My January 15th ESPN column generated an unusually large response. Here are some of the questions and comments that came up repeatedly:
Why did you include the Giants and Jets (who play in New Jersey) as New York teams, but not the Islanders, Devils, or Nets?
The Giants and Jets are the only football teams New York has — New Yorkers root for them. That’s not the case with the Islanders and Devils (New Yorkers root for the Rangers) or with the Nets (New Yorkers root for the Knicks). Having spent the first 18 years of my life on Long Island and the last 20 in New York City, I’m pretty well versed in this.
But if that’s the case, why did you file the two Anaheim teams under L.A., and the Oakland teams under S.F.?
In retrospect, maybe that was a mistake.
Shouldn’t you have counted the Packers as a Milwaukee team?
I thought about it. I ultimately decided that 120 miles is just too big a distance to overlook. As I mentioned in the article, these were all judgment calls — more art than science. Could the groupings have been done differently? Sure.
Shouldn’t Pittburgh get a bonus point for PNC Park? And what about bonus points for Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and [insert your favorite stadium or arena here]?
I probably should have been clearer about the criteria for the bonus and minus points. I agree that PNC is a lovely place to watch a game. But it doesn’t do much to enhance the uniforms on TV, which is how most of us experience sports. In my opinion, Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, and a few others make the game palpably more pleasant to watch on the tube, while PNC on TV looks like just another perfectly adequate but unremarkable grass-field park. I didn’t give any plus or minus points for hockey arenas, because — for the most part — a rink is a rink is a rink when you’re watching a game on TV. Again, this is more art than science.
Shouldn’t Pittsburgh have gotten extra credit because all its teams have the same color scheme
Seems to me that one could just as easily penalize them for this, due to lack of variety. I ultimately decided that it was a red (or black-and-gold) herring.
Shouldn’t the Tigers’ uniforms have gotten 5 stars, not 4.5?
I’ve never liked the orange-D road cap.
What do you have against the Twins’ uniforms?
The Twins have a major identity crisis. The “TC” and “M” cap logos don’t even look like distant cousins; same goes for the home jersey insignia (which I’ve always found generic and minor league-ish) and the rather stately road insignia, and for the main logo (a sleeve patch on the road uni) and the “shaking hands” logo (a sleeve patch on the home uni). They’re trying to have it both ways, but instead it’s just a muddle.
You obviously have an east coast bias.
Yeah, that’s why my third- and fourth-ranked cities were San Francisco and Los Angeles.
You obviously have a west coast bias.
Yeah, that’s why my first- and second-ranked cities were Boston and Chicago.
Typical New Yorker — you couldn’t stand to let Chicago win. You obviously hate Chicago.
Uh, wait a minute….
I thought only professional teams qualified for the rankings. Doesn’t that mean the Lions shouldn’t count?
You’ve got me there.
