As I sat on my couch Sunday watching East Texan Clint Dempsey and Fulham roll past Tottenham in English soccer's FA Cup play, I got to thinking about the way soccer leagues in Europe do things.
For example, almost every European nation has multiple soccer leagues, which work on a tier system, a lot like baseball in America.
The difference is, every year those leagues change makeup, adding and losing teams to different leagues based on final season record.
Basically, the English Premier League is the nation's premier league (obviously). But, at the end of every season, the bottom three teams from that league get relegated to the Championship, the nation's second-tier league.
Conversely, the top three team's from that year's Championship season get bumped up to the Premier League, and the Championship's bottom three team's get sent down to League 1, actually the third league.
That's it in a nutshell. Also, every nation in Europe's top league sends its top four teams to the Champions League the next season. That also exists on this side of the globe with the MLS, Mexico's top league, etc.
Anyway, on with the unreal comparisons. Let's start with this country's most popular league, the NFL.
With the Super Bowl this week, we'll find out who the league's best is on the field Sunday. But, if the NFL used relegation a la European football, things would look different.
First, New England (14-2), Atlanta (13-3), Pittsburgh (12-4) and Baltimore (12-4) would be off to the champions league, presumably against the best football players Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic have to offer.
But, Carolina (2-14), Denver (4-12) and Cincinnati (4-12) would be relegated to a lower league, maybe the Arena League?
In baseball, which is actually the closest thing we've got here to the tier-system in European soccer, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, New York (Yankees) and Minnesota would head to the Champions league, while Pittsburgh, Seattle and Arizona would be headed to Triple-A.
Replacing those three squads? Durham, Scranton and Memphis, who held the tiebreaker over Iowa.
In the NBA, which is only midseason, San Antonio, Boston, Miami and Chicago seem Champions bound, while Cleveland, Minnesota and Toronto would be in fear of relegation.
So there it is. Will it ever happen? Probably not. Let's be honest, the Packers, Rangers or S.F. Giants wouldn't have gotten near as far as they did in that system. It's very European, and I don't think it'd be accepted here in the states, because underdog stories are loved here, especially in the playoffs.
But, it's fun to think about.
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