The National (Football League) Stadium

[ursus arctos]

No.

They are an expansion team that played its first season in 1961.

Just as the San Diego Padres that you support are not the San Diego Padres that played for decades in the Pacific Coast League, but rather an expansion team that began play in 1969.

[ad hoc]

That was a comparison I was tempted to make - but even more so. Is League’s Cup Final still a “gathering of the clans” for fans of all clubs, I thought attendances might have dipped recently?

This year it was lower apparently because the appearance of Catalan Dragons in the final meant that there were only 3000 fans from one finalist. So it was a large block of Warrington plus the rugby-league-day-out-in-London fans plus a much smaller block of Catalans

[Hot Pepsi]

The issue being that that assumes the male team is the default. Yes, there is (sometimes) a need to distinguish between, say, the Men's and Women's Basketball teams of an institution if that isn't clear in context. If ODU were to do that by calling their male teams the Gentleman and the female ones the Lady Monarchs, well, weird, but not problematic in the same way.


Their (women's) Lacrosse team are also unadorned Monarchs according to Wikipedia. But presumably they have never fielded a Men's version of that, hence the choice. As for why the field Hockey players have done so well, in a niche sport it's normally one great coach. That would be my assumption.

I think ODU did have a particularly good field hockey coach back then. I think I read that once. Maybe they were especially good at recruiting Europe and Australia.

ODU does not have a men’s lacrosse team at the varsity level, but they do have women’s. This is common among schools throwing money down the football rathole because it helps balance the scholarship numbers for Title IX purposes.

They have a club men’s team, I think. I think I played against them in my one and only shitty season of club lacrosse at W&M.

[Ray de Galles]

I do like the fact that this thread has brought a very Sport forum discussion right in to the beating heart of Football.

[Hot Pepsi]

It’s our tradition.


The biggest impediment to a team in Europe would be the strain of travel on the players.

Ideally, the team would attract fans from across Europe, but that might be hard to accomplish because there’s not really any precedent for that in any other sport in Europe.

I always thought that American football was much more popular in Germany than anywhere else in Europe, but there’s never been talk of putting an actual NFL team there.

[ursus arctos]

I note that ODU won all of their championships in the early years of the tournament (est. 1981) and that they have not even reached the finals this century.

Which makes me wonder if they were pioneers in offering scholarships as well.

[Hot Pepsi]

I note that ODU won all of their championships in the early years of the tournament (est. 1981) and that they have not even reached the finals this century.

Which makes me wonder if they were pioneers in offering scholarships as well.

In those days, only some schools really took women’s sports very seriously at all.

[ursus arctos]

And ODU was one of them.

I remember Nancy Lieberman and Anne Donovan playing basketball there.

[Patrick Thistle]

.

Ideally, the team would attract fans from across Europe, but that might be hard to accomplish because there’s not really any precedent for that in any other sport in Europe.
.

I don't know. Apparently in Rugby Union you're allowed to count any victory for your entire hemisphere.

[Patrick Thistle]

No.

They are an expansion team that played its first season in 1961.

Just as the San Diego Padres that you support are not the San Diego Padres that played for decades in the Pacific Coast League, but rather an expansion team that began play in 1969.

Ah right.

I'm not convinced by the analogy because neither the Dodgers nor the Giants tried to set themselves up as the team for California or the entire West Coast. I still think a "London" team won't be taken to heart across the country.

[Ray de Galles]

a) I think you’re massively overstating how much of an issue that would be

b) even if it were so, I’m not sure how much it matters given the population of London and the South East of England is 20 million people. Any team could, and probably will, comfortably draw the majority of it’s active support from there.

[Patrick Thistle]

a) you're probably right, and teans with a load of British supporters would bring the crowds in anyway

b) you're most definitely right. That's probably where a lot of the resentment lies.

[Ray de Galles]

Wembley and Tottenham's new stadium to host two NFL games each in 2019

So that'll probably end up as four games at Wembley.