Episode 238 - #ProRelForUSA Goes to Court Part 3

This is the third and final part of our series on the recent lawsuit by two American lower-division soccer clubs to get FIFA to institute promotion and relegation in American soccer.



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Episode 237 - #ProRelForUSA Goes to Court Part 2

Today we give you the second part of our three part series on Miami FC and Kingston Stockade FC going to court to get FIFA to get USSF to institute promotion and relegation in North American soccer.



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Episode 236 - #ProRelForUSA Goes to Court

Last week, two American lower-division soccer clubs - namely Miami FC (NASL) and Kingston Stockade FC (NPSL) - approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport - the highest court on sports in the world - with the intent to force the United States to join the rest of the world football community and implement promotion and relegation.

Mike got a hold of the lawsuit and will be reading it as well as giving his thoughts on the proceedings.

Suffice it to say the Winning Side Coaches support #ProRelForUSA.  It's been a cause we've been behind since this podcast started, and it's beyond time that the United States and Canada get on board with the rest of the world.  Unless and until promotion and relegation happens, the US and Canada will continue to struggle on the world stage, both at the club and country level.  We need to STOP Americanizing the world's game and get with the program.



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Episode 235 - Mike's Search for a New NFL Team

Even though Mike is still livid over the NFL's decision to unjustly rip a team out of St. Louis, he is slowly taking a step toward finding a new team to pull for.

In today's episode, Mike and Keith look over the entire NFL and whittle the list of possible teams for Mike down to a more manageable size.  This is the post-Raiders-to-Vegas re-evaluation we promised a while back.

Here's the short list of possible teams we came up with and the reasons why these teams are on the list:

• Arizona Cardinals - a team that left St. Louis in 1987 for completely different reasons from the more recent departure, Cardinals President Michael Bidwill was pro-STL in the LA debacle and has given time to the St. Louis community since the departure.
• Chicago Bears - Mike was hesitant to put this team on the short list due to his bad experiences in Chicago (ask him sometime about his 2008 trip to Minneapolis), but when two of the co-hosts (Keith and Tim) are Bears fans you know they'll find their way on the list.
• Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals are a Maybe due to their recent regular season successes.
• Cleveland Browns - Mike was at the Browns' first game back from the Modell stunt - the 1999 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, contested between Cleveland and Dallas (and the origin of the "Jerry's going back to Texas in a golf cart" story).  He sat in the famous Dawg Pound, and was treated quite well.  On that experience alone, the Browns are on the list.
• Denver Broncos - This team has resurfaced as a Maybe on the list because of their history of winning.  The fact that they tie in to two of the most well-known adult cartoons today (South Park and The Simpsons) is an added bonus.
• Green Bay Packers - As has been stated time and again, the Packers are the only fan-owned team in the major American pro sports leagues - and Mike's sister (a Packers fan) owns a share of the Packers.
• Houston Texans - Most of Mike's late mother's side of the family lives in Houston.  They felt the sting of relocation once before when the Oilers left for Tennessee in 1997 (ironically, Jeff Fisher was the Oilers' head coach for that move).  Texans owner Bob McNair was on the ill-fated LA committee and personally advised the St. Louis stadium task force on their ill-fated plan (in a related moot point, we're still waiting on such detailed plans from San Diego and Oakland). 
• Indianapolis Colts - The Colts have long been Mike's second team, having shared ownership (Carroll Rosenbloom) and Hall of Fame players (Marshall Faulk and Eric Dickerson) with Mike's former team.  The fact that the city is just further down I-70 doesn't hurt.  Mike is willing to look past Colts owner Jim "the Mad Tweeter" Irsay's pro-Stan stance and give this team another chance.
• Minnesota Vikings - This one has more to do with the fact that Mike likes Minneapolis than it does with the team itself, as Zygi Wilf was pro-Stan in the LA debacle.
• New Orleans Saints - The Saints are on here because of Mike's Cajun roots as well as the team's post-Katrina commitment to winning.
• New York Football Giants - The Giants are on here because of owner John Mara's role on the LA committee.
• Philadelphia Eagles - While their owner was pro-Stan, Mike has always been a closeted Eagles fan.  This was especially true when Donovan McNabb was on the team.
• Pittsburgh Steelers - Mike's father is from Pittsburgh and almost everyone on that side of the family are Steelers fans.  Also, owner Art Rooney II was on the LA committee.

Teams not on this list are not here for a variety of reasons, but that LA situation does play a huge part in it.  Also, the other two teams that have moved - the now LA Chargers and the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders - were excluded out of respect for fans in San Diego and Oakland, respectively.

Fair use: Arsenal Fan TV and "Senor Stan" make comebacks because reasons.



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Episode 234 - 2017 NBA and NHL Finals Review

Mike and Keith discuss the most recent NBA and NHL Finals, won by Golden State and Pittsburgh respectively.

We also have Mike's batsu game, one that encompasses all four of his outstanding batsu games:

Twilight Imperium!

For those of you who are not board gamers, Twilight Imperium is a space-based game that infamously takes at least 6 HOURS to play.  Mike actually bought a copy around Christmas and that was good timing, as the game is currently out of print.

Here is a video on how the game basically plays:





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Golden State wins NBA title

For the third year in a row, the NBA Finals featured the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Golden State won it two years ago.  Cleveland won it last year.

This year's champs: Golden State.

It wasn't even close.  The Warriors dominated the Cavs 4 games to 1.

Mike correctly picked Golden State for this series.  He is SAFE!

Which is good because Mike still has 4 batsu games outstanding because of no promotion for Aston Villa or Sheffield Wednesday; Manchester United winning League Cup; Barcelona crashing out of Champions League; and the Dukies playing like total crap.

Penguins Repeat as Stanley Cup Champs

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on winning their second straight Stanley Cup.

The Penguins beat Nashville 4 games to 2.

This is Pittsburgh's 5th overall Stanley Cup, which ties them with Edmonton for fifth most championships.  Only 5 of the Original Six have won more (Montreal 24, Toronto 13, Detroit 11, Boston and Chicago 6 each).

Mike's prediction was indeed Pittsburgh.  He is SAFE!