Sports What Ifs.

I'd be interested in seeing the division alignments that would have happened.

Why did they change it from the Failclowns and Name Redacteds?
 
I'd be interested in seeing the division alignments that would have happened.

Why did they change it from the Failclowns and Name Redacteds?
What happened is that it turned out to be a rumor (actually, the rumor was that the Falcons and Colts were moving with the Skins or Vikes as the possible third choice). Also, the Falcons and Vikings didn't want to go (apparently, the Bears wanted to get rid of the Vikes and get a warm weather team in their division).
 
OOTP is ok but it tends to go off in random directions. I tried to run an alternate timeline where the Pirates traded players instead of letting them walk. I traded Bonilla for Mattingly then started the simulation. The CPU randomly traded LaValliere. Plus other trades that didn't happen in OTL and wouldn't have necessarily happened if the original trade had been made. Ideally (and it might be the case in more recent versions) there's a Trades file you can edit to make the trades happen, and you can do it in the off-season.
I think I recall from the forums a few years back that they did make it so that you could turn trades off or something. But I could be thinking of another game.

How does the park tends to be a good middle ground because baseball mogul has a lot of depth and is great for the financial end but really gets random when it comes to anything more than a couple years after the beginning season of a replay. Strat-o-matic costs more and I don't think you can get a free version of any of it but it is the best when it comes to a replay of many years.
 
What if the Phoenix Suns, boasting the likes of Gail Goodrich, Dick Van Arsdale and acquired Paul Silas from the Atlanta Hawks, won the 1st overall pick in 1969 and drafted Kareem Abdul Jabbar?

1969-1970


With Phoenix boasting some actually good players in Goodrich, Van Arsdale and Silas, Kareem, known as Lew Alcindor back then, has his individual stats suffer slightly, but he nonetheless still significantly influences the expansion franchise's fortunes, boasting a much improved 50-32 record and barely snatching the 1st seed in the west from Atlanta and the Lakers. They would easily defeat a game, but overmatched Chicago Bulls squad before taking part in an epic 7-game series against the Lakers of Baylor, West and Wilt. The Kareem vs Wilt matchup was the main focal point of this 7-game series, but it would end up being Gail Goodrich who made the difference, knocking down 4 daggers late in the game to send Phoenix to an incredible finals appearance in only their second season! Alas, they stumbled upon the New York Knicks, and while they do tkae the series to 7 games, Willis Reed's heroic appearance while injured at MSG galvanized the Knicks, and Walt Frazier went off for 34 pts to secure New York it's first NBA title.


1970-1971

Now settled, Kareem gets even better, winning the MVP with a stellar season, while his supporting cast stepped up big time, with Goodrich, staying in Phoenix, turning into a regular 20-point scorer and Van Arsdale and Silas showing off their versatility. The Suns competes with their fellow 1968 expansion team Milwaukee Bucks, led by ABA star Connie Hawkins and newly-acquired Oscar Robertson, for the first seed in the west, ending up barely ending up in second. However, this meant that they matched up again with the Bulls, and they would cruise past them in 5 games before facing the Big O and Hawkins in the conference finals. In 7 tough games, Kareem showed why he was a transcendent talent, carrying the Suns past the Bucks in a dominant game 7 to head to the finals to face the surprising Baltimore Bullets. Goodrich and van Arsdale helped Kareem sweep the Bullets to win the Suns their first championship.


1971-1972

Eager to repeat, Kareem and the Suns got flying at first in the first half of the season. However, an unlucky injury suffered by the center led Phoenix to spiral out of the playoff spots, with a harsh 20-point defeat against Chicago galvanized by the blockbuster trade of Earl Monroe [1] and the emergence of Artis Gilmore [2] as the new starting center exposing their lack of depth outside their starting lineup. Kareem got back in time for the last few games of the season, and Goodrich Carried the offensive load admirably in his absence, but sadly, the Suns would miss the playoffs, with the Lakers finally giving Wilt, Baylor and West their ring.

However, this proved to be a blessing in disguise for Phoenix, as they kept their 1972 first round pick, which ended up being the 9th overall pick, completing their already excellent starting 5 by drafting guard Paul Westphal.

1972-1973

Phoenix came back with a vengeance, now with a fully healthy Kareem and the arrival of Westphal alongside Goodrich in the backcourt. Phoenix gets the 1st seed again, facing off against the Lakers and Kareem again dominatign Wilt while Westphal snake in the clutch shots to go past the Lakers in 6 games. However, they would stumble upon an unexpected roadblock in Chicago, led by Monroe, Jerry Sloan and Artis Gilmore, one of the few centers who could contain Kareem. As such, the Bulls upsets the Suns in 7 tough games, Sloan eating the inexperienced Westphal alive and Gilmore's shutting down of Kareem allowed Earl Monroe to deliver MVP-level performances, sending Chicago to the final against the aging Knicks, where the Bulls would win their first NBA title in 6 games.

1973-1974

with Westphal now more experienced, the Suns now baosts the deadliest starting 5 in the entire league, and they would cruise to the 1st seed and dominate in the playoffs, ddmoshign the Lakers in 4 games and getting their revenge on Chicago by sweeping them before facing the ressurgent Boston Celtics. In a tough 7 game series, it would be Gail Goodrich again who would prove the difference, giving the ball to Kareem with the series-winning sky hook to give Phoenix its second NBA title.

1974-1975

however, rumour has it that Kareem night be interested in a change of scenery, with the Knicks, Washington Bullets and Lakers being rumoured to be interested in acquiring him. perhaps it distracted them, for Phoenix lost out on the 1st seed in the west to Rick Barry and Jamaal Wilkes's Goldme State Warriors, while in the playoffs, Earl Monroe and Artis Gilmore were in revenge mode, defeating the Suns in 6 games beofre losing to the eventual champions Warriors.


1975-1976

with Goodrich and Silas getting on a bit with age, many sees this season as the last dance for this Phepnix Suns core, with the expectations being Phoenxi to retool around Kareem and Westphal for the foreseeable future...IF Kareem decides to stay, after all, which is far from done...despite those uncertainties, the Suns put that aside and entered the season with a newfound focus, getting the 3rd seed behind Seattle and GSW. Phoenix would beat the Sonics in 6 games before Kareem delivered a typical dominant performance In a 5-game win over Golden State. In game 5 of the final against the Boston Celtics, John Havlicek has a potential game-winning shot in double OT blocked by Kareem, leading to the Suns's Paul Westphal to knock in 10 points in triple OT to win it for the Suns, who would dominate in Game 6 to win their third title.

however, With Gail Goodrich leaving for the Jazz and Paul Silas leaving for the former ABA's Denver Nuggets and the future of Kareem in Phoenix still uncertain, the Suns are in uncharted waters heading into the 1976 off-season...


[1] IRL traded to the Knicks. However, Chicago were among the teams Monroe wanted to be traded to IRL.

[2] IRL spent 5 seasons in the ABA for the Kentucky Colonels before joining the Bulls in the NBA in 1976 after the merger
 
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I think I recall from the forums a few years back that they did make it so that you could turn trades off or something. But I could be thinking of another game.

How does the park tends to be a good middle ground because baseball mogul has a lot of depth and is great for the financial end but really gets random when it comes to anything more than a couple years after the beginning season of a replay. Strat-o-matic costs more and I don't think you can get a free version of any of it but it is the best when it comes to a replay of many years.

I still want to find a game where you can expand the NFL to 36 teams in the 1980s by absorbing the last eight USFL teams. POD is the lawsuit is filed in Baltimore so the jury returns a lottery verdict and the NFL settles by offering a merger.
 
I still want to find a game where you can expand the NFL to 36 teams in the 1980s by absorbing the last eight USFL teams. POD is the lawsuit is filed in Baltimore so the jury returns a lottery verdict and the NFL settles by offering a merger.
That would be great. I guess you can't really invent one, huh? From what I understand that's what happened with baseball mogul, the inventor decided that there was no game that really covered the financial aspect of sports as well and so he developed one.

I'm not sure if out of the park has a shortened season option where you can say how many games you want the season to be, but if they did and that version 8 offered the 1994 season, that would be great for doing a replay of what I said about a 48 or 54 game baseball season
 
Bill Veeck had to sell the Indians in 1949 to pay off the settlement for his divorce - but his marriage had been on the rocks since before he entered WW2, and he tried to win back his wife 3 times; the 3rd time she refused. The 2nd time was at the '46 WS where he brought the famiy in for a party and never paid any attention to her. Let's ignore that becasue if she was in for a pennty, she was in for a pound and it's more likely she'd have left him whent he first try didn't take; after all, he'd done dedcently the first time, it appears.

That was when he bought a ranch in Tucson and had the whole family out there. He paid attention to them and seemed to really be interested in them; he sold the Brewers to save his marriage. However, he bought the Indians months later and so, while she could stomach another tr when the '46 World Series didn't do enough, she was done with him by '48.

But what if the first try doesn't work?

It's pretty easy to do if you've watched enough sitcoms. Just have her get sick, one of the kids get bitten by a lizard, another get hurt in another funny way, it's your basic "vacation where it all goes wrong" plot. He gets hurt, too, and can't care for her, and they all decide it'snot meant to be.

He sells the ranch, sets up a trust fund for the kids, and while he might have to wait another month buy the Indians, nothingrealy changes, his fellow investors can cough up a bit more money and he has the team just like OTL,maybe even meets thelove of his life a year or so early.

How long does he keep the Indians?
Who buys the Browns in '51? Do they just get moved to Baltimore 3 years early? Leauge owners seemed to want that but there were hangups with the minor league team's rights. Or do they move elsewhere?
If Veeck eventually sells the Indians, what other team does he buy? He's a respectable owner here yet, if a little eccentric; after all, he's bringing in huge crowds and visiting teams love that. He hasn't done the zaniest stunts.
Where is Lou Boudreau traded? Before he sold the team, the manager had sensed friction between him and Veeck/Greenberg, and he expected to be gone a year before he was. It made more sense to let him go after 1949 than '50, sicne he won 5 more gmes in '50. This would let the Indianskeep Satchel Paige, and maybe just bring in AlLopez a year early? Can the Indians just send him to Washington (which needed a manager - they got Bucky Harris back out of retirement for '50) along with Mickey Vernon and a couple others before the season for better players? Veeck liked Avila as a future 2B but could use a stopgap, he had MInnie Minoso in the minors and trading Kennedy away wouldopen up a spot (probably Dale Mitchelle is untouchable and Larry Doby certainly is). If he does a 3-way trade with the White Sox he could get Bob Kuzava and maybe take the '51 and '52

I have this mental image of him thumbing his nose at baseball's establishment by selling the Indians after anotgher couple pennants and being the one to save the Athletics in PHiladelphia.If Roy Mack would accept being Veeck's GM of course, or if he just throws more money into the group that was already there OTL. pennants away from New York.
 
On Facebook, I am reading a post from a group called "On This Day in Professional Football History".

The post has to do with the May 10, 1969 meeting about who was going to move to the AFC from the NFC.

We know that the Steelers, Browns, and Colts did, but early that morning, it looked like the Redskins and Falcons were going to the AFC along with the Colts or Vikings.
It was in the end very logical that Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh were moved to the AFC over any other possible teams.
Baltimore was in the same media market as Washington Football Club and this allowed both CBS with the NFC package and NBC with the AFC package to share,the market.
Cleveland was a member of the AAFC that was absorbed by the NFL in 1950,_and it makes sense for a cross state rivalry with Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh was the doormat of the NFL and the AFC was considered to be the weaker of the two conferences.
Also all three team got $3,000,000 to move to the AFC.
I could see St. Louis Football Cardinals moving to the AFC to be a cross state rival to Kansas City, but the owner of the Dallas Cowboys wanted the Cardinals in the NFC East to cut down on travel costs.
 
Women's FA Cup winners, if the runners up had won (although this is the English FA Cup, the first three teams in this list were Scottish). Some of these teams have two names, to reflect what they are known as today (the second name being the current one), as many are now officially part of the same club as their male counterparts -

1971 - Stewarton Thistle/Kilmarnock F.C. Women (1)
1972 - Lee's Ladies (1)
1973 - Westthorn United (1)
1974 - Southampton (1)
1975 - Warminster (1)
1976 - Queen's Park Rangers (1)
1977 - Southampton (2)
1978 - Queen's Park Rangers (2)
1979 - Lowestoft Ladies (1)
1980 - Preston North End (1)
1981 - St Helens (1)
1982- Cleveland Spartans/Middlesbrough F.C. (1)
1983 - St Helens (2)
1984 - Doncaster Belles (1)
1985 - Doncaster Belles (2)
1986 - Doncaster Belles (3)
1987 - St Helens (3)
1988 - Leasowe Pacific/Everton F.C. (1)
1989 - Friends of Fulham/A.F.C. Wimbledon (1)
1990 - Friends of Fulham/A.F.C. Wimbledon (2)
1991 - Doncaster Belles (4)
1992 - Red Star Southampton/Southampton Saints (1)
1993 - Doncaster Belles (5)
1994 - Knowsley United/Liverpool (1)
1995 - Knowsley United/Liverpool (2)
1996 - Knowsley United/Liverpool (3)
1997 - Wembley (1)
1998 - Croydon/Charlton Athletic F.C. (1)
1999 - Red Star Southampton/Southampton Saints (2)
2000 - Doncaster Belles (6)
2001 - Fulham (1)
2002 - Doncaster Belles (7)
2003 - Croydon/Charlton Athletic F.C. (3)
2004 - Croydon/Charlton Atletic F.C. (4)
2005 - Leasowe Pacific/Everton F.C. (2)
2006 - Leeds United (1)
2007 - Croydon/Charlton Athletic F.C. (4)
2008 - Leeds United (2)
2009 - Sunderland (1)
2010 - Arsenal (1)
2011 - Bristol Academy (1)
2012 - Chelsea (1)
2013 - Bristol Academy (2)
2014 - Leasowe Pacific/Everton F.C. (3)
2015 - Notts County (1)
2016 - Chelsea (2)
2017 - Birmingham City (1)
2018 - Arsenal (2)
2019 - West Ham United (1)
2020 - Leasowe Pacific/Everton F.C. (4)
2021 - Arsenal (3)
2022 - Manchester City (1)
2023 - Manchester United (1)
2024 - Tottenham Hotspur (1)
 
I don't know, but if he stays for a decade or two, and doesn't hire GM Frank Lane, I wonder if the Indians don't wander in the wilderness as long.
Yes, Hank Greenberg was more his assistant atg first - I wonder if he goes elsewhere after al while,feeling he "learned the craft" but now wants more freedom. Lane likely wouldn't come unless he had total control.

OTOH,Veeck could keep Lane out another way; stay for 7-8 years and then sell, maybe he sees a chance witht he Athletics or something, but find an owner who will keep Greenberg. With probably better players, Greenberg might be kept around with a 5-year deal or so because he has been part of that winning formula, with Veeck only leaving becasue it was him or Greenberg,and he might have gotten a bit tired of staying in one place. It's hard to say.

I think Boudreau, Vernon, and a couple others to the Senators in 1950 makes sense (well, the '49 offseason) - he can count on Easter, bring MInoso up early if he has to, and the Senators can give Boudreau a longer-term deal to manage after his playing days; Veeck can sell it as "You might have been a manager before, but I helped get you to the next level, so more clubs want you."

Which is why I wonder about Greenberg and Veeck being at odds after a few more eyars.
 
OTOH,Veeck could keep Lane out another way; stay for 7-8 years and then sell,
He better keep Lane out. I think that guy used to trade people for fun. Not what you need.

I just came up with a big idea, though: What if Veeck keeps the team until around 1964, and sells it to someone who was just involved with an ill-fated basketball league? His name: George Steinbrenner.
 
He better keep Lane out. I think that guy used to trade people for fun. Not what you need.

I just came up with a big idea, though: What if Veeck keeps the team until around 1964, and sells it to someone who was just involved with an ill-fated basketball league? His name: George Steinbrenner.
That would be crazy. And yes, Frank Lane may have had ADHD because he didn't seem to be able to stop from trading. It's like those old jokes where someone is just doing something at random and then shouts "squirrel." Except for him it would be "second baseman" and then he would just have to go and get one at random.

He had actually built a decent team in the early 1950s with the White Sox but just kept Trading people. Under different circumstances he might have won a pennantin the period 1953-57, even with his incredible number of trades.
 
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I was on Reddit, and I found out that the Pats were allegedly going to trade up to the #2 spot with the Giants if Baker Mayfield was available. If the Pats get Baker, is Belichick still there today?
 
I was on Reddit, and I found out that the Pats were allegedly going to trade up to the #2 spot with the Giants if Baker Mayfield was available. If the Pats get Baker, is Belichick still there today?
If the Pats gets Baker...OHH, what that mean brady, this is after eagles SB...and Brady did want to leave by 2018...so the rest goes as OTL? and Brady left a year early? or is traded?
 
New York Jets winning the AFC in 1998-99 then going to the Superbowl and winning their second SuperBowl, later that year The New York Knicks winning their third NBA title in their lockout season maybe building a dynasty in the 2000s.
 
Women's Super League champions if the runner up had won -

2011 - Birmingham City (1)
2012 - Birmingham City (2)
2013 - Bristol Academy/Bristol City (1)
2014 - Chelsea (1)
2015 - Manchester City (1)
2016 - Chelsea (2)
2017 (Spring Series) - Manchester City (2)
2017/18 - Manchester City (3)
2018/19 - Manchester City (4)
2019/20 - Manchester City (5)
2020/21 - Manchester City (6)
2021/22 - Arsenal (1)
2022/23 - Manchester United (1)
2023/24 - Manchester City (7)
 
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