Conference Finals live Chat room

[Nero]

@axe said:

Honest question: The Patriots in the south is Lousiana, where New Orleans is? I don't know by heart all the states.

[Orion]

@nero said:

Honest question: The Patriots in the south is Lousiana, where New Orleans is? I don't know by heart all the states.

You are correct.

I would've thought that Florida would be for the Pats.....as so many of us New Englanders are there this time of year.

[Dutch Oven]

@hoorta said:

I'm not saying the AAFC Browns weren't a great team,  just don't go saying "I count those Championships" because the NFL doesn't.

That is true, shouldn't be, but it is true. 

There's an argument that can be made that the AAFC in its last two seasons was overall a better league than the NFL. It might be thought of as a minor league, but it most likely was as good as the NFL at its end. 

One of the best Browns books I've ever read dives into this topic: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-show-in-football-andy-piascik/1111631235

[The Gipper]

@hoorta said:

You forced me to look this up. The AAFC did not entirely merge with the NFL- as the AFL did. The Browns won three championships from 1950 until 1964 by NFL reckoning- by Pro Football HOF standards, and that's the yardstick that matters,  not yours. According to the NFL- your count doesn't mean jack shit, as far as official records are concerned. Anything Otto Graham did prior to 1950? Ditto. Three teams in the (minor league) AAFC folded.  Go ahead, count those AAFC championships if you must. They mean about as much as any team that won a USFL Championship- where a lot of "useful" players from that league wound up in the NFL when the league folded, including several that landed on the Browns... 

I'm not saying the AAFC Browns weren't a great team,  just don't go saying "I count those Championships" because the NFL doesn't.

Your key word was "Entirely".  But it was still a merger.

Almost all mergers are only partial mergers.   When the ABA merged with the NBA....that was only partial.  Only some teams came in....its why we have no Kentucky Colonels in the NBA, or Virginia Squires, or Pittsburgh Pipers or  Utah Stars.   So a number of teams often do not make it into mergers. But some did:  Nets, Nuggets, Pacers, Spurs

Same with the WHL/NHL merger. It was a partial merger.  The Quebec Nordiques (nka Colorado Avalanche), The Hartford Whalers nka Carolina Hurricane.  The Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets.....

So...actually, the AFL/NFL merger is the outlier in major league sports mergers.  The only one where all the teams from both leagues combined to remain active.

And FYI...the AAFC was certainly NOT a "minor league" compared to the NFL at the time.  The AAFC paid its players more....it had greater average attendance...and there is that little thing where the AAFC Champion played in 6 consecutive NFL title games after it joined...and that AAFC teams won 5 of the 10 NFL titles in the first decade after the merger.

The AAFC didn't survive because the Browns were too good.

And FYI....the NFL is NOT the keeper of the records.  The Hall of Fame counts those titles.....as does the likes of the Sporting News...and every other reporting body.   The NFL's opinion is just one of many when it comes to this.....and is by NO means the authoritative opionion.

And you can ignore the history of why the NFL chooses not to do so all you want.  It does not make it any less of a fact of what that history is because some people choose to ignore or deny it.   (I could bring up the whole Holocaust thing....)

[The Gipper]

@nero said:

Honest question: The Patriots in the south is Lousiana, where New Orleans is? I don't know by heart all the states.

The Patriots are in New England...in the very northeast of the country....the ONLY place that this map has that supposedly a majority of the people there would want the Pats to win.....except for Louisiana.

And they have Louisiana going for the Pats because they assume there is resentment because of the bitter loss that the New Orleans (Louisiana)  Saints just suffered to the LA Rams. 

[Nero]

@the-gipper said:

The Patriots are in New England...in the very northeast of the country....the ONLY place that this map has that supposedly a majority of the people there would want the Pats to win.....except for Louisiana.

And they have Louisiana going for the Pats because they assume there is resentment because of the bitter loss that the New Orleans (Louisiana)  Saints just suffered to the LA Rams. 

It was a pure geographical question, non-football related. I had understood the joke

[The Gipper]

@dutch-oven said:

That is true, shouldn't be, but it is true. 

There's an argument that can be made that the AAFC in its last two seasons was overall a better league than the NFL. It might be thought of as a minor league, but it most likely was as good as the NFL at its end. 

One of the best Browns books I've ever read dives into this topic: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-show-in-football-andy-piascik/1111631235

As I said....the AAFC was no more of a minor league than the AFL was.  Sure, perhaps overall in the beginning both leagues would not have been able to match up game to game vs. the NFL.  

The Browns certainly would have however.   There had been proposed after the initial  AAFC season that a "World Series of Football" be held between the winners of the AAFC and the winners of the NFL.  You know, kind of like a "super bowl" game.  The NFL refused. to do that. But there is no doubt in my mind that if the AAFC Champion Browns had played the NFL champions those years that the Browns would have easily won vs. the 1947 NFL Champions Chicago Cardinals...and the 48/49 NFL champion Phil. Eagles. (The Browns manhandled the Eagles in their first ever NFL game).  The real game would have been the 1946 Browns vs. the 1946 Bears......that could have been a barnburner:

George Halas vs.  Paul Brown

Sid Luckman vs. Otto Graham. 

The Monsters of the Midway vs. the........I don't think the Browns defense had a nickname at that time.   ...a damned good Browns defense

[The Gipper]

@nero said:

It was a pure geographical question, non-football related. I had understood the joke

I understood, and I was giving you the geography.  Any other questions of the sort? 

[Nero]

@the-gipper said:

I understood, and I was giving you the geography.  Any other questions of the sort? 

Nah, thanks. I told you that because Orion had already responded to my question. I know that USA has California, Texas, Florida, Washington, Ohio, Louisiana... And fortysome Dakotas. 

[Mark O]

@nero said:

Nah, thanks. I told you that because Orion had already responded to my question. I know that USA has California, Texas, Florida, Washington, Ohio, Louisiana... And fortysome Dakotas. 

LOL

[The Gipper]

Here is some geographical data:    States who had teams win the most Championships (NFL, AFL, AAFC)

Ohio:   13  (4 or 5 franchises: Pro/Rams/Browns/Bulldogs)

Wisconsin:  13.....all Packers

New York:  11....Jets/Giants/Bills  (note...count Jets/Giants as NY even though they play in New Jersey)

California:  11... Chargers/Rams/49ers/Raiders

Pennsylvania:  11.....Yellow Jackets/Eagles/Steelers

Illinois:  10   Bears/Cardinals

Texas:  8 .....Cowboys/Dall. Texans/Oilers

Massachussets:   5     Patriots

Maryland:  5:  Colts/Ravens

Washington DC:  5   Redskins  (count as DC even though they play in Maryland)

Michigan:  4......Lions

Colorado:  3.....Broncos

Florida:   3.....Dolphins, Bucs

Missouri:  3.....Chiefs/Rams

Indiana:  1....Colts

Louisiana:  1....Saints

Washington State:  1   Seahawks

Rhode Island:  1    Steam Roller

(states that currently have teams, but have never won a title:  Arizona, Minnesota, Tennessee,  North Carolina, Georgia

[The Gipper]

@nero said:

Nah, thanks. I told you that because Orion had already responded to my question. I know that USA has California, Texas, Florida, Washington, Ohio, Louisiana... And fortysome Dakotas. 

You of all people shouldn't forget Maine.   Remember the Maine?   We had to kick your asses in a war over the Maine.

[Nero]

@the-gipper said:

(states that currently have teams, but have never won a title:  Arizona, Minnesota, Tennessee,  North Carolina

Georgia?

@the-gipper said:

You of all people shouldn't forget Maine.   Remember the Maine?   We had to kick your asses in a war over the Maine.

Lol. Damn you... I remember Maine, I was just setting up the joke. In fact, it's 7pm and I'm still studying so I decided to rehearse my knowledge of the states at https://online.seterra.com/en/vgp/3003... Here are the results:

This one got me pretty angry... 

[The Gipper]

I think you need to explain this "test"....

and why would you get angry over Nebraska.  No one gets mad at Nebraska.

[Nero]

@the-gipper said:

I think you need to explain this "test"....

and why would you get angry over Nebraska.  No one gets mad at Nebraska.

Click the link and check the exercise, man. And you got many unimportant states in that middle area no one knows about... Thank God Kentucky resembles a fried chicken finger. 

[The Gipper]

@nero said:

Click the link and check the exercise, man. And you got many unimportant states in that middle area no one knows about... Thank God Kentucky resembles a fried chicken finger. 

You could end up with a pitchfork right up your ass by a farmer for that comment.  Those "unimportant" states is the area that primarily feeds this planet. 

. The United States

No country produces food as efficiently as the U.S. Despite having a significantly smaller workforce than China, total U.S. agricultural product is almost as high. Food production is spread across much of the country, but the largest food-producing states include California, Iowa, Texas, Nebraska and Illinois.

 

American companies dominate the food export market. Second-place Netherlands exports 35% less than the U.S. and is closer to tenth-place China in terms of international product. The U.S. has been the world's largest exporter of food for a very long time thanks to an increasingly productive farming sector. In fact, the total food production in the U.S. has more than doubled in the post-war period.

Twelve (12) states generate over $10 billion in agricultural cash reciepts:  California, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio & South Dakota.

[Nero]

@the-gipper said:

You could end up with a pitchfork right up your ass by a farmer for that comment.  Those "unimportant" states is the area that primarily feeds this planet. 

. The United States

No country produces food as efficiently as the U.S. Despite having a significantly smaller workforce than China, total U.S. agricultural product is almost as high. Food production is spread across much of the country, but the largest food-producing states include California, Iowa, Texas, Nebraska and Illinois.

 

American companies dominate the food export market. Second-place Netherlands exports 35% less than the U.S. and is closer to tenth-place China in terms of international product. The U.S. has been the world's largest exporter of food for a very long time thanks to an increasingly productive farming sector. In fact, the total food production in the U.S. has more than doubled in the post-war period.

Twelve (12) states generate over $10 billion in agricultural cash reciepts:  California, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio & South Dakota.

I bet that farmer would look for me going south of Texas... 

Interesting data, though! 

[hoorta]

@nero said:

Click the link and check the exercise, man. And you got many unimportant states in that middle area no one knows about... Thank God Kentucky resembles a fried chicken finger. 

Couldn't tell, but the test was to name the state associated with the number? Very tough for a European.  I would kill that one, I'm pretty good at geography. If you notice my interests, one is mountaineering. There's a Highpointers Club, get to the highest point of every state, many folks have done it, and Denali in Alaska is a real challenge by any standard. My count stands at six, though you can ride a bicycle to the high points of Ohio (Campbell Hill) and Indiana (Hoosier Hill- that doesn't even look like a hill). Most definitely can't ride a bike up Gannett Peak in Wyoming. 

Gipper was being modest- he's been to all 50 states, some of them multiple times. 

[The Gipper]

@hoorta said:

Couldn't tell, but the test was to name the state associated with the number? Very tough for a European.  I would kill that one, I'm pretty good at geography. If you notice my interests, one is mountaineering. There's a Highpointers Club, get to the highest point of every state, many folks have done it, and Denali in Alaska is a real challenge by any standard. My count stands at six, though you can ride a bicycle to the high points of Ohio (Campbell Hill) and Indiana (Hoosier Hill- that doesn't even look like a hill). Most definitely can't ride a bike up Gannett Peak in Wyoming. 

Gipper was being modest- he's been to all 50 states, some of them multiple times. 

I have been to ALL of them multiple times actually.....except Alaska.  Just one time there....Unless you count the fact that during the same trip I went from Alaska over to The Yukon, and then came back to Alaska...as two trips?  I do not. 

FYI....on a recent trip, I hit the high points to both Illinois and Iowa.  I have not really made it a point to hit all the high points...in terms of climbing to them.   I have seen quite a few....but not physically gone to the top:

[Nero]

@hoorta said:

Couldn't tell, but the test was to name the state associated with the number?

With the number of the state? Only US citizens care to learn that. The program asks you for a state then you click on it. 

@hoorta said:

Very tough for a European.  I would kill that one, I'm pretty good at geography.

I'm pretty good a geography too. Fun fact, I'd say that it is easier to learn the countries in Europe because they have a lot of History behind them. French-Spanish wars, Portugal allied with Spain, French always having trouble with the Channel, the isolationist Britain, Rome (the now Italy) being a Mediterranean power, Austorhungarian Empire on WWI, Germany invading Poland... 

You can mess up with some smaller countries closer to Russia (the steel curtain was not only a metaphor) or the Balkans due to recent wars, but you can make your way around...