Team of the 2030s

[RonCo]

Sigh.

[usnspecialist]

The only thing that matters is championships

No one remembers the losers

ya I cant even remember who I beat to win the title in 2034.

[RonCo]

If I had to rank the teams (and I dont think this playoff will change my opinion any) I would break them down the following way.

1. Jacksonville
2. Rockville
3. San Fernando
4. Yellow Springs
5. Las Vegas
6. California
7. Calgary
8. Louisville

I would move California way up on that list. And the issue of Calgary and Louisville is a question of recency bias, maybe.

For my money, it's:

JAX
CAL
RCK
SFB
YS9
LV
LOU
CLG

Here's the team's win totals over the decade, and who won titles:

[RonCo]

If Calgary wins the Landis this year, maybe I could push them up. But probably not.

[usnspecialist]

I gave Calgary the edge for their consistent winning. Louisville was absolutely incredible the first half of the decade, but they had a dogshit stretch in there whereas Calgary never did.

[RonCo]

I gave Calgary the edge for their consistent winning. Louisville was absolutely incredible the first half of the decade, but they had a dogshit stretch in there whereas Calgary never did.

Two Landis's to none is a hard hill for me to climb. Two to one is possible.

And the Pioneers did drop a one year turd.

[RonCo]

Still, we're arguing there over #7 and #8...so...

[RonCo]

When looked at through this lens, Rockville (and SFB to a degree) is effectively Louisville in reverse. I can make a compelling argument inside my own mind the Louisville should be ranked above SFB...just don't tell my fan base that.

[usnspecialist]

Still, we're arguing there over #7 and #8...so...

o I agree there is a pretty significant distinction between the top 6 and that next group of 2.

[RonCo]

Adding this due to post shift...

I can make a compelling argument inside my own mind the Louisville should be ranked above SFB...just don't tell my fan base that.

[RonCo]

This is the fun part of using the arbitrary 2030-2039 span, really. To me, anyway. I mean, SFB won 18 more games that Louisville in that span, but Louisville dominated probably more than SFB has in their run, and won an extra title. Which fan base would you prefer to be in? Especially now that LOU is on the uprise?

Alternately, YS9 won 93 more games than SFB. 93! That's almost 10 wins per year more...but SFB has that one Landis and YS9 does not. Which fan base would you rather be in?

Why does 18 wins weigh more than 93? Or does it?

I dunno.

That's the fun part.

[RonCo]

Another fun way to look at it. If we say the playoffs are truly a crap shoot (which they aren't, but a lot of folks say it and this is the counter-perspective to "flags fly forever"), then let's look at who dominated the most in the regular season over the decade:

100+ win seasons:
LV 4
RCK 3
YS9 3
JAX 2
CAL 2
LOU 1
SFB 0
CLG 0

95+ Win seasons
YS9 8
RCK 6
CAL 5
JAX 4
LV 4
SFB 3
LOU 2
CLG 1

[RonCo]

So you can use this to argue that if YS9 had done nothing but shut down JAX in the 8th inning of game 7 in one single year, the view of "Team of the Decade" would be radically changed. Which, for me, is both radically annoying, and pretty fun to think about.

I mean, seriously, swap that one Landis, and look at the data. We'd -probably- be arguing between JAX, YS9, and CAL, with conversation about the RCK/LOU double titles were enough to get them into the mix. But with YS9 being without a title, SFB's candidacy looks a lot better.

You can do similar things with Vegas.

I think these are things that make "Team of the Decade" kinds of discussions so entertaining.

[jiminyhopkins]

I like to think that we're solidly in the top 20.

[indiansfan]

I agree that Jacksonville should be #1 although a lot of tough competition.

[bschr682]

Wow that list is interesting

[felipe]

Calgary Vegas and yellow springs obviously fill the 6 to 8 spots, because they haven’t won a damn thing

[7teen]

Louisville loses all credibility on the list. Does anyone even recall who their GM was when they were having good years? I don't.