I like your idea, stormdriver. But, I have to agree... The NFC East cannot be broken up without it hurting the league. The Cardinals were never a prominant team in the NFC East -- no great rivalries, no great champions -- and so no one will miss them in the NFC East.
Another point... I live in South Eastern VA. Virginia Beach could never have a NFL team on its own. Norfolk and Chesapeake and the Penninsula will not agree with Virginia Beach on anything. The only way that Hampton Roads (the collective name of all the cities that I just mentioned) can get an NFL team is to become a metropolis. None of these cities will go for that.
Virginia Beach could not keep a MLS or a MLB team either. Norfolk has the Mets farm team -- the Tidewater Tides. (Tidewater is what Hampton Roads used to be called about 15 years ago.) Norfolk also has the AHL Hampton Roads (Norfolk) Admirals, which are a farm team for the NHL Blackhawks. The support for these teams are weak at best. This area is just not ready for a pro team on the national level...
It was a preliminary idea. I saw that Virginia Beach had a big enough population to support a team and was far enough from any other teams to allow it to have one, and I've seen most multiple-team expansion efforts usually include at least one on the east coast. If you live there and think it wouldn't work though, I'll take your word for it. So I'll replace Virginia Beach Hammerheads with Oklahoma(City) Roadrunners. Put Roadrunners in the NFC Central with Vegas, Omaha, and St. Louis, and leave Dallas in the NFC East. That will preserve current rivalries, possibly create a new one between Oklahoma and Omaha, and give a pro team to all the OK college fans. Will that be better?
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Last edited by stormdriver : 02-09-2006 at 01:14 PM.
It was a preliminary idea. I saw that Virginia Beach had a big enough population to support a team and was far enough from any other teams to allow it to have one, and I've seen most multiple-team expansion efforts usually include at least one on the east coast. If you live there and think it wouldn't work though, I'll take your word for it. So I'll replace Virginia Beach Hammerheads with Oklahoma(City) Roadrunners. Put Roadrunners in the NFC Central with Vegas, Omaha, and St. Louis, and leave Dallas in the NFC East. That will preserve current rivalries, possibly create a new one between Oklahoma and Omaha, and give a pro team to all the OK college fans. Will that be better?
That covers about all I had. I wonder if instead of just adding teams that they might close some teams like baseball was talking about doing.
In the NFL that can create problems. The older teams have deeper historical connections to the fanbase. The Lions and the Cardinals are big loser teams since 1970, but they are among the oldest teams in the NFL. Some teams are rooted in deep rivalries. For example, a lot of people were VERY, VERY upset when the Browns were moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. It destroyed the Browns-Steelers rivalry, which has only been recovered by a miracle in that Cleveland recreated the Browns.
Getting rid of recent expansion teams seems like admitting that expansion is a bad philosophy -- I doubt that very many people will do that. Some of the newer expansion teams have already been to or won a SB. The only teams that I could see getting rid of without huge upheaval would be teams like the Saints and the Texans. Both big losers. The Texans only have like 120 or less games in the league. The Bears have over a thousand games. Which of those teams would you see as likely to get cut?
I think its a very intersting idea, but I just think you're streching yourself too thin on talent. 8 teams is a lot to add, as that is like 460 players. We've already discussed that before but I like your locations for the teams, if the NFL were to expand.
I think its a very intersting idea, but I just think you're streching yourself too thin on talent. 8 teams is a lot to add, as that is like 460 players. We've already discussed that before but I like your locations for the teams, if the NFL were to expand.
I would say have them function as exhibition teams outside of the NFL for three seasons. Let them acquire some players and coaches, play each other just for fun while stadiums are built and etc., slowly build up to become competitive, and then work them into the draft at the end of the third year. That would show the NFL that the new teams could function, and it would significantly lessen the hit to the talent pool.
I would say have them function as exhibition teams outside of the NFL for three seasons. Let them acquire some players and coaches, play each other just for fun while stadiums are built and etc., slowly build up to become competitive, and then work them into the draft at the end of the third year. That would show the NFL that the new teams could function, and it would significantly lessen the hit to the talent pool.
I guess that could work, but I think it might be hard to find owners who are willing to basically sit on a team for three years, and pay all expenses for three years, pay for a new stadium, and pay for good players and coaches, all without any revenue coming in for the team. It costs a lot of money to run an NFL team, and I'm not sure its feasable or even possible to run for three years without any income...
I think if yu added dthe teams in slowly 2 every so many years it would not be that bad.
A list of teams that I think you could drop if you had to, lets say four. First you could not drop any team that has won a SB and they would have to be a team that does not have that big of a fan base. The Saints, Before last year, the Cards they have been around for awhile but they move so much I dont know how big or how strong their base is, the Jags they are having a problem getting fans to come out to there games, next up would have to be the Lions they have a long history but with out a team we can stop having SB up there.
NFL Expansion?
It looks good to me that way.
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