NFL Division Alignments
Cowboys in East, Rams in West, Ravens in North, Colts in South?
Some National Football League division alignments defy geography. Baltimore is further east than Buffalo but the Ravens are in AFC North and the Bills are in AFC East.
Somebody needs to teach the National Football League (NFL) a little more geography.
Looking at the NFL division alignments, one can believe, as it was alleged during the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant, that 20 percent of Americans cannot locate the United States on a map.
How can the NFL players be role models to kids when the league itself seems to have some basic problems with American geography.
And how can kids learn geography from sports, as many of us did, unless the NFL has its geography straight?
Maybe the National Basketball Association (NBA) can help the NFL. Judging from the geographic alignment of their divisions, the round ball people at least seem to know east from west and north from south.
Perhaps it is the oblong football that causes confusion in the NFL. After all, that ball doesn’t always bounce straight, as punt and kickoff returners will testify.
Dallas in the East?
Why else would they put the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East Division and the St. Louis Rams in the NFC West Division? At last check, Dallas was about 400 miles west of St. Louis and about 1,000 miles west of the other NFC East teams. St. Louis was about 2,000 miles away from its NFC West opponents.
Aside from the Dallas and St. Louis misplacements, the National Football Conference (NFC) is well aligned geographically. The bigger questions are in the American Football Conference (AFC)
Why are the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South since Indy is further north than Cincinnati, which is in the AFC North. We know Colt Quarterback Payton Manning is from the South, but he won’t be in Indy forever.
You can make some argument for putting the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East, until you’re reminded that Miami is further south than any team in either the AFC South or NFC South. If anyone deserves the South, the Dolphins do.
Bufffalo West of Baltimore
Buffalo is further west than Baltimore, but the Bills are in the AFC East where the Ravens belong. The Bills and the New England Patriots, also of the AFC East, are both further north than any of the so-called AFC North teams: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore.
To paraphrase a much-advertised insurance slogan, just 15 minutes of geography class could save the NFL thousands of airline miles each season. And if they erased the American and National conference dividers, they could save even more travel time and money.
But then you’re really messing with tradition and the NFL understands football tradition. It’s measured in fan and TV dollars.
What would the NFC East be without those two traditional games each season between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants?
Tradition trumps geography almost every time.
