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| SportSlam™ explores NFL realignment. -- Primis 10-6-99, 3:45PM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| So you're the National Football League, and you've
just accepted Houston as your 32nd franchise. What do you do next?
Something that's long overdue -- realign. But how do you realign
without ruining some of football's best rivalries?
Well first of all, let's take a look at how the NFL ended up with these weird divisions in the first place. Why is Arizona in the NFC East? Because when they were the St/ Louis Cardinals, it made more sense. Why is Tampa Bay in the NFC Central? Because when the league expanded and added Tampa Bay, the Central was the division with the open slot. Ditto for Atlanta and Carolina, in the NFC West. In the AFC things make a little more sense, with the only curiousity being Baltimore staying in the AFC Central instead of the East, and Miami being in the AFC East. One thing is for sure -- Houston will be placed in the AFC again, which means one AFC team has to move to the NFC. But who? Our suggestions for realignment? See the chart below.
|
Cries of protest are certain to ring out for several moves, but this alignment makes the most sense while maintaining the best rivalries.
First of all, why does the NFC Central remain intact? Because Detroit, Green Bay, and Chicago are all senior members (the league's 3 oldest teams in fact) and deserve the respect to their rivalries, and the division still makes sense geographically.
Carolina and Tampa Bay really could trade divisions, as well, and it would keep the Carolina-Atlanta rivalry intact, but only if Tampa Bay really wants to be in the East (since the Bucs have seniority over the Panthers, they should have the say).
Why does Tennessee move to the NFC? Due to their move from Houston, I would say that the franchise forfeited a lot of its seniority and say. Tennessee is a young and new football market, so moving them would cause the least amount of upheaval for its fans, who haven't really set any good rivalries yet. It also creates a natural Rams-Titans rivalry.
Dallas moves to the NFC West, which will disappoint fans of the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry, but they'll live. Especially when they realize that Dallas' rivalry with the San Fransisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals will suddenly become more important. The only downside to this plan is for the poor New Orleans Saints, who unless they improve their play will probably get beat up badly in their division, but they'll live, especially considering that their division still remains fairly intact.
Tampa Bay can finally get a little break in the NFC South, and only travel to Atlanta, Tennessee, and St. Louis (as opposed to Minnesota, Green Bay, Detroit, and Chicago while they were in the Central).
In the AFC things are still sticky, but fairly intact.
Jacksonville and Miami in the same AFC South division is a no-brainer, and all of Florida should rejoice.
Indianapolis and Baltimore basically flip-flop divisions, creating some great rivalries (the Colts VS the Browns and Bengals twice a year can't be a bad thing rivalry-wise). Also the Bengals-Browns series remains. Plus Cleveland gets to face hated Pittsburgh twice a year.
Kansas City loses the AFC West, and quite frankly does get a bit of a rough deal. But due to the Chiefs location, it's hard to get them in a division that makes complete sense without moving them into the NFC. The Chief showever get to be in a division with Houston and current divisional foe Jacksonville in the AFC South, so not all is bad. The AFC West remains intact because quite frankly it makes no sense to move any of those west-coast teams right now.
Rumors abound also that the league is pushing for possibly Seattle to change over to the NFC, but after looking at the above plan it really makes no sense, especially considering the rivalries the Seahawks have finally begun to build in the AFC West.
So there it is. The above is a solid plan that the NFL really should look at, and keeps everyone happy, rivalries intact, and respecting tradition, and makes geographical sense while also fixing some of the screwball alignment that is going on currently.
We don't have to worry about realignment until 2002, and between now and then a lot of teams are going to be pushing and lobbying for what they think is best. But someone has to give, and quite frankly the newer teams like Batimore, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Carolina, and the new Houston franchise don't and shouldn't have much of a say, considering their serious lack of seniority/experience as franchises. I don't care how much seniority the owners have... it's the city's tenure that matters most for the sake of the fans.
Do the right thing, NFL. Go with the above plan and nobody gets the shaft.
-- Rik A. Kyser
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