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║                               SPORTSBEAT                                   ║
║                                Magazine                                    ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Issue I - October, 1993                                   by D.P. McIntire ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
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║ TABLE OF CONTENTS.                                                         ║
║ (1) Welcome to SportsBeat!                                                 ║
║ (2) Major League Baseball Realignment:  Winners and Losers.                ║
║ (3) More Realignment:  A case for realigning two other sports leagues.     ║
║ (4) Basketball is talking expansion:  The front runners.                   ║
║ (5) The 1993 Championship and World Series Predictions.                    ║
║ (6) In Next Month's Issue (We Hope, Anyway), "BackBeat."                   ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ WELCOME TO SPORTSBEAT!                                                     ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
The purpose of SPORTSBEAT magazine is simple:  to bring various types of sports
information and opinion to you, the on-line reader.  As the editor of this
"electronic rag," I would like to say (primarily to cover my company and at my
attorneys behest) that the opinions expressed in SPORTSBEAT are solely mine,
and that they are not necessarily the opinions of AmeriBoard Enterprises or of
AmeriBoard Enterprises Publishing.  However, considering as how I'm the owner
of both of them... well, you can make your own opinion on that one.

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║ MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL REALIGNMENT - WINNERS AND LOSERS.                    ║
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On September 15, 1993, Major League Baseball announced formally its divisional
alignment for the upcoming 1994 season.  With it came no real surprises:  the
Majors will now have three divisions (Eastern, Central, and Western) in both
the American and National Leagues.  The alignments themselves however have a
slight air about them, similar to the NFL's realignment following the 1970
AFL-NFL merger.  Here's the breakdown of Baseball in '94:

AMERICAN LEAGUE:
Eastern Division:             Central Division:           Western Division:
Boston Red Sox                Cleveland Indians           California Angels
Baltimore Orioles             Milwaukee Brewers           Oakland A's
New York Yankees              Chicago White Sox           Seattle Mariners
Toronto Blue Jays             Minnesota Twins             Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers                Kansas City Royals

NATIONAL LEAGUE:
Eastern Division:             Central Division:           Western Division:
Montreal Expos                Cincinnati Reds             Colorado Rockies
Atlanta Braves                Houston Astros              Los Angeles Dodgers
Florida Marlins               Chicago Cubs                San Fran. Giants
Philadelphia Phillies         Pittsburgh Pirates          San Diego Padres
New York Mets                 St.Louis Cardinals

ODDITIES:  Really, only two:  in the American League, the Cleveland Indians
are placed in the AL Central, while the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays
are in the AL East.  Major League Baseball figured however that a Tiger-Blue
Jays rivalry should continue while an Indian-Tiger rivalry, dating back 93
years, should be curtailed.  Meanwhile in the National League, the owners
opted to make a southern rivalry with the Braves and Marlins rather than to
place the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Eastern division to maintain its 110+
year rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies.  Cases can be made either way on
both scenarios, so I won't insert my two cents here.

WINNERS OF REALIGNMENT:
1.) Everyone in the new AL East.  Reason?  They maintain the rivalries of old
    for the most part, dropping the "other" teams in the old East alignment,
    (Cleveland and Milwaukee) who didn't draw as well as the others.
2.) The Cleveland Indians.  Starved for a pennant of any kind since 1954, the
    new AL Central gives them perhaps their best shot at making the new
    playoff system in 40 years.  They could finish first in the 1994 AL Central
    as easily as they could finish dead last.
3.) The Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins.  By virtually strong-arming the
    MLB hierarchy into placing them both in the NL East, there is an instant
    Florida-Georgia rivalry, and although the Marlins will get pounded in the
    early going, anticipate this rivalry to be a big one within five years.
4.) The New York Mets.  Yeah, that's right - the New York Mets.  Why do they
    benefit so well from realignment, even with a strong Atlanta team moving
    over from the old NL West?  Simple.  No matter if they lose all 162 games
    in 1994, they can't finish any worse than fifth!
5.) Every team that plays in California.  The Giant-Dodger, Dodger-Padre,
    Padre-Giant, and A's-Angel rivalries are tremendous now.  They will greatly
    intensify with this realignment, especially when new scheduling kicks in
    putting more emphasis on divisional play.
6.) Major League Baseball itself:  (a) it gets more revenue from tacking on an
    extra playoff round, (b) it allows them to try to shore up their television
    revenue losses based on the new playoff round, (c) it will give baseball
    execs an excuse to add two new teams within three years so that each of
    the six divisions have five teams each.  Look for Tampa Florida to finally
    get pro baseball when they expand.

LOSERS OF REALIGNMENT:
1.) Boston Red Sox.  They lose their rivalry with the Indians, which although
    it's not that intense, the Red Sox could almost always manage to win 6-10
    games a year from Cleveland, even in their worst years.
2.) New York Yankees.  They also lose precious "near-guarantee" wins over the
    Tribe and the Brewers.
3.) The Seattle Mariners.  Without an improved team for 1994, the M's will be
    destined to stay out of the playoff picture for another 3-5 years.
4.) The Montreal Expos.  They will (not in 1994, but perhaps as early as '95)
    have to make more trips to Atlanta and Miami, which will cost the team
    money.  No big deal, but the Expos are hurting already financially, and
    chartering flights doesn't come cheap, ya know?
5.) The Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates.  Both lose the intense
    rivalry between them.  As a Western Pennsylvania resident, Three Rivers
    loses a lot of its fun when the Phillies aren't there to heckle.
6.) The Chicago Cubs.  They lose their precious battle to stay an Eastern
    team in order to keep games on time on WGN-TV, which is how this whole
    realignment thing got started anyway.
7.) The Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies.  The 1993 expansion teams lose
    the opportunity to create rivalries against such teams as the Pirates,
    Cubs, Reds and Cardinals.  Although gaining rivalries against teams like
    the Braves and Dodgers make up for it somewhat.
8.) The fans of the game.  Why do they lose?  Because they now have to endure
    the very real possibility of having a World Series end in November.  The
    Fall Classic with snow on the ground?  I don't like the thought of it.
    Can you imagine a World Series, say in 2009, with the Colorado Rockies
    hosting the Milwaukee Brewers?  It would have to be postponed until April!

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║ MORE REALIGNMENT - A CASE FOR REALIGNING TWO OTHER SPORTS LEAGUES.         ║
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I actually favored baseball's realignment.  I figure with satellite and radar
tracking technology for mapping the planet and such, it is kind of silly to
have the Atlanta Braves in the NL West while the Cubs and Cards are in the
NL East.

Since I pegged baseball's realignment fairly well, I've decided perhaps we can
take a crack at two other sports leagues in dire need of realignment:  the NBA
and the NFL.  Wait!  Did I say the NBA and NFL need realignment?  You betcha.
Let's take a look at each, and see how they can become more interesting...

PART I - THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION.
The NBA has become a 27-team monolith of pro sports, aiming for and getting top
dollar profitability for franchise owners and players alike.  The NBA's become
the model for other sports leagues to follow in a lot of ways.  Five franchises
have been added since 1980, and plans exist for anywhere from one to three more
to be added in time for the 1995-96 season.  Charlotte, Minneapolis, Dallas,
Miami and Orlando have each received NBA teams since 1980.  The Magic, which
became an NBA team for a paltry $ 32.5 million a while back, recently sold for
a whopping $ 81 million!  The NBA makes money - hand over fist.

Why should they realign?  A couple of reasons:  (1) traditional rivalries such
as the Celtics-Knicks, Celtics-Sixers, Lakers-Warriors, and Bulls-Pistons must
be preserved.  With 27 teams in the mix with current scheduling, it isn't that
feasible, especially if another three teams are added; (2) teams like Miami and
Orlando, who should be facing other southern teams to create intense rivalries,
are instead stuck in divisions with Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland,
and Milwaukee.  Doesn't it make sense that the San Antonio Spurs would draw
more fans to see a divisional game between them and Orlando as opposed to, say,
the Utah Jazz?

The solution is to have a six-division league, in similar style to the NFL and
now Major League Baseball.  Make the Eastern and Western Conferences the
American and National, giving each conference three divisions.  How it could
be laid out:

                            AMERICAN CONFERENCE:
Eastern Division:             Southern Division:          Central Division:
New York Knicks               Charlotte Hornets           Chicago Bulls
New Jersey Nets               Orlando Magic               Cleveland Cavaliers
Boston Celtics                Miami Heat                  Detroit Pistons
Philadelphia 76'ers           Atlanta Hawks               Milwaukee Bucks
Washington Bullets                                        Indiana Pacers

                            NATIONAL CONFERENCE:
Midwest Division:             Southern Division:          Western Division:
Minnesota Timberwolves        San Antonio Spurs           Sacramento Kings
Denver Nuggets                Houston Rockets             Seattle SuperSonics
Utah Jazz                     Dallas Mavericks            Golden St. Warriors
Portland TrailBlazers         Phoenix Suns                Los Angeles Clippers
                                                          Los Angeles Lakers

Under this alignment, the only real problem occurs in the National Conference's
Midwest Division, where Minnesota and Portland seem heavily out of place.  But
the other five divisions are natural rivals for one another.  An 82 game slate
in the regular season could put heavy emphasis on divisional play to determine
post-season placements.  And, with the possible addition of another three teams
for a total of thirty, six divisions of five clubs each could provide an easy
scheduling format (each team plays the others in its division eight times for
32 games, then plays two games a season against every other team in the league
for another 50 - voila!  An 82 game schedule!)


PART II - THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.
The NFL has had a serious alignment identity crisis ever since its formation
back in 1920.  Prior to 1933 there were no divisional alignments at all, which
lead to standings containing 20+ teams in the early and mid 20's.  Divisional
play also lead to problems.  A case history:
   (1) In 1933 there were Eastern and Western Divisions, later called
Conferences;
   (2) In 1950 they switched to American and National Conferences, only to go
back to Eastern-Western a few years later;
   (3) The sixties brought expansion to 16 teams, along with divisions named
Century, Capitol, Central and Coastal, when Baltimore and San Francisco, on
opposite coasts, were in the same division;
   (4) In 1969, to settle disputes about realignment following the AFL-NFL
merger, the matter of alignment was literally decided by pulling slips of
paper out of a bowl - which lead to Atlanta being in the NFC West while Dallas
got placed in the NFC East;
   (5) Expansion added Tampa and Seattle back in 1976, putting the Bucs
in the AFC West (with Oakland, Kansas City, Denver and San Diego) while the
Seahawks were in the NFC Central (with Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago and the
Detroit Lions);
   (6) A year later, the NFL decided to reverse this, which made it slightly
better but still ridiculous (Atlanta in the NFC West, Tampa in the Central and
and Dallas in the East?);
   (7) Franchise relocations in the 1980's caused it to become even more of a
farce:  the Baltimore Colts packed up in the middle of the night, moving to
Indianapolis.  However, despite the fact that they are further West than all
four AFC Central teams, they remain in the AFC's Eastern division.  The St.
Louis Cardinals, who at the time should have been in the NFC Central anyway,
packed up and moved to Phoenix Arizona.  The Phoenix Cardinals remain in the
NFC East along with Dallas, while Atlanta, Tampa, and the New Orleans Saints
remain in divisions they should not be in.
   (8) Talk of expansion in the 1990's has produced five formal candidates with
legitimate chances:  Baltimore, St.Louis, Memphis, Charlotte and Jacksonville.
All eastern cities.  The only problem is, the only spaces available for the
teams, under the current alignment, are in the AFC Central and the NFC West!

     Realignment in the NFL is needed, and needed now, before expansion, in
order to remove the only true gripe most football fans have about the NFL and
its business dealings.  Someone should send Paul Tagliabue, Art Modell, and
other NFL owners a map, showing them that:  (a) Indianapolis is further West
than Cleveland, Cincinnati, Houston or Pittsburgh; (b) Dallas is further West
than Atlanta, Tampa, and New Orleans; (c) Phoenix is further West than over
half the teams in the league, and (d) No matter which two of the five cities
listed above is selected for expansion, putting any of them in the NFC West is
a mistake.  It's time to correct the alignment problem, and to hell with the
worries about rivalries being broken up - all for the good of the league,
right?  Let's take a look at how it should be, using both six division formats
and four division format:

Using the current, six division format...
                            AMERICAN CONFERENCE:
Eastern Division:            Central Division:         Western Division:
New England Patriots         Indianapolis Colts        San Diego Chargers
New York Jets                Cleveland Browns          Seattle Seahawks
Miami Dolphins               Cincinnati Bengals        Los Angeles Raiders
Buffalo Bills                Houston Oilers            Denver Broncos
Pittsburgh Steelers          Kansas City Chiefs

                            NATIONAL CONFERENCE:
Eastern Division:            Central Division:         Western Division:
Atlanta Falcons              Detroit Lions             Dallas Cowboys
Tampa Buccaneers             Chicago Bears             Phoenix Cardinals
Washington Redskins          Minnesota Vikings         Los Angeles Rams
New York Giants              Green Bay Packers         San Francisco 49'ers
Philadelphia Eagles          New Orleans Saints

In the event that two expansion teams are added, all that would be necessary
to make the alignment in this instance work with 30 teams is bumping the
Pittsburgh Steelers back to the AFC Central, the Chiefs back into the AFC West,
moving the Falcons into the NFC Central, and the Vikings, Saints or Packers
into the NFC West.  Keep playoffs same as they currently are.

Now, my personal favorite, the four division format.  Under this system, there
would be no more American and National Conferences, a throwback to the AFL-NFL
days.  In fact, no conferences at all would exist.  I'll explain how playoffs
would work after I show you the alignment:

Eastern Division:                      Southern Division:
New England Patriots                   Miami Dolphins
New York Jets                          Tampa Buccaneers
New York Giants                        Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills                          New Orleans Saints
Philadelphia Eagles                    Dallas Cowboys
Washington Redskins                    Houston Oilers
Pittsburgh Steelers                    Kansas City Chiefs

Central Division:                      Western Division:
Chicago Bears                          Los Angeles Rams
Detroit Lions                          San Francisco 49'ers
Green Bay Packers                      Los Angeles Raiders
Minnesota Vikings                      San Diego Chargers
Cleveland Browns                       Seattle Seahawks
Cincinnati Bengals                     Denver Broncos
Indianapolis Colts                     Phoenix Cardinals

Playoffs:  The four division champions, along with eight wild-card playoff
qualifiers, regardless of division, advance to the playoffs.  In the first
round, all four division champs are given byes, while the eight wild-cards
face each other, seeded #1 to #8.  Winners then face the division champions,
again seeded in the same manner the NFL has it now (the worst wild-card team
must beat the best division champ to continue in the playoffs).  Winners of
those games go on to a semi-final game, and the two best teams in the league
go on to the Super Bowl each year.

Advantages:  Creates an even more intense rivalry between:  (a) Jets, Giants,
and Bills fans, who would see their teams lock horns twice each year; (b) fans
of the Oilers and Cowboys, who will see two regular season matchups annually
as opposed to their annual, meaningless exhibition game; (c) Dolphins and
Buccaneers fans, who will see two "Battles of Florida"; (d) every football fan
in the state of California, who will see the Rams, 49'ers, Raiders, and the
Chargers battle it out every year, and (e) Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings
fans who wish to preserve their old rivalries which date back to in some cases
the NFL's formation, while at the same time adding new rivals in Cleveland,
Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Disadvantages:  Eliminates the tired, worn out rivalries between Dallas and
Washington, Dallas and the New York Giants, and so on.  However, had it not
been for the old alignment structure, these teams wouldn't be rivals anyway.

Expansion could be handled simply by adding an eight team to two divisions; it
also leads to the prospect of adding two more teams for a total of thirty-two.
The six division format doesn't work out easily with 32 teams.

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║ BASKETBALL IS TALKING EXPANSION - THE FRONT RUNNERS.                       ║
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The National Basketball Association is looking to become either a 28 or a 30
team league.  Since they're currently at 27, that means that they are planning
to expand again - for the second time in less than a decade, and the third
time since 1980.

Back in the 1980's, the NBA blossomed from 22 to 27 teams, adding the Dallas
Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and the Minnesota
Timberwolves.  The Mavs were cheap to get in on, costing a measly $8 million.
The other four cost $ 32.5 million each, and judging by the recent sale of the
Orlando Magic ($ 81 million), these owners got in cheap as well.  Now, word is
out on the street that the NBA could be looking for as much as $75 million for
an expansion team.

The front runners in the latest NBA expansion derby at this point are Toronto,
(which has three different groups applying for enfranchisement),  Vancouver,
Tampa, Pittsburgh and Nashville, Tennessee.  Each have one celebrity or
another pitching their cause, the most noteworthy of which is Earvin "Magic"
Johnson pitching on behalf of one of the Toronto groups.

I am involved myself with the Pittsburgh expansion project.  A group called
Pittsburgh Pro Sports, Inc., will be filing its expansion application on
October 15, 1993.  I am proud to say that I will be heavily supporting the
move to put an expansion team in Pittsburgh, and if successful, I also (I'm
not going to lie, or hide the truth for that matter) hope to make a mint off
of it should a team come to the Steel City.  I plan to join the core group of
investors - the Pittsburgh group plans to make their club similar to the Boston
Celtics, in that they will be held publicly.

I'd personally like to see Toronto, Vancouver and Pittsburgh get franchises.
My reasons for Pittsburgh getting a team are obvious.  Toronto and Vancouver
would create one hell of a Canadian rivalry in the NBA.  Tampa or Nashville
are both fine cities, but Nashville I think is ill equipped to support an NBA
team at this time, and Tampa, despite its prime location as a sports haven due
to retirees and locals with tons of bucks to go around, has the Orlando Magic
within easy driving distance.

Realistically, however, Toronto will probably get an expansion team, and maybe
Vancouver will be thrown in primarily for purposes of a rivalry.  The other
three however might not make it, including Pittsburgh.  The Steel City has a
quarter-century old arena (Pittsburgh Pro Sports has no intention apparently
of building a new facility outside the Pittsburgh city limits - which it does
desperately need), low local television revenue prospects, and the population
has a tendency to abandon sports teams that lose (for instance, the Pirates
were in very serious danger of leaving Pittsburgh as late as 1986, drawing less
than 1 million paying fans a year.  Four years and a division title later, the
fans came in droves, nearly topping 2 million.  The Penguins as well are fair
weather friends in the City of Champions.  Now that they've won two NHL titles
they are the toast of Pittsburgh and a seat is almost impossible to get; five
years ago, you could sit so close to the ice you would get frostbite - even
with Mario Lemeiux.)

Again, in the Pittsburgh case, their principals look at exhibition games which
have been held in the city recently, stating that Michael Jordan or Charles
Barkley will bring people to come watch a Pittsburgh expansion team.  True, I
admit... but how many Mugsy Bouges will people plunk a $ 20 bill to come see?
Uh-huh.  You get the picture.  Unless you could rotate between the Phoenix
Suns, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Portland TrailBlazers and Orlando Magic
for an entire 82-game schedule, the Pittsburgh club would not draw.

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ THE 1993 CHAMPIONSHIP AND WORLD SERIES PREDICTIONS.                        ║
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As of this writing (September 30th), there is one divisional race remaining in
Major League Baseball, specifically the National League West, where the Braves
and Giants, both with over 100 wins, are battling it out in the Hunt for a
Wild October (I couldn't think of anything better off hand, so sue me).

If there was ever a year which a wild-card playoff berth could occur, I would
say that this would be it, as regardless who wins the NL West in 1993, both
teams deserve to go on in my book.

Anyway, the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies
have clinched their respective divisions and will move on to their respective
league championship series.

In the American League, look for a stunning upset as the defending World Champs
take it on the chin.  The ChiSox pitching staff will stymie Blue Jay batters,
and the Sox will take the ALCS 4 games to 2.

In the National League... oh, by the way, did I mention the Braves will win the
NL West?  No?  Okay, the Braves are gonna take it.  They then are going to go
on to beat the Phillies in a boring NLCS 4 games to 1.  The Phils are outhit,
outpitched, outfielded, outgunned, and they will be out of the playoffs before
the World Series.

In the 90th fall classic, look for the Chicago White Sox to send the Atlanta
Braves to their third consecutive World Series defeat in seven games.  The
Braves have the hitting, but the White Sox have the pitching, and the defense,
and the Giants chasing the Braves right now will have a lot to do with it as
well.  Fatigue is a big thing here.  The White Sox have the time right now to
take several days off (well, the key players do) to regroup, relax, get a
proper mind set, and so forth before they go on.  The Braves will not, and it
may play a large part in who wins and who doesn't.

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ IN NEXT MONTH'S ISSUE (WE HOPE, ANYWAY), "BACKBEAT."                       ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Next month, we hope that our issue will contain your commentaries on the world
of sports, whether the topic was mentioned in this issue of SportsBeat or not.

"BackBeat" will basically work out to be a "Letters to the Editor" section.  If
you've got a question about a sports event of the past, write to us with it and
we'll try to answer it as best we can.  Espouse your opinions on anything from
the expansion topics that were mentioned in this issue, to how you think the
Mets should fire Dallas Green, to whatever you wish.  I want to hear from you.

- end -