04/19/24
February 05, 2018
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
QB Heaven in Buffalo then, eh Beaverboard?
posted by billsaysthis at 11:59 AM on February 05, 2018
A late-day thought while the kid fills the house with the sounds of Sarah and Duck:
Has a city ever claimed six sport championship in the same season/year? NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football, college basketball. Let's look at the plausible possibilities:
Boston: Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, Boston College, Boston College. It's plausible that Boston College could somehow find lightning in a bottle and have a football squad that runs the table, ACC conference play included, and get into the final 4. Same with the basketball team, though admittedly, this one would be more plausible than the football team, but hey, they're in a power 5 conference and all you need to do is make the playoffs, right? Then it's a hot streak away from hoisting the championship trophy.
New York: Giants/Jets, Knickerbockers/Nets, Yankees/Mets, Rangers/Islanders, ???, St Johns (basketball?). Not seeing a plausible college football squad for NYC.
Philadelphia: Eagles, 76ers, Phillies, Flyers, ???, Villanova. Again, not seeing a plausible college football squad.
Pittsburgh: Steelers, ???, Pirates, Penguins, Pitt, Pitt. They have no NBA team as of yet, but maybe the Pisces can start play there some time in the near future. As for Pitt, see: Boston. They need to score an NBA team though.
Detroit: Lions, Pistons, Tigers, Red Wings, but no plausible college teams for football or basketball. And no, Michigan does not count for me since Ann Arbor is not even a suburb of Detroit. Neither is Ypsilanti, so don't even try to sneak Eastern Michigan into this discussion.
Chicago: Bears, Bulls, Cubs/White Sox, Blackhawks, Northwestern, Northwestern. But only if we allow Evanston to be a part of Chicago. They do have a common border. Judges?
Minneapolis: Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins, Wild, Minnesota, Minnesota. Again, the university is plausible if both squads find lightning in a bottle the same season/year.
Los Angeles: Rams/Chargers, Lakers/Clippers, Dodgers/Angels, Kings/Ducks, USC/UCLA, USC/UCLA. No justifications needed here.
Phoenix: Cardinals, Suns, D-Backs, Coyotes, Arizona State. As for Arizona State, see: Boston and Pittsburgh.
Miami: Dolphins, Heat, Marlins, Panthers, Miami, Miami. As for Miami, see: Boston, Pittsburgh, and Phoenix.
Who am I missing?
posted by NoMich at 09:46 PM on February 05, 2018
If Dallas/Fort Worth counts, the four bigs plus TCU in football and basketball is possible.
UNT should have been invited to the SWC when Hayden Fry was the coach in the 1970s. In the alternate universe where that happens, it is possible.
posted by rcade at 10:20 PM on February 05, 2018
How are you ruling on teams that don't play in the actual city - because if Northwestern is questionable as Chicago, how do you deal with the NY football teams (not to mention DC or SF), or the Angels actually playing in Anaheim (but then if you're including the Ducks...). But then why not "Bay Area" and toss in SF, Oakland and a bunch of other places.
Speaking of DC, they have the Football Team, Nats, Wizards and Caps. A couple options for NCAA basketball success (Georgetown, George Washington, maybe George Mason) but no viable football team that I can think of. Would a lacrosse championship count?
posted by LionIndex at 10:46 PM on February 05, 2018
U of Maryland is awfully close to DC too, if we're going to go and count Anaheim as part of LA.
posted by LionIndex at 10:47 PM on February 05, 2018
posted by grum@work at 12:19 AM on February 06, 2018
I want Pittsburgh to have an NBA team. I once knew the family of Vince Cazzetta, who coached the ABA champion Pipers. The city is deserving. I assume they would support a major league pro team.
Maybe they can take the dysfunctional team from northeast Ohio that is currently distracting the country and drawing too much attention away from the stock market, the presidency, and the internal drama playing out deep in the bowels of Gillette Stadium.
posted by beaverboard at 09:47 AM on February 06, 2018
Alright, I've found a bit of free time here at work so I can revisit this silly idea.
I hear ya on the Anaheim thing, so let's make this a metro area. After all, the Jets and Giants still play their games in New Jersey, right? However, I'm still making the call that Ann Arbor is not part of the Detroit metro area. I'm also going to make the same judgement on LA/Anaheim and San Francisco/San Jose. Don't at me.
With that, let's Dallas and DC to the mix:
Los Angeles: Rams/Chargers, Lakers/Clippers, Dodgers, Kings, USC/UCLA, USC/UCLA.
Dallas: Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers, Stars, TCU, TCU.
Washington, DC: DC NFL Franchise, Wizards, Nationals, Capitals, Georgetown/Maryland, Maryland.
Anywhere else? If not, what city/metro area do you see winning the Ultramega Cup?
posted by NoMich at 09:42 AM on February 08, 2018
In other Tide news, this intriguing tidbit:
Alabama OC Brian Daboll, who helped make the bold decision to bench Jalen Hurts and start Tua Tagovailoa in the second half of Bama's title game victory has agreed to be the Buffalo Bills' OC under Sean McDermott, who made the decision to bench Tyrod Taylor and start Nathan Peterman.