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ChickenStu
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 Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:19 am Post subject: |
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| numero-ocho wrote: | | Osaka is out and the draw is wide open for Serena now. She should steamroll Wang in the quarters. Svetolina is the only top 10 seed remaining besides her. I'd love to see Townsend make the Finals. |
Serena is capable of losing to anyone at any time now, though, in fairness, that describes every other top player, too. If Bencic plays like this for 3 more matches, she could absolutely win this thing. Svitolina is no joke. And I don't expect Townsend to win her match later today, but would love to be wrong; Andreescu is awesome and maybe it's her time. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:30 am Post subject: |
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WHEW!!! I thought I was in for another 8 hours of BAD GATEWAY!!!
I don't think Naomi's knee was the reason she lost to Belinda. This is the 3rd time she's beaten her this year. Number 1's are dropping like flies.
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adkindo
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:38 am Post subject: |
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| ChickenStu wrote: | | In all my years of playing tennis, I believe I've gotten hit once while standing at the net while my partner was serving. It wasn't in the head, thank goodness. The guy I was playing with just shanked a serve and it got me in the back. In general, if someone has the skill to serve that hard, they also have the aim to not hit it that close to you. If they do, it's a mistake. I suppose if you stand further away from the doubles alley it could come into play more, but I was taught to stand about a half-step from the singles baseline. (Of course, I was also taught to be constantly moving, even after the serve return is struck, if the serve happens to pull the returner out wide, but that's another story.) |
I am surprised only once....I think I have been hit is the back of the head (or head/shoulder area) at least 3 times by a Punter while playing an upback on the punt team. Considering that you have probably had a massive amount of opportunities compared to me (12ish games a year.....punt 3-5 times a game), 1 seems fortunate. It was at 3 different levels also.....once I was in 9th grade (Junior High) and another I was a Junior in High School. Considering the wild range of punting skills at those ages, it kind of makes sense....but damnit if the same thing did not happen to me in college also!
Lucky in football, I had a helmet on, but it still would make me so angry. It kind of scares the crap out of you. The ball is snapped....I am going through the motions hoping nobody breaks through so I do not have to do anything taxing....then I hear the ball thud off the foot, then just as I am about to release down field, I feel this pressure hit my head while it sounds like a shotgun went off inside my helmet. On film, simply because I am the one hit, I appear to be part of the clown show. Also, I can recall the special teams coach trying to blame me in film study claiming if I was taking it serious and in a crouched position ready to block, the ball would not have hit me.....as if there is a world where the ball should ever have been near more or my head.
Last edited by adkindo on Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:42 am Post subject: |
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^
I can't speak to football, as it's pretty much the only big sport that I never played competitively. And I'm glad I didn't. I would've been questioning way too much crap from the coaches lol. Never mind that I was 5'7 140 at my heaviest in high school. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:02 am Post subject: |
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You want to watch a game that's not that popular but is very entertaining? Go to a women's fast pitch softball game. The skill displayed by the athletes is amazing. Pitches travel at average speed of 70 mph. Mound to plate is 35 40 feet. I think a lot of men would find it difficult to hit a good pitcher.
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America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| jodeke wrote: | | You want to watch a game that's not that popular but is very entertaining? Go to a women's fast pitch softball game. The skill displayed by the athletes is amazing. Pitches travel at average speed of 70 mph. Mound to plate is 35 40 feet. I think a lot of men would find it difficult to hit a good pitcher. |
Very skilled, I agree. I can't say that I would have interest in watching anything other than the WCWS or Olympic softball, though. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:14 am Post subject: |
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| ChickenStu wrote: | | jodeke wrote: | | You want to watch a game that's not that popular but is very entertaining? Go to a women's fast pitch softball game. The skill displayed by the athletes is amazing. Pitches travel at average speed of 70 mph. Mound to plate is 35 40 feet. I think a lot of men would find it difficult to hit a good pitcher. |
Very skilled, I agree. I can't say that I would have interest in watching anything other than the WCWS or Olympic softball, though. |
Was comparing the game to tennis doubles and popularity. Also overlooked is the skill it takes to play doubles and fast pitch softball.
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America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:59 am Post subject: |
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I like Alexander Zverev. He looks like Ronnie from Remember The Titans.
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Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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| jodeke wrote: | | I like Alexander Zverev. He looks like Ronnie from Remember The Titans. |
I could do without his attitude on court, but at least it's not like he's Kyrgios! Kind of reminds me of a grumpy Andy Murray, a bit. |
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Aeneas Hunter
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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| ChickenStu wrote: | | numero-ocho wrote: | | Osaka is out and the draw is wide open for Serena now. She should steamroll Wang in the quarters. Svetolina is the only top 10 seed remaining besides her. I'd love to see Townsend make the Finals. |
Serena is capable of losing to anyone at any time now, though, in fairness, that describes every other top player, too. If Bencic plays like this for 3 more matches, she could absolutely win this thing. Svitolina is no joke. And I don't expect Townsend to win her match later today, but would love to be wrong; Andreescu is awesome and maybe it's her time. |
I hear you, but this is the second time this year that the draw has swung open for Serena. If she doesn't get the record, it's just because the duct tape and WD-40 couldn't keep her going. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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| ChickenStu wrote: | | jodeke wrote: | | ChickenStu wrote: | | adkindo wrote: | | ChickenStu wrote: | | jodeke wrote: | | Taylor Townsend plays the game the way I haven't seen in awhile, she rushes the net. I think that's called a net player. For a women of her size I'm surprised by her speed. She looks fat. She defeated Simona Halep 2 6, 6 3, 7 4 tie break. |
Townsend! Actually, for her, she is in pretty good shape. She's a big girl; honestly, she just is. She's actually struggled with injuries and her weight over the years. If you think she looks big now, there were times where I've seen her play and she has to have been literally 30-40 lbs. heavier than this. Obviously she's never going to be one of those athletes that is "fit as a fiddle", so to speak, but she can move around sufficiently well enough if she is in the kind of shape she's in now.
Anyway, that was a great win for her and I'm happy for her. |
sure, she has a large frame, but she is 24 years old. Serena has a large frame, and she did not like Townsend in 2005. You are correct, she has lost a lot of weight and appears to be playing good tennis again but beyond the injuries her commitment to training and diet has been questioned for years. I think she needs to get more weight off or she will have a hard time avoiding injuries. |
But if you look at Serena before some "enhancements", I'll just say, Serena's body in her 20's looked nothing like what Townsend's does now, even when Taylor has been in her best shape. Some people are just never going to be able to be super trim. But she happens to have a world-class ability to play tennis. I do agree with you that she MUST maintain whatever level of fitness she is at now, or else it simply becomes too much of an issue against other pros. |
This is my first hearing Serena had enhancements. What do you mean and what did she enhance? |
She has had extensive "work" done. Google it. The pics are there. It's very, very obvious. |
I googled and didn't find anything reveling. Please point the pics out to me. I know she's lost weight but I haven't seen anything that looks like enhancements. Not saying it's not true, saying it's something new to me.
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Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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^
I'd really rather not. Just a mere look at "before and after Serena Williams" should do the trick. And I am talking about both face and body.
As for the tournament, Zverev is about to go out early, yet again, in a major, down 4-0 to Schwartzman and down two sets to one. And he has the yips on his second serve. Sixteen double faults now. That last double fault at 68 MPH. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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| ChickenStu wrote: | ^
I'd really rather not. Just a mere look at "before and after Serena Williams" should do the trick. And I am talking about both face and body.
As for the tournament, Zverev is about to go out early, yet again, in a major, down 4-0 to Schwartzman and down two sets to one. And he has the yips on his second serve. Sixteen double faults now. That last double fault at 68 MPH. |
OK. The enhancements I see is she has a hellofa makeup person and a very expensive weave. When she walks by a mirror she still has to wonder who that is following her. 
Zverev is gone again. He's young, 22. He has time to work on his weaknesses. He's ranked #6. I'm gonna nickname him Sunshine.
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America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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^
Zverev really has to work on his serve. It's like he has the yips or something. I heard on the telecast that he had 20 double faults in his match in the Cincinnati tournament earlier this summer...and that was in two sets! It would be one thing if he were hitting bombs on his second serve and double faulting. It still wouldn't be acceptable, but at least you'd have a better chance to win the point if they go in. When you are just trying to lay your serve in at 68, and generally in the 70's, and you still give away the point on a double fault, man, that's rough.
Zverev has been a top player for at least the past three years in name only. He plays a lot of events and gets a lot of points. But he's fared poorly at the majors (for such a highly-ranked player), with just two quarterfinal appearances to his name. He can bomb his first serve, he's solid off both wings, and he moves well, but something just doesn't click for him at the majors, even beyond the poor 2nd serves. His record against top-10 players is positively dreadful in his career, and I don't just mean against the Holy Trinity. |
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Huey Lewis & The News
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Location: So what's the uh...topic of discussion?
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Huey Lewis & The News wrote: | | The US Open has the most shameful crowd behavior. |
New Yorkers, man! |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh my! A double fault gives Townsend the second set! |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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Damn, Andreescu is up 2-0 early in the third, but in that second game, she got frustrated and was going to throw her racket down. It slipped out of her hand and flew precariously close to where the chair umpire is and near one of the ball kids. If that racket had hit a ball kid or any part of the chair, I think it would have been an automatic default. The racket hit near the net maybe within a few feet of the chair, and she got a code violation warning. I am pretty sure that if it had merely struck the chair--not the actual chair umpire, but just the chair--they would have defaulted her.
EDIT: I was just told by a tennis friend (who has worked at 3 U.S. Opens as an official) that it would not have been a default if the racket had struck the actual chair. It would have had to actually strike the umpire or a linesperson or a ball kid for it to be worthy of an automatic default. And it's now 4-1 and Andreescu is up two breaks. |
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venturalakersfan
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 8:09 am Post subject: |
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| jodeke wrote: | | You want to watch a game that's not that popular but is very entertaining? Go to a women's fast pitch softball game. The skill displayed by the athletes is amazing. Pitches travel at average speed of 70 mph. Mound to plate is 35 40 feet. I think a lot of men would find it difficult to hit a good pitcher. |
The men throw upwards of 80 mph. I played for about 10 years after high school.
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adkindo
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:39 am Post subject: |
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| jodeke wrote: | | ChickenStu wrote: | | jodeke wrote: | | You want to watch a game that's not that popular but is very entertaining? Go to a women's fast pitch softball game. The skill displayed by the athletes is amazing. Pitches travel at average speed of 70 mph. Mound to plate is 35 40 feet. I think a lot of men would find it difficult to hit a good pitcher. |
Very skilled, I agree. I can't say that I would have interest in watching anything other than the WCWS or Olympic softball, though. |
Was comparing the game to tennis doubles and popularity. Also overlooked is the skill it takes to play doubles and fast pitch softball. |
Women's fast pitch at the college level is a very fast growing sport. It is a solid product on television....moves fast, not too long. Pitching rubber to plate is 43 feet in high school and college....assume it is the same in the pro leagues. |
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adkindo
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:47 am Post subject: |
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| venturalakersfan wrote: | | jodeke wrote: | | You want to watch a game that's not that popular but is very entertaining? Go to a women's fast pitch softball game. The skill displayed by the athletes is amazing. Pitches travel at average speed of 70 mph. Mound to plate is 35 40 feet. I think a lot of men would find it difficult to hit a good pitcher. |
The men throw upwards of 80 mph. I played for about 10 years after high school. |
yes, in the Corporate/Beer league I have played in during recent years has your typical Level A, B, C for slow pitch, but they also have an Elite level fast pitch. Most of those guys are former pro and collegiate baseball players, and the competition is fierce. They often look like pro players in the field turning dp's like Francisco Lindor. Almost all those guys at that level travel at least regionally playing in large tournaments. |
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Aeneas Hunter
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:43 am Post subject: |
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| adkindo wrote: | | yes, in the Corporate/Beer league I have played in during recent years has your typical Level A, B, C for slow pitch, but they also have an Elite level fast pitch. Most of those guys are former pro and collegiate baseball players, and the competition is fierce. They often look like pro players in the field turning dp's like Francisco Lindor. Almost all those guys at that level travel at least regionally playing in large tournaments. |
I thought men's fast pitch had died out over the last 40 years, but a couple years ago I discovered that I was dead wrong. It is nowhere near as big as it was when I was a kid, but it exists all over the place, under the radar.
The women's game has the advantage of being TV-friendly. ESPN has done a masterful job of building up the WCWS. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Serena's ankle looks good and she's is absolutely steamrolling so far, up 5-0. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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Serena destroyed Wang 6 1, 6 0. She looked great. I don't know if she's that good or Wang was a deer caught in the headlights. If Serena gets by Elina Svitolinain in the semi's all the pressure will be on her to win it all. Fans don't want second from her it's a win or disappointment. Elina is playing well. It's not going to be a cake walk.
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America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. |
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adkindo
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Aeneas Hunter wrote: | | adkindo wrote: | | yes, in the Corporate/Beer league I have played in during recent years has your typical Level A, B, C for slow pitch, but they also have an Elite level fast pitch. Most of those guys are former pro and collegiate baseball players, and the competition is fierce. They often look like pro players in the field turning dp's like Francisco Lindor. Almost all those guys at that level travel at least regionally playing in large tournaments. |
I thought men's fast pitch had died out over the last 40 years, but a couple years ago I discovered that I was dead wrong. It is nowhere near as big as it was when I was a kid, but it exists all over the place, under the radar.
The women's game has the advantage of being TV-friendly. ESPN has done a masterful job of building up the WCWS. |
I think the question will become can they ever create a stable pro league that is profitable and can carve out a large enough niche to be sustainable? I know there have been several in recent decades that have failed. I know at one time there was the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) in the late 1990's, and it folded, The only thing I recall about that was the Orlando team (Wahoo's) always seem to win the championship.
Now they have the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), and I have tried to understand that league in the past but I do not get it. They have 6 teams...some of them have international names, while others have US city names. For example, there is a USSSA Pride team that is based in Viera, FL, but then there is a Chicago team. It gets more complicated....there is a Beijing team whose home field is in Daytona Beach, FL. Maybe the strangest one is there is a Cleveland team.....but it is owned my Mexico's National Softball team, and it's entire roster is Mexican National players. What does that have to do with Cleveland?
I guess I think there is a world where Women's professional softball could be mildly successful and stable, but we are not there right now. I have turned ESPN on several times this year, and they are airing "professional" Cornhole....so I refuse to believe someone could not package softball and get more of an audience than Cornhole. Cornhole players probably earn more than Pro Softball players since I read their annual contracts range from $5K to $20K.
One idea I have tossed around before is since every one of these women played college ball....build the teams like The Basketball Tournament does, but instead of specific alumni of one school being a team, base it on the conferences. Maybe some of the smaller conferences would have to combine. For example, have a team in Arizona, The Phoenix Lady Cats and the roster comprised on PAC12 schools alumni. Similar to the TBT, you get a little bit of that college fan loyalty built in. |
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