inherited his best manager (Dick Howser) and then hired the following mediocre managers as replacements to Howser: Mike Ferraro, Billy Gardner, and John Wathan.

His early Royals teams were built on talent acquired in the 1970s: White, Brett, Wilson, Otis, McRae, Aikens, Gura, Splittorf, Gubicza (drafted 1981), David Cone (drafted 1981), and Quisenberry. His significant acquisitions as GM were Saberhagen (1982 – via draft), Danny Jackson (1982 – via draft), Bud Black (1982 – via trade), Kevin Seitzer (1983 – via draft), Balboni (1984 – via trade), Charlie Liebrandt (1984 – via trade), Lonnie Smith (1985 - via trade), Mike Macfarlane (1985 – via draft) Bo Jackson (1986 – via draft), Tom Gordon (1986 – via draft), Danny Tartabull (1987 – via trade), Kevin Appier (1987 – via draft), and Jeff Montgomery (1988 – via trade).

On the negative transaction side his worst transactions were trading away David Cone for Rick Anderson and Ed Hearn, overpaying for free agent Mark Davis, and overpaying for free agent Storm Davis.

Once Schuerholz left the Royals after the 1990 season, the next quality player to come out of the minor leagues for the Royals was Johnny Damon, and he was drafted in 1992. As Royals GM, Schuerholz showed a pretty good ability to acquire quality pitching, but had a lackluster record with drafting position players. And when he left the Royals, he left them with a minor league system barren of talent.

Based on his record as Royals’ GM and the context of his GMship with the Braves, Schuerholz staying with the Royals would not have been a magical cure for making the Royals great again. Probably they float as a team that on average wins as often as it loses and maybe gets to sneak into the playoffs once a decade. Which honestly is better than the Royals have experienced in the last 20 years.

 

[Alue26]

Heh, I know this might seem like I'm a butt hurt 49ers fan, but how would the NFL be if the 9ers won the Super Bowl 6 times, instead of the 5?

 

[FDW]

Heh, I know this might seem like I'm a butt hurt 49ers fan, but how would the NFL be if the 9ers won the Super Bowl 6 times, instead of the 5?

Depends on where the sixth comes from. Is it a successful threepeat by Joe Montana? Or does Steve Young make a second go around of the brightest stage in 1997 or 98? Or is it Jeff Garcia and the New Generation taking it to the house in 2001 or 2002? And there's finally Alex himself to consider, either in 2007, 2010, or 2011. They all mean very different things for the respective QB's, with very different butterflies coming from these scenarios.

 

[Alue26]

Depends on where the sixth comes from. Is it a successful threepeat by Joe Montana? Or does Steve Young make a second go around of the brightest stage in 1997 or 98? Or is it Jeff Garcia and the New Generation taking it to the house in 2001 or 2002? And there's finally Alex himself to consider, either in 2007, 2010, or 2011. They all mean very different things for the respective QB's, with very different butterflies coming from these scenarios.

Actually, I was meaning about the game that was played Sunday, but I guess your scenario's were good, either.

 

[FDW]

Actually, I was meaning about the game that was played Sunday, but I guess your scenario's were good, either.

Oh, that simple. It would've meant that Joe Flacco was still a boob, and Ray Lewis got denied at the gates of heaven. It would've been a complete justification of GARbaugh's subbing of Kaep back in October and we'd be seeing egotistical casual Niners fans prancing around The City, rather than sulking.

 

[Chris Oakley]

Complete bullshit, he's taken his team to the playoffs twice in his three years there, winning at least once in the post-season both times while developing a shitload of young talent on both sides of the ball.

Both of said playoff runs have been terminated well short of even the NFC title game, never mind the Super Bowl. And the only thing he's developing is an ego the size of Mount Everest. His tour of duty as head coach of the Jets was an unmitigated disaster, and my Patriots lost two of the three playoff games they were in while Carroll was running the show at Foxboro. Yet he walks around like he's the second coming of Tom Landry when he's not even Rod Rust.

Oh, and lest we forget, during his tenure as a college coach at USC he inflicted on the world the walking insult to professional football known as Mark Sanchez.