The View From Wisconsin

These are free of charge for the people trying to go where the XFL, WLAF, WFL and others failed so miserably:

1. THOU SHALT NOT COMPETE DIRECTLY WITH THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

• From the start, you are either maneuvering to become a "feeder" league to the NFL, or to eventually have your teams absorbed into the NFL via merger. The latter is not a sustainable business model; the former seeks a happy coexistence between the two leagues.
• The best way to not compete with the NFL is to have your league play during the NFL's off season; the second best way is to play your games on a different night than the NFL's games (Friday night, for example).
• You should NEVER put your championship game up directly against an NFL game or event (like the draft).

2. THOU SHALT NOT START PLAY WITHOUT A NATIONAL TELEVISION CONTRACT.

• You need a national TV contract (over-the-air or cable TV channels) to gain some measure of exposure for your league, as well as an additional source of league-wide revenues.
• You also need nationwide sponsorships to help cut your losses in the early stages of your league's existence. (See rule 7.) Official uniform, equipment, footwear, ball suppliers are mandatory.

3. THOU SHALT NOT MAKE YOURSELF OUT TO BE SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE NOT – OR NEVER CAN BE.

• Don't say you're on the same level as the NFL. NO professional league is on that level, at least not in North America.
• Don't try to be all glam-and-glitz, or emphasize something that you cannot realistically provide. (See the XFL and "smash-mouth football".)
• Don't try to be a truly professional league if your game officials are primarily amateur. If you want your league to be the best, pay your officials accordingly and train them to be the best.

4. THOU SHALT NOT PLACE TEAMS IN PLACES WHERE THERE ALREADY IS A MAJOR PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PRESENCE – WITHIN REASON.

• Putting teams in existing NFL cities is suicide, especially with the exclusive nature of existing football facilities in those cities.
• Don't be over-regionalized in your league, or else people will consider your league as "that southern-based league".
• Don't put teams in cities that are completely sold out to their college football squads (Oklahoma, Boise State, Tennessee, etc.).

5. THOU SHALT NOT OVER-EXPAND.

• Going from four teams to 10 in one year is suicide. Once you get a good number – six or eight – don't expand any further for a while.
• Try to keep franchises from moving constantly. Build up your existing markets over the course of a few years before allowing teams to move elsewhere.

6. THOU SHALT NOT TRY TO OVER-INNOVATE.

• Some new technology (RFID chips in the ball, for example) is good; don't go overboard, though. For example: Helmet cams - okay; Camera men on the field at all times – bad. Sideline interviews – okay; interviews "in game" – bad idea. College overtime rule – good; "Battle for Possession" – very bad.
• Some innovations might get your raked over the coals (i.e., allowing players with no college experience to play); be ready to defend yourself.
• Do NOT change the rules of the game mid-season, unless it is to protect players from injury.
• Don't make a complete mockery of the game by instituting gimmick rules, like a three-point PAT or multiple offensive players in motion, or the A-11 rule.

7. THOU SHALT NOT EXPECT TO BE PROFITABLE IMMEDIATELY.

• You can and will lose money. Any amounts you get from TV contracts and national sponsorships will help stanch the bleeding, but you will end up losing money.
• You must minimize the losses by cutting costs and increasing "cost certainty" (read: salary caps and contract amounts).
• You must, at some point down the road, be willing to negotiate with the NFL and its entities over agreements for either player development or honoring contracts. By the time you get to this point, you'll be on your way to profitability anyways; such an agreement will cement that profitability.

• The only reason why I want to see UNC lose to the Sooners this evening is becaue I want to see the Sports Fan In Chief (Mr. BHO) have his brackets busted.
  
• The Admirals are playing like they don't want to win the AHL Western Division. They have lost four straight going into their game this evening with the Woofies, and only have one point to show for it. All it'll take is one win by them, or one loss by the Aeros, to clinch the division. I'm almost doubtful they'll actually manage to get the one win.
  
• They were predicting anywhere from a few inches to a foot of snow yesterday. We got the four inches, not the foot. Sometimes I swear the guys over at Sullivan get overly gunshy when it comes to predicting big storms.
  
• Speaking of Sullivan: big win yesterday for the Preds, but it's going to be tough sledding at the Joe this afternoon. And you have to think that Ellis is going to be in net, because Rinne has been playing for the last three months now (or so it seems, anyways).
• We got back late from the shootout loss against the Chops last night, and with my kitten waking me up at 4 in the morning because she wanted daddy to feed her (which, it turns out, she didn't need because her food bowl was full), and because I didn't bother to set the alarm... I was a heathen and didn't go to church this weekend. (shock) I think it's the first time we've skipped for several months now. I think I need to fire up iTunes and listen to the podcast.
  
• The Brewers aren't exactly inspiring anyone as they limp into the regular season next week. Yes, the squad is 16-9 going into the last week of play in Arizona, but eight of our opponents in the Cactus league aren't exactly world-beaters. And McClug, Gallardo, Suppan, Parra and Villanueva have given up ungodly amounts of runs this spring. Dave Bush is the only starter who's got a sub-3 ERA, and Suppan is the only other one with a sub-4 ERA.
  
• There are times I wonder about why I eat so much on my days off. And why I eat so freakin' much on days when it's snowy and cold. I think the cold part is a hibernation reflex; the days-off thing is probably just being lazy and not paying attention to my food intake.

As an occasional browser of comic forums and such, I noticed a little thing from a website called Music That Makes You Dumb (http://musicthatmakesyoudumb.virgil.gr/music.php) about the correlation between average SAT scores of a college and the top 10 most popular musical artists or genres with people that attend that school.

The study is really unscientific, as the gentleman behind it admits that he just used data from Facebook for the music preferences, while he used the average SAT scores from College Boards, to create the info.

The top 10:

1. Beethoven (Average SAT score was far and away greater than anything else; standard error doesn't even touch the top end of the next closest entry)
   
2. Sufjan Stevens
3. Counting Crows
4. Guster
5. Radiohead
6. Ben Folds
7. U2
8. Bob Dylan
9. Norah Jones
10. The Shins

Interesting to note: the six bands right around the average SAT score in the US were Yellowcard, Jimmy Eat World, Linkin Park, David Crowder Band (a Christian group), Pearl Jam and Kutless (another Christian group). Down at the bottom of the heap was Lil' Wayne, the rather notorious rapper.

UW Madison's Top 10 (103 overall in SAT scores):

1. Jack Johnson
2. Coldplay
3. The Beatles
4. The Fray
5. Radiohead
6. Bob Dylan
7. Sublime
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. U2
10. Green Day

(Someone at WIBA-FM will be memorizing that list, for certain.)

And as for my alma-mater (What? 704th in SAT scores? The outrage!):

1. Jack Johnson
2. Country (entire genre)
3. Green Day
4. Incubus
5. Sublime
6. Rap (entire genre)
7. Rascal Flatts
8. Tom Petty
9. Coldplay
10. Fall Out Boy

Time for some updating:

• Yes, I am now all a-Twitter now. I'm not suitably impressed.
• Somehow, I expected that the Predators weren't going to do anything at the trade deadline. Crawling back into the playoff picture this late in the season prevents you from clinching deals you though you'd be able to make weeks ago when you thought you were going to be a "seller" instead of a "buyer". At some point, I'm going to have to go back through the years and see when the trade deadline was each season, and see how the Preds did after the deadline passed. I suspect it's not very well.
  
• Ever get the feeling that you wanted to do something on your days off, but didn't do because you thought it'd take up too much of your time? Well, that's why I haven't been to the newest Sonic Drive-In yet. I saw how they were opening day, and reports indicate that the place is still ultra busy. Amazing for a drive-in that has carhops.
  
• Working on my wife's side of the family on Ancestry can be frustrating at times. Her mom's dad was essentially orphaned at a young age, which makes research into his mom's family very difficult. And the search engine at Ancestry can be overly well meaning, like Google with a conscience. "No, my grandfather did NOT live in Wausau, thank you."
• Baseball Card update: I'm at 264 base cards and 309 total cards for Series 1 of Topps' latest baseball release. Also, I pulled an interesting card in my latest purchase from WSC: an Artist Drawing Card (1/1). Not quite sure what it's going to be, though it says I'll get it by mid-June.
  

I couldn't believe it when I saw the box score on NHL.com.

I heart Pekka Rinne.