The playoffs are a joke

[BMW]

Originally Posted by bababui

I would love it (although I know it will never happen) if baseball used a soccer model. Have the single table to decide the league champs. Then, have a cup comp where teams will play 3 game knockout series every month or so with the winner being Cup champ. Also, the two league champs would meet at the end of the season for the North American Championship. Its inaccurate to call it the World Series,

The English Football system is very cool in their structure. However, European soccer and American baseball are the most organic of the sports.

Their nationwide (or nations-wide) popularity was established well before the advent of radio, television, airplanes, etc. So they retain a few of their anachronistic practices from the past. That's one of the biggest reasons why the MLB is the only major US sport without a salary cap.

You'd never consciously make the English Football system today unless you were doing to specifically mimic the English Football system. There's no chance that any healthy league would have owners that would sanction being effectively kicked out if they have a bad season with the money that's made today. The only reason it occurs in English Football is because the practice started before there was so much money to be made.

The MLB has less than 10 levels of minors, depending on how you want to classify them. The English Football system has 24 levels of competition, 150+ leagues and 7000+ teams. It's fascinating to look at.

[tysok]

Originally Posted by d. tetree

Isn't that what I was referencing? I made a comment about how European soccer players had logos ON THEIR JERSEYS...which you just agreed with me would be bad. I think we're on the same page here.

Yes we are. I just can't pass up an opportunity to call the fans stupid.

Although I think they should make an exception for Ichiro and Suzuki... no exception made for Longoria though.

[tysok]

Originally Posted by BMW

The MLB has less than 10 levels of minors, depending on how you want to classify them. The English Football system has 24 levels of competition, 150+ leagues and 7000+ teams. It's fascinating to look at.

Yes, Spock, it is.

I would have to say that fans would be appropriately outraged if baseball decided to have the National League (Coca-Cola Premier League) and the American League (Blue Square Premier League). No one, of course, would want to be sent down to the Pepsi Premier League.

[BMW]

Originally Posted by tysok

Yes, Spock, it is.

I'm totally geeking out now.

[toxicavenger74]

Originally Posted by BMW

The English Football system is very cool in their structure. However, European soccer and American baseball are the most organic of the sports.

Their nationwide (or nations-wide) popularity was established well before the advent of radio, television, airplanes, etc. So they retain a few of their anachronistic practices from the past. That's one of the biggest reasons why the MLB is the only major US sport without a salary cap.

You'd never consciously make the English Football system today unless you were doing to specifically mimic the English Football system. There's no chance that any healthy league would have owners that would sanction being effectively kicked out if they have a bad season with the money that's made today. The only reason it occurs in English Football is because the practice started before there was so much money to be made.

The MLB has less than 10 levels of minors, depending on how you want to classify them. The English Football system has 24 levels of competition, 150+ leagues and 7000+ teams. It's fascinating to look at.

Wow, that is amazing. I never realized the complexity or depth.

I have a soft spot in my heart for soccer. I hated it with a passion growing up but then in 2005 I went to Switzerland for 3 weeks for work which happened to be during World Cup qualifying time. My hotel was in Lichtenstein and there was nothing on in English and the only thing that grabbed my attention that was worth watching was the Euro and Latin America qualifying matches (plus some billiards). I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the bar watching futbol with poor English speaking Swiss, Germans and Lichtensteins. After all of that I was hooked and could't wait for 2006 WC. Futbol always brings back memories of that time.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by BMW

The English Football system is very cool in their structure. However, European soccer and American baseball are the most organic of the sports.

Their nationwide (or nations-wide) popularity was established well before the advent of radio, television, airplanes, etc. So they retain a few of their anachronistic practices from the past. That's one of the biggest reasons why the MLB is the only major US sport without a salary cap.

You'd never consciously make the English Football system today unless you were doing to specifically mimic the English Football system. There's no chance that any healthy league would have owners that would sanction being effectively kicked out if they have a bad season with the money that's made today. The only reason it occurs in English Football is because the practice started before there was so much money to be made.

The MLB has less than 10 levels of minors, depending on how you want to classify them. The English Football system has 24 levels of competition, 150+ leagues and 7000+ teams. It's fascinating to look at.

I agree with, and really enjoted reading, your post. My only quibble would be with relegation. I would argue that it galvanizes fan interest in the league below, and at the bottom of the league above. The 'will we gwt relegated?' question keeps the turnstiles clicking in the stadiums of the poorly performing teams. It would keep things interesting in Washington, Kansas City and San Diego.

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by BMW

The English Football system has 24 levels of competition, 150+ leagues and 7000+ teams. It's fascinating to look at.

I don't envy teams in the Bristol Downs League Division 4 (The bottom tier lol)

[Bryan Swartz]

Totally agree about soccer, and this is why tennis has become my favorite sport. Structure-wise, it's basically the individual companion to soccer with the varying levels of competition, players moving up and down the ladder, and is growing tremendously internationally even if America doesn't favor it as much these days(partly because we can't stand the fact that a Swede and a Spaniard routinely kick our behinds).

Also it has IMO a very purist form of competition: the two players are out there alone, it's a very primal, mano a mano struggle with no coaching or timeouts. There's no time limit either -- the match continues until somebody wins, as with the epic Wimbledon final just recently concluded(16-14 Federer over Roddick in the 5th set).

It may not do as well financially(winnings of $40 million for a CAREER have only been achieved by a very very few), but that is growing. In another generation that side of the game will probably be a lot closer to where it should be.

[tysok]

Originally Posted by Bryan Swartz

It may not do as well financially(winnings of $40 million for a CAREER have only been achieved by a very very few), but that is growing. In another generation that side of the game will probably be a lot closer to where it should be.

Nobody should get 40 million dollars because they're good at hitting a ball...

especially when it's a little green ball and part of one of the most boring things ever put forth for me to watch on TV.

[David Watts]

Wow, what a painful thread. First someone says that the Tigers won the Series in 06. Just when I had myself convinced, that all those throwing errors by the pitchers never happened and the Tigers won, someone has to bring me back to reality by pointing out that they lost. Darn. Could it get worse---someone then has to bring up the 87 Twins. I still have nightmares about that series and fricken Juan Berenguer slapping his glove. Tigers battle the Blue Jays to the last day of the season and then lay an egg against the Twins uggggh

[bababui]

Originally Posted by tysok

Nobody should get 40 million dollars because they're good at hitting a ball...

especially when it's a little green ball and part of one of the most boring things ever put forth for me to watch on TV.

Even a tennis hater would have enjoyed the classic Wimbledon final of Roddick v Federer....the final set going deeeeeep into tennis overtime.

[Bryan Swartz]

Nobody should get 40 million dollars because they're good at hitting a ball...

especially when it's a little green ball and part of one of the most boring things ever put forth for me to watch on TV.

LOL, dripping with irony . Boredom, like many things, is in the eye of the beholder .

[tysok]

Originally Posted by bababui

Even a tennis hater would have enjoyed the classic Wimbledon final of Roddick v Federer....the final set going deeeeeep into tennis overtime.

What was it, 5 hours or something? On the level of a Red Sox / Yankees game... something else I can't stand to watch.

Originally Posted by Bryan Swartz

LOL, dripping with irony . Boredom, like many things, is in the eye of the beholder .

True, but when I'm beholding I say it's boring.

Actually, if I absolutely HAD to choose... I would quickly choose to watch Tennis instead of Golf. I'm bored even playing golf... let alone watching it.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by bababui

The league trades integrity for profit generated in the form of bogus divisional races.

It has always been so—professional sports is a business first and foremost.

The 12-team league was an unwieldy structure, which is why it failed. The two 8-team league setup was much more successful. What is interesting to speculate is what if the NL leaders had thought of splitting the NL into two 6-team divisions in the 1890s? It might have generated such popular interest that the formation of the AL as a major league might have been forestalled.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the three division structure since it makes sensible schedules with a fair weighting of divisional and non-divisional games and a good variety of opponent matchups much more difficult. I'd say the ideal structure is a 12-team league divided into two divisions of 6 teams (though two divisions of 5 or 7 teams is acceptable. An 8-team division is a bit too large in my opinion).

Originally Posted by bababui

Divisions started in 1969... long after teams were using airplanes to travel.

The split of the leagues into two divisions was driven by practical considerations.

The AL had decided early on it would split into two divisions in 1969 (it had considered doing so in 1968 but the idea was rejected). The NL, however, originally planned to retain a single division structure, meaning it would have been a single division, 12-team league in 1969. The AL was aiming for a 156 game schedule and best-of-5 league championship, while the NL was aiming for a 162 or 165 game schedule.

The prospect of each league being so different in setup was not encouraging. In the end, the NL relented and agreed to split into two divisions also. In compensation, it got the AL to agree to a 162 game schedule.

[gord]

Back to the original matter at hand, I have noticed since v2006 that the playoffs in OOTP are a total crap shoot, much more so than IRL. More often than not, it seems, 98+win teams get eliminated in the first round leading to two 80-win teams in the World Series. It's been one of my biggest gripes that the playoffs seem decided by random chance than by the caliber of the teams playing.