Into the Cincoverse - The Cinco de Mayo EU Thread and Wikibox Repository

[KingSweden24]

East

1. Royals against 8. Warriors

After a heartbreaking defeat in their first finals in club history, the Royals are back with a vengeance, taking the first seed this year and ready to begin their revenge tour to earn their long-coveted title. The first roadblock is potentially Philadelphia, which looked excellent in taking out a good Baltimore Bullets team last night. We’re not quite ready to predict a rematch of last year’s Finals, but we’d still rather be the Royals here.
Prediction: Royals in five

2. Stags against 7. Monarchs

Chicago has looked sharp, very sharp, in taking care of business here at the end of the season. They have not been swept in a game since New Years Eve, and only the Griz have had a better scoring differential since the beginning of March. As such, Stags fans are starting to allow themselves to believe. In their path stands Montreal, who has been a notoriously tough out for the last 2-3 seasons even if they have not made it far in the playoffs. Monarchs enjoy exactly the kind of height in their pins that has frustrated Chicago repeatedly in the past, so this could be a well-balanced series.
Prediction: Stags in six

3. Express against 6. Knicks

The great bete noire of the Celtics for years are back in the playoffs after last season’s inexplicable back half collapse - Charlotte is back, and ready to get that elusive title. The Knicks did well to come out of the league’s toughest division, and will prove a tough test for whether the Express indeed are back.
Prediction: Express in seven

4. Huskies against 5. Celtics

Toronto won a very difficult Northern, only taking the top spot off Montreal in the last game of the season. Their reward? A hungry, angry Celtics, with local boy Sean MacKenzie playing his first-ever playoff series on native Canadian soil. Proud as Ontarians are and should be of one of the best players in the history of the game, Magic Mac should not expect much love from this homecoming, and two great teams will slug this out, but we’d take Boston’s experience here.
Prediction: Celtics in six

West

1. Grizzlies against 9. Lakers

Minnesota looked sharp against St. Louis last night in punching their ticket to the first round of the playoffs, but things are about to get much, much tougher. It’s hard to think of any more superlatives for the defending champions in Vancouver - they are now one of five teams to ever finish a year with a 64-8 record, falling one game shy of the best regular season in history, but made up for it by breaking the previous record of most sweeps - 43, set by the 1987-88 Warriors - by three games, and had the best average scoring differential per set in league history. It is not an exaggeration to say that this group may be the best in history and at least certainly belongs in that conversation, especially with a rare repeat championship.
Prediction: Grizzlies in four

2. Aces against 7. Magic

The 2021 champs square off against Los Angeles in the first game of the playoffs on Saturday and look ready to run back to the Western Conference Finals after winning their last eight games of the season, including three sweeps. This Magic group is no joke, however, getting hot late in the year to play their way out of a play-in, and Kyle Porter at libero could cause serious problems for the Aces.
Prediction: Aces in five

3. Nuggets against 6. Jaguars

It’s hard to know exactly what to make of the Nugs and the Jags. Denver had the hottest start besides Vancouver only to fall off their clip in late December, while the Jaguars were hot and cold in the midtable until early February where they went on a consistent tear and leapt ahead of when the Magic. We’d like to think Denver has the advantage over a Mexico City team that has never won a best-in-seven playoff series, but if this is the year the Jags finally make a splash, don’t tell us we didn’t warn you.
Prediction: Nuggets in seven

4. Rockets against 5. Sonics

It’s almost unfair to be a Sonics fan this year; you have the best group of players since the 1990s, you are the only club to beat the Grizzlies more than once (three wins, including one of two losses suffered by the first seed in Vancouver), and you hit 60 wins for the first time in club history with the second-best record in the NAVL - and yet there you are at the five spot, starting your playoffs on the road in San Diego. The Rockets for their part did what they had to do to emerge at the head of the West’s weakest division but, while James Harden is still pretty damn great, it’s hard to see them stacking up well against this Sonics roster
Prediction: Sonics in four

 

[Curtain Jerker]

Glad there's at least one sports league that ties together the USA, CSA, Mexico, Canada, and Quebec!

Also interested in seeing more about a Charlotte based FedEx (I'm assuming that's who the Charlotte Express are named after) and how they navigate a freight world where the CSA is its own country.

 

[naraht]

Glad there's at least one sports league that ties together the USA, CSA, Mexico, Canada, and Quebec!

Also interested in seeing more about a Charlotte based FedEx (I'm assuming that's who the Charlotte Express are named after) and how they navigate a freight world where the CSA is its own country.

Still wondering given that Mexico has a reasonably high per capita relative to the US why aren't there leagues where Mexico has (say) 30-40% of the teams... or is that for what ever the football (soccer) league is.

 

[KingSweden24]

Glad there's at least one sports league that ties together the USA, CSA, Mexico, Canada, and Quebec!

And (for now) Cuba, too!

Also interested in seeing more about a Charlotte based FedEx (I'm assuming that's who the Charlotte Express are named after) and how they navigate a freight world where the CSA is its own country.

This may need to be its own wikibox, come to think of it

Still wondering given that Mexico has a reasonably high per capita relative to the US why aren't there leagues where Mexico has (say) 30-40% of the teams... or is that for what ever the football (soccer) league is.

Travel distance. Mexico City is a long flight even from, say, Phoenix or SD

 

[naraht]

And (for now) Cuba, too!

This may need to be its own wikibox, come to think of it

Travel distance. Mexico City is a long flight even from, say, Phoenix or SD

But still shorter than to most of the Midwest and Northeast.
(air miles, not driving)
San Diego to Mexico City is 1443 miles directly. San Diego to Chicago is 1730, San Diego to St. Louis is 1564.

In fact, San Diego to Managua, Nicaragua is shorter in Airmiles than San Diego to Boston, Massachusetts.

 

[KingSweden24]

But still shorter than to most of the Midwest and Northeast.
(air miles, not driving)
San Diego to Mexico City is 1443 miles directly. San Diego to Chicago is 1730, San Diego to St. Louis is 1564.

In fact, San Diego to Managua, Nicaragua is shorter in Airmiles than San Diego to Boston, Massachusetts.

Well, true. That’s what a West and East Conference are for haha

 

[naraht]

Well, true. That’s what a West and East Conference are for haha

Nope, John Quincy Adams Conference and Luis de Onís y González-Vara Conference

 

[andry2806]

@KingSweden24 What's up with the Confederate rugby championship? What's the overall level? What are the major teams? Has the game expanded a bit to the black population, like in post-Apartheid South Africa?

 

[Mayukh]

NAVL

Its Basketball I assume...

 

[KingSweden24]

@KingSweden24 What's up with the Confederate rugby championship? What's the overall level? What are the major teams? Has the game expanded a bit to the black population, like in post-Apartheid South Africa?

Great question!

Confederates care more about collegiate rugby than the pro game, but there is some kind of professional league. My thinking was some kind of Super 14 analogue with a bunch of CS teams, a few Texas teams, and then one or two in Mexico (maybe in Monterrey for instance) with teams going bankrupt and new clubs being launched with some level of frequency not seen in the United States, where while clubs going kaput or getting randomly moved does sometimes happen, it isn't very often.

Its Basketball I assume...

Essentially, yes. Basketball is a niche sport in New England, Quebec, and the Canadian Maritimes here.

 

[Mayukh]

Great question!

Confederates care more about collegiate rugby than the pro game, but there is some kind of professional league. My thinking was some kind of Super 14 analogue with a bunch of CS teams, a few Texas teams, and then one or two in Mexico (maybe in Monterrey for instance) with teams going bankrupt and new clubs being launched with some level of frequency not seen in the United States, where while clubs going kaput or getting randomly moved does sometimes happen, it isn't very often.

Has anything about Confederate Baseball been posted in any thread?

 

[KingSweden24]

Has anything about Confederate Baseball been posted in any thread?

Not that I can think of

 

[Mayukh]

Not that I can think of

Great! I think Cricket would be more famous than Baseball in CSA.

 

[andry2806]

Great question!

Confederates care more about collegiate rugby than the pro game, but there is some kind of professional league. My thinking was some kind of Super 14 analogue with a bunch of CS teams, a few Texas teams, and then one or two in Mexico (maybe in Monterrey for instance) with teams going bankrupt and new clubs being launched with some level of frequency not seen in the United States, where while clubs going kaput or getting randomly moved does sometimes happen, it isn't very often.

Oh ok, I remembered you talked about Texas possibly doing its own thing. Considered the situation, an alternative may be to get even more inspiration from the Super Rugby and have the professional franchises be partially owned by local rugby administration and smaller local professional teams, with the players officially playing for both the local club and the larger franchise. Maybe in the situation the entities involved may be the colleges themselves? Like, I don't know, a joint venture by colleges in a state or subregion, with players coming out of their schools having a pipeline to the professional franchise. I don't know if I'm making sense. Are the Confederate NT players more likely to play abroad if the Confederate pro league is "meh"? Are you eventually gonna give us a glimpse into this league like you did with the PRA? And the US lower divisions? Also, considered how rugby is so more popular in North America, are there other changes in the sport's popularity across the world?

 

[Jakobus]

Big fan of volleyball-as-basketball; VB is a very big deal in Nebraska, but I always felt the sport deserved a bit more love. Speaking of which, does Omaha have any professional franchises (major or minor league) ITTL?

 

[KingSweden24]

Philadelphia Federals Dream Season Comes Together
sportsnet.us - April 19, 2024

The confetti will be cleaned out of SquarePay Park by the end of the weekend, but long-suffering fans of the Philadelphia Federals will never forget last night, when the "Pheds" clinched one of the top two spots in the Second Division and remain the favorite in the season finale next weekend to place first. With that, the Pheds are headed back to the Championship for the first time since they were relegated in 1995 - a nearly thirty-year hiatus for a team that, in her fifty-seven year history, has only spent six cumulative seasons in the top level.

An anonymous sportswriter in the nation's capital once commented, "There is something sadistic and self-loathing about being a Pheds fan," and one wonders if that isn't true. Since 1967, the Pheds have been a PRA punchline. Unlike clubs like the Chicago Cardinals or New York Titans, they do not merely exist in the shadow of bigger, more successful rivals - their rivals barely even notice they are there, and barely even consider them rivals. Being an Eagles fan is so integral to Philadelphian identity that it is almost a civic religion; it is the one thing that brings lifelong Philadelphians and the frequent churn of newcomers streaming through the government sector in the Delaware Valley together for thirty weekends a year, more if there's a playoff included. And unlike the Cards or Titans, the Pheds couldn't rely on class connotations or intra-metropolitan geographic resentment to drum up support; South Chicago and Queens take great pride in their working class identity and not being caught dead wearing Bears or Metropolitan gear, but you'll see South Philly plumbers and truck drivers at Philadelphia National Stadium just as soon as you'll see Senate staffers, lobbyists and $300-an-hour attorneys.

The Pheds then have been a curiosity, a team existing on the fringes of Philly sports culture, the team that lobbied the PRA to schedule as many home games as possible on Mondays so they could lean into their "Manic Monday" persona where tickets were $5 apiece and they sold similarly priced hot dog and beer packages. It was this marketing gimmick, launched in 2003 when they were hovering on the edge of relegation to the Third Division and the Eagles were in the heady days of their three-peat dynasty, that something clicked - the Pheds might not ever be Championship material, and they were never going to be the Eagles in the hearts of the Philly faithful, but they could make their matches something else; they could make them a spectacle.

The Pheds have thus, for the last twenty years, leaned into their loveable loser persona, being the rugby team you come to watch, have cheap beer and hotdogs, and have a great time. Local music acts open and close their matches, and with the move across the river to Camden, Monday nights have become almost a religious experience even if the Pheds are playing on the road. This decision to base themselves in South Jersey has been integral to reviving a new identity for the team, being not just a Philadelphia team but a team for the "bridge crowd," many of whom never even cross the river these days what with the explosion in office, residential and entertainment in South Jersey with Philadelphia's booming growth.

And over time, the Pheds have actually become something else - what started as a gimmick became something genuine. Eagles fanatics began attending Pheds games on weekends when their favorite club was out of town. The club has an actual, hardened, committed fanbase rather than serving as a backup option for the bigger, more credentialed, wealthier club. That's what makes the Pheds arrival starting in September in the Championship fascinating - they have not played at the same division as the Eagles in three decades, and nobody knows quite yet what to make of that. Is Philadelphia on the verge of having a city divided, such as Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles and the Bay Area? Probably not; too many Philadelphians bleed Eagle green. But the games at Philly National and at SquarePay this upcoming campaign will be a new era, turning the relationship between the two clubs on their head, and all we can do is hope that the Pheds get to do what they do best - host their big brother on a Monday, maybe even as something approximating an actual rivalry.

 

[KingSweden24]

Oh ok, I remembered you talked about Texas possibly doing its own thing. Considered the situation, an alternative may be to get even more inspiration from the Super Rugby and have the professional franchises be partially owned by local rugby administration and smaller local professional teams, with the players officially playing for both the local club and the larger franchise. Maybe in the situation the entities involved may be the colleges themselves? Like, I don't know, a joint venture by colleges in a state or subregion, with players coming out of their schools having a pipeline to the professional franchise. I don't know if I'm making sense.

That's certainly a thought, though my instinct is to keep the line between college and pro pretty stark.

Are the Confederate NT players more likely to play abroad if the Confederate pro league is "meh"?

Traditionally, yes. Amateurism remained a much bigger factor in the CSA for longer, too, which had an impact.

Are you eventually gonna give us a glimpse into this league like you did with the PRA? And the US lower divisions?

I'd like to, for both. Just need to work out which clubs are where and what they're called... a problem I'm having with stateside soccer/football, too.

Also, considered how rugby is so more popular in North America, are there other changes in the sport's popularity across the world?

Definitely, the pro game is much bigger. I'd say it has replaced the AFL entirely in Australia, for instance, and the pro game has plenty of support in European countries not named France. The PRA is still the big daddy of the sport, however.

Big fan of volleyball-as-basketball; VB is a very big deal in Nebraska, but I always felt the sport deserved a bit more love. Speaking of which, does Omaha have any professional franchises (major or minor league) ITTL?

My thinking was Omaha has a third/second division rugby team which probably struggles to compete with the Cornhuskers for attention periodically, and then the CWS is still there because why not? And that Nebraska has essentially replaced Kansas as the Plains' great college "basketball" power, both in men's and women's volleyball

 

[Curtain Jerker]

And unlike the Cards or Titans, the Pheds couldn't rely on class connotations or intra-metropolitan geographic resentment to drum up support; South Chicago and Queens take great pride in their working class identity and not being caught dead wearing Bears or Metropolitan gear, but you'll see South Philly plumbers and truck drivers at Philadelphia National Stadium just as soon as you'll see Senate staffers, lobbyists and $300-an-hour attorneys.

I love how class-based everything is in this timeline. Politics for sure as we've discussed but it feels like everything in this timeline's USA is class-based in some form or fashion.

 

[KingSweden24]

I love how class-based everything is in this timeline. Politics for sure as we've discussed but it feels like everything in this timeline's USA is class-based in some form or fashion.

Thanks! Meant to be a bit of a blend of the Giants/Jets dynamic with the, shall we saw, Chelsea/West Ham (or Real/Atletico) dynamic overlayed on top of it

 

[Sevsdast]

what in the world happens in the UEFA Champions League this timeline, if we are talking about Soccer clubs right now?