One question: If Rodgers and Shanahan end up with the acrimony Cutler and Shanahan had, that would mean...Aaron Rodgers winds up throwing the ball for...Da Bearsss?!
Sports What Ifs.
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One question: If Rodgers and Shanahan end up with the acrimony Cutler and Shanahan had, that would mean...Aaron Rodgers winds up throwing the ball for...Da Bearsss?!
A stronger WHA?
What if the World Hockey Association had adopted the same winning strategy the American Football League had, in acquisition of talent and league building?
That is to say, rather than going after established stars and vets from the NHL, the WHA builds their rosters through drafting and guys the NHL let go?
The WHA's biggest problem (IMHO) was that some teams went after big money NHL talent, meaning the other teams had to try to do the same...and all that really did was bankrupt ownership groups and create a glut of folded/relocated, THEN folded, franchises.
What if, instead of spending (in some cases, beyond their means) on high profile NHLers, the WHA went all in during the drafts, and supplemented by picking up guys the NHL had let go?
Take the 1972 NHL draft, for example, a PRIME draft for start up league looking to build on a young core of talent.
There was
#1 Billy Harris
#2 Jacques Richard
#3 Don Lever
#4 Steve Shutt
#5 Michel Larocque
#6 Bill Barber
#9 Wayne Merrick
#13 Phil Russell
#14 John Van Boxmeer
#15 Bob MacMillan
Other notable players taken in that draft:
Bobby Nystrom, Jimmy Watson, Al MacAdam, Peter McNab, Richard Brodeur and Pat Boutette (for those who like a side of 'Fist in the Face' to go with a pretty good skater).
Not a bad draft to jump into and start bidding wars for. Bidding wars WHA teams could win, without going into the red to do it.
1973?
All that was available there was HOF D-man Denis Potvin, Tom Lysiak, HOFer Lanny McDonald, Andre Savard, HOFer Bob Gainey, Bob Dailey, Darcy Rota, Rick Middleton (who I think could have made The Hall if he hadn't taken that puck to the head...or wore a helmet) and Ian Turnbull...and that was just the first round!
It goes on and on too!
If the WHA had committed their resources solely to beating the NHL in the draft and taking chances on cast-offs that had potential to flourish with regular playing time in the WHA, they end up with smaller payrolls, yet still have a competitive league at the box office.
Another WHA 'What If?': What if Roy Boe, owner of the ABA New York Nets and no stranger to operating an 'outlaw league' franchise had landed the WHA's New York franchise, or had been part of said franchise's ownership group?
Without Roe available, could Bill Shea have found somebody else to run the NHL's denial franchise?
What if the Islanders ended up anchoring the WHA in THE major media market in the U.S., and, bigger still, it's run by Bill Torrey and coached by Al Arbour, just like OTL?
What if you get BOTH of these PODs?
What if the World Hockey Association had adopted the same winning strategy the American Football League had, in acquisition of talent and league building?
That is to say, rather than going after established stars and vets from the NHL, the WHA builds their rosters through drafting and guys the NHL let go?
The WHA's biggest problem (IMHO) was that some teams went after big money NHL talent, meaning the other teams had to try to do the same...and all that really did was bankrupt ownership groups and create a glut of folded/relocated, THEN folded, franchises.
What if, instead of spending (in some cases, beyond their means) on high profile NHLers, the WHA went all in during the drafts, and supplemented by picking up guys the NHL had let go?
Take the 1972 NHL draft, for example, a PRIME draft for start up league looking to build on a young core of talent.
There was
#1 Billy Harris
#2 Jacques Richard
#3 Don Lever
#4 Steve Shutt
#5 Michel Larocque
#6 Bill Barber
#9 Wayne Merrick
#13 Phil Russell
#14 John Van Boxmeer
#15 Bob MacMillan
Other notable players taken in that draft:
Bobby Nystrom, Jimmy Watson, Al MacAdam, Peter McNab, Richard Brodeur and Pat Boutette (for those who like a side of 'Fist in the Face' to go with a pretty good skater).
Not a bad draft to jump into and start bidding wars for. Bidding wars WHA teams could win, without going into the red to do it.
1973?
All that was available there was HOF D-man Denis Potvin, Tom Lysiak, HOFer Lanny McDonald, Andre Savard, HOFer Bob Gainey, Bob Dailey, Darcy Rota, Rick Middleton (who I think could have made The Hall if he hadn't taken that puck to the head...or wore a helmet) and Ian Turnbull...and that was just the first round!
It goes on and on too!
If the WHA had committed their resources solely to beating the NHL in the draft and taking chances on cast-offs that had potential to flourish with regular playing time in the WHA, they end up with smaller payrolls, yet still have a competitive league at the box office.
Another WHA 'What If?': What if Roy Boe, owner of the ABA New York Nets and no stranger to operating an 'outlaw league' franchise had landed the WHA's New York franchise, or had been part of said franchise's ownership group?
Without Roe available, could Bill Shea have found somebody else to run the NHL's denial franchise?
What if the Islanders ended up anchoring the WHA in THE major media market in the U.S., and, bigger still, it's run by Bill Torrey and coached by Al Arbour, just like OTL?
What if you get BOTH of these PODs?
Here's a college football one that people might find fun: what if in December 2004 Urban Meyer goes to Notre Dame, and Steve Spurrier goes to Florida?
Here's a good what if: Peyton Manning doesn't get injured for the season and so Indy doesn't do terrible and can't pick Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft. Sooooo....do the Redskins take him? If so, given how they basically ruined RGIII, could they screw up with Luck too (I doubt it given he's a completely different style player?) That leaves Cleveland free to take RGIII over Trent Richardson if they so choose. What does Denver's quarterback situation look like if they can't get Peyton Manning? At the end of 2011-2012 they have Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn as their QB's? Do they stick with Tebow? They drafted Osweiller in the second round that year, so you may see a QB battle. Other QB's on the board when they picked Osweiller are Foles and Wilson. How does this affect the AFC West? When KC gets good, I imagine they'd be the top dog in the division.
I forget if I ever posted this, but how would the NFL/CFL evolve if touchdowns were two points, there was no PAT/Conversion (or, the only way to get those two points was to both cross the plane AND convert one way or another), and field goals and safeties were only one point? The scoring math would allow more ties, and baseball-like final scores would be far more common.
That is not dissimilar to the early says of rugby when a try was simply an attempt to kick at goal.
For a start I would venture that kickers would be bigger stars.
The Rams would have had the #1 pick in this scenario. They have a decision on their hands: Keep Sam Bradford, or trade him, and take Andrew Luck, the QB with more upside and talent.
In my opinion, Luck is the clear choice, and St. Louis takes him first overall.
Then, the Vikings, Browns, Bucs, and Redskins have choices 2-5 in this alternate reality. RGIII is out there, but now they don't have to deal with the Rams to get him. The Vikes and Browns swap first rounders as in OTL, but in this world, the Browns decide to take RGIII, the Vikes take Matt Kalil, and the Bucs take Trent Richardson.
Then, we come to Washington at 6. In this world, they miss out on RGIII and Luck. However, Shanny and the Rams agree to a trade which sends Bradford to the Nation's Capital for the fifth overall pick (and a third rounder), and the Rams use that on Justin Blackmon (Fisher was mad when the Jags moved ahead of the Rams to take him in OTL).
As for the Broncos, Tebow was gone, Manning or no Manning. They would have taken Brandon Weeden in the first round, unfortunately.
With the World Junior Hockey Championship almost upon us, I thought I'd throw this out there:
Just before Christmas, 2012, the Canadian, American, Swedish and Finnish national junior teams played a series of exhibition games in Helsinki in the leadup to that year's tournament. Then they all flew to the tournament's host city of Ufa, Russia - on the same plane.
No, really.
So let's say something goes horribly wrong and that plane crashes, wiping out all four teams. Presumably the tournament is cancelled, but the NHL is currently in the middle of a significant labour dispute. Is the lockout any longer or shorter because of this? What kind of effect does it have on the upcoming season, if it happens? What does the draft look like? What else might happen?
Just before Christmas, 2012, the Canadian, American, Swedish and Finnish national junior teams played a series of exhibition games in Helsinki in the leadup to that year's tournament. Then they all flew to the tournament's host city of Ufa, Russia - on the same plane.
No, really.
So let's say something goes horribly wrong and that plane crashes, wiping out all four teams. Presumably the tournament is cancelled, but the NHL is currently in the middle of a significant labour dispute. Is the lockout any longer or shorter because of this? What kind of effect does it have on the upcoming season, if it happens? What does the draft look like? What else might happen?
That's a real kicker. What do they do in 2 years when it's clear that isn't working out?
CthulhuFhtagn
Banned
What if Steven Gerrard hadn't slipped on April 27, 2014, giving Demba Ba the chance to score and Chelsea the win? With a 4-point lead on Manchester City and 2 games left to play, could Liverpool have won the Premier League?
I can see them getting rid of Weeden and drafting Teddy Bridgewater or something.
No 1987 strike
I was looking up 1976 NFL Expansion, and I found this:
http://csnbbs.com/post-9577169.html
It is from a Memphis Tiger fan board. One poster claimed that Memphis and Phoenix may have been awarded NFL Expansion teams by the 1988 Super Bowl (SB XXII) if the 1987 player's strike didn't happen.
I was looking up 1976 NFL Expansion, and I found this:
http://csnbbs.com/post-9577169.html
It is from a Memphis Tiger fan board. One poster claimed that Memphis and Phoenix may have been awarded NFL Expansion teams by the 1988 Super Bowl (SB XXII) if the 1987 player's strike didn't happen.
No Federal League
This has been a timeline that I've been interested in for a while now, so here goes:
What if the Federal League folds before it gets off the ground? For reference: the Federal League was a Baseball league from 1914-1915 that was an outlaw league, trying to take players away from the major leagues and sign them to contracts that were, in many cases, larger than the contracts in the majors. This forced the owners of the MLB teams to raise their salaries as well, and many teams that couldn't afford this were forced to either sell much of their talent (such as the minor league Baltimore Orioles, who had to sell a 19-year-old pitcher known as Babe Ruth), or simply folded altogether. When the Federal League folded in 1915, salaries went back down. However, the players, as you might figure out, were not exactly happy with the lowering of their salaries, and many looked to things such as gambling to give them some extra money. So I think that it would be interesting to make a timeline based on that.
This has been a timeline that I've been interested in for a while now, so here goes:
What if the Federal League folds before it gets off the ground? For reference: the Federal League was a Baseball league from 1914-1915 that was an outlaw league, trying to take players away from the major leagues and sign them to contracts that were, in many cases, larger than the contracts in the majors. This forced the owners of the MLB teams to raise their salaries as well, and many teams that couldn't afford this were forced to either sell much of their talent (such as the minor league Baltimore Orioles, who had to sell a 19-year-old pitcher known as Babe Ruth), or simply folded altogether. When the Federal League folded in 1915, salaries went back down. However, the players, as you might figure out, were not exactly happy with the lowering of their salaries, and many looked to things such as gambling to give them some extra money. So I think that it would be interesting to make a timeline based on that.
Imperator Maximilianius
Banned
I've heard it suggested that it might have averted the Black Sox Scandal, but that seems very unlikely to me.
Semi related, but I've always wondered what a cross between CFL rules and Rugby league would look like (13 a side, 6 downs to score, essentially everything else like the CFL)
Wouldn't they have to wait to see where Bill Bidwill moves the Cardinals, though?
Or, maybe they just give Bidwill one of 2 choices and say "whichever he doesn't take we'll expand into".
I don't know how that would have worked. If they just put a team in Phoenix despite what Bidwill wanted, maybe he ends up in Baltimore eight years before Modell does.
The best thing for GB would be to have him make the team, but be a backup for a few years. By then, Vainisi would have had the key pieces in place, and Lombardi would have arrived on the scene.
The Pack would have been even more dangerous with Unitas, although he seemed to like to do the game his way, and I can see some possible clashes between him and Lombardi.
The Steelers drafted him and cut Unitas. That's from a 4-8 team with no consistant quarterback. The Packers on the other hand were on the upswing with Tobin Rote, who wasn't a bad QB. If the Packers would have drafted him over the other rookie QB they chose, maybe he could make the team, though it would be tough
Also, Vanaisi drafted Starr as a defensive back as a favor. They even gave him number 43 instead of a real quarterback number. I think either way Starr goes to the Pack. Plus Starr's best quality was his intellect, his ability to disect film and know what's going on. According to most coaches, one of the drawbacks of Unitas was a below average intellect and was more of a natural thrower, which isn't that bad for the style of play in the 50's. Starr would most likely become a backup to Unitas. Pretty lethal combo.
But the real question is, does Lombardi even come to Green Bay if Unitas unlocks is full potential by the time Lisle Blackbourn is fired. If not, then we probably see the same path as OTL. But Blackbourn was also more of a theory guy, so maybe he sticks with Rote and Starr more. But that still leads the question if Scooter McLean gets hired. McLean was the only assistant coach hired retained under Blackbourn and his predecesor, Gene Ronzani, and the Packers liked to keep coaches in the franchise, so he probably is the best choice if Lisle gets fired. McLean liked to change QB's and go with the 'hot guy' so maybe Unitas finally does well. If not, then McLean gets fired again because he wasn't a good coach. Lombardi is probably still on the table, because he's still OC at New York and a rising canidate for head coach, despite is older age. Though at that time, a few teams were still looking at Lombardi. Maybe he's already taken. Simply put, If Unitas goes well before Lombardi gets here, Lombardi doesn't get here.