I'm not too familiar with soccer in this era but was Messi, at the time a B-team player, that hyped up already? Barcalona scoffed at offers for him in real life, but how much would he be valued around this time if they were willing to sell?
An MLB Collaborative TL: Piece of Cake: The Cubs win Game 6 in '03
- Thread starter Looper
- Start date
They already have penned Messi on the main team they trade Ronaldinho as they feared he would be a bad influence. If anything the whole story seems they got for the videogame player but almost landed Iniesta but failed as Rangers have nothing of value to offer too
Redbird Disaster, Rumors on Duke
August 25, 2004: The St. Louis Cardinals drop their 8th game in a row, this time losing 9-4 at the hands of the Montreal Expos. The losing streak is paired with a fantastic winning run by the rival Cubs, who, thanks to a 6-5 walk-off win against the Brewers, now lead the NL Central by 9.5 games.
August 25, 2004: A report from ESPN reveals that Duke has narrowed their search for a new basketball coach down to two me. The first is Southern Illinois coach Matt Painter, who led his team to the Sweet 16. The second is Oregon head coach Ernie Kent, who has led Oregon to three straight NCAA Tournament births.
August 25, 2004: A report from ESPN reveals that Duke has narrowed their search for a new basketball coach down to two me. The first is Southern Illinois coach Matt Painter, who led his team to the Sweet 16. The second is Oregon head coach Ernie Kent, who has led Oregon to three straight NCAA Tournament births.
Division Title Races heating up
August 26, 2004: Another MLB could possibly collapsing, as the Seattle Mariners are throttled by the lowly Texas Rangers 10-0 at SafeCo Field, as Texas sweeps the series to give Seattle loses their 7th out of 10.
August 27, 2004: In some more MLB news, the Red Sox win a wild game against the Indians at Fenway, scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth, capped off by a walk of grand slam by Manny Ramirez to win it 8-7, extending Boston’s lead to 6 games atop the AL East. The NL West is more chaos following the Diamondbacks and Rockies splitting a critical series and the Giants dropping 2 out of 3 to the arch rival Dodgers, leaving Arizona and Colorado tied with San Fran 0.5 back.
August 27, 2004: In some more MLB news, the Red Sox win a wild game against the Indians at Fenway, scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth, capped off by a walk of grand slam by Manny Ramirez to win it 8-7, extending Boston’s lead to 6 games atop the AL East. The NL West is more chaos following the Diamondbacks and Rockies splitting a critical series and the Giants dropping 2 out of 3 to the arch rival Dodgers, leaving Arizona and Colorado tied with San Fran 0.5 back.
My suggestion is the first couple of months of the season get cancelled, but a resolution occurs late and an abbreviated season is played instead a la 2012-13. Bettman is still a boob but it isn’t quite as disastrous
College Football Returns, Caminiti in rehab
August 26th 2004: Redshirt sophomore quarterback Troy Smith is named the new starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2004 season replacing 1st round NFL Draft pick Craig Krenzel
August 27th 2004: Sophomore quarterback Jamarcus Russell is named the new starting quarterback for the LSU Tigers for the 2004 season.
August 28th 2004: The 2004 College Football Season kicks off between Number 4 Miami (FL) and Number 5 Florida State in which FSU beats Miami in overtime with thanks to 2 touchdowns by 23 year old Junior quarterback Chris Rix and fumble recovery touchdown by cornerback Antonio Cromartie in a 24-17 victory.
August 30th 2004: Former NL MVP and 3 time All Star Ken Caminiti checks himself into a local New York City rehab facility to kick a habit of hard drugs.
Caminti in 2002 admitted to using steroids during his MLB career and that usage of it was widespread through the league.
August 27th 2004: Sophomore quarterback Jamarcus Russell is named the new starting quarterback for the LSU Tigers for the 2004 season.
August 28th 2004: The 2004 College Football Season kicks off between Number 4 Miami (FL) and Number 5 Florida State in which FSU beats Miami in overtime with thanks to 2 touchdowns by 23 year old Junior quarterback Chris Rix and fumble recovery touchdown by cornerback Antonio Cromartie in a 24-17 victory.
August 30th 2004: Former NL MVP and 3 time All Star Ken Caminiti checks himself into a local New York City rehab facility to kick a habit of hard drugs.
Caminti in 2002 admitted to using steroids during his MLB career and that usage of it was widespread through the league.
Last edited:
Champions League Groups Draw
August 26 2004: UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw; held in Monaco
The 2004-05 Group Stage draw featured, like in previous years, four pots of eight based on league or continental performance and FIFA ranking. The pots were drawn as follows:
Group A
Marseille
Inter Milan
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk
Group B
AC Milan
Liverpool
Bayer Leverkusen
Rosenborg
Group C
Werder Bremen
Olympiakos
Juventus
Newcastle United
Group D
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
Real Madrid
Galatasaray
Group E
Valencia
Benfica
Monaco
Parma
Group F
Porto
Barcelona
Manchester United
Club Brugge
Group G
Lyon
Ajax
PAOK
Rangers
Group H
Panathinaikos
París St Germain
PSV
Deportivo la Coruña
Analytis quickly followed. Group F, with defending champions Porto, rising Spanish power Barcelona and the consistently dominant Man U, was pegged a potential group of death. Group D, with Arsenal and traditional powers Bayern and Real Madrid, was viewed as similarly difficult and potentially wide open, especially with the wild card of Galatasaray, a club Arsenal supporters held in particularly low esteem after the riots that marred the 2000 UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen.
Conversely, Groups G and H looked wide open for any club within them to break out and surprise. Thus a potentially wide-open Champions League campaign such as the one that produced the surprise Cinderella run of Porto the previous edition loomed.
The 2004-05 Group Stage draw featured, like in previous years, four pots of eight based on league or continental performance and FIFA ranking. The pots were drawn as follows:
Group A
Marseille
Inter Milan
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk
Group B
AC Milan
Liverpool
Bayer Leverkusen
Rosenborg
Group C
Werder Bremen
Olympiakos
Juventus
Newcastle United
Group D
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
Real Madrid
Galatasaray
Group E
Valencia
Benfica
Monaco
Parma
Group F
Porto
Barcelona
Manchester United
Club Brugge
Group G
Lyon
Ajax
PAOK
Rangers
Group H
Panathinaikos
París St Germain
PSV
Deportivo la Coruña
Analytis quickly followed. Group F, with defending champions Porto, rising Spanish power Barcelona and the consistently dominant Man U, was pegged a potential group of death. Group D, with Arsenal and traditional powers Bayern and Real Madrid, was viewed as similarly difficult and potentially wide open, especially with the wild card of Galatasaray, a club Arsenal supporters held in particularly low esteem after the riots that marred the 2000 UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen.
Conversely, Groups G and H looked wide open for any club within them to break out and surprise. Thus a potentially wide-open Champions League campaign such as the one that produced the surprise Cinderella run of Porto the previous edition loomed.
Duke finds man (maybe), September Call-ups
August 30, 2004: A report comes in from Durham, North Carolina, that bears some very important news. The news is on the Duke head coaching job, and apparently the school has found their man. That man is Ernie Kent, who has been coaching at Oregon and has led them to some strong tournament performances over the last few years. Duke is hoping that he can replicate and improve those performances for the team.
September 1, 2004: September arrives in MLB, so that means teams calling up additional players and prospects to get some Major League experience. Several highly touted prospects are called up today. Among those are Prince Fielder and JJ Hardy of the Brewers, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, Jeff Franceour of the Braves, Zack Greinke of the Royals, and Matt Cain of the Giants all joining the big league ballclubs.
September 1, 2004: September arrives in MLB, so that means teams calling up additional players and prospects to get some Major League experience. Several highly touted prospects are called up today. Among those are Prince Fielder and JJ Hardy of the Brewers, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, Jeff Franceour of the Braves, Zack Greinke of the Royals, and Matt Cain of the Giants all joining the big league ballclubs.
The Expos are…
September 1, 2004: The day that all of Montreal had been dreading was here, the day of MLB’s decision on the fate of the Expos. Would the MLB approve the sale of the franchise to local buyers, the Molson Family in particular, or would the team be sold to an out of town group?
At exactly 12:00 noon EST, MLB commissioner Bud Selig took to the podium in a press conference to address the team. Selig would say
“We have found a new owner of the Expos, and myself, the MLB owners, and the entire baseball community are excited to welcome them. Mr. Molson, would you please come on up here?” Immediately, J. David Molson, took to the podium. “This is an exciting day for Montreal, for Quebec and for Expos fans everywhere. “I’m proud to announce that me and my family have bought the Montreal Expos from Major League Baseball.”
Molson would go into plans for a revival of the franchise, which included renovations to the dilapidated Olympic Stadium. The renovations, he announced, would start after the season and would last “about a year”, meaning the Expos would have to find a temporary venue for 2005. But that didn’t matter to Montrealers, as their beloved team would stay in their city. As for cities hoping to land an MLB, their focus now shifted to possibly luring the Twins from Minnesota.
At exactly 12:00 noon EST, MLB commissioner Bud Selig took to the podium in a press conference to address the team. Selig would say
“We have found a new owner of the Expos, and myself, the MLB owners, and the entire baseball community are excited to welcome them. Mr. Molson, would you please come on up here?” Immediately, J. David Molson, took to the podium. “This is an exciting day for Montreal, for Quebec and for Expos fans everywhere. “I’m proud to announce that me and my family have bought the Montreal Expos from Major League Baseball.”
Molson would go into plans for a revival of the franchise, which included renovations to the dilapidated Olympic Stadium. The renovations, he announced, would start after the season and would last “about a year”, meaning the Expos would have to find a temporary venue for 2005. But that didn’t matter to Montrealers, as their beloved team would stay in their city. As for cities hoping to land an MLB, their focus now shifted to possibly luring the Twins from Minnesota.
Last edited:
Huh, so the Expos aren’t gonna try to build that new stadium downtown then? Interesting
Bayern in trouble, Huge MLB debut
August 28, 2004: Bayern Munich suffer their third straight defeat to start the season, this time falling 4-0 at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, with França scoring a hat trick. Reportedly, manager Ottmar Hitzfeld is under a lot of pressure and could be sacked if the fortunes don’t turn.
September 3, 2004: The Royals go head to head with the Red Sox in Fenway Park, in a game that will mark the debut for Zack Greinke. Greinke gets off to a solid start, as he only surrenders one hit through three innings, a single from David Ortiz. Despite not allowing another hit through five, Greinke is getting no help, as the game remains 0-0. In the sixth, the cracks begin to show for the debutant, as a walk and two singles mean the bases are loaded with no outs, with the heart of the Boston order stepping up. However, Greinke dances out of danger, striking out David Ortiz on three pitches, then K’ing Manny Ramirez, before getting Jason Varitek out on a fly ball. Greinke continues his gem, striking out the side in the seventh. Still, the Royals can’t score, and after striking out his 12th batter, Greinke surrenders a double to Johnny Damon, and his outing ends. Fortunately for KC, the stellar pitching performance doesn’t go to waste, as Ruben Gotay hits his first homer of the year of the Pesky Pole, and the Royals are able to close out the 1-0 victory. In other significance for the game, the BoSox loss, paired with the Yankees beating the Diamondbacks 7-6, means New York moves to 3.5 games back of the Red Sox.
September 3, 2004: The Royals go head to head with the Red Sox in Fenway Park, in a game that will mark the debut for Zack Greinke. Greinke gets off to a solid start, as he only surrenders one hit through three innings, a single from David Ortiz. Despite not allowing another hit through five, Greinke is getting no help, as the game remains 0-0. In the sixth, the cracks begin to show for the debutant, as a walk and two singles mean the bases are loaded with no outs, with the heart of the Boston order stepping up. However, Greinke dances out of danger, striking out David Ortiz on three pitches, then K’ing Manny Ramirez, before getting Jason Varitek out on a fly ball. Greinke continues his gem, striking out the side in the seventh. Still, the Royals can’t score, and after striking out his 12th batter, Greinke surrenders a double to Johnny Damon, and his outing ends. Fortunately for KC, the stellar pitching performance doesn’t go to waste, as Ruben Gotay hits his first homer of the year of the Pesky Pole, and the Royals are able to close out the 1-0 victory. In other significance for the game, the BoSox loss, paired with the Yankees beating the Diamondbacks 7-6, means New York moves to 3.5 games back of the Red Sox.
Quarterback reveals, Week one of College Football
September 1st 2004: Ichiro enters the final full month of the season with a batting average of .399 as he tries to battle out the White Sox’s Alex Rodriguez for the AL MVP.
September 2nd 2004: Alex Rodriguez hits his 40th home run of the year with also 30 stolen bases to his name this season A-Rod is close to his 2nd ever 40-40 season in his career
September 3rd 2004: An anonymous source leaks that MLB is close to giving Washington DC a team and they set to call themselves the Washington Senators again.
Also in the NFL 2 teams made their official Week 1 Starting Quarterback moves a day after the post season
*Broadcast exempt from NFL Total Access on NFL Network that day*
“Alright folks welcome to NFL Total Access I am your host Kara Henderson and we open up our day with 2 stories involving 2 teams decision on their quarterbacks will be. In Carolina head coach John Fox has announced that Jake Delhomme will start Week 1 next week over rookie 1st round pick Craig Kenzel.
“Also in Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher has announced that rookie 2nd round draft pick Matt Schaub will getting the starting job for the Steelers next Sunday for week 1 against the Raiders. Coach Cowher has been reportedly impressed with Schaub and think he has the ability to grow into a future starter sooner than people think.”
September 4th: As the first college football Saturday of the season kicks off as Number 1 Ohio State takes care of Cincinnati easily in a 34-6. While Number 2 USC takes control of the game in the 2nd half against the Virginia Tech Hokies in a 34-13 victory.
Number 3 Oklahoma earn a blowout win against Bowling Green in Steve Spurrier’s Oakland Head Coach debut.
Most of the Top 25 teams win their games however Number 6 LSU falls to unranked Oregon State in a 28-29 in Overtime after Oregon State pulls off a gusty successful 2 Point Conversion
*COLLEGE GAMEDAY FINAL ANALYSIS OF THE ENDING OF LSU AND OREGON*
Rece Davis: “Alright so after that touchdown drive by LSU it’s the Beavers turn to try to send this game to double overtime or at least we thought! Derek Anderson on 3rd and 5 the 3rd play of the possession hits tight end Joe Newton on a beautiful fade route for a 27 yard touchdown. Then the Beavers decided to get gutsy and go for the win. Here is the Oregon State Radio Broadcast call of this play.”
OSU Radio: Anderson in the huddle as they are taking a risk here for the win. He snaps the ball and fakes the hand off he stays and the pocket and he’s gonna take a shot at Joe Newton and it’s cau- did he stay in bounds!?! HE DID!! OREGON STATE HAS KNOCKED OFF NUMBER 6 LSU IN OVERTIME ON A WALK OFF SUCCESSFUL 2 POINT CONVERSION! LADIES AND GENTLEMAN WE HAVE THE FIRST BIG UPSET OF THE SEASON!!
Rece Davis: And with that the first top 10 team of the season goes down as Oregon State upsets Number 6 LSU 29-28.
Chris Fowler: Shades of last year for LSU against Ole Miss in which Eli Manning had a game winning drive in the final seconds which pretty led to him winning the Heisman. Thought this time it’s only week 1 and despite a loss like this for LSU there is still a whole season left for them to contend for a National Championship.
Other notable games including Notre Dame beating BYU and Utah the highest ranked team from a non BCS school beating Texas A&M in a Sunday night game.
September 2nd 2004: Alex Rodriguez hits his 40th home run of the year with also 30 stolen bases to his name this season A-Rod is close to his 2nd ever 40-40 season in his career
September 3rd 2004: An anonymous source leaks that MLB is close to giving Washington DC a team and they set to call themselves the Washington Senators again.
Also in the NFL 2 teams made their official Week 1 Starting Quarterback moves a day after the post season
*Broadcast exempt from NFL Total Access on NFL Network that day*
“Alright folks welcome to NFL Total Access I am your host Kara Henderson and we open up our day with 2 stories involving 2 teams decision on their quarterbacks will be. In Carolina head coach John Fox has announced that Jake Delhomme will start Week 1 next week over rookie 1st round pick Craig Kenzel.
“Also in Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher has announced that rookie 2nd round draft pick Matt Schaub will getting the starting job for the Steelers next Sunday for week 1 against the Raiders. Coach Cowher has been reportedly impressed with Schaub and think he has the ability to grow into a future starter sooner than people think.”
September 4th: As the first college football Saturday of the season kicks off as Number 1 Ohio State takes care of Cincinnati easily in a 34-6. While Number 2 USC takes control of the game in the 2nd half against the Virginia Tech Hokies in a 34-13 victory.
Number 3 Oklahoma earn a blowout win against Bowling Green in Steve Spurrier’s Oakland Head Coach debut.
Most of the Top 25 teams win their games however Number 6 LSU falls to unranked Oregon State in a 28-29 in Overtime after Oregon State pulls off a gusty successful 2 Point Conversion
*COLLEGE GAMEDAY FINAL ANALYSIS OF THE ENDING OF LSU AND OREGON*
Rece Davis: “Alright so after that touchdown drive by LSU it’s the Beavers turn to try to send this game to double overtime or at least we thought! Derek Anderson on 3rd and 5 the 3rd play of the possession hits tight end Joe Newton on a beautiful fade route for a 27 yard touchdown. Then the Beavers decided to get gutsy and go for the win. Here is the Oregon State Radio Broadcast call of this play.”
OSU Radio: Anderson in the huddle as they are taking a risk here for the win. He snaps the ball and fakes the hand off he stays and the pocket and he’s gonna take a shot at Joe Newton and it’s cau- did he stay in bounds!?! HE DID!! OREGON STATE HAS KNOCKED OFF NUMBER 6 LSU IN OVERTIME ON A WALK OFF SUCCESSFUL 2 POINT CONVERSION! LADIES AND GENTLEMAN WE HAVE THE FIRST BIG UPSET OF THE SEASON!!
Rece Davis: And with that the first top 10 team of the season goes down as Oregon State upsets Number 6 LSU 29-28.
Chris Fowler: Shades of last year for LSU against Ole Miss in which Eli Manning had a game winning drive in the final seconds which pretty led to him winning the Heisman. Thought this time it’s only week 1 and despite a loss like this for LSU there is still a whole season left for them to contend for a National Championship.
Other notable games including Notre Dame beating BYU and Utah the highest ranked team from a non BCS school beating Texas A&M in a Sunday night game.