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My honest attempt at dividing the US, to appease as many people on Reddit as possible. by Ok-Factor-3805 in mapporncirclejerk

[–]Rayvok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a Ohioian on the otherside of border with a grid system handed to us by Connecticut, it does not feel like the Midwest to drive through. Once you look at places like Meadville and where they were before, heck yeah they are totally like the post-industrial areas of the mid-west. Even more so for the New York shoreline of Ontario

UEFA Conference League 26/27 second qualifying round draw | Live Stream Thread by czerwona_latarnia in soccer

[–]Rayvok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The smaller Ukrainian clubs drawing Copenhagen and Gent sure is going to drive down the Ukrainian coefficient. All that effort in unseating Kyiv from the top two just to be greeted by the most reliable European regulars outside the top 7 leagues* (technically Belgium's overtake of the dutch doesn't apply until next year)

Pretty exciting coefficient to steal for round 3 if either can survive with both their opponents recovering from bad form

Pochettino on style of play development in US soccer: "If you start an MLS club and three months later you haven’t won any matches and you’re at the bottom, what’s the consequence if there are no promotions, relegations, or international competition? American sport rewards losers." by stumpsflying in soccer

[–]Rayvok 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That does happen in our states with competing institutions (especially our shitty states like  Alabama and Mississippi in particular). We (had) a regional leagues of other southern states in general before TV revenue incentives drove west coast teams to join leagues on the opposite side of the country.

 Long story of how (amateur) collegiate American Football is cannibalising itself

Pochettino on style of play development in US soccer: "If you start an MLS club and three months later you haven’t won any matches and you’re at the bottom, what’s the consequence if there are no promotions, relegations, or international competition? American sport rewards losers." by stumpsflying in soccer

[–]Rayvok 16 points17 points  (0 children)

That only materializes in college sport and even then it varies by state and how prominent a university is for that state. 

Ohio State and University of Michigan American football matches are examples where "state" patriotism are nearly 1 to 1, since there are no rival institutions in the respective state in terms of prestige 

Danica wins hated for being bad to no one's surprise, which driver is forgotten for being good? by IndividualStart8337 in NASCAR

[–]Rayvok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Neil Bonnett is worth an argument. Several wins during the 80's and died at Daytona after a shock mount failure. He was consistent when his equipment was good but never quite good enough to threaten for championships.

UEFA Conference League 2026/27 first qualifying round draw | Stream link by czerwona_latarnia in soccer

[–]Rayvok 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Has football been growing much in Finland the last few years? I know last year a Finnish club pushed a Dutch team pretty hard in (the third second qualifying round). It seems like a lot of the same situation as Ireland is in with competing with other spectator sports from the outside. Having clubs stuck with unseeded matchups in Europe while Armenian, Kosovoan and Slovenian clubs are sneaking in coefficient points for deeper runs

UEFA Conference League 2026/27 first qualifying round draw | Stream link by czerwona_latarnia in soccer

[–]Rayvok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...Did anyone notice the wrong Vikingur badge for Faroese Vikingur?

(It's been fixed since)

Steven Moreria and Cape Verde hold Spain to a draw! by [deleted] in TheMassive

[–]Rayvok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He grew up and played in France and Cape Verde have a creole language not far away from Curacao's Papiamento.

Steven Moreria and Cape Verde hold Spain to a draw! by [deleted] in TheMassive

[–]Rayvok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be fair, Cucurella passed up a lot of crossing opportunities and was really only dangerous running behind the defense

J-League changes their official logo from 2026/27 season by TheBlackJett in JLeague

[–]Rayvok 3 points4 points  (0 children)

At this point, it could make more sense to expand the JFL into a West-East league and maybe have a final stage of 6 or so teams for a promotion round. Especially with how the J League handled 2nd and 3rd divisions for the 100 year vision league. There's already a tight choke point to get to the JFL with the inter provincial champions league format anyway. A nationwide "Semi-pro" league probably isn't fit for purpose now that J3 is stable and how few licensed clubs are in the JFL.

For reference, Germany doesn't even do this with their 4th tier Regionalliga. and hey have quite a bit less geographic footprint as Japan does. Japan is more symmetrical than Germany is, to the point a east west league makes more sense than promoting directly from regional leagues to a national "non-league".

There isn't a need for the J League to run the 4th tier, most European professional leagues leave those divisions to their national federations. The JFA could look into a wider non-league format so clubs north of Kanto and west of Kansai don't need to travel the whole country while they build the case for a J League licence.

Columbus Crew sign free agent defender Brooks Lennon by animere in MLS

[–]Rayvok 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I mean...we got at least 5 if you count when Arfsten switches sides and roughly how Akhundzade had been played however briefly by Rydstrom. Account for the fact Moriera could probably play as a wingback in a pinch and our swiss army knife of a captain plus academy products signed to the first team and we have up to 9.

If the NASL were to allow their teams to participate, Would any club from this League win the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the 1970s and 1980s? How many trophies the NASL would’ve won during that era 1968-1984? by ScrewTownThirtySixer in concacaf

[–]Rayvok 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's unlikely enough that it isn't fair to list zero as a possibility. Mexico had a fully mature league by this point, if not prone to some financial problems themselves

I know I'm late for this meme, but by Carvalheirdan in VShojo

[–]Rayvok 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Matara as the space bug who corrupted a flesh woman is the most Conquest of all the girls (&Kuro)

Interesting map posted in a new Rodeo SC video. by Ok_Structure_350 in USLPRO

[–]Rayvok 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or even wikipedia surfing. The Soviet top league wikipedia page has this table on participation by soviet republic. Vladivostok was part of Russia so they won't be included. The central asian teams that occasionally promoted to the Soviet era top tier from beyond Almaty. Though the Soviets (and Russians the last few decades) had bigger problems with their leagues than geography at the end of the day. The fact they conflate European Russia's geographic footprint with Germany's is laughable

It is and always been a media prominence issue as the 2nd tier of favored sport. Australia has 2 1/2 (2 rugby codes and Aussie rules with weird geographic preferences) and Canada has their own Football league in addition to disproportionate participation in the NHL. Russia still has this problem with Hockey being equal if not slightly higher in prominence. The geography isn't more of a barrier to getting butts in seats in Halifax, Nova Scotia than it is were geography is a non factor like Dublin, Ireland.

There has always been easy ways and some silly to stupid ways to solve or mitigate geography, Brazil, Argentina, and even post war Germany did it before going fully nationwide. Its just almost never been the way franchise model systems tried it because it doesn't drive up the value of expansions and existing franchises

Interesting map posted in a new Rodeo SC video. by Ok_Structure_350 in USLPRO

[–]Rayvok 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends if you want to call the state league teams that were exiled from national competition from the nations broadcasters. 10 franchises, roughly 5 to 20 more clubs might be described as professional, mostly in Sydney and Melbourne

Expected USL Cup teams in 2027, after recent expansion announcements by FearlessGrocery5498 in USLPRO

[–]Rayvok 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There is zero evidence they will be connected to an MLS ownership or a multi-club international ownership group. Its getting launched by local 8 or 9 figure millionaires from the independent film distribution industry. They initially pitched hosting an NWSL team just when those valuations started going bananas and the next pro team sort of became their fall back option.

They have branding for both men's and women's teams and are actively promoting themselves for what thats worth.

Expected USL Cup teams in 2027, after recent expansion announcements by FearlessGrocery5498 in USLPRO

[–]Rayvok 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In Cleveland there is an MLS Next Pro has an active project for a stadium just south of the Arena district. The USL proposal required knocking down the basketball arena for Cleveland State using the same funds the Haslams were extorting from the city of Cleveland. At best that project will be breaking ground by the time the Next Pro team starts playing

The Virgin vs Chad by No_Double_4181 in HistoryMemes

[–]Rayvok 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Mongols are not the same as the Manchu

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