An Energy Friendly Realignment Plan

[Anthony]

We all must do our part if we are to get through the present energy crisis - and that includes the NFL, which should scrap its current realignment plans and substitute this instead: Two 16-team conferences, with two eight-team divisions as follows:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Baltimore
Buffalo
New England
N.Y. Giants
N.Y. Jets
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington

Southern Division
Atlanta
Carolina
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Miami
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Tennessee

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northern Division
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Detroit
Green Bay
Kansas City
Minnesota
St. Louis

Pacific Division
Arizona
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Oakland
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle


PRESEASON SCHEDULE
All 32 teams play three exhibition games, over a period of three weeks (replaces the current five-week schedule, with most teams playing four games and a few playing five).

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
18 games. Each team plays its seven division rivals twice each, two of the eight teams in the other division within the same conference, and two of the 16 teams in the other conference. Within the same conference, inter-division pairings are rotated so that teams meet once every four years. Inter-conference pairings are determined by the previous season's standings, with a first-place team in one conference playing both first-place teams in the other conference, second-place teams playing each other, and so on.

PLAYOFFS
The top three teams in each division qualify. In the first round, the division champions get a bye and in each conference the second-place team in one division hosts the third-place team in the other. If either both second-place teams or both third-place teams from the same confrerence win their first-round games, the winner of one division hosts the second (or third)-place team from the other division in the second round. In the event that both first-round winners in the same conference come from the same division, the division champion with the best regular-season record hosts the third-place team and the other division champion hosts the second-place team. Second-round winners meet in Conference Championship games, and winners of Conference Championship games meet in the Super Bowl. Higher division finisher has home site priority in all games (except Super Bowl); as between two teams finishing in the same position in their respective divisions, the club with the better regular-season record shall host.


As 1968 Olympic silver medalist Jim Ryun said in a mid-'70s public-service commercial: "If we all pace ourselves, we will have enough energy left for the long run."

[iFroggy]

Thats not too bad.

[Wedge231]

I like it. My Jets would almost have a chance now! :p

[NickHammy]

Why do they take the top 3 in each division when they could just do top 6 in the confrence, and take the top top in each division of course.

[Anthony]

To answer NickHammy's question: The reason you would need to put the top three teams from each division in the playoffs instead of the top six in each conference is because the regular-season schedule under this plan is extremely unbalanced - 14 of the 18 games each team plays are within the same division. It would also magnify the importance of the new, geography-based division rivalries, making them more intense. I definitely believe that if the NFL ever does go to something like this in response to a nationwide emergency, it would be so popular - and so successful - that the league would keep it in place after the emergency is resolved.

And getting a bit off the subject, let me go on record as saying that Columbus deserves to land an NFL franchise (after all it, not Cleveland or Cincinnati, is the most populous city in Ohio) and hopefully it will happen some day.

[PeterDewar]

Not too bad a plan. I kinda like it!

[NickHammy]

Ok...that clears it up...
Originally posted by Anthony

And getting a bit off the subject, let me go on record as saying that Columbus deserves to land an NFL franchise (after all it, not Cleveland or Cincinnati, is the most populous city in Ohio) and hopefully it will happen some day.

That would be sweet...actually I think Cleveland might be more populated than Columbus. I'm not sure though...

[Marc]

I agree, too, but Cleveland DOES deserve a team in addition to Columbus. The town that doesn't is Cincinnati, the Bengals are dreadfull and are showing no signs of life.

Will the Bengals leave Cincinnati? No, they just got a new stadium, but if we're dreaming, ideally, Columbus would get a team and Cincinnati wouldn't. Did that make any sense? :p

[Jackson]

No, that's ludicrous. There is ablsolutley no justification in Ohio having three teams. You know some states don't have any. :redhot:

So quit your whining and go see one of the two teams already in your area.

[iFroggy]

I agree with Oxford. :)

[Marc]

Originally posted by Oxford American
No, that's ludicrous. There is ablsolutley no justification in Ohio having three teams. You know some states don't have any. :redhot:

So quit your whining and go see one of the two teams already in your area.
I meant that it would be best if Cincinnati didn't have a team and Columbus did. That would make two teams in the state, not three.

[iFroggy]

Now that I think of it, why does the state of OHIO even need TWO teams?

[Marc]

Originally posted by iFroggy
Now that I think of it, why does the state of OHIO even need TWO teams?
My point wasn't that Ohio needs more teams, but its teams need to be in better locations, folks. :rolleyes:

But, to answer your question, because the state has tons of football history with Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns, and it has a lot of great fans. How do I know? I lived there.

[iFroggy]

Marc, no offense, but everyone says that they have great fans pretty much.

[NickHammy]

Well Ohio does have good fans....I know that for a fact b/c I live in Ohio...no matter how bad Ohio State is doing...it is always hard to get tickets to a game...It's the same with the Browns and Indians...even the Bengals had a full stadium when I went last year.
When I watch Sports Center, when they show baseball highlights many of the stadiums havce thousands of empty seats. It is never like that in any of the teams here in Ohio...(except the Crew b/c soccer isn't too big here) but if Columbus did get another professional sports team, they'd get lots of attention just like the Blue Jackets did.
Ohio is one of the more populated states in the US right now.

[Wedge231]

Here in New York we really do have great fans. I mean, there's so many Yankee fans and some of them are actually True Yankee fans. We also have some die hard Knicks fans and Rangers fans and Mets fans. And Islander fans, well I haven't met too many of them....

[iFroggy]

Yeah, New York fans are the best. (See what I mean.) :)

[Wedge231]

Well in most cases. But if you are a player and you are struggling, that is a bad time to play for New York.

[iFroggy]

That's for sure.

However, like Derek Jeter said yesterday, as long as he's played in New York, we haven't throw things at any players on the field. (In reference to what the Twins fans did to Knobby)

[Jackson]

Originally posted by M. James

I meant that it would be best if Cincinnati didn't have a team and Columbus did. That would make two teams in the state, not three.

Pardon me. I thought you were talking expansinon or something stupid like that.

[NickHammy]

And what makes expansion team stupid???

[Anthony]

It wouldn't be "stupid" at all! The NFL can't go on ad infinitum without a franchise in Los Angeles and they know it. I bet they will hold out until 2005; if no existing team has moved to L.A. by then, they will most likely expand there in 2006 - and that means two new teams since they wouldn't want an odd number of teams in the league. But why 2005? Because that's when the current network contracts expire; they can't go to an 18-game regular season under the present contract, and you really couldn't make a 16-game schedule work with 34 teams (if you don't believe me, sit down with a pen and paper one night and try it - I have!). The other expansion franchise would most likely go to either San Antonio or Columbus (by the way, according to the 2000 census figures, the population of Columbus is 711,470, compared with 478,403 for Cleveland and 331,285 for Cincinnati).

[NickHammy]

Yeah...LA had two teams and they both moved around the same time...I would really support a Columbus football team.:)

[Anthony]

Getting a bit off the subject, but how do I go about putting
one of those emblems underneath my name at the left-hand margin (like the Canadian flag Peter Dewar has)?

[iFroggy]

Anthony,

It is called an avatar and you can do so but getting an image you want as yours and then click on the "Profile" button in the upper part of this page.

Then choose "Edit Options" and near the bottom of that window you will see Avatar and it is fairly easy from there.