Pro Sports and WW III

[Matt Wiser]

Copied this to the "other board" before the previous incarnation of this one went bye-bye, and now it's returning home:

Major Professional Sports in World War III

Major League Baseball

Baseball was the sport most disrupted by the outbreak of war on 4 September 1985. On that date three of the four divisions were in the midst of pennant races - in the AL East, the Blue Jays led the Yankees by 3 1/2 games; in the AL West, the Angels led the Royals by 1 1/2 games; and in the NL East, the Cardinals led the Mets by one game. Only in the NL West, where the Dodgers were 7 1/2 games up on the Reds, did the race appear to be over.

The Kansas City Royals were in the midst of a homestand, having taken the first two of three scheduled games from the Chicago White Sox, when Kansas City was obliterated by Soviet nuclear warheads. All of the players on both teams, as well as most of the Royals’ employees, were killed. Kauffman Stadium was destroyed in the firestorm that followed the initiations. With the organization wiped out along with its home city, the Royals franchise folded.

The New York Mets were fortunate to be on a West Coast road trip when New York was hit, but Shea Stadium was destroyed in the fires that swept through Queens after the missiles hit. The Mets organization also folded in the wake of the war.

The New York Yankees were less fortunate. Also at home when the war started, a few of their players survived, but many died in the nuclear attack on New York. The visiting Seattle Mariners were almost completely wiped out as well. Yankee Stadium was devastated by the fires that burned out the Bronx. But the Yankees would come back.

Two more teams suffered serious harm during the war - the Texas Rangers, whose Arlington Stadium was damaged in the fight for the DFW Metroplex, and the Houston Astros, whose Astrodome was destroyed in the battles for Houston. (Adding insult to injury, Seattle’s Kingdome was bombed during the Puget Sound battle in 1987.)

The 1985 season was abandoned and no baseball was played again until 1990, when the major leagues resumed play with 22 of its 26 prewar teams - the Rangers and Royals were missing from the American League and the Mets and Astros from the National League. The Milwaukee Brewers transferred to the AL West to give the AL two six-team divisions; the NL had lost one team from each division and played with two five-team divisions.

Notable for their presence in 1990 were the New York Yankees. Owner George M. Steinbrenner refused to allow his team to miss even a single game of the new season; for the next decade and a half, while New York City slowly recovered from its wounds, the Yankees lived a nomadic existence, playing some home games at their spring training site in Fort Lauderdale, others at the home of their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, and still others at the home of their Double-A affiliate in Albany, until the new Yankee Stadium was built in the Bronx as part of a sports development that provided new homes for New York’s baseball, football, basketball, and hockey teams.

Baseball expanded in 1993 as the Florida Marlins joined the National League and the Texas Rangers rejoined the American League. In order to keep the leagues balanced, the Milwaukee Brewers transferred to the National League. In 1998 the American League added teams in Tampa Bay and Phoenix; another round of expansion in 2005 saw the Houston Astros revived and a new team added in Denver, bringing MLB to its current 28 teams. There are currently rumors that MLB may add two more teams in Washington and New York in the near future.

National Football League

The NFL was set to begin its 1985 season the weekend after the war began. With the destruction of the stadiums housing four of its teams in the opening salvo of the war, the season was first postponed, then cancelled. The NFL would not return to action until 1990.

The nuclear attack on Washington left RFK Stadium a burned-out shell. The DC franchise did not return to the league for several years.

The nuclear attack on New York destroyed the Meadowlands Sports Complex, home of the Giants and Jets. The Jets folded; the Giants would not resume play for many years.

Kansas City was completely destroyed, and with it went Arrowhead Stadium and the Chiefs franchise.

ComBloc forces soon overran Houston, Dallas, and Denver. The football stadiums in all three of those cities were seriously damaged during the fighting.

The NFL resumed play in 1990. Through the Herculean efforts of new owner Jerry Jones, the Cowboys were the only NFL team in the former war zone to play in that first postwar season, which included 22 of the 28 prewar teams.

Postwar expansion began in 1995 when the league added new teams in Charlotte and Jacksonville. The following year, the former Washington franchise rejoined the league, now based in Baltimore, as did the former Houston franchise, now based in Nashville. The Denver Broncos and a new Washington team started play in 2001. Four years later, a new Houston team and the revived New York Giants, now playing in the Bronx, joined the league, bringing the league to its current 30 teams.

National Basketball Association

The NBA season was almost two months away when the war began. With several teams located in areas which came under nuclear attack or Soviet occupation, it suffered heavily during the war.

At the time of the nuclear attack on Washington, the Bullets played in Landover, Maryland, which was largely undamaged. However, the damage done to the city meant that the Bullets did not return to action until well after the war.

The nuclear attack on New York destroyed the arenas of two of the NBA’s franchises - Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks, and the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey, where the New Jersey Nets played. MSG was destroyed along with the rest of Manhattan; the Meadowlands were flooded and irradiated by the Hudson tidal bore. The Nets folded; the Knicks eventually returned to the league.

Four teams played in areas which were overrun by the ComBloc - San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and Denver. The arenas of all four teams were destroyed or seriously damaged in the fighting; the Spurs franchise folded, and the other three clubs did not rejoin the league until some years later.

Mobilization and travel restrictions meant that the NBA cancelled its 1985-86 season and did not resume play until 1990-91, with only 16 of the 23 teams it had had prewar. Expansion began with the 1993-94 season, when teams were added in Charlotte and Miami; two more joined the following season in Orlando and Minneapolis and another pair, in Memphis and Toronto, were added in 1995-96. Dallas, Denver, and Washington rejoined the league in 2001-02, along with with a New Orleans franchise; Houston resumed play in 2003-04 and the New York Knicks returned in 2005-06, bringing the league to its current 28 teams.

National Hockey League

The NHL was still a month away from beginning its 1985-86 season when the war began. Because of its geography - based mostly in Canada and the northern part of the United States - it suffered the least physical damage of the four major North American sports during wartime. However, it did not go untouched.

The nuclear attack on Washington spared the Washington Capitals, who played in suburban Landover, Maryland, but the destruction done to the city and the displacement of war meant that the Capitals would not rejoin the league until several years after the war.

The nuclear attack on New York obliterated Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers. Fire, flooding, and radioactive fallout severely damaged Long Island; although the Nassau Coliseum, home of the New York Islanders, suffered only minor damage (it was used as a shelter for years afterward), the Islanders, like the Rangers, folded as a result of the war. Unlike the Rangers, the Islanders would not return.

On the New Jersey side of the Hudson, the tidal bore created in the Hudson caused radioactive flooding that devastated the Meadowlands Sports Complex, where the New Jersey Devils played. The Devils also folded as a result of the war.

The NHL at first considered going forward with the 1985-86 season in spite of the war, but it quickly became apparent that travel restrictions and the full mobilization of the United States and Canada would make this impossible. However, the Stanley Cup continued to be awarded during the war years; tournaments were staged between all-star teams assembled by the armed services of the United States and Canada each spring from 1986 to 1990. The sites and winners were as follows: 1986, Toronto, Canadian Army; 1987, Montreal, Canadian Army; 1988, Boston, United States Navy; 1989, Vancouver, Royal Canadian Navy; 1990, Ottawa, Canadian Army.

The NHL resumed play for the 1990-91 season with 17 teams. As the United States and Canada began to recover from the war, the league expanded, adding new teams in San Jose, Ottawa, and Tampa Bay for the 1993-94 season. Two more teams joined for 1995-96 in Miami and Anaheim. The Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh for the 1997-98 season; a new franchise began play in Nashville in 1998-99 and another joined in Atlanta in 1999-2000. In the 2000-01 season new teams were added in Dallas and Columbus; the Washington Capitals returned to the league in 2001-02 along with a new franchise in Denver. In 2005-06 the New York Rangers finally rejoined the league, playing a new complex in the Bronx. A 30th club is set to begin play in Las Vegas for the 2017-18 season.

Other Sports

European football on the Continent carried on more or less undisturbed by the war, the unrest that began in 1989 notwithstanding. In the UK, the 1985-86 season was suspended, then cancelled due to the war, but play resumed in 1986-87. The World Cups scheduled for 1986 and 1990 were also cancelled. The 1988 Olympics, scheduled for Seoul (Summer Games) and Calgary (Winter Games), were not held. In the world of auto racing, Formula One’s 1985 season was truncated by the war; eleven of the sixteen scheduled grands prix had already been held and the races scheduled for Italy and Belgium were staged as planned, but the final three rounds in the UK, South Africa and Australia had to be cancelled owing to British fuel rationing or the perils of travel to the Southern Hemisphere, and the 1986-90 seasons were held exclusively in Europe. Frenchman Alain Prost was the 1985 champion. CART cancelled its last five races and declared Emerson Fittipaldi champion on a tiebreaker; he was level on points with Al Unser but had won a race and Unser had not. CART resumed racing in 1990. NASCAR also suspended operations until the end of the war; Jimmy Hensley was declared champion of the Busch Grand National Series, 20 of 27 scheduled races being run, while Bill Elliott was the 1985 Winston Cup Series champion after 20 of 28 scheduled races had been run and the last eight cancelled.

The only thing missing that Theodore (I think it was him, or Stu before his passing) didn't include was Pro Tennis. The U.S. Open was underway on War Day, and I'm assuming that the players who had been eliminated had left NY, and those who were still playing somehow got out. The WTA and ATP tours would no doubt be suspended until the end of the war, though some European tournaments would go ahead. A new home for the U.S. Open would be needed, though. I'm thinking either L.A., Miami, or Atlanta.

[Wolfman]

The Rangers missed those first four seasons because they were waiting for their first new stadium, initially called The Ballpark in Arlington, to be built. They stayed in that stadium through 2019, moving to Globe Life Field, which had been built right next door, for the 2020 season.

[Belushi TD]

I remember this irritating me a great deal when it first came out, because three of my four teams folded. I get that having their stadium destroyed would be a problem, but I still don't understand why the Nets and Devils (and the Jets, but they suck) folded. Neither team had/has any stake in the ownership of the Meadowlands so I don't understand why those teams folded. Same think with the Giants/Jets, although I did see that the Giants resumed play many years later.

I am unaware as to if/how much of a stake the Rangers/Knicks/Islanders had in their venues. I am even less aware of what the Kansas City teams or the occupied territory teams had in their venues.

The Mets didn't even lose any players. It seems arbitrary that the franchise would fold just because the home venue went away. I would have thought that the Yankees would have been the team to fold, as they lost most of their players and front office and such. Of course, the Mets likely lost a fair bit of their front office as well.

Before I go off on a rant, I'd appreciate it if someone could explain the logic behind it.

Thanks

Belushi TD

[Matt Wiser]

I don't remember who wrote it off hand: it may have been Theodore before he left, but don't take that to the bank.

[Belushi TD]

Ok... I understand that its cannon at this point. However, if anyone remembers why the decisions went the way they did, I'd appreciate it if someone would take the time to explain it to me, either here or via PM.

Thanks!

Belushi TD

[Wolfman]

The Texas Rangers won the World Series last year, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games, and are currently 8-8.

OOC: I think the Houston Astros would be out of the picture until Houston’s reconstruction was completed…

[jemhouston]

I suspect there won't be any argument about what to do with the Astrodome. It was probably destroyed in the war.

[Wolfman]

I suspect there won't be any argument about what to do with the Astrodome. It was probably destroyed in the war.

Precisely. The Astros would return just as soon as Minute Maid Park is finished (IRL, the stadium is finished in 2000).

[jemhouston]

I suspect there won't be any argument about what to do with the Astrodome. It was probably destroyed in the war.

Precisely. The Astros would return just as soon as Minute Maid Park is finished (IRL, the stadium is finished in 2000).

Interesting question if it would gone by Enron Park at first. Then again would the war butterfly Enron away?

[Wolfman]

More than likely…