{"id":454423,"date":"2022-05-29T03:12:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-29T00:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries\/"},"modified":"2022-05-29T03:12:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T00:12:36","slug":"divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries\/","title":{"rendered":"#Divisional realignment could provide intriguing rivalries"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2db7d063a16\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2db7d063a16\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries\/#%E2%80%9CDivisional_realignment_could_provide_intriguing_rivalries%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Divisional realignment could provide intriguing rivalries&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries\/#Vacs_Whacks\" >Vac\u2019s Whacks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries\/#Whack_Back_at_Vac\" >Whack Back at Vac<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CDivisional_realignment_could_provide_intriguing_rivalries%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Divisional realignment could provide intriguing rivalries&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/mike-vaccaro.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Mike Vaccaro\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/mike-vaccaro.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/mike-vaccaro.png?w=38 38w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Sure. Logically, it makes no sense. Logically, in baseball, the American League and the National League stopped being bitter enemies decades ago, stopped using different umpires years ago, and stopped playing under different rules this year when the designated hitter became a universal element.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Logically, in football, the AFC and the NFC have never really been rivals at all, since from the start of the merger there were three teams from the old NFL (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland) that joined the old AFL teams to strike a balanced league. Since everyone has played under one shield, since 1970, there have never been any notable decrees of conference pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So yes, every once in a while, when the idea is floated that MLB and the NFL should radically realign, there are few rational explanations to offer up why that shouldn\u2019t h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en. The NBA and NHL have merrily divided their two conferences strictly along geographic lines, with the Mississippi River unofficially providing the dividing line.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And, with apologies to Sam Cooke, geography has its place.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But since when are sports devoted to the practice of logic? Sports inspires grown men (and women) to paint their faces in team colors. Sports require that during a rally, you stay seated in your chair no matter how fiercely nature calls. Sports keeps you up until crazy hours of the morning on a work night because your team is playing on the coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sports parted ways with logic years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22453072-1653776309280.jpg?1653762030&amp;w=1024&amp;1653762030\" alt=\"Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones\" class=\"wp-image-22453139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22453072-1653776309280.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;1653762030&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22453072-1653776309280.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;1653762030 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22453072-1653776309280.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;1653762030&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty (2)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Advocates of realignment scoff at the folly of keeping alive an artificial separation. It drives them completely batty when the answer to the question, \u201cWhy should we keep old league alliances intact?\u201d is inevitably this: \u201cBecause it\u2019s always been that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Again, in life, in business, \u201cIt\u2019s always been that way\u201d is a losing attitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In sports, it\u2019s almost comforting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And sure, in New York, and in the other markets that have more than one team, it is a unique issue. On one level: Would it be interesting to have the Mets and Yankees share the NL (or AL) East, or the Jets and the Giants to share the NFC (or AFC) East? I suppose.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s also worth noting that the Knicks and Nets have shared the NBA\u2019s Atlantic Division since 1976, and though they\u2019ve met a few times in the Eastern Conference playoffs, there really never has been a signature Nets-Knicks moment. And the Rangers have had some epic and unforgettable playoff battles with the Islanders and the Devils going back to J.P. Parise. But as great as those <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> were, they were never going to be in the Stanley Cup Finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We can still get Mets-Yankees in the World Series. We\u2019ve seen it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"792\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/102200Yankees15NH.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Roger Clemens throws a broken bat at Mike Piazza during the 2000 World Series.\" class=\"wp-image-22453191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/102200Yankees15NH.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/102200Yankees15NH.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Roger Clemens throws a broken bat at Mike Piazza during the 2000 World Series.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We can still get Jets-Giants in the Super Bowl. We haven\u2019t seen that (though you can read about it in Dan Jenkins\u2019 forever classic \u201cSemi-Tough.\u201d)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We can still get Rams-Chargers for the Super Bowl, and White Sox-Cubs for the World Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, is that enough to provide a sound counterargument to realignment?\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Probably not, no. Momentum seems to be gathering for it. And look, National League fans have adapted to the DH. Pro football has survived without the blood feud that was the AFL\/NFL wars. Sometimes change is inevitable, even if things seem to be working better than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll leave you with these. And tell me these don\u2019t just look weird (baseball based on expansion to 32 teams and eight-team divisions):\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NL\/AL East: Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Orioles, Nationals, Phillies, Blue Jays, Braves\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NFC\/AFC East: Jets, Giants, Bills, Patriots\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Goodbye Eagles and Cowboys. Hello \u2026 weirdness. If it ain\u2019t broke \u2026<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Vacs_Whacks\"><\/span>Vac\u2019s Whacks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It really is uncanny how Aaron Boone seems to save his very best work every year for the Yankees\u2019 annual IL splurge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/12955865n.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Aaron Boone has helped navigate the Yankees through their injury crisis. \" class=\"wp-image-22453205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/12955865n.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/12955865n.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/12955865n.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/12955865n.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Aaron Boone has helped navigate the Yankees through their injury crisis. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">John Angelillo\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p>Two very different baseball books should be in your bullpen for the summer. There\u2019s \u201cSwing and a Hit,\u201d Paul O\u2019Neill\u2019s engaging memoir with Jack Curry, chock full of great stories and anecdotes. And our pal Charley Rosen has another terrific sports novel in \u201cThe .300 Hitter,\u201d which is absolutely worth your while.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p>Terry Collins will be at Citi Field on Tuesday night to honor Johan Santana on the 10th anniversary of his 134-pitch no-hitter, and it\u2019s worth remembering perhaps the most honest post<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> observation ever from a manager: \u201cI told him he was my hero. I told him I knew there was wasn\u2019t any way he would give up the ball. I also said for the first time in my career as a manager, I was rooting for the other team to get a hit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p>Heat over the Celtics on Sunday. It\u2019s just hard to imagine Jimmy Butler will allow this to end any other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1399675431.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Jimmy Butler \" class=\"wp-image-22453222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1399675431.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1399675431.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1399675431.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1399675431.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 47 points in Game 6. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whack_Back_at_Vac\"><\/span>Whack Back at Vac<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Joe Rem: <\/strong>Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the Benny Hill reference. Who of our generation did not love Benny Hill? And his theme music? Throw in Monty Python and the Avengers (Emma Peel!), and the British ruled our teenage world. You and I can only imagine the percentage of your readers that thought, \u201chuh?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vac:<\/strong> I knew that those who got the reference would enjoy the reference.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p><strong>Gary Kestenbaum:<\/strong> I have a feeling that Josh Donaldson has questionable judgment, but if he really wanted to make a meaningful statement, he\u2019d make a donation to the Jackie Robinson Foundation and voluntarily attend a sensitivity training course.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/BASEBALL-MLB-BAL-NYY_-5.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Josh Donaldson\" class=\"wp-image-22453235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/BASEBALL-MLB-BAL-NYY_-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/BASEBALL-MLB-BAL-NYY_-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/BASEBALL-MLB-BAL-NYY_-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/BASEBALL-MLB-BAL-NYY_-5.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Josh Donaldson<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">USA TODAY Sports<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Vac:<\/strong> Doing the former is never a bad idea for any of us. Check out the JRF at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jackierobinson.org\/\">jackierobinson.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p><strong>@dickkearns: <\/strong>When the Mets call up Connor Grey from Syracuse, we\u2019ll get a great column from @MikeVacc on his fellow St. Bonaventure alum!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>@MikeVacc:<\/strong> Consider this a fair warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p><strong>Kevin Clowe:<\/strong> I agree that hockey players are the toughest amongst team sports. Boxers are on a whole different level.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vac: <\/strong>You sure won\u2019t get an argument out of me. Certainly not to a boxer.\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/28\/divisional-realignment-could-provide-intriguing-rivalries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Divisional realignment could provide intriguing rivalries&#8221; Sure. Logically, it makes no sense. Logically, in baseball, the American League and the National League stopped being bitter enemies decades ago, stopped using different umpires years ago, and stopped playing under different rules this year when the designated hitter became a universal element.\u00a0 Logically, in football, the AFC&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":454424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22453072-1653776309280.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1653762030&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129702,8326,869,78001],"class_list":["post-454423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-28-22","tag-mlb","tag-nfl","tag-open-mike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}