The Irsays in general suck.
Frankly I just want an owner that gave a shit about football again. Like Malcolm Glazer before we won the Super Bowl back in 03.
Sports What Ifs.
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
Frankly I just want an owner that gave a shit about football again. Like Malcolm Glazer before we won the Super Bowl back in 03.
Malcolm Glazer was all right. Yes, competent ownership makes a world of difference. Miami is stuck with Stephen Ross, who doesn’t know shit about owning a football team. I’d rather have Jim Irsay; the worst thing about him is he’s odd and has a drinking problem.
Yeah Glazer brought winning football to Tampa. His sons however are a hot mess
If the dad knows his shit, the kids usually fuck it up. If the dad is worthless, the kids usually figure it out (Jim Irsay, Michael Bidwill, Rocky Wirtz for a hockey example.)
Yeah. Again if the colts never leave Baltimore...we have Indianapolis Cardinals instead..that is a massive butterfly as we could get a: Phoneix Expansion Team Owned by Packers Legend Bart Starr, The Rams moving to Boston over St Louis, the pats moving to St Louis and the browns to LA.
I agree with almost all of that. I still don’t see the Rams passing up St. Louis in favor of Boston if St. Louis is free. I also think that it would be fascinating to see how the divisions realign when the league reaches 32 and there’s a team already in LA.
Odds are Jacksonville becomes the odd city out and a possible relocation candidate for the Rams in 2016.
They were intested in a share stadium with the pats before kraft even funded Gillete Stadium, and even the pats wanted to leave to St Louis before kraft, but butterflies those two might move.
In 1976, another group that was in contention to get the Bucs was the DeBartolo's. If they would have got the team instead of Cheaphouse, Joe Thomas would have been hired as GM (he was friends with the DeBartolo's). And, I'm not sure that he would have hired John McKay. He probably would have hired some puppet like Ken Meyer or Fred O'Connor.
Also, Joe Thomas wouldn't have tried to throw out the history of the team since they were brand new. Maybe he sticks around a little longer than he did in SF.
Mike Pesca, a former sports writer for NPR, authored a book entitled Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History:
https://www.amazon.com/Upon-Further...TF8&qid=1533434667&sr=8-1&keywords=Mike+Pesca
In this article, they talk about the book:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...8eb28bc52b1_story.html?utm_term=.d7b491837836
At the end, there is an interesting basketball story that I have never heard before:
Author and historian Claude Johnson unearths the story of the New York Rens, an all-black basketball team in the late 1940s, when pro hoops was an obscure hodge-podge of competing leagues and mismanaged teams. The Rens lost the “World Championship” game in 1948 to the Minneapolis Lakers when their star center, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, threw an errant pass on a fast break that could have tied the score in the final seconds. If Clifton made the pass and the Rens won, the team probably would have been included in the National Basketball Association, which was formed the next season. “The league’s racial integration would have unfolded at a quicker and smoother pace,” writes Johnson. “Dozens of forgotten African-American ballers would have made the grade or arrived much sooner.”
https://www.amazon.com/Upon-Further...TF8&qid=1533434667&sr=8-1&keywords=Mike+Pesca
In this article, they talk about the book:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...8eb28bc52b1_story.html?utm_term=.d7b491837836
At the end, there is an interesting basketball story that I have never heard before:
Author and historian Claude Johnson unearths the story of the New York Rens, an all-black basketball team in the late 1940s, when pro hoops was an obscure hodge-podge of competing leagues and mismanaged teams. The Rens lost the “World Championship” game in 1948 to the Minneapolis Lakers when their star center, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, threw an errant pass on a fast break that could have tied the score in the final seconds. If Clifton made the pass and the Rens won, the team probably would have been included in the National Basketball Association, which was formed the next season. “The league’s racial integration would have unfolded at a quicker and smoother pace,” writes Johnson. “Dozens of forgotten African-American ballers would have made the grade or arrived much sooner.”
I was looking up some info on 30 for 30 and Kansas State (a show that should be made). It led me to a Kansas State football history section on Wikipedia (not the best source, I know)
Once there, I learned about a man named Lynn (Pappy) Waldorf.
In 1934, he started his first season as Kansas State football coach after five years at Oklahoma A&M (Waldorf had a 34-10-7 record there). That year, the Wildcats went 7-2-1 and won the Big Six title (now the Big 12. And, their last conference title until the Snyder era). After that season, he left for Northwestern (12 seasons, 49-45-7 record, one Big 10 title).
Then, in 1947, he started a 10-year run at Cal. He had a 67-32-4 record with three Pacific Coast Conference titles (he may have retired after 1956 because of some sanctions involving a former player who transferred to UCLA after the 1953 season [QB Ronnie Knox]. BTW, Cal was cleared of the sanctions. It involved USC, UCLA, and U-Dub as well. He also approved the creation of a booster club without the administration's permission).
Ten years after he left Cal, Pappy was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He also won the Amos Alonzo Stagg award in 1970 (given to an individual, group, or institution that has been great in the advancement of football's best interests).
Kansas State only got one year with him (his predecessor, Bo McMillin, had three winning seasons before Pappy replaced him. Then, Bo went to Indiana and had seven winning seasons from 1934-47, including a 9-0-1 record with a fourth overall ranking in 1945).
As for K-State, they would go on to have just five winning seasons between the 1934 7-2-1 team and Snyder's hiring. It makes me wonder what could have happened if either Waldorf or McMillin would have stayed for a fairly long time.
Once there, I learned about a man named Lynn (Pappy) Waldorf.
In 1934, he started his first season as Kansas State football coach after five years at Oklahoma A&M (Waldorf had a 34-10-7 record there). That year, the Wildcats went 7-2-1 and won the Big Six title (now the Big 12. And, their last conference title until the Snyder era). After that season, he left for Northwestern (12 seasons, 49-45-7 record, one Big 10 title).
Then, in 1947, he started a 10-year run at Cal. He had a 67-32-4 record with three Pacific Coast Conference titles (he may have retired after 1956 because of some sanctions involving a former player who transferred to UCLA after the 1953 season [QB Ronnie Knox]. BTW, Cal was cleared of the sanctions. It involved USC, UCLA, and U-Dub as well. He also approved the creation of a booster club without the administration's permission).
Ten years after he left Cal, Pappy was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He also won the Amos Alonzo Stagg award in 1970 (given to an individual, group, or institution that has been great in the advancement of football's best interests).
Kansas State only got one year with him (his predecessor, Bo McMillin, had three winning seasons before Pappy replaced him. Then, Bo went to Indiana and had seven winning seasons from 1934-47, including a 9-0-1 record with a fourth overall ranking in 1945).
As for K-State, they would go on to have just five winning seasons between the 1934 7-2-1 team and Snyder's hiring. It makes me wonder what could have happened if either Waldorf or McMillin would have stayed for a fairly long time.
What POD's would be needed for the WHA to stick around a tad bit longer before folding?
One possibility is to have the New York Raiders be allowed to play in the Nassau Coliseum. They were the WHA’s flagship team, but the Coliseum wouldn’t touch them and pushed for a team that eventually became the Islanders.
If Nassau bites on the Raiders, the league may do better and last longer.
True, and the NHL avoids an unnecessary expansion with the Islanders and Flames (they added Atlanta to counteract a Miami WHA team that didn't happen. That was a mistake because Atlanta isn't a great sports city, and they were over-saturated at that point with the Braves, Falcons, and Hawks. It's not surprising that they moved).
So to continue this thought, if the Raiders are accepted at Nassau, the NHL holds off on any more expansion until 1974 with the KC Scouts and Washington Capitals. Going to four divisions at this point is unnecessary but I imagine it happens anyway, and hopefully the divisions look a little less WTF given that the Islanders and Flames were in the same division (Patrick with the Flyers and Rangers) OTL.
With any luck, the NHL saves the Cleveland Barons without having to babysit the Flames in Atlanta. So this means 16 NHL teams, and with a stronger WHA, right make the leap instead of four - of course the Nordiques, Whalers, Oilers and Jets go, and since the NY Raiders are the subject here, so do they. Also remaining were the Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls, so assuming the merger goes off in the same year, the NHL may look like this (caveat: the Colorado Rockies instead move to Calgary and become the Calgary Broncos, and the Birmingham Bulls move to Saskatoon):
Adams:
Buffalo
Cleveland
Montreal
Pittsburgh
Quebec
Toronto
Patrick:
Boston
Hartford
NY Raiders
NY Rangers
Philadelphia
Washington
Norris:
Cincinnati
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Minnesota
St. Louis
Smythe:
Calgary
Edmonton
Los Angeles
Saskatoon
Vancouver
Winnipeg
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If the NHL doesn't expand in 1972, there may be less urgency to expand in 1974.
Then, in 1977 (with a stronger WHA), you may see a merger two years earlier than in OTL (it almost happened, but Toronto owner Harold Ballard blocked it). Cincinnati and Houston are added along with Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg.
Based on what I had above, that removes the Capitals as well as the teams that ended up in Calgary, Saskatoon and the extra one in NYC. So yeah, bumping the Penguins to Patrick and the North Stars to the Smythe would tidy that up at 20 teams.
What POD's would be needed for the WHA to begin with this alignment in 1972?
East
Chicago Cougars
Cleveland Crusaders
New England Whalers
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
Quebec Nordiques
West
Alberta Oilers
Houston Aeros
Kansas City Scouts
Minnesota Fighting Saints
San Diego Gulls
Winnipeg Jets
East
Chicago Cougars
Cleveland Crusaders
New England Whalers
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
Quebec Nordiques
West
Alberta Oilers
Houston Aeros
Kansas City Scouts
Minnesota Fighting Saints
San Diego Gulls
Winnipeg Jets
In the case of the Isles and Senators, just have the owners decide on a different name other than Raiders & Nationals. In the case of the Scouts and the Gulls, though, that is more tricky because the WHA probably wanted a presence in LA (with the Sharks). Maybe KC would be an expansion team, but you could have the Miami Screaming Eagles move to SD instead of Philly to be LA's rival.
This is inspired by this blog entry: https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/6...ory-hypothetical-mike-shanahan-george-seifert
I will word it another way, though: What if Deion Sanders doesn't sign in San Francisco in 1994?
Without Deion, the 49ers don't win SB 29. And, if Seifert gets fired as a result, Mike Shanahan takes over as HC (and doesn't go to Denver).
I will word it another way, though: What if Deion Sanders doesn't sign in San Francisco in 1994?
Without Deion, the 49ers don't win SB 29. And, if Seifert gets fired as a result, Mike Shanahan takes over as HC (and doesn't go to Denver).