Just some thoughts about the Alignment Options...
A) If you're into East vs. West, this isn't too bad. Philly being in the Coastal Division does feel a bit unnatural, as they really fit in more with New York and Boston, (so too does Chicago and St. Louis and they've been split). I'm really not a fan of splitting Kansas City and St. Louis despite being in the same state. It's as illogical as splitting the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies up. Just doesn't make sense to me, but there aren't many alternative options either. This was a pass for me, but I do love the conference names, really nice job there!
B) This is a really strong option. All of the divisions make sense at first sight, no extreme oddities here. I did pick another option, but I think this is a good alignment.
C) This is like Option A, except with a few teams shuffled. It does fix the K.C. and STL problem, but keeps the other rival separation issues intact along a few more, (Milwaukee and Minneapolis being split, Birmingham and Phoenix somehow being in the same division). Personally thought this was the weakest choice we have, but then again, I also always hated the East vs. West shtick. Not only is does it tend to split Central USA rivalries, but I always just felt it a little "tacked on" so to speak. I just never felt the rivalry of Eastern USA vs. Western USA. Hard pass.
D) 1 Conference ideas are usually pretty cool and this one isn't too bad. There is the oddity of Charlotte being in the Northeast Division, (I'd have put them in the Southeast Division, moved Nashville to the Central Division to be close to Louisville, moved Minneapolis to the Lake Shore Division to be close to Milwaukee and Chicago and moved Buffalo to the North East Division to be with New York). Still, the 1 Conference, 6 Division idea was one I could get behind.
E) This was my suggestion, right up to the funky team locations. MLB and NFL have some oddities to their divisional layouts as a result of their histories, (the Miami franchise we have in the East Division against Northeastern teams for example is similar to what the Miami Dolphins deal with IRL with all their division rivals being in the Northeastern part of the USA too). I'll admit, this breaks a few rivalries and isn't totally elegant, but real life wasn't either. I actually didn't vote for my own idea though...
F) The AtlHL option was what I voted for, as not only would it be just like the AtlHL's 3 Conference idea, but it'd also solve any real travel issues, (other than maybe the Texas teams, but Texas teams always get tossed into the Western Conferences and Divisions). One other thing that needs to be considered is that, the more teams in each division, the less likely it is to have a team with a .500 or worse record in the postseason, (no 7-9 teams get in the playoffs with this league!). Ultimately, I think this is the best choice we have!
NeoPrankster wrote:
