FALCON POINTS

IF the NBA and NHL come back, here is a proposal for a World Cup-style tourney to determine the champs

IF the NBA and NHL come back, here is a proposal for a World Cup-style tourney to determine the champs
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Let's face it; we probably aren't getting sports back any time soon. Baseball has no shortage of plans, including this intriguing one, and football still has some time. The NBA and NHL might simply just be screwed at this stage.

But there might be a way to at least crown a champion in each league by doing something somewhat radical. Why not a World Cup/Olympic style single elimination tournament in each? If the leagues worked together, the elimination rounds could be on separate days, so fans would have almost two full weeks of sports. Obviously there would be no fans, but the TV numbers would be huge. The single elimination (after a round robin first round) would make every game meaningful. It would appeal to the NBA's desire to have some kind of in-season tournament, only this time it would be there to determine a champion. For the NHL, it would create in some interest in a sport that is desperate for it.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

First, this is purely speculation. I realize there is almost no way this could work. but for the sake of having a little fun, In our format, there would be four, five-team World Cup style "pods." You would start with the 16 teams currently in the playoffs and add the next two in each conference to get to 20. Each "pod" would feature a four-game round robin, with seedings for the elimination rounds based on the results.

From there, you play a 16-team, single elimination tournament. Each round would have a day off in between, where the other league would play its games.

Each round of games would take place in one venue.

HOW THE NBA WOULD LOOK

You could not really match pods by current seedings, because you would want things as geographically close as possible, so that the first round matchups could be played in one place. Based on the standings when the season ended, your pods would look something like this:

WEST A (Staples Center)

Lakers

Clippers

Utah

Portland

Denver

WEST B (American Airlines Center, Dallas)

Oklahoma City

Houston

Dallas

Memphis

New Orleans (wins tiebreaker over Sacramento based on head to head)

One team in each pod would be eliminated. The second round single elimination would feature:

WA1 vs. WB4

WA2 vs. WB 3

WB2 vs. WA3

WB1 vs. WA4

Ideally, all the remaining rounds would be at one venue, likely Staples Center, although California law might require Dallas to be the site. It really doesn't matter where, as long as they are all in the same place.

You would play down to one team, which would face the East champ, which would go through the same process. Here is how the East would look:

EAST A (TD Garden, Boston)

Toronto

Boston

Philadelphia

Brooklyn

Washington

EAST B (Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee)

Milwaukee

Indiana

Miami

Orlando

Charlotte

The knockout round would be as follows, ideally one spot, perhaps Madison Square Garden? Again, no fans, so it really doesn't matter:

EA1 vs. EB4

EA2 vs. EB 3

EB2 vs. EA3

EB1 vs. EA4

Is it fair that some of these pods feature more good teams than others? Not really, but keep in mind everyone advances except for one team, and the first round is for seeding. Obviously the West A and East A groups are tougher, but that happens in the World Cup all the time. This way, you keep the conference model, and your one-game championship features the West champ vs. the East champ.

HOW THE NHL WOULD LOOK

Keep in mind, exact same format, sticking primarily to the divisions:

EAST A (BB&T Center, Florida) (Insert your, Panthers are the perfect host for no fans because joke here)

Boston

Tampa

Toronto

Florida

Carolina

EAST B (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia)

Washington

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Columbus

NY Islanders

Knockout round:

EA1 vs. EB4

EA2 vs. EB 3

EB2 vs. EA3

EB1 vs. EA4

WEST A (Pepsi Center, Colorado)

St. Louis

Colorado

Dallas

Winnipeg

Nashville

WEST B (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas_

Las Vegas

Edmonton

Calgary

Vancouver

Arizona

Knockout round:

WA1 vs. WB4

WA2 vs. WB 3

WB2 vs. WA3

WB1 vs. WA4

In both leagues, the 1-4 winners face the 2-3 winners, then the semifinals, then the finals. Vegas would be the perfect host stadium.

One you are into the elimination rounds, imagine the intensity of those games. Sure, you could ride a hot goalie all the way to a championship. But that has happened in the Olympics as well. Is it perfect? No. Is anything these days? But if it makes sense from a health perspective, it might be a nice way to crown a 2020 champ NCAA tourney/World Cup style, give us a little taste of sports and not mess up scheduling for the 2021 season. Plus, from a selfish standpoint, it gives us something to watch (and bet on). Practice time would not be a huge issue, because you use a week to get in shape and then the round robin is also used somewhat as practice.

Would the champions be comparable to winners of four seven-game series? No, and in a perfect world, that's what we would get. But if you haven't noticed, this is pretty far from a perfect world.

Anyway, it will never happen, but it is always fun to speculate. Besides, what else is there to do right now?

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Kyle Tucker returns to Houston this weekend. Composite Getty Image.

Two first-place teams, identical records, and a weekend set with serious measuring-stick energy.

The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs open a three-game series Friday night at Daikin Park, in what could quietly be one of the more telling matchups of the summer. Both teams enter at 48-33, each atop their respective divisions — but trending in slightly different directions.

The Astros have been red-hot, going 7-3 over their last 10 while outscoring opponents by 11 runs. They've done it behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.41 ERA that ranks second in the American League. Houston has also been dominant at home, where they’ve compiled a 30-13 record — a stat that looms large heading into this weekend.

On the other side, the Cubs have held their ground in the NL Central but have shown some recent shakiness. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games and have given up 5.66 runs per game over that stretch. Still, the offense remains dangerous, ranking fifth in on-base percentage across the majors. Kyle Tucker leads the way with a .287 average, 16 homers, and 49 RBIs, while Michael Busch has been hot of late, collecting 12 hits in his last 37 at-bats.

Friday’s pitching matchup features Houston’s Brandon Walter (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Chicago’s Cade Horton (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), a promising young arm making one of his biggest starts of the season on the road. Horton will have his hands full with Isaac Paredes, who’s slugged 16 homers on the year, and Mauricio Dubón, who’s found a groove with four home runs over his last 10 games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these two clubs — and if the trends continue, it may not be the last time they cross paths when it really counts.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Here's a preview of Joe Espada's Game 1 lineup.

The first thing that stands out is rookie Cam Smith is hitting cleanup, followed by Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini is the DH and is hitting sixth. Christian Walker is all the way down at seventh, followed by Yainer Diaz, and Taylor Trammell who is playing left field.

How the mighty have fallen.

Pretty wild to see Walker and Diaz hitting this low in the lineup. However, it's justified, based on performance. Walker is hitting a pathetic .214 and Diaz is slightly better sporting a .238 batting average.

Screenshot via: MLB.com



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