TL;DR: Man with too much time on his hands goes deep down the rabbit hole on a concept this sub already didn’t seem that enthusiastic about. If you really want to skip ahead, CTRL+F “verdict” and it’ll get you there. Two days ago, u/MrPhillyj2wns made a post asking whether USL should launch a D1 league in order to compete in Concacaf. From the top voted replies, it appears this made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move. But I’ve been at home for eight weeks and I am terribly, terribly bored. So, I present to you this overview of what the USL pyramid might look like if Jake Edwards got a head of steam and attempted to establish a USSF-sanctioned first division. This is by no means an endorsement of such a proposal or even a suggestion that USL SHOULD do such a thing. It is merely an examination of whether they COULD. Welcome to the Thunderdome USL Premiership First, there are some base-level assumptions we must make in this exercise, because it makes me feel more scientific and not like a guy who wrote this on Sunday while watching the Belarusian Premier League (Go BATE Borisov!).
All D1 teams must comply with known USSF requirements for D1 leagues (more on that later).
MLS, not liking this move, will immediately remove all directly-owned affiliate clubs from the USL structure (this does not include hybrid ownerships, like San Antonio FC – NYCFC). This removes all MLS2 teams but will not affect Colorado Springs, Reno, RGVFC and San Antonio.
The USL will attempt to maintain both the USL Championship and USL League One, with an eventual mind toward creating the pro/rel paradise that is promised in Relegations 3:16.
All of my research regarding facility size and ownership net worth is correct – this is probably the biggest leap of faith we have to make, since googling “NAME net worth” and “CITY richest people” doesn’t seem guaranteed to return accurate results.
The most a club can increase its available seating capacity to meet D1 requirements in a current stadium is no more than 1,500 seats (10% of the required 15,000). If they need to add more, they’ll need a new facility.
Let’s pretend that people are VERY willing to sell. It’s commonly acknowledged that the USL is a more financially feasible route to owning a soccer club than in MLS (c.f. MLS-Charlotte’s reported $325 million expansion fee) and the USSF has some very strict requirements for D1 sanctioning. It becomes pretty apparent when googling a lot of team’s owners that this requirement isn’t met, so let’s assume everyone that can’t sells to people who meet the requirements.
(Known) USSF D1 league requirements: - League must have 12 teams to apply and 14 teams by year three - Majority owner must have a net worth of $40 million, and the ownership group must have a total net worth of $70 million. The value of an owned stadium is not considered when calculating this value. - Must have teams located in the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones - 75% of league’s teams must be based in markets with at a metro population of at least 1 million people. - All league stadiums must have a capacity of at least 15,000 The ideal club candidate for the USL Premiership will meet the population and capacity requirements in its current ground, which will have a grass playing surface. Of the USL Championship’s 27 independent/hybrid affiliate clubs, I did not find one club that meets all these criteria as they currently stand. Regarding turf fields, the USSF does not have a formal policy regarding the ideal playing surface but it is generally acknowledged that grass is superior to turf. 6 of 26 MLS stadiums utilize turf, or roughly 23% of stadiums. We’ll hold a similar restriction for our top flight, so 2-3 of our top flight clubs can have turf fields. Seem fair? Capacity is going to be the biggest issue, since the disparity between current requirements for the second-tier (5,000) and the first tier (15,000) is a pretty massive gap. Nice club you have there, triple your capacity and you’re onto something. As a result, I have taken the liberty of relocating certain (read: nearly all) clubs to new grounds, trying my utmost to keep those clubs in their current markets and –importantly--, ensure they play on grass surfaces. So, let’s do a case-by-case evaluation and see if we can put together 12-14 teams that meet the potential requirements, because what else do you have to do? For each club’s breakdown, anything that represents a chance from what is currently true will be underlined. Candidate: Birmingham Legion FC Location (Metro population): Birmingham, Ala. (1,151,801) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Legion Field (FieldTurf, 71,594) Potential owner: Stephens Family (reported net worth $4 billion) Notes: Birmingham has a pretty strong candidacy. Having ditched the 5,000-seater BBVA Field for Legion Field, which sits 2.4 miles away, they’ve tapped into the city’s soccer history. Legion Field hosted portions of both the men’s and women’s tournaments at the 1996 Olympics, including a 3-1 U.S. loss to Argentina that saw 83,183 pack the house. The Harbert family seemed like strong ownership contenders, but since the death of matriarch Marguerite Harbert in 2015, it’s unclear where the wealth in the family is concentrated, so the Stephens seem like a better candidate. The only real knock that I can think of is that we really want to avoid having clubs play on turf, so I’d say they’re on the bubble of our platonic ideal USL Prem. Candidate: Charleston Battery Location (Metro population): Charleston, S.C. (713,000) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Johnson Hagood Stadium (Grass, ~14,700) Potential owner: Anita Zucker (reported net worth $3 billion) Notes: Charleston’s candidacy isn’t looking great. Already disadvantaged due to its undersized metro population, a move across the Cooper River to Johnson Hagood Stadium is cutting it close in terms of capacity. The stadium, home to The Citadel’s football team, used to seat 21,000, before 9,300 seats on the eastern grandstand were torn down in 2017 to deal with lead paint that had been used in their construction. Renovation plans include adding 3,000 seats back in, which could hit 15,000 if they bumped it to 3,300, but throw in a required sale by HCFC, LLC (led by content-creation platform founder Rob Salvatore) to chemical magnate Anita Zucker, and you’ll see there’s a lot of ifs and ands in this proposal. Candidate: Charlotte Independence Location (Metro population): Charlotte, N.C. (2,569, 213) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Jerry Richardson Stadium (Turf, 15,314) Potential owner: James Goodnight (reported net worth $9.1 billion) Notes: Charlotte ticks a lot of the boxes. A move from the Sportsplex at Matthews to UNC-Charlotte’s Jerry Richardson stadium meets capacity requirements, but puts them on to the dreaded turf. Regrettably, nearby American Legion Memorial Stadium only seats 10,500, despite a grass playing surface. With a sizeable metro population (sixth-largest in the USL Championship) and a possible owner in software billionaire James Goodnight, you’ve got some options here. The biggest problem likely lies in direct competition for market share against a much better-funded MLS Charlotte side due to join the league in 2021. Candidate: Hartford Athletic Location (Metro population): Hartford, Conn. (1,214,295) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Pratt & Whitney Stadium (Grass, 38,066) Potential owner: Ray Dalio (reported net worth $18.4 billion) Notes: Okay, I cheated a bit here, having to relocate Hartford to Pratt & Whitney Stadium, which is technically in East Hartford, Conn. I don’t know enough about the area to know if there’s some kind of massive beef between the two cities, but the club has history there, having played seven games in 2019 while Dillon Stadium underwent renovations. If the group of local businessmen that currently own the club manage to attract Dalio to the table, we’re on to something. Candidate: Indy Eleven Location (Metro population): Indianapolis, Ind. (2,048,703) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Lucas Oil Stadium (Turf, 62,421) Potential owner: Jim Irsay (reported net worth of $3 billion) Notes: Indy Eleven are a club that are SO CLOSE to being an ideal candidate – if it weren’t for Lucas Oil Stadium’s turf playing surface. Still, there’s a lot to like in this bid. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what current owner and founder Ersal Ozdemir is worth, but it seems like there might be cause for concern. A sale to Irsay, who also owns the NFL Indianapolis (nee Baltimore) Colts, seems likely to keep the franchise there, rather than make a half-mile move to 14,230 capacity Victory Field where the AAA Indianapolis Indians play and expand from there. Candidate: Louisville City FC Location (Metro population): Louisville, Ky. (1,297,310) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Lynn Family Stadium (Grass, 14,000, possibly expandable to 20,000) Potential owner: Wayne Hughes (reported net worth $2.8 billion) Notes: I’m stretching things a bit here. Lynn Family stadium is currently listed as having 11,700 capacity that’s expandable to 14,000, but they’ve said that the ground could hold as many as 20,000 with additional construction, which might be enough to grant them a temporary waiver from USSF. If the stadium is a no-go, then there’s always Cardinal Stadium, home to the University of Louisville’s football team, which seats 65,000 but is turf. Either way, it seems like a sale to someone like Public Storage founder Wayne Hughes will be necessary to ensure the club has enough capital. Candidate: Memphis 901 FC Location (Metro population): Memphis, Tenn. (1,348,260) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Liberty Bowl Stadium (Turf, 58,325) Potential owner: Fred Smith (reported net worth $3 billion) Notes: Unfortunately for Memphis, AutoZone Park’s 10,000 seats won’t cut it at the D1 level. With its urban location, it would likely prove tough to renovate, as well. Liberty Bowl Stadium more than meets the need, but will involve the use of the dreaded turf. As far as an owner goes, FedEx founder Fred Smith seems like a good local option. Candidate: Miami FC, “The” Location (Metro population): Miami, Fla. (6,158,824) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Riccardo Silva Stadium (FieldTurf, 20,000) Potential owner: Riccardo Silva (reported net worth $1 billion) Notes: Well, well, well, Silva might get his wish for top-flight soccer, after all. He’s got the money, he’s got the metro, and his ground has the capacity. There is the nagging issue of the turf, though. Hard Rock Stadium might present a solution, including a capacity of 64,767 and a grass playing surface. It is worth noting, however, that this is the first profile where I didn’t have to find a new potential owner for a club. Candidate: North Carolina FC Location (Metro population): Durham, N.C. (1,214,516 in The Triangle) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Carter-Finley Stadium (Grass/Turf, 57,583) Potential owner: Steve Malik (precise net worth unknown) / Dennis Gillings (reported net worth of $1.7 billion) Notes: We have our first “relocation” in North Carolina FC, who were forced to trade Cary’s 10,000-seat WakeMed Soccer Park for Carter-Finley Stadium in Durham, home of the NC State Wolfpack and 57,583 of their closest friends. The move is a whopping 3.1 miles, thanks to the close-knit hub that exists between Cary, Durham and Raleigh. Carter-Finley might be my favorite of the stadium moves in this exercise. The field is grass, but the sidelines are artificial turf. Weird, right? Either way, it was good enough for Juventus to play a friendly against Chivas de Guadalajara there in 2011. Maybe the move would be pushed for by new owner and medical magnate Dennis Gillings, whose British roots might inspire him to get involved in the Beautiful Game. Straight up, though, I couldn’t find a net worth for current owner Steve Malik, though he did sell his company MedFusion for $91 million in 2010, then bought it back for an undisclosed amount and sold it again for $43 million last November. I don’t know if Malik has the juice to meet D1 requirements, but I suspect he’s close. Candidate: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Location (Metro population): Pittsburgh, Penn. (2,362,453) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Heinz Field (Grass, 64,450) Potential owner: Henry Hillman (reported net worth $2.5 billion) Notes: I don’t know a ton about the Riverhounds, but this move in particular feels like depriving a pretty blue-collar club from its roots. Highmark Stadium is a no-go from a seating perspective, but the Steelers’ home stadium at Heinz Field would more than meet the requirements and have a grass surface that was large enough to be sanctioned for a FIFA friendly between the U.S. WNT and Costa Rica in 2015. As for an owner, Tuffy Shallenberger (first ballot owner name HOF) doesn’t seem to fit the USSF bill, but legendary Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Hillman might. I’m sure you’re asking, why not the Rooney Family, if they’ll play at Heinz Field? I’ll tell you: I honestly can’t seem to pin down a value for the family. The Steelers are valued at a little over a billion and rumors persist that Dan Rooney is worth $500 million, but I’m not sure. I guess the Rooneys would work too, but it’s a definite departure from an owner in Shallenberger who was described by one journalist as a guy who “wears boots, jeans, a sweater and a trucker hat.” Candidate: Saint Louis FC Location (Metro population): St. Louis, Mo. (2,807,338) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Busch Stadium (Grass, 45,494) Potential owner: William DeWitt Jr. (reported net worth $4 billion) Notes: Saint Louis has some weirdness in making the jump to D1. Current CEO Jim Kavanaugh is an owner of the MLS side that will begin play in 2022. The club’s current ground at West Community Stadium isn’t big enough, but perhaps a timely sale to Cardinals owner William DeWitt Jr. could see the club playing games at Busch Stadium, which has a well established history of hosting other sports like hockey, college football and soccer (most recently a U.S. WNT friendly against New Zealand in 2019). The competition with another MLS franchise wouldn’t be ideal, like Charlotte, but with a big enough population and cross marketing from the Cardinals, maybe there’s a winner here. Wacko idea: If Busch doesn’t pan out, send them to The Dome. Sure, it’s a 60k turf closed-in stadium, but we can go for that retro NASL feel and pay homage to our nation’s soccer history. Candidate: Tampa Bay Rowdies Location (Metro population): Tampa, Fla. (3,068,511) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Raymond James Stadium (Grass, 65,518) Potential owner: Edward DeBartolo Jr. (reported net worth $3 billion) Notes: This one makes me sad. Despite having never been there, I see Al Lang Stadium as an iconic part of the Rowdies experience. Current owner Bill Edwards proposed an expansion to 18,000 seats in 2016, but the move seems to have stalled out. Frustrated with the city’s lack of action, Edwards sells to one-time San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who uses his old NFL connections to secure a cushy lease at the home of the Buccaneers in Ray Jay, the site of a 3-1 thrashing of Antigua and Barbuda during the United States’ 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign. Breather. Hey, we finished the Eastern Conference teams. Why are you still reading this? Why am I still writing it? Time is a meaningless construct in 2020 my friends, we are adrift in the void, fueled only by brief flashes of what once was and what may yet still be. Candidate: Austin Bold FC Location (Metro population): Austin, Texas (2,168,316) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Darrel K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf, 95,594) Potential owner: Michael Dell (reported net worth of $32.3 billion) Notes: Anthony Precourt’s Austin FC has some unexpected competition and it comes in the form of tech magnate Michael Dell. Dell, were he to buy the club, would be one of the richest owners on our list and could flash his cash in the new first division. Would he have enough to convince Darrel K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium (I’m not kidding, that’s its actual name) to go back to a grass surface, like it did from ’96-’08? That’s between Dell and nearly 100,000 UT football fans, but everything can be had for the right price. Candidate: Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Location (Metro population): Colorado Springs, Colo. (738,939) Time zone: Mountain Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Falcon Stadium (FieldTurf, 46,692) Potential owner: Charles Ergen (reported net worth $10.8 billion) Notes: Welcome to Colorado Springs. We have hurdles. For the first time in 12 candidates, we’re back below the desired 1 million metro population mark. Colorado Springs actually plans to build a $35 million, 8,000 seat venue downtown that will be perfect for soccer, but in our timeline that’s 7,000 seats short. Enter Falcon Stadium, home of the Air Force Academy Falcons football team. Seems perfect except for the turf, right? Well, the tricky thing is that Falcon Stadium is technically on an active military base and is (I believe) government property. Challenges to getting in and out of the ground aside, the military tends to have a pretty grim view of government property being used by for-profit enterprises. Maybe Charles Ergen, founder and chairman of Dish Network, would be able to grease the right wheels, but you can go ahead and throw this into the “doubtful” category. It’s a shame, too. 6,035 feet of elevation is one hell of a home-field advantage. Candidate: El Paso Locomotive FC Location: El Paso, Texas Time zone: Mountain Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Sun Bowl (FieldTurf, 51,500) Potential owner: Paul Foster (reported net worth $1.7 billion) Notes: God bless Texas. When compiling this list, I found so many of the theoretical stadium replacements were nearly serviceable by high school football fields. That’s insane, right? Anyway, Locomotive don’t have to settle for one of those, they’ve got the Sun Bowl, which had its capacity reduced in 2001 to a paltry 51,500 (from 52,000) specifically to accommodate soccer. Sure, it’s a turf surface, but what does new owner Paul Foster (who is only the 1,477th wealthiest man in the world, per Forbes) care, he’s got a team in a top league. Side note: Did you know that the Sun Bowl college football game is officially, through sponsorship, the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl? Why is it not the Frosted Flakes Sun Bowl? Why is the cereal mascot the promotional name of the football game? What are you doing, Kellogg’s? Candidate: Las Vegas Lights FC Location: Las Vegas, Nev. (2,227,053) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Allegiant Stadium (Grass, 61,000) Potential owner: Sheldon Adelson (reported net worth $37.7 billion) Notes: Sin City. You had to know that the club that once signed Freddy Adu because “why not” was going to go all out in our flashy hypothetical proposal. Thanks to my narrative control of this whole thing, they have. Adelson is the second-richest owner in the league and has decided to do everything first class. That includes using the new Raiders stadium in nearby unincorporated Paradise, Nevada, and spending boatloads on high profile transfers. Zlatan is coming back to the U.S., confirmed. Candidate: New Mexico United Location: Albuquerque, N.M. Time zone: Mountain Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Isotopes Park – officially Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park (Grass, 13,500 – 15,000 with expansion) Potential owner: Maloof Family (reported net worth $1 billion) Notes: New Mexico from its inception went deep on the community vibe, and I’ve tried to replicate that in this bid. The home field of Rio Grande Cr---I’m not typing out the whole thing—Isotopes Park falls just within the expansion rules we set to make it to 15,000 (weird, right?) and they’ve found a great local ownership group in the Lebanese-American Maloof (formerly Maalouf) family from Las Vegas. The only thing to worry about would be the metro population, but overall, this could be one of the gems of USL Prem. Candidate: Oklahoma City Energy FC Location: Oklahoma City, Okla. (1,396,445) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (Grass, 13,066) Potential owner: Harold Hamm (reported net worth $14.2 billion) Notes: There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow and it says it’s time to change stadiums and owners to make it to D1. A sale to oil magnate Harold Hamm would give the club the finances it needs, but Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (home of the OKC Dodgers) actually falls outside of the boundary of what would meet capacity if 1,500 seats were added. Could the club pull off a move to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma – home of the Oklahoma Sooners? Maybe, but at 20 miles, this would be a reach. Candidate: Orange County SC Location: Irvine, Calif. (3,176, 000 in Orange County) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Angels Stadium of Anaheim (Grass, 43,250) Potential owner: Arte Moreno (reported net worth $3.3 billion) Notes: You’ll never convince me that Rangers didn’t choose to partner with Orange County based primarily on its name. Either way, a sale to MLB Angels owner Arte Moreno produces a fruitful partnership, with the owner choosing to play his newest club out of the existing Angels stadium in OC. Another baseball conversion, sure, but with a metro population of over 3 million and the closest thing this hypothetical league has to an LA market, who’s complaining? Candidate: Phoenix Rising FC Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (4,857,962) Time zone: Arizona Stadium (playing surface, capacity): State Farm Stadium (Grass, 63,400) Potential owner: Ernest Garcia II (reported net worth $5.7 billion) Notes: We’re keeping it local with new owner and used car guru Ernest Garcia II. His dad owned a liquor store and he dropped out of college, which is making me feel amazing about my life choices right now. Casino Arizona Field is great, but State Farm Stadium is a grass surface that hosted the 2019 Gold Cup semifinal, so it’s a clear winner. Throw in Phoenix’s massive metro population and this one looks like a lock. Candidate: Reno 1868 FC Location: Reno, Nev. (425,417) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Mackay Stadium (FieldTurf, 30,000) Potential owner: Nancy Walton Laurie (reported net worth $7.1 billion) Notes: The Biggest Little City on Earth has some serious barriers to overcome, thanks to its low metro population. A sale to Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and 1.6 mile-move to Mackay Stadium to split space with the University of Nevada, Reno makes this bid competitive, but the turf surface is another knock against it. Candidate: Rio Grande Valley FC Location: Edinburg, Texas (900,304) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): McAllen Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf, 13,500 – 15,000 with expansion) Potential owner: Alice Louise Walton (reported net worth $45 billion) Notes: Yes, I have a second straight Walmart heiress on the list. She was the first thing that popped up when I googled “McAllen Texas richest people.” The family rivalry has spurred Walton to buy a club as well, moving them 10 miles to McAllen Memorial Stadium which, as I alluded to earlier, is a straight up high school football stadium with a full color scoreboard. Toss in an additional 1,500 seats and you’ve met the minimum, despite the turf playing surface. Candidate: San Antonio FC Location: San Antonio, Texas (2,550,960) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Alamodome (FieldTurf, 64,000) Potential owner: Red McCombs (reported net worth $1.6 billion) Notes: I wanted to keep SAFC in the Spurs family, since the franchise is valued at $1.8 billion. That said, I didn’t let the Rooneys own the Riverhounds based on the Steelers’ value and it felt wrong to change the rules, so bring on Clear Channel co-founder Red McCombs. Toyota Field isn’t viable in the first division, but for the Alamodome, which was built in 1993 in hopes of attracting an NFL franchise (and never did), San Antonio can finally claim having *a* national football league team in its town (contingent on your definition of football). Now if only we could do something about that turf… Candidate: San Diego Loyal SC Location: San Diego, Calif. (3,317,749) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm) (Grass, 70,561) Potential owner: Phil Mickelson (reported net worth $91 million) Notes: Yes, golf’s Phil Mickelson. The existing ownership group didn’t seem to have the wherewithal to meet requirements, and Phil seemed to slot right in. As an athlete himself, he might be interesting in the new challenges of a top flight soccer team. Toss in a move to the former home of the chargers and you might have a basis for tremendous community support. Candidate: FC Tulsa Location: Tulsa, Okla. (991,561) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (FieldTurf, 30,000) Potential owner: George Kaiser ($10 billion) Notes: I’m a fan of FC Tulsa’s rebrand, but if they want to make the first division, more changes are necessary. A sale to Tulsa native and one of the 100 richest men in the world George Kaiser means that funding is guaranteed. A move to Chapman Stadium would provide the necessary seats, despite the turf field. While the undersize population might be an issue at first glance, it’s hard to imagine U.S. Soccer not granting a waiver over a less than a 10k miss from the mark. And that’s it! You made it. Those are all of the independent/hybrid affiliates in the USL Championship, which means that it’s time for our… VERDICT: As an expert who has studied this issue for almost an entire day now, I am prepared to pronounce which USL Championships could be most ‘ready” for a jump to the USL Prem. A reminder that of the 27 clubs surveyed, 0 of them met our ideal criteria (proper ownership $, metro population, 15,000+ stadium with grass field). Two of them, however, met almost all of those criteria: Indy Eleven and Miami FC. Those two clubs may use up two of our three available turf fields right from the outset, but the other factors they hit (particularly Silva’s ownership of Miami) makes them difficult, if not impossible to ignore for the top flight. But who fill in the rest of the slots? Meet the entire 14-team USL Premier League: Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Miami FC North Carolina FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Tampa Bay Rowdies Saint Louis FC San Antonio FC New Mexico United Phoenix Rising FC Las Vegas Lights FC Orange County SC San Diego Loyal SC Now, I shall provide my expert rationale for each club’s inclusion/exclusion, which can be roughly broken down into four categories. Firm “yes” Hartford Athletic: It’s a good market size with a solid stadium. With a decent investor and good community support, you’ve got potential here. Indy Eleven: The turf at Lucas Oil Stadium is no reason to turn down a 62,421 venue and a metro population of over 2 million. Louisville City FC: Why doesn’t the 2017 & 2018 USL Cup champion deserve a crack at the top flight? They have the market size, and with a bit of expansion have the stadium at their own SSS. LCFC, you’re in. Miami FC, “The”: Our other blue-chip recruit on the basis of ownership value, market size and stadium capacity. Yes, that field is turf, but how could you snub Silva’s chance to claim victory as the first division 1 club soccer team to play in Miami? Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: Pittsburgh sacrificed a lot to be here (according to my arbitrary calculations). Their market size and the potential boon of soccer at Heinz Field is an important inclusion to the league. Saint Louis FC: Willie hears your “Busch League” jokes, Willie don’t care. A huge market size, combined with the absence of an NFL franchise creates opportunity. Competition with the MLS side, sure, but St. Louis has serious soccer history and we’re willing to bet it can support two clubs. Tampa Bay Rowdies: With a huge population and a massive stadium waiting nearby, Tampa Bay seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up for the USL Prem. Las Vegas Lights FC: Ostentatious, massive and well-financed, Las Vegas Lights FC is everything that the USL Premier League would need to assert that it didn’t intend to play second fiddle to MLS. Players will need to be kept on a short leash, but this is a hard market to pass up on. Phoenix Rising FC: Huge population, big grass field available nearby and a solid history of success in recent years. No brainer. San Diego Loyal SC: New club? Yes, massive population in a market that recently lost an absolutely huge sports presence? Also yes. This could be the USL Prem’s Seattle. Cautious “yes” New Mexico United: You have to take a chance on New Mexico United. The club set the league on fire with its social media presence and its weight in the community when it entered the league last season. The market may be slightly under USSF’s desired 1 million, but fervent support (and the ability to continue to use Isotopes Park) shouldn’t be discounted. North Carolina FC: Carter-Finley’s mixed grass/turf surface is a barrier, to be sure, but the 57,000+ seats it offers (and being enough to offset other fully-turf offerings) is enough to put it in the black. Orange County SC: It’s a top-tier club playing in a MLB stadium. I know it seems unlikely that USSF would approve something like that, but believe me when I say “it could happen.” Orange County is a massive market and California likely needs two clubs in the top flight. San Antonio FC: Our third and only voluntary inclusion to the turf fields in the first division, we’re counting on San Antonio’s size and massive potential stadium to see it through. Cautious “no” Birmingham Legion FC: The town has solid soccer history and a huge potential venue, but the turf playing surface puts it on the outside looking in. Memphis 901 FC: Like Birmingham, not much to dislike here outside of the turf playing surface at the larger playing venue. Austin Bold FC: See the other two above. FC Tulsa: Everything’s just a little bit off with this one. Market’s slightly too small, stadium has turf. Just not enough to put it over the top. Firm “no” Charleston Battery: Small metro and a small potential new stadium? It’s tough to say yes to the risk. Charlotte Independence: A small new stadium and the possibility of having to compete with an organization that just paid over $300 million to join MLS means it’s best for this club to remain in the USL Championship. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: When a club’s best chance to meet a capacity requirement is to host games at a venue controlled by the military, that doesn’t speak well to a club’s chances. El Paso Locomotive FC: An undersized market and a turf field that meets capacity requirements is the death knell for this one. Oklahoma City Energy FC: Having to expand a baseball field to meet requirements is a bad start. Having to potentially play 20 miles away from your main market is even worse. Reno 1868 FC: Population nearly a half-million short of the federation’s requirements AND a turf field at the hypothetical new stadium makes impossible to say yes to this bid. Rio Grande Valley FC: All the seat expansions in the world can’t hide the fact that McAllen Memorial Stadium is a high school stadium through and through. Here’s who’s left in the 11-team Championship: Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Memphis 901 FC Austin Bold FC Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC El Paso Locomotive FC Oklahoma City Energy FC Reno 1868 FC Rio Grande Valley FC FC Tulsa With MLS folding the six affiliates it has in USL League One, the league is a little bit thin (especially considering USSF’s requirements for 8 teams for lower level leagues), but seems definitely able to expand up to the necessary numbers with Edwards’ allusions to five new additions this year: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Forward Madison FC Greenville Triumph SC Union Omaha Richmond Kickers South Georgia Tormenta FC Tucson Format of Assorted Leagues – This (like everything in this post) is pure conjecture on my part, but here are my thoughts on how these leagues might function in a first year while waiting for additional expansion. USL Premier – We’ll steal from the 12-team Scottish Premiership. Each club plays the other 11 clubs 3 times, with either one or two home matches against each side. When each club has played 33 matches, the top six and bottom six separate, with every club playing an additional five matches (against each other team in its group). The top club wins the league. The bottom club is automatically relegated. The second-bottom club will enter a two-legged playoff against someone (see below) from the championship playoffs. USL Championship -- 11 clubs is a challenge to schedule for. How about every club plays everyone else three times (either one or two home matches against each side)? Top four clubs make the playoffs, which are decided by two-legged playoffs. The winner automatically goes up. I need feedback on the second part – is it better to have the runner-up from the playoffs face the second-bottom club from the Premiership, or should the winner of the third-place match-up get the chance to face them to keep drama going in both playoff series? As for relegation, we can clearly only send down the last place club while the third division is so small. USL League One – While the league is so small, it doesn’t seem reasonable to have the clubs play as many matches as the higher divisions. Each club could play the other six clubs four times – twice at home and twice away – for a very equitable 24-match regular season, which would help restrict costs and still provide a chance to determine a clear winner. Whoever finishes top of the table goes up. And there you have it, a hypothetical look at how the USL could build a D1 league right now. All it would take is a new stadium for almost the entire league and new owners for all but one of the 27 clubs, who wouldn’t feel that their property would be massively devalued if they got relegated. Well that’s our show. I’m curious to see what you think of all of this, especially anything that you think I may have overlooked (I’m sure there’s plenty). Anyway, I hope you’re all staying safe and well.
"A little revision to the Stugotz Personal Record Book that maybe some day I'll come around to writing..or Mike will..." I've been writing the Stugotz Personal Record Book since it began. 82 Total Entries so far.
[Time Stamps] Recently started to use them in late 2019. They may not be exact based on what podcast app or service you use. But they'll be close. In 2020 I've started to use Google Podcasts for the time stamps, and they'll be labeled if used. When a new entry is added because Stugotz said something, I go back and edit it into this post. If you have any I missed - message me. I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS:
FOOTBALL
(1) UCF is the 2017-2018 national champion. (2) If Kirk Cousins goes to the Jaguars and not the Jets, no championship he wins will count in the personal record book. Note (2)(a): Still pending sort of since Kirk is with the Vikings now – possible in future he could go to Jags. (3) Eli manning has 1 ring. He doesnt get one for throwing a ball into David Tyree's face / Tyree getting a football stuck in his helmet. (4) Carson Wentz has a Super Bowl 52 ring. Note (4)(a): Foles does not have a Super Bowl 52 ring. (5) The Raiders defeated the Patriots in their divisional playoff matchup in 2002 (Tuck Rule game), and then would defeat the Rams in Super Bowl 36. Note (5)(a): In this scenario also, Bill Belichick was also "fired and looking for a job" after the Tuck Rule game and has 0 rings. (6) If the 2017 Patriots won Super Bowl 52, James Harrison would not have a ring (Patriots lost to Eagles). (7) Peyton Manning has one ring (Broncos ring does not count). (8) Peyton Manning must give such ring he lost (above) to Von Miller, who thus has 2 rings. (9) Aaron Rodgers can have all the rings he wants for keeping all of central Wisconsin employed. (10) Brian Billick has 0 rings (2000 Ravens Super Bowl) because that defense carried him. (11) Tony Boselli is a Hall of Famer. (12) Tarik Cohen is an honorary Jew. (13) JuJu Smith-Schuster is also an honorary Jew. L'Chaim. (14) Drew brees has three rings for winning the super bowl for the city of New Orleans. Note (14)(a): There was discussion on this where the number started at three, went up to five, came down to two, but it ended up at three. (15) Mike McCarthy has no Super Bowl rings. Note(15)(a): Dan also has this in his record book, and it is the first entry into the Le Batard Personal Record Book. Note 15(b): In fact, McCarthy has -3 (Negative three) rings. (16) Any Super Bowl rings Antonio Brown gets with the Patriots will not count in the Stugotz personal record book (9/9 Weekend Observations National Hour 2). (17) Ohio State's 76 to 5 victory over Miami (Ohio) on 9/21/19 does not count.
BASKETBALL
Kevin Durant (1) If Westbrook wins a championship and beats Kevin Durant along the way in the playoffs, Westbrook will have won 2 championship rings. (2)"STRAP IT ON BOYS, GONNA TAKE YA FOR A RIDE:" Kevin Durant has 0 rings (Zero rings) Kevin Durant has -1 rings (Negative 1 rings). Kevin Durant has -4 rings (Negative 4) (As of 4/11/18) Note (2)(a): This number is subject to change based on Stugotz altering rings to the "-4" current total. Specifically as seen recently when Stugotz adjusted the number from (i) 0 rings to (ii) -1 rings to (iii) -4 rings. Note (2)(b):Here is a tweet transcript of the conversation where this was discovered. Archive link (3) If Kevin Durant wins an NBA title for the NY Knicks, he will gain 11 rings. Note (3)(a): As seen above in "(2)," Kevin Durant has -4 rings. Note (3)(b): [Math] If Durant were to remain at -4 rings, and subsequently win an NBA title for the Knicks, he will have 7 rings total. This was specifically stated (-4 + 11 = 7), and a question about a non-specifically stated Personal Record Book entry is posed below in "Note (3)(c)(i)." Note (3)(c): If the Golden State Warriors had won a championship playing 3 on 5 with Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant would have 1 ring. Note (3)(c)(i): [Confusion] I am unsure if "Note(3)(c)" means he would gain +1 ring, and therefore be "up" to -3 rings total. Possibly, Stugotz means if the Golden State Warriors had won a championship 3 on 5 with Durant, Kevin Durant would be at +1 rings total (Positive 1 rings). (4) Kevin Durant's dagger in Game 3 did not count, because according to Stugotz, none of Durant's stats count. KD's official statline last night was 0/0/0 and the Cavs blew the Warriors out by 40. (5) Anything Kevin Durant has done with the Warriors so far is not in Stugotz' personal record scroll. Note (5)(a): Stugotz did not take his feathered pen and write anything in his scroll (King Roy approves). (6) Westbrook has ALL of KD's rings. (7) For every time KD says he doesn't give a BLEEP, Stugotz adds 2 "I do give a BLEEPS" in the personal record book. (8) Per Dan, speaking on Stugotz' behalf, Kevin Durant has no Olympic Gold Medals (9/18/19 National Hour 1 @ 00:07:50). Michael Jordan (1) Jordan has 9 rings because: (a) The Rockets have to give their 2 rings from 1994 and 1995 to Jordan (+2); and (b) The Bulls would have won the 1999 Finals over the Spurs if Jordan didn't retire (+1; 9 total). Note (1)(a-b)(i): Put LeBron's rings in a box and put Jordan's rings in a box. Jordan is +6 by the way over LeBron box-minus, despite box-minus sounding like a dumb stat. (2) Michael Jordan was suspended for 2 years for gambling (Said 4/25/18 Hour 2, 14:30 in podcast). Note 2(a): HOWEVER, MJ still has 9 rings as see above in (1)(a) and (1)(b). (3) Any game Michael Jordan played wearing the uniform #45 does not count. LeBron James (1) If LeBron James goes to the Golden State Warriors, every Championship he wins will result in a deduction of 2 previously won championships. (2) The Miami Heat LeBron teams were the GREATEST teams in the history of sports (5/7/18 Local Hour). (3) The Miami Heat LeBron teams were also the MOST INTERESTING teams in the history of sports. (4) If, after the 2018 NBA Playoffs: (a) LeBron does not make it to the finals and the Celtics do; and (b) The Houston Rockets do not make it to the finals and the Warriors do; and (c) LeBron goes to the Houston Rockets for the next season, THEN LeBron is allowed to win rings that count in Stu's personal record book. Note (4)(a-c)(i): HOWEVER, Harden & Chris Paul - if they remain on the Rockets with LeBron on the team - are not allowed to have any of the rings won with LeBron count in Stu's personal record book. Note 4(a-c)(ii): To quote the big man Stu (with Dan agreeing of course), "Do it on your own” (Dan agrees here). (5) If LeBron wins an NBA Championship with the 2018 Lakers roster (as of 7/23/18), then that wins counts for 6 rings. Note (5)(a): Thus LeBron would have 9 rings. Kyrie Irving (1) Kyrie Irving hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals History, but was only in that position because of LeBron James. Kyrie Irving, did hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history that won everyone on that team a Ring, except for you (Kyrie). (3/9/20 Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 07:00). Note (1)(a): Stugotz: "A little revision to the uhhh Stugotz Personal Record Book that I'll come around to writing...or Mike will." I'M WRITING IT YOU IDIOT MORON JACKAL Misc. Basketball (1) The Houston Rockets have 0 (Zero) NBA Championship victories. Note (1)(a): See "Michael Jordan(1)(a)" for reasoning. Note (1)(a)(i): [Restated Reasoning] Michael Jordan is actually in possession of those 1994 and 1995 Rockets rings because Michael Jordan would have won those championships if he stayed in Chicago. Note(1)(b): [CONFLICTING HOT TAKE] Stugotz has also said Jordan didn't get the Rockets' rings because he was actually suspended for gambling. Note (1)(b)(i)NEEDS CLARIFICATION PLEASE. Stugotz keeps going back and forth. In "Michael JordanNote 1(a)," the opposite of "Miscellaneous BasketballNote (1)(b) is stated because he has gone back and forth on this issue. (2) Steve Kerr has no rings as a coach. In fact, he has never even coached a game. (3) Mychal Thompson (Klay's dad) has no rings. (Said on Zach Harper podcast). (4) Clyde Drexler no rings (Said on Zach Harper podcast). (5) Giannis Antetekoumpo is pronounced Yani Adababoombo. (6) As long as James Harden has his beard, he cannot win any championships. Note (6)(a): If the Rockets win a ring, then the ring goes to the beard. (7) Lamarcus Aldridge cost the Spurs game 2 of the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals, even though they won. (8) If the Sixers happen to win a championship, Sam Hinkie gets a ring. (9) Chris Paul has NOT made a Western Conference Final since he had to join the Rockets to do so. (10) Michael Jordan winning the NBA Finals in 1999 also means that Tim Duncan only has 4 rings instead of 5 rings. (11) The Warriors only have 1 ring Note (11)(a): Durant still has -4. (12) Boogie Cousins cannot win a NBA Championship and have it count if he does so with the Warriors. (13) Billy Donovan was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2017 (12/13/17 @ 28:10 Hour 1). Note (13)(a): The Thunder blowing the 3-1 lead to the Warriors that year had nothing to do with Donovan. It was Durant's fault. (14) The OKC Thunder actually did win the WCF against the Warriors in 2017 when up 3-1. Note (14)(a): This does not apply to Durant though. Note (14)(b): The Thunder also beat whoever they would have played in the Finals. Durant still no ring.
BASEBALL
Babe Ruth (1) Babe Ruth is black. (2) Babe Ruth never hit a baseball. Not once. (3) Babe Ruth is the number two black baseball player of all time behind Barry Larkin. (4) Babe Ruth is NOT a top 20 Baseball player of all time. He's a pitcher. Note (4)(a): However This is somewhat confusing/interesting because: (i) Stugotz has said "Babe Ruth is the number two black baseball player of all time behind Barry Larkin; and" (ii) This MUST mean Stugotz can only have 1 black player in his top 20 Baseball players of all time Barry Larkin; because (iii) The only way this can work logically is if in the list of greatest players #1 through #20, only Barry Larkin is on the latter top #1 through #20 list. I would like some clarification on if he wishes to change this take/record. (5) Babe Ruth is also not a top 20 pitcher of all time. Misc. Baseball (1) Stugotz has declared that in his personal record book, Baseball no longer allows pitchers to hit (Stated on 05/03/2018 @ 12:38:52 P.M). Note (1)(a): Excludes Bartolo Colon, and Shohei Ohtani. Note (1)(b): You are either a pitcher or a hitter. Not both. (2) If the Dodgers won the 2017 World Series Clayton Kershaw would not have had a ring. (3) Wade Boggs DOES have a ring because he rode around on a horse with a beer afterward. (4) Clayton Kershaw did not win an MVP award because the award for pitchers was already given, the CY Young award. (5) Miami beat LSU in the 1996 College Baseball World Series. (6) The 1986 NY Mets did not win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Note (6)(a): This "pains" Stugotz. (7) The Red Sox retroactively winning the 1986 World Series may result in taking a ring away from the Mets. Note (7)(a): Stugotz has to think about it though, he's not sure yet. (8) Bryce Harper did not win the 2018 home run derby because he cheated. (9) Kershaw's Earned Ring Average (ERA) is 0.00. (10) Mike Minor (Rangers Pitcher) does not have 200 strikeouts in 2019. He's at 199 (National Hour 2, 10 mins 40 seconds in). Note (10)(a): Chris agrees too. And who really cares (15% on poll do care). (11) The 2020-2021 Mets, during the Coronavirus outbreak, are 0-3 and Jacob deGrom is somehow 0-1 with a 0.00 ERA and 1 complete game. The deGrominator. (Google Podcast 3/30 Hour #3 @ 19:20)
HOCKEY
(1) Ray Bourque doesn't have a ring. (2) Alex Ovechkin may or may not have won the Stanley Cup against the Vegas Golden Knights. Note (2)(a): "I mean he beat an expansion team . . . bunch of players nobody wanted" (We get the sense that Dan agrees).
TENNIS
(1) If anyone wins a major in Female Tennis without Serena Williams playing, it does not count and they have 0 rings. (2) If Maria Sharapova wins a grand slam in which Serena isnt competing it doesnt count.
GOLF
(1) If Jason Day wins the 2018 Masters, it counts as an American winning (as far as bets are concerned). (2) Vijay Singh did not play in the 2018 Masters.
SOCCER
(1) Lionel Messi is stripped of all his achievements for using HGH. He never played soccer. He is still 5'1". "Fraud." (2) Soccer is dead.
MISCELLANEOUS
(1) Aqua? (2) Rings plus-minus is the only way to measure greatness. (3) The HBO Andre the Giant film was good, not great, and Stugotz didn’t learn anything. (4) Benoit Lecomte (guy they interviewed) can not and will not swim from San Francisco to Tokyo in the personal record book because he is most likely taking a dip for a few minutes then coming back on the boat and enjoying some filet mignon by the pool. Note (4)(a): "Do it without a yacht. And how about ya do it without the little magnetic field around you that keeps sharks away. How bout that. Allows dolphins through though? Anyway.." (5) Justify (the Horse) only has a double crown. Note (5)(a): This is the first ever double crown. (6) Tango and Cash is in the action movie Hall of Fame. and Cliffhanger has the greatest 5 minute intro of any movie of all time. (7) Maximum Security (a Horse) won the 2019 Kentucky Derby. (8) Fruit Stripes Gum is NOT a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer in Stu's "Gum Hall of Fame." (08/12/2019 | Hour 2 @ 15:25). Note (8)(a): "It loses it's flavor so quickly" Note (8)(b): Also, "[...] Bazooka...1st Ballot Hall of Famer." Also, "Big League Chew..1st Ballot." (9) Chris Cote owns all intellectual property rights to the "Friends" (TV Show) Movie with a misleading preview that eventually has a climax leading to an intense murder mystery. (10/29/19 Hour #2 @ 03:15). Note (9)(a): "If they make this without crediting Cote, they're stealing it." (10) That guy killed the pigeon (12/10 Hour 3 @ 08:20). (11) Billy owns the record for world's longest Plank (2/25, Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 30:55). Note (11)(a): Possibly in just the Non-Marine edition. (12) Zach Buchanan won a Pulitzer Prize for his story on the Madison Bumgarner / Mason Saunders rodeo fiasco (2/28/20 Hour #2; Google Podcasts @ 21:35). (13) Findlay the Golden retriever holds the Stu Gotz Personal Record Book record for most tennis balls held in a mouth at one time by a dog at 6 (2/11/2020) (14) Ace Davis (The kid who "proved" Tom Brady was cheating with science) and his fathefamily are heroes (4/1 Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 18:50). (15) Dan did NOT do more push-ups than Domonique Foxworth (Dan did push-ups on a non-linear platform) (4/28/2020 Hour # 1).
SPORTS MEDIA DREAM TEAM™
Sourced from Google Podcast; 05/06/2020, Hour 2 @ 09:00 (Head Coach)Ernie Johnson-"When you look over to the bench, what you need is someone to stand tall, someone who is confident, someone who is competent, someone who has all the credibility -soaked in credibility - when you have the Head Coach of the Sports Media Dream Team." (1; Point Guard)Mike Greenberg-"Doesn't really want to answer the big questions, but has no problem distributing those questions to other people who are happy to answer them." (2; Shooting Guard)Stephen A. Smith-"Never met a topic he doesn't like. Short memory, doesn't care, Greeny could throw him anything and Stephen A. is gonna run with it even if he knows nothing about the topic. That is how it works. Stephen A. is the greatest of all time." (3; Small Forward)Chris Fowler-"A do it all guy. Studio show? Great. Play by Play? Even better. Can do everything." (4; Small Forward Replacement)Maria Taylor) -"Need Play by Play, need Sideline, need Studio Host - she can do it all" (5; Power Forward)Dianna Russini-"You need some crazy, some don't mess with us, someone to tear someone's head off in the event that they come after one of us." (6; Power Forward Replacement)PFT Commenter-"He just comes in and acts crazy, throws his arms and hair around, and give ya 5 to 10 really crazy minutes." (7; In honor of the Chicago Bulls, Stugotz needed a Wennington, a Purdue)Scott Van Pelt- Dan debated whether or not SVP should be on the Sports Media Dream Team™. That's what he's doing. (8; Bench Player w/ No Position Specified)Doris Burke (9) Teased.../I didn't finish listening to the show yet
Hi! I wrote an essay on why trans women should compete with cis women in sport! I wanted to share it! I was inspired to write this because I myself am a trans female athlete, and being able to compete in sport is something very important to me. Does anyone have any suggestions! Gender segregation in sports isn't about fairness, it's about equal representation for men and women. If the philosophy of sport is to "find the, best athlete through fair competition," then women's sports should not exist. It is for this reason that it is fair for trans women to compete with cis women in women's sports. The issue of trans athletes in sports is an incredibly complicated issue that goes far beyond "basic biology." It's a complicated debate that requires consideration of sports physiology, biology and philosophy. First let's talk about the "unfair advantage" that trans women have. I mean, the question as to whether trans female athletes even have an advantage in sports isn't fully answered. It's true that trans women are taller and have higher bone densities than their cis female counterparts. (That said it should be noted that bone density decreases on E as well). Also larger hands/feet, wider shoulders, bigger lungs and slightly more upper body strength than their cis counterparts. But on the other hand overall muscle mass to body weight ratio is quite close and cardiovascular and muscular performance drops significantly on HRT. Red blood cell levels (haematocrit) drop to levels identical to cis females. There's no question as to the fact that trans women have a significant advantage in some sports which benefit from these traits e.g. basketball, volleyball since height is a major factor. But say for endurance while it's true that trans women have bigger lung volumes, they also have bigger frames that require more energy to move - take for example cycling or long distance running where upper body mass is almost dead weight. How much do these two effects cancel each other out, no body knows (pending research!) Swimming you'd imagine that they benefit from lung volume and bigger hands/feet, but the female hourglass shape is a lot more aquadynamic so whether or not trans women really have an advantage in some sports is contentious. People also overestimate the advantage trans women have even if they do have an advantage. People often assume trans women have an advantage that is comparable to men, with news headlines often spouting "trans woman destroys competition," or something to that effect. But in reality there's a massive difference between the athletic performance between men and women, and trans women don't even get close to the performance of cis men. An u-16 boys soccer team beat the US women's soccer team. It's true that men dramatically outperform women in most sports, which underlies the whole argument as to why trans women shouldn't compete with cis women, but what people don't realise is how massive the difference is between cis men and trans women, and if trans women really had the same amount of advantage as cis men, they would absolutely destroy competition (when in reality when they do when they usually only win by a tiny margin.) There was that controvertial cycling race which a trans women won, and she won by only a few seconds in a race that was a few hours long. The man who came first, won by 20+minutes. She did not dominate competition - she did not even close to how well a man would perform. If trans women had an advantage, it would be small and I think it would be unfair to ban them from competition without really working out the degree if the advantage, if any. When it comes to the philosophical debate however, we will assume that it is likely that trans women will have some advantage over cis women in some sports. From a philosophical standpoint, the reason why people say they are against trans women competing in women's sport is that it "isn't fair". But sport fundamentally isn't about fairness. Research has shown that at the elite level, practice only accounts for 2% of the variantion in performance. 90% of it boils down to sheer genetics. There is nothing fair about being gifted with the best set of genes. There's a famous case of this - there is a particular gene that is found in 100% of Olympic level sprinters (ACTN3), and if you don't have this gene, you will never be able to match the performance of an Olympic sprinter.Put this way, if being gifted with a Y chromosome constitutues to better genes, then that's just too bad for everyone else who doesn't have that gene (I don't mean this literally but rather to emphasise my point, but not too long ago this was the attitude towards girls and women who play sport!) If the philosophy of sport is to "find the best athlete through fair competition" then women's sports should not exist. I think women's sport exists for female empowerment and equality. I think the reason why people believe having trans women in women's sport is philosophically unfair is because they still fundamentally don't really see trans women as women. You could think about being a trans woman as having a medical condition that slightly improves your athleticism or simply a slightly more athletic bodily consitutition. Some women are just more athletic than other women, is it unfair to allow naturally athletic women to compete? Clearly that's ridiculous, but it seems unfair to allow trans women to compete. Why is that? Because people fundamentally believe that it is not a "natural" advantage. Underlying this belief is that that trans women aren't women or that it is a choice rather than a natural consequence of having been born in the wrong body. Some drugs are banned due to performance enhancing effects but there's athletes who use these drugs for medical reasons and they're allowed to because they have a medical condition that needs to be treated it would be unfair to ban them from competition for a perceived advantage of which they had no control over. If a cis woman is beaten by another cis women at a sport because the other cis woman is say, taller, she wouldn't complain. But if a cis woman is beaten by a trans women at a sport because the trans woman is taller, (the transphobic) cis athlete would call foul play. Why is that? Because the trans woman is "unnaturally taller?" Why are "natural" advantages somehow fair when they're just magically bestowed on you from birth. That doesn't seem very fair at all. Why is the trans woman considered "unnatural"? I think it's because in the end people see it as a choice and they don't see trans women as women. They don't see the inevitable path of trans women transitioning at some point in their life to live as women. For trans women, transition is as inevitable as it is natural - just as one has no control over their height one has no control over being trans. In conclusion I think trans women can represent women and because of that, I think they should be allowed to compete in women's sports. Side notes: At the elite level, one should be reminded that athletes practice as much as they can until the point where their body cannot tolerate any more traning. Some transphobes believe that some random cis man could hop on HRT and "dominate" cis women in competition. As an athlete I can reassure you that is not the case, you'd still have to train your butt off to even come close to the athletic perfomance of elite athletes. On the topic of fairness I am actually actually an avid ice hockey player. I play in mixed divisions. I actually happen to be chronically anaemic due to a genetic mutation and I get out of breath a lot more easily than my female team mates. I bet if I played in women's leagues there would be someone who would call me out for having an "unfair advantage," while having this particular genetic mutation would just be "bad luck." Talk about double standards! On the topic of trans women having trans only competititions. Unfortunately that would be impossible due to the lack of numbers, also it would mean that all trans female athletes would have to forcibly out themselves. I suppose you could say "then too bad," but I believe that a big part of the spirit of sport is that everyone has the right to participate. I didn't really talk about intersex people but I do think for the same reason if an intersex person does identify as female and aligns with a female gender identity then they should be allowed to compete with cis-non-intersex-women. That said, I do think you would have to put limits on testosterone as a safeguard. edits for grammar edits: my condolences to those getting downvoted by brigading terfs
[Bored During Quarantine?] Reposting the Stugotz Personal Record Book that I've been maintaining since the bit began - Media Dream Team™ included at the Bottom.
[Time Stamps] Recently started to use them in late 2019. They may not be exact based on what podcast app or service you use. But they'll be close. In 2020 I've started to use Google Podcasts for the time stamps, and they'll be labeled if used. When a new entry is added because Stugotz said something, I go back and edit it into this post. If you have any I missed - message me. I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS:
FOOTBALL
(1) UCF is the 2017-2018 national champion. (2) If Kirk Cousins goes to the Jaguars and not the Jets, no championship he wins will count in the personal record book. Note (2)(a): Still pending sort of since Kirk is with the Vikings now – possible in future he could go to Jags. (3) Eli manning has 1 ring. He doesnt get one for throwing a ball into David Tyree's face / Tyree getting a football stuck in his helmet. (4) Carson Wentz has a Super Bowl 52 ring. Note (4)(a): Foles does not have a Super Bowl 52 ring. (5) The Raiders defeated the Patriots in their divisional playoff matchup in 2002 (Tuck Rule game), and then would defeat the Rams in Super Bowl 36. Note (5)(a): In this scenario also, Bill Belichick was also "fired and looking for a job" after the Tuck Rule game and has 0 rings. (6) If the 2017 Patriots won Super Bowl 52, James Harrison would not have a ring (Patriots lost to Eagles). (7) Peyton Manning has one ring (Broncos ring does not count). (8) Peyton Manning must give such ring he lost (above) to Von Miller, who thus has 2 rings. (9) Aaron Rodgers can have all the rings he wants for keeping all of central Wisconsin employed. (10) Brian Billick has 0 rings (2000 Ravens Super Bowl) because that defense carried him. (11) Tony Boselli is a Hall of Famer. (12) Tarik Cohen is an honorary Jew. (13) JuJu Smith-Schuster is also an honorary Jew. L'Chaim. (14) Drew brees has three rings for winning the super bowl for the city of New Orleans. Note (14)(a): There was discussion on this where the number started at three, went up to five, came down to two, but it ended up at three. (15) Mike McCarthy has no Super Bowl rings. Note(15)(a): Dan also has this in his record book, and it is the first entry into the Le Batard Personal Record Book. Note 15(b): In fact, McCarthy has -3 (Negative three) rings. (16) Any Super Bowl rings Antonio Brown gets with the Patriots will not count in the Stugotz personal record book (9/9 Weekend Observations National Hour 2). (17) Ohio State's 76 to 5 victory over Miami (Ohio) on 9/21/19 does not count.
BASKETBALL
Kevin Durant (1) If Westbrook wins a championship and beats Kevin Durant along the way in the playoffs, Westbrook will have won 2 championship rings. (2)"STRAP IT ON BOYS, GONNA TAKE YA FOR A RIDE:" Kevin Durant has 0 rings (Zero rings) Kevin Durant has -1 rings (Negative 1 rings). Kevin Durant has -4 rings (Negative 4) (As of 4/11/18) Note (2)(a): This number is subject to change based on Stugotz altering rings to the "-4" current total. Specifically as seen recently when Stugotz adjusted the number from (i) 0 rings to (ii) -1 rings to (iii) -4 rings. Note (2)(b):Here is a tweet transcript of the conversation where this was discovered. Archive link (3) If Kevin Durant wins an NBA title for the NY Knicks, he will gain 11 rings. Note (3)(a): As seen above in "(2)," Kevin Durant has -4 rings. Note (3)(b): [Math] If Durant were to remain at -4 rings, and subsequently win an NBA title for the Knicks, he will have 7 rings total. This was specifically stated (-4 + 11 = 7), and a question about a non-specifically stated Personal Record Book entry is posed below in "Note (3)(c)(i)." Note (3)(c): If the Golden State Warriors had won a championship playing 3 on 5 with Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant would have 1 ring. Note (3)(c)(i): [Confusion] I am unsure if "Note(3)(c)" means he would gain +1 ring, and therefore be "up" to -3 rings total. Possibly, Stugotz means if the Golden State Warriors had won a championship 3 on 5 with Durant, Kevin Durant would be at +1 rings total (Positive 1 rings). (4) Kevin Durant's dagger in Game 3 did not count, because according to Stugotz, none of Durant's stats count. KD's official statline last night was 0/0/0 and the Cavs blew the Warriors out by 40. (5) Anything Kevin Durant has done with the Warriors so far is not in Stugotz' personal record scroll. Note (5)(a): Stugotz did not take his feathered pen and write anything in his scroll (King Roy approves). (6) Westbrook has ALL of KD's rings. (7) For every time KD says he doesn't give a BLEEP, Stugotz adds 2 "I do give a BLEEPS" in the personal record book. (8) Per Dan, speaking on Stugotz' behalf, Kevin Durant has no Olympic Gold Medals (9/18/19 National Hour 1 @ 00:07:50). Michael Jordan (1) Jordan has 9 rings because: (a) The Rockets have to give their 2 rings from 1994 and 1995 to Jordan (+2); and (b) The Bulls would have won the 1999 Finals over the Spurs if Jordan didn't retire (+1; 9 total). Note (1)(a-b)(i): Put LeBron's rings in a box and put Jordan's rings in a box. Jordan is +6 by the way over LeBron box-minus, despite box-minus sounding like a dumb stat. (2) Michael Jordan was suspended for 2 years for gambling (Said 4/25/18 Hour 2, 14:30 in podcast). Note 2(a): HOWEVER, MJ still has 9 rings as see above in (1)(a) and (1)(b). (3) Any game Michael Jordan played wearing the uniform #45 does not count. LeBron James (1) If LeBron James goes to the Golden State Warriors, every Championship he wins will result in a deduction of 2 previously won championships. (2) The Miami Heat LeBron teams were the GREATEST teams in the history of sports (5/7/18 Local Hour). (3) The Miami Heat LeBron teams were also the MOST INTERESTING teams in the history of sports. (4) If, after the 2018 NBA Playoffs: (a) LeBron does not make it to the finals and the Celtics do; and (b) The Houston Rockets do not make it to the finals and the Warriors do; and (c) LeBron goes to the Houston Rockets for the next season, THEN LeBron is allowed to win rings that count in Stu's personal record book. Note (4)(a-c)(i): HOWEVER, Harden & Chris Paul - if they remain on the Rockets with LeBron on the team - are not allowed to have any of the rings won with LeBron count in Stu's personal record book. Note 4(a-c)(ii): To quote the big man Stu (with Dan agreeing of course), "Do it on your own” (Dan agrees here). (5) If LeBron wins an NBA Championship with the 2018 Lakers roster (as of 7/23/18), then that wins counts for 6 rings. Note (5)(a): Thus LeBron would have 9 rings. Kyrie Irving (1) Kyrie Irving hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals History, but was only in that position because of LeBron James. Kyrie Irving, did hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history that won everyone on that team a Ring, except for you (Kyrie). (3/9/20 Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 07:00). Note (1)(a): Stugotz: "A little revision to the uhhh Stugotz Personal Record Book that I'll come around to writing...or Mike will." I'M WRITING IT YOU IDIOT MORON JACKAL Misc. Basketball (1) The Houston Rockets have 0 (Zero) NBA Championship victories. Note (1)(a): See "Michael Jordan(1)(a)" for reasoning. Note (1)(a)(i): [Restated Reasoning] Michael Jordan is actually in possession of those 1994 and 1995 Rockets rings because Michael Jordan would have won those championships if he stayed in Chicago. Note(1)(b): [CONFLICTING HOT TAKE] Stugotz has also said Jordan didn't get the Rockets' rings because he was actually suspended for gambling. Note (1)(b)(i)NEEDS CLARIFICATION PLEASE. Stugotz keeps going back and forth. In "Michael JordanNote 1(a)," the opposite of "Miscellaneous BasketballNote (1)(b) is stated because he has gone back and forth on this issue. (2) Steve Kerr has no rings as a coach. In fact, he has never even coached a game. (3) Mychal Thompson (Klay's dad) has no rings. (Said on Zach Harper podcast). (4) Clyde Drexler no rings (Said on Zach Harper podcast). (5) Giannis Antetekoumpo is pronounced Yani Adababoombo. (6) As long as James Harden has his beard, he cannot win any championships. Note (6)(a): If the Rockets win a ring, then the ring goes to the beard. (7) Lamarcus Aldridge cost the Spurs game 2 of the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals, even though they won. (8) If the Sixers happen to win a championship, Sam Hinkie gets a ring. (9) Chris Paul has NOT made a Western Conference Final since he had to join the Rockets to do so. (10) Michael Jordan winning the NBA Finals in 1999 also means that Tim Duncan only has 4 rings instead of 5 rings. (11) The Warriors only have 1 ring Note (11)(a): Durant still has -4. (12) Boogie Cousins cannot win a NBA Championship and have it count if he does so with the Warriors. (13) Billy Donovan was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2017 (12/13/17 @ 28:10 Hour 1). Note (13)(a): The Thunder blowing the 3-1 lead to the Warriors that year had nothing to do with Donovan. It was Durant's fault. (14) The OKC Thunder actually did win the WCF against the Warriors in 2017 when up 3-1. Note (14)(a): This does not apply to Durant though. Note (14)(b): The Thunder also beat whoever they would have played in the Finals. Durant still no ring. (15) Whoever wins the 2019-2020 NBA Season Championship (Coronavirus year), did not win a Championship (5/14/2020; Google Podcast, Hour #1 @ 03:15)
BASEBALL
Babe Ruth (1) Babe Ruth is black. (2) Babe Ruth never hit a baseball. Not once. (3) Babe Ruth is the number two black baseball player of all time behind Barry Larkin. (4) Babe Ruth is NOT a top 20 Baseball player of all time. He's a pitcher. Note (4)(a): However This is somewhat confusing/interesting because: (i) Stugotz has said "Babe Ruth is the number two black baseball player of all time behind Barry Larkin; and" (ii) This MUST mean Stugotz can only have 1 black player in his top 20 Baseball players of all time Barry Larkin; because (iii) The only way this can work logically is if in the list of greatest players #1 through #20, only Barry Larkin is on the latter top #1 through #20 list. I would like some clarification on if he wishes to change this take/record. (5) Babe Ruth is also not a top 20 pitcher of all time. Misc. Baseball (1) Stugotz has declared that in his personal record book, Baseball no longer allows pitchers to hit (Stated on 05/03/2018 @ 12:38:52 P.M). Note (1)(a): Excludes Bartolo Colon, and Shohei Ohtani. Note (1)(b): You are either a pitcher or a hitter. Not both. (2) If the Dodgers won the 2017 World Series Clayton Kershaw would not have had a ring. (3) Wade Boggs DOES have a ring because he rode around on a horse with a beer afterward. (4) Clayton Kershaw did not win an MVP award because the award for pitchers was already given, the CY Young award. (5) Miami beat LSU in the 1996 College Baseball World Series. (6) The 1986 NY Mets did not win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Note (6)(a): This "pains" Stugotz. (7) The Red Sox retroactively winning the 1986 World Series may result in taking a ring away from the Mets. Note (7)(a): Stugotz has to think about it though, he's not sure yet. (8) Bryce Harper did not win the 2018 home run derby because he cheated. (9) Kershaw's Earned Ring Average (ERA) is 0.00. (10) Mike Minor (Rangers Pitcher) does not have 200 strikeouts in 2019. He's at 199 (National Hour 2, 10 mins 40 seconds in). Note (10)(a): Chris agrees too. And who really cares (15% on poll do care). (11) The 2020-2021 Mets, during the Coronavirus outbreak, are 0-3 and Jacob deGrom is somehow 0-1 with a 0.00 ERA and 1 complete game. The deGrominator. (Google Podcast 3/30 Hour #3 @ 19:20)
HOCKEY
(1) Ray Bourque doesn't have a ring. (2) Alex Ovechkin may or may not have won the Stanley Cup against the Vegas Golden Knights. Note (2)(a): "I mean he beat an expansion team . . . bunch of players nobody wanted" (We get the sense that Dan agrees).
TENNIS
(1) If anyone wins a major in Female Tennis without Serena Williams playing, it does not count and they have 0 rings. (2) If Maria Sharapova wins a grand slam in which Serena isnt competing it doesnt count.
GOLF
(1) If Jason Day wins the 2018 Masters, it counts as an American winning (as far as bets are concerned). (2) Vijay Singh did not play in the 2018 Masters.
SOCCER
(1) Lionel Messi is stripped of all his achievements for using HGH. He never played soccer. He is still 5'1". "Fraud." (2) Soccer is dead.
MISCELLANEOUS
(1) Aqua? (2) Rings plus-minus is the only way to measure greatness. (3) The HBO Andre the Giant film was good, not great, and Stugotz didn’t learn anything. (4) Benoit Lecomte (guy they interviewed) can not and will not swim from San Francisco to Tokyo in the personal record book because he is most likely taking a dip for a few minutes then coming back on the boat and enjoying some filet mignon by the pool. Note (4)(a): "Do it without a yacht. And how about ya do it without the little magnetic field around you that keeps sharks away. How bout that. Allows dolphins through though? Anyway.." (5) Justify (the Horse) only has a double crown. Note (5)(a): This is the first ever double crown. (6) Tango and Cash is in the action movie Hall of Fame. and Cliffhanger has the greatest 5 minute intro of any movie of all time. (7) Maximum Security (a Horse) won the 2019 Kentucky Derby. (8) Fruit Stripes Gum is NOT a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer in Stu's "Gum Hall of Fame." (08/12/2019 | Hour 2 @ 15:25). Note (8)(a): "It loses it's flavor so quickly" Note (8)(b): Also, "[...] Bazooka...1st Ballot Hall of Famer." Also, "Big League Chew..1st Ballot." (9) Chris Cote owns all intellectual property rights to the "Friends" (TV Show) Movie with a misleading preview that eventually has a climax leading to an intense murder mystery. (10/29/19 Hour #2 @ 03:15). Note (9)(a): "If they make this without crediting Cote, they're stealing it." (10) That guy killed the pigeon (12/10 Hour 3 @ 08:20). (11) Billy owns the record for world's longest Plank (2/25, Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 30:55). Note (11)(a): Possibly in just the Non-Marine edition. (12) Zach Buchanan won a Pulitzer Prize for his story on the Madison Bumgarner / Mason Saunders rodeo fiasco (2/28/20 Hour #2; Google Podcasts @ 21:35). (13) Findlay the Golden retriever holds the Stu Gotz Personal Record Book record for most tennis balls held in a mouth at one time by a dog at 6 (2/11/2020) (14) Ace Davis (The kid who "proved" Tom Brady was cheating with science) and his fathefamily are heroes (4/1 Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 18:50). (15) Dan did NOT do more push-ups than Domonique Foxworth (Dan did push-ups on a non-linear platform) (4/28/2020 Hour # 1).
SPORTS MEDIA DREAM TEAM™
Sourced from Google Podcast; 05/06/2020, Hour 2 @ 09:00 (Head Coach)Ernie Johnson-"When you look over to the bench, what you need is someone to stand tall, someone who is confident, someone who is competent, someone who has all the credibility -soaked in credibility - when you have the Head Coach of the Sports Media Dream Team." (1; Point Guard)Mike Greenberg-"Doesn't really want to answer the big questions, but has no problem distributing those questions to other people who are happy to answer them." (2; Shooting Guard)Stephen A. Smith-"Never met a topic he doesn't like. Short memory, doesn't care, Greeny could throw him anything and Stephen A. is gonna run with it even if he knows nothing about the topic. That is how it works. Stephen A. is the greatest of all time." (3; Small Forward)Chris Fowler-"A do it all guy. Studio show? Great. Play by Play? Even better. Can do everything." (4; Small Forward Replacement)Maria Taylor) -"Need Play by Play, need Sideline, need Studio Host - she can do it all" (5; Power Forward)Dianna Russini-"You need some crazy, some don't mess with us, someone to tear someone's head off in the event that they come after one of us." (6; Power Forward Replacement)PFT Commenter-"He just comes in and acts crazy, throws his arms and hair around, and give ya 5 to 10 really crazy minutes." (7; In honor of the Chicago Bulls, Stugotz needed a Wennington, a Purdue)Scott Van Pelt- Dan debated whether or not SVP should be on the Sports Media Dream Team™. That's what he's doing. (8; Bench Player w/ No Position Specified)Doris Burke (9) Teased.../I didn't finish listening to the show yet
[February 2020 Edition] Stugotz Personal Record Book.
Time Stamps may not be exact based on what podcast app or service you use. But they'll be close.
Football
(1) UCF is the 2017-2018 national champion. (2) If Kirk Cousins goes to the Jaguars and not the Jets, no championship he wins will count in the personal record book (Still pending sort of since Kirk is with the Vikings now – possible in future he could go to Jags). (3) Eli manning has 1 ring. He doesnt get one for throwing a ball into David Tyree's face / Tyree getting a football stuck in his helmet. (4) Carson Wentz has a SB 52 ring. Foles doesnt. (5) The Raiders defeated the Patriots in their divisional playoff matchup in 2002 (Tuck Rule game), then would defeat the Rams in Super Bowl 36. In this scenario also, Bill Belichick was also "fired and looking for a job" after the Tuck Rule game and has 0 rings. (6) If the 2017 Patriots won Super Bowl 52, James Harrison would not have a ring (Patriots lost to Eagles). (7) Peyton Manning has one ring (Broncos ring does not count). (8) Peyton Manning must give such ring he lost (above) to Von Miller, who thus has 2 rings. (9) Aaron Rodgers can have all the rings he wants for keeping all of central Wisconsin employed. (10) Brian Billick has 0 rings (2000 Ravens SB) because that defense carried him. (11) Tony Boselli is a Hall of Famer. (12) Tarik Cohen is an honorary Jew. (13) JuJu Smith-Schuster is also an honorary Jew. L'Chaim. (14) Drew brees has three rings for winning the super bowl for the city if new orleans (there was discussion on this where the number started at three, went up to five, came down to two, but iirc it ended up at three) (15) Mike McCarthy has no Super Bowl rings. Dan also has this in his record book. In fact, McCarthy has -3 (negative three) rings. (16) Any Super Bowl rings Antonio Brown gets with the Patriots will not count in the Stugotz personal record book. 9/9 Weekend Observations National Hour 2. (17) Ohio States 76 to 5 victory over Miami (OH) on 9/21/19 does not count.
Basketball
Kevin Durant (1) If Westbrook wins a championship and beats Kevin Durant along the way in the playoffs, Westbrook will have won 2 championship rings. (2)Kevin Durant has -1 rings (negative 1 rings). As of 4/11/18 Durant has -4 Rings. Here is a tweet transcript of the conversation where this was discovered. https://twitter.com/AndFinallyDLB/status/984180896927543297 (3) If Kevin Durant wins an NBA title for the NY Knicks, he will gain 11 rings. However, as seen above, Durant has -4 rings and if he were to remain at -4, then win for the Knicks, he will have 7 rings total. This number is subject to change based on Stugotz altering the "-4" current total as seen recently when Stugotz adjusted the number from 0 rings to -1 rings to -4 rings. Another interesting note is that Stugotz has also said, If the Warriors won a championship playing 3 on 5 Kevin Durant would have 1 ring. I am unsure if this means he would gain +1 ring, and therefore be down to -3 rings total, or whether it means if they win a championship 3 on 5, he would be at (positive)+1 rings total. (4) Kevin Durant's dagger in Game 3 did not count, because according to Stugotz none of Durant's stats count. KD's official statline last night was 0/0/0 and the Cavs blew the Warriors out by 40. (5) Anything Kevin Durant has done with the Warriors is not n Stugotz' personal record scroll. (Stugotz did not take his feathered pen and write anything in his scroll (King Roy approves)). (6) Westbrook had ALL of KD's rings. (7) For every time KD says he doesn't give a BLEEP, Stugotz adds 2 "I do give a BLEEPS" in the personal record book. (8) Per Dan, speaking on Stugotz' behalf, KD has no Olympic Gold Medals (9/18/19 National Hour 1 @ 00:07:50). Michael Jordan (1) Jordan has 9 rings since (a) the Rockets have to give their 2 rings from 1994 and 1995 to Jordan, and (b) the Bulls would have won the 1999 Finals over the Spurs if Jordan didn't retire. (2) Michael Jordan was suspended for 2 years for gambling (Said 4/25/18 Hour 2, 14:30 in podcast). But MJ still has 9 rings as see above. (3) Any game Michael Jordan played wearing the uniform #45 does not count. LeBron James (1) If LeBron James goes to the GSW, every championship he wins will result in a deduction of 2 previously won championships. (2) The Miami Heat LeBron teams were the GREATEST teams in the history of sports (5/7/18 Local Hour). (3) The Miami Heat LeBron teams were also the MOST INTERESTING teams in the history of sports. (4) If, after the 2018 NBA Playoffs, (1) LeBron does not make it to the finals and the Celtics do, & (2) The Houston Rockets do not make it to the finals and the Warriors do, & (3) then LeBron goes to the Houston Rockets for the next season, LeBron is allowed to win rings that count in Stu's personal record book. HOWEVER Harden & Chris Paul, if they remain on the Rockets with LeBron on the team, are not allowed to have any of the rings won with LeBron count in Stu's personal record book. To quote the big man Stu (with Dan agreeing of course), "Do it on your own” (Dan agrees here). (5) If LeBron wins an NBA Championship with the 2018 Lakers roster (as of 7/23/18) then that wins counts for 6 rings. Thus LeBron has 9 rings. Kyrie Irving (1) Kyrie Irving hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals History, but was only in that position because of LeBron James. Kyrie Irving, did hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history that won everyone on that team a Ring, except for you (Kyrie). (3/9/20 Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 07:00). Note: "A little revision to the uhhh Stugotz Personal Record Book that I'll come around to writing...or Mike will." I'M WRITING IT YOU IDIOT MORON JACKAL!!! Misc. Basketball (1) The Houston Rockets have 0 (none) NBA Championship victories. See a previous bullet, because Michael Jordan actually is in possession of those rings since Jordan would have won those championships if he stayed (1994 and 1995 did not count for Houston). BUT WAIT - CONFLICTING HOT TAKES AHEAD Stugotz has also said Jordan didn't get the Rockets' rings because he was actually suspended for gambling. NEEDS CLARIFICATION PLEASE. (2) Steve Kerr has no rings as a coach. In fact, he has never even coached a game. (3) Mychal Thompson (Klay's dad) has no rings. (Said on Zach Harper podcast). (4) Clyde Drexler no rings (Said on Zach Harper podcast). (5) Giannis Antetekoumpo is pronounced Yani Adababoombo. (6) As long as James Harden has his beard, he cannot win any championships. If the Rockets win a ring, then the ring goes to the beard. (7) Lamarcus Aldridge cost the Spurs game 2 of the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals, even though they won. (8) If the Sixers happen to win a championship, Sam Hinkie gets a ring. (9) Chris Paul has NOT made Western Conference Final since he had to join the Rockets to do so. (10) Michael Jordan winning the NBA Finals in 1999 also means that Tim Duncan only has four rings instead of 5 rings. (11) The Warriors only have 1 ring (Durant still has none/negative) (12) Boogie Cousins cannot win a NBA Championship and have it count if he does so with the Warriors. (13) Billy Donovan was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2017 (12/13/17 @ 28:10 Hour 1). The Thunder Blowing the 3-1 lead to the Warriors that year had nothing to do with Donovan. It was Durant's fault. (14) The OKC Thunder actually did win the WCF against the Warriors in 2017 when up 3-1. This does not apply to Durant though. The Thunder also beat whoever they would have played in the Finals. Durant still no ring.
Baseball
Babe Ruth (1) Babe Ruth is black. (2) Babe Ruth never hit a baseball. Not once. (3) Babe Ruth is the number two black baseball player of all time behind Barry Larkin. (4) Babe Ruth is NOT a top 20 Baseball player of all time. He's a pitcher. However This is somewhat confusing/interesting Because: Stugotz has said "Babe Ruth is the number two black baseball player of all time behind Barry Larkin." This MUST mean Stugotz can only have 1 black player in his top 20 Baseball players of all time Barry Larkin. The only way it can work logically is if in the list of greatest players #1 through #20, only Barry Larkin is on the latter 1 through 20 list. I would like some clarification on if he wishes to change this take/record. (5) Babe Ruth is also not a top 20 pitcher of all time. Misc. Baseball (1) (Stated on 05/03/2018 @ 12:38:52 P.M) Stugotz has declared that in his personal record book, Baseball no longer allows pitchers to hit (Excluding Bartolo Colon, and Shohei Ohtani). You are either a pitcher or a hitter. Not both. (2) If the Dodgers won the 2017 World Series Clayton Kershaw would not have had a ring. (3) Wade Boggs DOES have a ring because he rode around on a horse with beer afterward. (4) Clayton Kershaw did not win an MVP award because the award for pitchers was already given, the CY Young award. (5) Miami beat LSU in the 1996 College Baseball World Series . (6) The 1986 NY Mets did not win the World Series against the Boston Redsocks (this pains Stugotz). (7) The Red Sox may have won the 1986 World Series, taking a ring away from the Mets. Stugotz has to think about it though, he's not sure yet. (8) Bryce Harper did not win the 2018 home run derby because he cheated. (9) Kershaw's Earned Ring Average (ERA) is 0.00 (10) Mike Minor (Rangers Pitcher) does not have 200 strikeouts in 2019. He's at 199 (National Hour 2, 10 mins 40 seconds in). Chris agrees too. And who really cares (15% on poll do care).
Hockey
(1) Ray Bourque doesn't have a ring. (2) Alex Ovechkin may or may not have won the Stanley Cup against the Vegas Golden Knights. "I mean he beat an expansion team . . . bunch of players nobody wanted" (We get the sense that Dan agrees).
Tennis
(1) If anyone wins a major in Female Tennis without Serena Williams playing, it does not count and they have 0 rings. (2) If Maria Sharapova wins a grand slam in which Serena isnt competing it doesnt count.
Golf
(1) If Jason Day wins the 2018 Masters, it counts as an American winning (as far as bets are concerned). (2) Vijay Singh did not play in the 2018 Masters.
Soccer
(1)Lionel Messi is stripped of all his achievements for using HGH. He never played soccer. He is still 5'1". "Fraud."
Miscellaneous
(1) Aqua? (2) Rings plus-minus is the only way to measure greatness. (3) The HBO Andre the Giant film was good, not great and Stugotz didn’t learn anything. (4) Benoit Lecomte (guy they interviewed) can not and will not swim from San Francisco to Tokyo in the personal record book because he is most likely taking a dip for a few minutes then coming back on the boat and enjoying some filet mignon by the pool. "Do it without a yacht. And how about ya do it without the little magnetic field around you that keeps sharks away. How bout that. Allows dolphins through though? Anyway.." (5) Justify (the horse) only has a double crown. This is the first ever double crown. (6) Tango and Cash is in the action movie hall of fame and Cliffhanger is the greatest 5 minute intro of any movie of all time. (7) Maximum Security (a horse) won the 2019 Kentucky Derby. (8) Fruit Stripes Gum is NOT a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer in Stu's 'Gum Hall of Fame' because "it loses it's flavor so quickly" (08/12/2019 | Hour 2 @ 15:25). Also, "[...] Bazooka...1st Ballot Hall of Famer." Also, "Big League Chew..1st Ballot." (9) Chris Cote owns all intellectual property rights to the "Friends" (TV Show) Movie with a misleading preview that eventually has a climax leading to an intense murder mystery. (10/29/19 Hour #2 @ 03:15). If they make this without crediting Cote, they're stealing it. (10) That guy killed the pigeon (12/10 Hour 3 @ 08:20). (11) Billy owns the record for world's longest Plank (2/25, Hour #3; Google Podcast @ 30:55) (Possibly in just the Non-Marine edition). (12) Zach Buchanan won a Pulitzer Prize for his story on the Madison Bumgarner / Mason Saunders rodeo story (2/28/20 Hour #2; Google Podcasts @ 21:35).
Hello, I'm RatherBeYachting and I welcome you to the first of my off-season shit posts. As per the idea from jkd0002 that received a fair amount of up votes in contest mode to merit posting, with approval from the gracious mods, we will look at Eastern Bloc countries and their college football equivalents. Why am I qualified for this most sensitive of tasks? As someone born in the Eastern Bloc, who has spent many a summer in the region and has been to a dozen of these countries I feel I could handle this delicate endeavor. As evidence, here is an old picture of me in a weapons museum next to a missile. This one was suppose to nuke San Francisco! If I don't mention your program or conference it's solely because I hate your program. The Now Defunct States Soviet Union: Alabama. Is there any doubt that this would be the USSR? Alabama has dominated the college football landscape the way the USSR dominated Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The most renowned leaders of Alabama are Paul 'Bear' Bryant and Nick Saban. The Soviet Union was synonymous with bears. As a bonus, Bear Bryant was known for his brutal camps at Texas A&M - as Soviet dictators were known for their brutal camps in Siberia. Nick Stalin has also brought his rivals to their knees, by the college football equivalent of the T-34 tank, the 5-star recruit. Roll Red Tide! German Democratic Republic: Florida, Florida State, Miami, Washington. You may ask, how can one country be four college football programs? And I'll tell you this is my shit post, and if you're unhappy you're welcome to enter the transfer portal. It's probably not that bad in there anyway, or Tathan would have let us know if it was ass. The Florida schools: relatively late arrivals on the college football scene, but when going at full strength they are athletically formidable. But we all know the real reason, when you hear the weirdest fucking story it definitely came from either Germany or Florida. Washington: The East German Olympic team was known for great success and steroid use, much like the Huskies under Don James. Eastern Germany collapsed, the Berlin Wall was torn down, and Washington went 0-12. Yugoslavia: Southwest Conference. The geographically close conference, like Yugoslavia, was destroyed in the 1990s. Former members wound up in the SEC, Big-12, MWC temporarily, Conference USA, and the American Athletic Conference. Several former members are still feuding. The Current Nations Russia: Ohio State. A traditional power which regained their prominence under a man of dubious character. Even when Putin was forced to step aside by term limits he hung around, just like Urban Meyer during his suspension. Ohio State is the biggest program in the Big-10, and despised by their neighbors, just like Russia. Despite the success of the program/country they remain obsessed with their neighbor and old rival. Ukraine: Michigan. One of the undisputed blue bloods of college football dating back to the days of the leather helmet. Just like Ukraine was the first empire of Eastern Europe as the [Kyivan Rus.](www.historyforkids.net/images/kievanrus.jpg) However, both have fallen from prominence in recent times. Largely as a result of the rise of their aggressive neighbor Ohio State/Russia. Kansas State: Belarus. Let's get the obvious out of the way, K-State's dictator has left the program, but the similarities are still there. Belarus' leader since 1994, Aleksandr Lukashenko, is often referred to as the last dictator in Europe. He is still in power and there is a high chance of instability if he is no longer in office, a way he clings to power. But wait, the similarities don't end there. The way Bill Snyder had been grooming his son Sean to take over his spot, Lukashenko is doing the same with his youngest son Nikolai. The 'pint sized dictator' accompanies his father to all sorts of events. Clemson: Lithuania. You may think a basketball school belongs here, but Lil' Ole Clemson is the school that appears to be dethroning Alabama. Much like Lil' Ole Lithuania did to the Soviet Union when it was the first to declare independence. Having scored a victory over the Soviet Union, and a 31-0 win over Russia, Clemson is the clear choice here. Washington State: Moldova. The poorest country in Europe, just like Washington State is one of the poorest athletic departments in P-5 football. Moldova is an agrarian country, particularly known for their apples and cherries - just like Eastern Washington. The fine students of Wazzu are also known for their alcohol consumption, and Moldova lays claim to being the largest per capita consumers of alcohol. LSU: Hungary. The Hungarians are an outlier in the Slavic speaking Eastern European world. Their language is part of the Finno-Ungaric family, incomprehensible to Slav speakers of nearby countries who can find commonalities in their languages. Thus, the clear choice is LSU and Coach Orgeron. Előre Tegrisek! Oregon: Poland. A nation and program that suffered for a long time under the boots of their neighbors, but began a rise to prominence in the 1990s. One of the quickest growing economies in Europe has transformed Poland, much like Nike money has transformed Oregon football. The Ducks record against Ohio State/Russia isn't much different from Poland's record against Russia. Wisconsin: Czech Republic. Wisconsin loves beer. The Czechs aren't just the heaviest beer drinkers in Europe, they are also the inventors of Pilsner. Serbia: Nebraska. Once a great power as the dominant force of Yugoslavia, a steep decline in prestige has affected both the Serbians and Cornhuskers. The Nebraska fans are known for their intense passion, Serbians may have got a little too carried away with their nationalism. Notre Dame: Slovakia. Slovakia is one of the Eastern European countries with a large percentage of Catholics. In fact, during WWII the leader of the country was a Catholic priest named Josez Tiso. As the picture of him with Hitler suggests, Slovakia was a Nazi puppet state. He was executed for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which is a bit different from Notre Dame which hasn't executed great in their past few title game and CFP appearances. American Athletic Conference: Macedonia. The AAC lays claim to there being a P-6, pissing off the P-5 conferences. Much like Macedonia pisses off the Greeks by using the name of a Greek region. Macedonia has to officially use the name FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). The AAC could use some of that flexibility and not be afraid of scheduling a 2-1 series with a P-5 opponent. BYU: Kosovo. The country with the highest percentage of adherents of Islam, with 96%, is an outlier in a region dominated by Orthodox Christianity and atheism. Much like BYU with it's strict honor code stands out in the college football landscape. Kansas: Slovenia. Here's your great at basketball country, and your awful at football but great at basketball program. The reigning European basketball champions have gifted us Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic, while Kansas basketball has 29 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and 14 straight conference championships. Rutgers: Armenia. Rutgers lays a claim as the first college football program. Armenia claims to be the first Christian country in Europe, having adopted the religion in the year 301. Armenia is responsible for the Kardashians, while Rutgers is responsible for Artur Sitkowski's passing, so we've suffered at both of their hands. Albania: Butch Jones. The first thing I thought of when I thought of Albania was The Simpsons episode 'Crepes of Wrath' where Albanian foreign exchange student/spy Adil Hoxha stay with the Simpsons. One look at Adil reminded me of none other than the Champion of Life himself, Butch Jones. USC: Croatia. The former Yugoslav state made it to the finals of the last World Cup, so it's difficult to compare it to the dysfunction that is currently happening at USC. But one look at the Mediterranean style beauty of Croatia will remind you of Southern California. Granted, the country is on the Adriatic Sea and not the Mediterranean, but Clay Helton somehow has a job so things don't have to make sense all the time. Kentucky: The Republic of Georgia. What, you thought Georgia would be Georgia? Hear me out. Kentucky's Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system in the world at 82 square miles. Georgia is home to the world's deepest caves, including one that is 7,257 feet deep. Spelunk away! Texas A&M: Azerbaijan. Both of them have oil money. The Aggies coach is in the most expensive in the sport, and his name is Jimbo Fisher. Azerbaijan is on the Caspian Sea, home of Beluga Caviar and the most expensive fishery product in the world. Neither of them is playing Texas. Oklahoma: Romania. The most famous Romanian of all time, Vlad the Impaler, stuck the heads of his enemies on pikes. Baker Mayfield stuck a flag on Ohio State's field, which is almost the same thing. Texas: Bulgaria. This was the initial thought, since it's directly South of Oklahoma/Romania. But while trying to find some similarities I found something in Bulgarian history called the Bogomil Heresy, and it was confusing as fuck. Almost as confusing as whether Texas is back or not. Oregon State: Bosnia and Herzegovina. A brutal war forced many people to flee. You know who else fled from a bad situation? Gary Andersen. Ole Miss: Uzbekistan. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, Uzbekistan is the most corrupt country in the former USSR. The choice was clear. Stanford: Estonia. Known for it's internet freedom laws and online voting, Estonia is a burgeoning place for tech companies. The creators of Kazaa and co-creators of Skype are Estonians. What college comes to mind when you hear internet companies? Those Stanford nerds. Minnesota: Latvia. Both like hockey? Check. Both have lots of lakes? Check. Plus, one time I got really drunk with some Latvians and they were really nice and I never asked them to say tacos but I bet they'd pronounce it tay-cos.
Write-ups taken partly from the BBC, the Washington Post, and NBC’s daily guides. In alpine skiing, Austria's Matthias Mayer is the defending men's downhill Olympic champion, but Switzerland's Beat Feuz took the most recent world title. Norwegian veteran Aksel Lund Svindal is also looking to end his Olympic career back on the podium. Day two will see the completion of the mixed curling round robin with the top four nations qualifying for the semi-finals. In freestyle skiing, Jaelin Kauf is one of America's first medal contenders in the women's moguls after enjoying an impressive breakthrough season. Germany (as East, West or combined) have topped the Olympic luge medal standings at every Games bar one since the sport debuted in 1964 and few would bet against further domination in South Korea. Felix Loch is looking for a third successive men's singles title at the Olympics, but will be wary of Austrian world champion Wolfgang Kindl who has regularly rivalled and beaten Loch this season. In speed skating, 28-time World Championship gold medallist and three-time Olympic gold medallist Sven Kramer of the Netherlands is one of the biggest names in the sport. He is looking to secure a third-successive Olympic 5000m title, but the rise of Netherlands-born Canadian Ted-Jan Bloemen, who broke Kramer's 5000m world record in December, could make this his biggest challenge to date. The first snowboard medals will be handed out in men’s slopestyle, where there will be a new champion following Sochi gold medalist Sage Kotsenburg's retirement. Fellow American Redmond Gerard leads the World Cup standings at only 17 years old, but Canadian rival Mark McMorris, who was third at Sochi 2014, could be one of the comeback stories of the Games. McMorris broke his jaw, arm, pelvis and ribs, ruptured his spleen and suffered a collapsed lung in a crash last March, but showed he is nearing his best again by claiming X Games bronze in January.
Daily Schedule
All times in local time (KST). For those new to these sports, ddvdd2005 has written a guide on the medal events here, and cptcaffeine has a detailed preview on the figure skating team event here. Curling (Morning Session) – 9:05 to 11:00 Mixed doubles round robin #7 Snowboard (Morning Session) – 10:00 to 11:45 Men’s slopestyle final Figure Skating – 10:00 to 14:40 Team event: ice dance short dance, women’s short program, pairs free skating Alpine Skiing – 11:00 to 13:05 Men’s downhill finals - POSTPONED UNTIL THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15 AT 11:00 KST Snowboard (Afternoon Session) – 13:30 to 15:35 Women’s slopestyle qualification - POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12 AT 10:00 KST Cross-Country Skiing – 15:15 to 17:10 Men’s 15km + 15km skiathlon final Speed Skating – 16:00 to 18:15 Men’s 5000m final Hockey – 16:40 to 19:00 and 21:10 to 23:30 Women’s preliminary round matches Luge – 18:50 to 21:35 Men’s singles runs #3 and #4 (medals awarded) Freestyle Skiing – 19:30 to 20:00 and 21:00 to 22:40 Women’s moguls final Curling (Evening Session) – 20:05 to 22:00 Mixed doubles tie-breaker Biathlon – 20:15 to 21:55 Men’s 10km sprint final
Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives. PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE: 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999
WWF's Summerslam is in the books and it was a fantastic show that raised the bar with crazy stunts. There was the show-stealing TLC match between Edge & Christian/Hardyz/Dudleyz that was full of insane bumps (remember, this is the first ever TLC match). Shane McMahon also took a crazy bump off the TitanTron (and Steve Blackman followed with an elbow drop). Dave worries about all the backyard wrestler type kids trying to copy all this dangerous stuff, because it's a given that it will happen. But backyard wrestlers don't have crash pads, doctors on site, and other safety precautions the way WWF does. Obviously, you can't legislate stupidity, but WWF is the industry leader and when someone dies jumping off a ladder from their roof through a table, people are going to point the finger of blame at them and use things like this show as an example. Dave just feels like the bar on crazy stunts is beginning to be raised too high. Anyway, the show was sold out and because of higher ticket prices, it was the 7th highest gate in the history of American pro wrestling and the first time they've done a gate of over $1 million for something other than Wrestlemania. The show was main evented by a Rock/Triple H/Kurt Angle three-way match that saw Angle get legitimately knocked loopy early in the match on a table bump when the announce table broke before it was supposed to. After the match, Angle couldn't remember anything that happened after the botched spot and he was taken to the hospital and kept overnight for observation. (Yeah, if you've never seen this, Angle is MASSIVELY concussed. He's so clearly out of it. Angle later said that when Stephanie came out for the end of the match, and they were outside the ring, Stephanie kept having to lead him through spots. "Throw him against the stairs. Okay now grab his leg. Okay, now do this..." He was absolutely GONE. Knowing what we know now about concussions, it's scary to watch.)
Other notes from Summerslam: there was an ad during the show for a place called Vinnie's Restaurant in Raleigh, NC where the show was. That restaurant was actually started by one of Vince McMahon's close childhood friends and is actually named in honor of Vince (he helped originally finance the place), so that's why that was plugged during the show (the place still exists, but Vince's friend sold it to new owners way back in 2002). Chyna won the IC title by pinning Trish Stratus. Don't ask. Jericho/Benoit in a 2-out-of-3 falls match was good but rushed and was missing something. Dave predicts the TLC match will get a lot of votes for match of the year. Kat vs. Terri in a stink face match was what you'd expect, but Dave notes that Al Snow managed to grab a handful of both women's asses at points during the match. Undertaker vs. Kane never really got going and that whole storyline was thrown together at the last minute anyway after Big Show got pulled from the card. And Rock retained the WWF title in a match that was built around the Triple H/Angle/Stephanie love triangle. Fortunately, the match was already booked to have Angle disappear for a large part of it after the table bump, which is fortunate since he really did need that extra 15 minutes or so to halfway recover after being knocked loopy. When Angle was being carted out on the stretcher, Triple H went after him and was supposed to tip over the stretcher and beat Angle up some more. But by that point, they all kinda realized that Angle was seriously hurt so Triple H improvised and didn't really do anything to him other than hit him with a few worked punches while he waited for Rock to come interrupt and then they took Angle backstage.
The latest PRIDE event is in the book and it featured Ken Shamrock losing his fight and Kazushi Sakuraba defeating Renzo Gracie, which is the 3rd Gracie family member in a row to lose to Sakuraba (he'll end up adding a 4th, Ryan, to that list in a few months). Shamrock's loss came at the hands of NJPW wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita. Shamrock was dominating the fight but his corner threw the towel in after about 6+ minutes when Shamrock seemed to start suffering heart attack symptoms and went pale. He ended up being okay after the fight and refused to talk about it with the press. It was said to be incredibly hot in the arena, over 100 degrees and probably even hotter under the lights and fighting. In the other big fight, Renzo Gracie suffered a dislocated elbow when he refused to tap out to Sakuraba and the referee stopped it. It was a close fight and Renzo is widely considered the best of the Gracie family, and he was gracious in defeat, which the other Gracies have not been. There was a bunch of wrestlers working the show and a seemingly worked wrestling-style angle to set up a future Naoya Ogawa/Masaaki Satake fight. Speaking of, Satake's victory over Kazunari Mirakami came across as suspicious to some and considering Antonio Inoki was one of the producers of the show and Satake's win set up the Ogawa angle, there was some suspicion that this fight may have been worked.
ECW put on 2 shows at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC this week and many were calling it the greatest weekend in the history of ECW with 2 of the best shows the company has ever put on. The events even got front page coverage on the next day's NY Daily News. The two shows consisted of 5 hours of TV tapings, which will be the final shows for ECW on TNN, and it ended with Cyrus "cancelling" ECW on TNN. At the first show, Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri won the tournament to crown new tag champions but lost them at the next show. Kid Kash became TV champion. Dawn Marie returned as Steve Corino's manager (who also came out with Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, and he got involved as well). But it wasn't all good. Psicosis faced Tony DeVito in a match that was such a styles clash and so bad that it reportedly won't make television. But several other matches were great. It ended with Cyrus cancelling ECW, which brought out Paul Heyman and he laid out Cyrus, only to have Rhino put Heyman through a table and a huge brawl broke out (yeah this whole angle is great and the crowd is nuclear).
Regarding the actual, real cancellation of ECW, there's a lot of hope that they will end up on USA and there's still a lot of talk about it being a 2-hour show on Saturday nights, although nothing has been finalized yet. The plan for a new 2-hour show would be for it to have a heavy focus on good in-ring matches (I love how Heyman was already beginning to toy with the idea of changing ECW into the type of promotion that ROH would later become. Paul Heyman seems to always be a few years ahead of the curve on where wrestling is going). USA is still appealing the Raw decision so that's one of the major hold-ups to them striking a deal with ECW.
Must be a slow week because, with the 2000 Summer Olympics approaching, Dave decides to take a look at some of the Olympic athletes who have transitioned into pro wrestling or MMA or vice versa. I feel like we just did this a few months ago but this is waaaaaaaaay more in-depth, dating back to 1906. Man, I'm sure this is interesting to read, but fuck that. It's lunch time for me anyway. I think I'm going to go to Subway. I'll let y'all know how it goes when I get back.
I'm back. Lunch was fine. Got the foot long spicy Italian with lettuce, cucumbers, banana peppers, salt & pepper and sweet onion sauce. My sandwich artist put just a little too much sauce on there, but it was fine. I sat in my car and tried to read a book while I ate, but my wife kept texting me. Like, c'mon, of course I want to order pizza tonight. Are we going to have this conversation every time? Why would I want salad? Plants and carrots and shit? Am I a bunny? DO I LOOK LIKE A BUNNY TO YOU, SAMANTHA? HUH, DO I? REAL PEOPLE DON'T EAT FOLIAGE! And by this point, my wife was crying and was like "Stop yelling! What do you want from me?!" And I said, "I want about tree fiddy." Now it was around this time that she realized that I wasn't really her husband. I was 7 stories tall and was actually a crustacean from the Paleozoic era. "Dammit Nessie!" she exclaimed. That goddamn Loch Ness monster had gotten her again. "Dammit Monstah, I ain't givin' you no tree fiddy!" she yelled at me as I swam away.
Dave talks about the death of Andy Hug, a kickboxer in Japan who died suddenly from acute leukemia, to the shock of the entire country and Switzerland where he was a national hero. His funeral in Tokyo attracted over 12,000 people making it one of the biggest funerals ever for a professional athlete in Japan (second only to Giant Baba's funeral in 1999). Hug wasn't just a kickboxer, he was a mainstream celebrity in Japan, appearing in lots of TV commercials and was often courted for movie roles which he turned down to focus on fighting. His death was a total surprise, even to him, as he was admitted to the hospital only 6 days earlier because he felt like something was wrong. Then a few days later, he put out a statement saying he was in the fight for his life and vowing to return. Then 24 hours later, he went into a coma, was put on life support and never woke up.
Speaking of, following Hug's death, NJPW star Shinya Hashimoto announced that he's coming back, and they tied it into Hug's death, with Hashimoto saying that about the moment Hug died is when he decided he needed to return and he went to the dojo where Hug used to train to talk about why he was inspired to come back and whatnot. Dave thinks turning Hug's death into an angle for Hashimoto's return is pretty tasteless.
Raw was moved back 2 hours due to the U.S. Open tennis tournament this week and so it aired from 11pm-1am EST. And it still did an incredible 4.93 rating, which is bonkers for that late of a time slot. It also still destroyed Nitro, which aired unopposed in its normal time slot and still couldn't come close to touching Raw. As for this week's Thunder, it did a near record low 1.89 rating which is the 2nd lowest in the history of the show, although to be fair, it was going head-to-head against the finale of Survivor which did the highest rating of any show on television this year aside from the Super Bowl. So the good news is, there's a valid excuse for the low rating. It was a terrible show, but at least nobody saw it, so that's also good news in its own way.
Atsushi Onita appeared at the latest AJPW show in an angle and had an exchange in the ring with Motoko Baba and Masa Fuchi. It's all leading to Onita's return to AJPW, because they're still desperately trying to bring in anyone that will keep them from collapsing.
Fox News ran a segment on backyard wrestling focusing on a kid in Chicago who broke his neck after taking a tombstone wrong. The kid's mom was on the show and so was Mick Foley, telling kids that sending the WWF a tape of you doing backyard wrestling isn't going to even get you looked at, much less signed. Dave says that's all well and good, but the reality is, half the people in WWF probably started out wrestling with their friends in their backyards. Foley's history is well known, jumping off his roof and shit. The Hardyz, Shane Helms, Shannon Moore and that whole group trained themselves in a ring they bought when they were teenagers in their yard. And Dave is willing to bet that the vast majority of guys who get into the business in the next decade or so will probably have started that way also. It's not safe and kids definitely need to be careful and stop doing this shit, but the reality is, they won't. They're kids. It's the same as NBA players who grow up playing basketball in their driveway or NFL players started out playing football with no helmets or pads in their backyard with their friends. That's just the nature of sports and wrestling isn't all that different.
Tajiri had to return to Japan for the next month for legal issues regarding his visa. ECW is hoping to have all the visa stuff worked out so that both Tajiri and Super Crazy can return for the Oct. PPV.
Speaking of PPVs, ECW really loves the Hammerstein Ballroom and everyone in the company feels like it's the perfect building for ECW. It's likely they will hold a PPV there soon (the final 2 PPVs in ECW history take place there as well as the first 2 PPVs of the new WWECW a few years later).
Neither ECW or XPW have filed lawsuits against each other over the incident that took place at the Heat Wave PPV, so that seems to be mostly a dead issue right now (yeah, it never went past this. XPW kept talking shit for awhile, but that was the end of the "feud". ECW was too busy trying not to die).
Notes from Nitro: they held the show in a smaller arena that only holds 5,000 so it was actually close to full (still not sold out) but it made for a much better atmosphere than all the 3/4 empty arenas WCW has been performing in. He calls Tygress vs. Paisley vs. Major Gunns "the worst 20 seconds in the history of sports entertainment." Mike Awesome is now doing a retro 70s gimmick just in case he wasn't dead enough in this company. Nash cut a promo saying he was going to "eat a little Korean," which was apparently a reference to Nitro Girl Chae, who he is dating. Konnan returned to action, way sooner than he should have after his recent tricep surgery. Dave talks about how WCW cuts people's paychecks in half if they're out injured too long and how it just leads to worse injuries because people are returning before they're ready and get injured again. Dave knows that some guys in the company have a habit of milking injuries so they can stay home and collect a check, but Konnan had a very real surgery and they know that. So anyway, he's back. They did a big thing with Russo threatening to fire Goldberg, completely forgetting the fact that just 2 weeks ago on Nitro, the big storyline was about how Russo couldn't fire Goldberg because of some clause in his contract. But hey, who cares about plot holes? They had an angle where ICP and Vampiro destroyed the big screen over the entrance way. For a company that is frantically cutting costs everywhere, Dave questions the logic in destroying an expensive piece of the set for an angle no one cares about. Bret Hart came back and blamed the Montreal Screwjob on Russo, because we're still booking angles about that 3 years later. Hart then attacked Goldberg in a good angle, blaming him for ending his career. Dave thinks it was a great angle but the problem is it makes people want to see Goldberg vs. Bret Hart and, well, that's clearly not happening, so again.....why?
Johnny Ace is said to be impressing people backstage in WCW with booking and production meetings. Oh, speaking of, Ace and Kevin Nash got into a heated argument backstage at Nitro. A lot of wrestlers have been fined in the last few weeks for being late and its believed the fines were Ace's idea. So Nash confronted him about it and it turned into such a heated argument that it almost got physical.
Scott Steiner suffered an orbital bone injury during the brawl on Nitro last week when Goldberg accidentally potatoed him.
Jeff Jarrett said in an interview that he would have stayed in WWF if the offer was right and said that Russo going to WCW didn't play a big part in his decision. But he said he felt the WWF's offer made by Jim Ross was insulting. He also said that he was pissed at Steve Austin because he took stunners from Austin several times on TV but when it was time for Austin to work an angle with Jarrett, he refused.
Dave explains the story of Jacques Rougeau quitting WCW recently and it's just a big bunch of mess about Rougeau wanting to be a bigger part of the Team Canada angle with Lance Storm and Bret Hart, but he was only offered a per-night deal and then Russo tried to book him to job to The Cat. Rougeau felt WCW only saw him as a jobber and he wants to be more than that, so he quit.
They revealed the names for the 8 XFL teams at a press conference, and Dave uses this opportunity to point out the obvious wrestling connections. The NY/NJ Hitmen (Bret), Orlando Rage, Memphis Maniax, San Jose Demons ("my god, they named a team after Dale Torborg!"), Los Angeles Extreme (ECW), Las Vegas Outlaws ("oh you didn't know?"), Chicago Enforcers (Double A), and Birmingham Thunderbolts (Thunderbolt Patterson). Fun fact: the Birmingham team was originally going to be called The Blast but when rumors of the name leaked out, some people in Birmingham thought it might be seen as a reference to the infamous 1963 Birmingham church bombing and were advised against it. As for the Hitmen team, the Calgary Flames franchise in Canada owns a minor league hockey team called the Calgary Hitmen (and in fact, Bret Hart was once a partial owner of the team) and they're said to be exploring their legal options against the XFL, arguing that they have a trademark for the Hitmen name. Dave thinks the team logos are all pretty cool, but WWF excels at marketing, so he's not surprised.
Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler had a tryout to be XFL announcers and apparently did very well, but it's unknown if they'll get the gig. NBC is said to be uncomfortable with having them do the announcing since they want to at least kinda separate this whole thing from wrestling because the connection automatically makes people suspicious of the games. Dave says with NBC being 50% owner, there's no chance the games will be worked because NBC won't allow that type of scandal, but people will be suspicious anyway.
Raven's ECW contract has expired and he has signed a deal with WWF, so that's finally official. No word on when he'll debut.
Jim Ross sent a memo out to all the wrestlers and reassured everyone that WWF has had no meetings with any WCW wrestlers. He said the company is happy with the locker room they have, with little drama and everyone is cohesive and working together and they don't want to do anything to damage that morale, such as bringing in all the locker room cancers from WCW. That being said, both Steve Austin and Triple H have expressed interest in wanting to work with DDP, but unless he gets a release, WWF won't even talk to him.
The current plan for the next few weeks is to heavily hype the return of Steve Austin to TV on the first episode of Raw on TNN. He may also get involved at this month's Unforgiven PPV now that he's physically able to deliver stunners. WWF has set up a ring at Austin's home in Texas and are sending wrestlers down there to work with him and get him back into ring shape. The October PPV is expected to be his first match back.
FRIDAY:Eric Bischoff interested in buying WCW, the NJPW vs. AJPW interpromotional feud begins, WWF vs. WCW lawsuit settled, Kurt Angle gets concussed again, and more...
[OC] In 5 years, Super Bowl LVI is scheduled to be played on the same day as the 2022 Winter Olympics. How will the NFL address this problem?
I know what you’re thinking. We’re just 3 weeks removed from Super Bowl LI, and you’re already looking ahead five years to Super Bowl LVI? However, the NFL has a very interesting dilemma with this Super Bowl. For years, the Super Bowl has been the marquee event of that particular date. There will be programming before the game from other channels, such as college basketball games and celebrity bowling tournaments, but even that pales in comparison to what the pregame shows get. Once the game starts, everything is about the Super Bowl. Other networks will just concede to the network broadcasting the Super Bowl. No other professional sporting events take place at the same time as the Super Bowl, and from the research I did, the only other sporting event taking place in the USA directly in competition with the Super Bowl was a women’s basketball game on ESPNU that started at 6:30 between Memphis and South Florida (I feel bad for everyone that had to play in that game). There are 2 options for people during the Super Bowl- you either turn on the TV and watch the game, or you don’t. There’s no other alternative. Nothing else is on TV during the Super Bowl, and for years, the NFL has been able to capitalize on this in the first Sunday of February. Super Bowl LVI, on the other hand? That’s where things get a bit tricky. It’s one thing to go up against re-runs and the Fish Bowl between the Los Angeles Clams and the Buffalo Gills. It’s another thing to go up against the Winter Olympics. The Problem Assuming that TV contracts hold up, CBS will be broadcasting Super Bowl LVI (3-year rotation between CBS, NBC, and FOX). NBC has the rights to broadcast the Winter Olympics. Normally, this is not a problem- the Winter Olympics have never interfered with the Super Bowl. For the past four installments of the Winter Olympics dating back to 2002 in Salt Lake City, the Winter Olympics have been held five days after the Super Bowl, so you get no football hangover whatsoever (side note- those years with the Winter Olympics and World Cup are the best years for sports; the years with the European Championships and Summer Olympics are second best, and then any odd numbered years are not fun for the offseason).
Year
Super Bowl
Date of Super Bowl
Site of Olympics
Date of Opening Ceremony
2002
Super Bowl XXXVI
2/3/02
Salt Lake City, USA
2/8/02
2006
Super Bowl XL
2/5/06
Torino, Italy
2/10/06
2010
Super Bowl XLIV
2/7/10
Vancouver, Canada
2/12/10
2014
Super Bowl XLVIII
2/2/14
Sochi, Russia
2/7/14
It’s going to be the same thing next year. NBC right now is loving life, because they are broadcasting Super Bowl LII, and then five days later, get to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They’ve got the ultimate dream right now. However, it’s not going to be like that in 2022. Why they awarded the Games to Beijing in the first place, I’m not entirely sure, seeing as they hosted the Summer Olympics, and have no mountains anywhere near the city center. They’re going to use fake snow down the mountains (and no, that’s not fake news… they’re actually planning on using fake snow), and this will be the third straight Olympics in Asia (2018 in South Korea, 2020 in Tokyo, 2022 in Beijing). In terms of football, though, the 2022 Winter Olympics poses a major problem. The Opening Ceremony for these Olympics are taking place on February 4, 2022. If the Super Bowl is still held on the first Sunday in February, then Super Bowl LVI will occur on February 6. For the first time ever, if the schedule holds up, the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl will come into conflict with each other. There are two events that non-sports fans watch. One of them is the Super Bowl. They watch for the halftime show, they watch for the parties, and they watch for the commercials. It’s a fun atmosphere for all involved, even if you’re not a football fan. The other one, unfortunately for the NFL, is the Olympics, whether it’s the Winter Olympics or the Summer Olympics. They watch because it’s the only time you can see particular sports on TV at the highest level, they watch for that sense of American pride, and they watch because it’s an event that happens just once every four years. Here’s what the NFL would be competing against on that Sunday, assuming the 2018 schedule holds of what is taking place that Sunday:
Alpine skiing (including a gold medal event)
Biathlon (including a gold medal event)
Cross country skiing (including a gold medal event)
Curling
Figure skating
Freestyle skiing (including a gold medal event)
Ice hockey
Luge
Snowboarding (including a gold medal event)
Speed skating (including a gold medal event)
They’d be competing against not just one event, but a variety of them, including the juggernaut that is figure skating (the vast majority of the non-sports fans I know will be glued to the television during figure skating events), and a bunch of gold medal events in the process. That’s a lot different than competing against the Fish Bowl and some World’s Strongest Man re-runs, especially if you get a USA/Russia or USA/Canada hockey game scheduled at the same time as the Super Bowl. According to recent data, the 2014 Winter Olympics were watched in primetime by an average of 21.7 million people per night, and 78% of US TV homes tuned into at least some part of the Winter Olympics. Would the NFL still win the night if they competed directly against the Olympics? Absolutely. I don’t think anyone, even NBC, would think otherwise. Having said that, would their ratings take an absolute nosedive if they went head-to-head against the Olympics? You bet. There’s a high chance that the ratings dip below 100 million if the NFL actually went up against NBC during these Olympics. Whether or not the NFL is aware of this problem or is thinking actively about this problem remains to be seen. But the league has three options to address it. Solution #1: Change Nothing There’s the first option, which is to change absolutely nothing. Play the game on the first Sunday of February at 6:30, and then when NBC comes on with their Olympic coverage, be in direct competition. However, there are a few massive problems with this option. Number one, if the game becomes a blowout or unwatchable, or football fans tune out for the halftime show, they could switch over to NBC and just never change the game back. If you get a Super Bowl XLVIII-esque situation on your hands, by the end of the night, NBC might actually have comparable ratings with the Super Bowl. Remember what happened at Super Bowl XXVI during the halftime show, which I wrote about here. In short, FOX decided to counter-program against the halftime show, actually drew a quarter of CBS’ audience away from the game and to FOX, and a large portion of the audience never flipped the game back to CBS because the game was so bad. Remember that Super Bowl XXVI was broadcast by CBS. They are well aware of their history, and they’d be broadcasting Super Bowl LVI thirty years later. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, on the other hand… Number two, the amount that CBS would be able to charge for advertisements would plummet compared to previous years. Maybe instead of being able to charge $5 million (as is the standard price now), they’ll only be able to charge $3 million. How much a network can charge for ads depends on how many people are watching the game; there’s a reason why an advertisement during a regular season NFL game at 1:00 between the Browns and the Jaguars costs significantly less than a Super Bowl ad. If the NFL decides this option, CBS throws a fit. No way does CBS want to be competing directly against the Olympics, considering their own history and the advertising dollars at stake. Yes, the NFL is stubborn. Yes, people now associate the Super Bowl with the first Sunday in February at 6:30. But there are so many ways that this could backfire that I doubt the league actually plays the game that Sunday at 6:30. Solution #2: Start the Game Earlier Of course, they could keep it on the same date as before, but just start the game earlier. If the NFL wants to be bold and place a Super Bowl in London, this is the year to do it. Start the game at 3:00 Eastern (which would be primetime in London), and have your earliest kickoff since Super Bowl X back in 1976, when the game started at 2:14 PM Eastern (for the record, the earliest ever Super Bowl kickoff was Super Bowl V in 1971, starting at 2:00). All data for that comes courtesy of this chart. You keep the game on the first Sunday of February, but just start it at 3:00. Game ends by 7:00, postgame is over at 7:30, and it’s a perfect transition into NBC’s Olympic coverage. This option isn’t perfect, though. For one, the pregame shows take a hit in terms of ratings. And while this option seems good on the East Coast, it’s an absolute pain on the West Coast. Does the league really want to have the Super Bowl start at noon on the West Coast, when people are just waking up two hours before kickoff? That contributes to the pregame shows taking a ratings hit. Also, CBS might still not be happy about this, because nobody would watch their lead-out show. They’d flip off the lead-out show immediately to go to NBC and the Olympics. While you wouldn’t have to deal with live Olympic events (it’d be 3:00 in the morning in Beijing), and while you would still be able to keep the game on the first Sunday in February, it still poses some problems for all parties involved. If you’re on the East Coast, though, this plan seems like heaven. Solution #3: Move the Date And then, there’s the option to just move the game to a different date, like the final Sunday in January like it used to be prior to Super Bowl XXXVIII (Super Bowl XXXVI was supposed to be the final Sunday in January, but because of the attacks on September 11 forcing the league to postpone week 2, the Super Bowl got moved). The league has done this before with moving the season due to other circumstances. In the 1999 season, the NFL moved the season back a week so that nobody would have to play on January 1, 2000, due to the Y2K concerns. From Wikipedia:
The start of the 1999 NFL season was pushed back one week and started the weekend after Labor Day, a change from the previous seasons. Due to the Y2K concerns, the NFL did not want to hold the opening round of the playoffs on Saturday, January 1, 2000, and did not want teams traveling on that day. Week 17 games were held on January 2, 2000, and the opening round of the playoffs would be scheduled for January 8-9.
The NFL needs the double bye before the Super Bowl because of the Pro Bowl (and because of the juggernaut that the game has become), so this means that the season would be pushed up a week, starting Labor Day weekend. Even though the game is on the final Sunday of January, this seems to benefit all parties involved from the NFL’s perspective… right? Not necessarily. Because even though CBS isn’t angry, college football is to a certain extent. The NCAA has played week 1 of their season on Labor Day weekend, including games that Sunday and Monday that are usually marquee games. This year, the Notre Dame/Texas game that took place that Sunday night was one of the highest rated games of the season. Now, they wouldn’t be able to play that game because they can’t go directly against the NFL. Those Sunday and Monday night games that they had week 1 couldn’t be played. Of course, college football could, in turn, push their season back one weekend, but considering the fact that some schools aren’t even in session yet, attendance would take a dramatic hit in week one. Conclusion Because of the circumstances with the Olympics and the NFL, someone’s going to get ticked off no matter what the NFL proposes. There’s nothing the league can do about it. The question is what the league wants to do and what battle they want to fight. Do they want to fight a battle against both NBC and CBS, do they want to fight a battle against CBS, or do they want to fight a battle against the NCAA? Either way, the NFL is going to be in competition with some organization. It may be five years away, but considering the fact that no stadium has been awarded the rights to Super Bowl LVI yet and no date has been determined for the game, the league has time to determine an appropriate solution. We’ll see which route they decide to go. What Would You Do? I decided to add a straw-poll to see what /NFL would do in this situation. Choose from 1 of the 3 options I mentioned above- keep the game as scheduled, move it to an earlier start time, or move the date.
The tournament may be the World Leagues, the World Championships along with the Olympic Games too. This increases the chances of your win. Match Winner. This is the easiest odd for hockey sports betting. You have to place the bet on the name which you think can win the match. Here is a twist in this game. Field hockey - Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament - Final Round 2019 - Betting Assistance Bet on the International hockey odds with Sports Interaction Sportsbook, Canada's sportsbook. Sports Live Betting Casino Live Casino Games ... Live Betting All sports Hockey Russia. Starting Soon 0 0 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg HK Dinamo Minsk Moneyline 1.37 2.77 ... Online Sportsbook - Live Online Betting Odds & Lines Sportsbook is your source for the best in sports betting entertainment. You'll find the widest variety of bets and odds in every sport imaginable including Major League Baseball, soccer, CFL football betting, NASCAR auto racing, tennis, golf, boxing, MMA and all of the NFL season action. Sports Betting Systems. ... Kurt has authored close to 1000 stories covering football, soccer, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, prize-fighting and the Olympic Games. Kurt posted a 61% win rate on 200+ college and NFL gridiron picks last season. He muses about High School football on social media as The Gridiron Geek.
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