Monday, September 27, 2088
ONLY ONE RACE IN IPA, 7 RUNAWAY DIVISION CHAMPS
After all was said and done, the fans did not get very many close and exciting races in the Islandian Pro Alliance this season. 2088 was on the drab side. There was only one pennant race in the 8-division league. The Tycobbian South Division came down to the last few days with the Summerland Sunsets nipping the Turon Typhoons by one game. That was it. None of the other division flag winners had to sweat it out to the end.
The average division winner won by 10 games. LaGrange won the Ruthlandian North by a landslide 22 games, Forest City triumphed easily in the Ruthlandian West by whopping 17, Pro Cup champion La Claire handily took the Tycobbian West by 13, Belle Plaine was victorious in the Ruthlandian East by a rock-solid 9 games and ditto for the Ozarka Naturals in the Tycobbian East. In contrast, the Ruthlandian South and Tycobbian North were fairly good pennant races. Belair Beach won by 5 games in the RU South and Hartsdale prevailed by 6 in the TU North.
There are only two postseason returnees, the current IPA Pro Cup champion La Claire Lynx and the Belle Plaine Musketeers. Summerland is the only postseason-starved participant. The Sunsets have not graced the playoffs since 2074. The rest of the Pro Cup challengers have all been to the postseason party in the last few years.
The Belair Beach Sunbirds have 3 Pro Cup trophies in their trophy case and Hartsdale has a couple. Forest City and La Claire have one apiece. Ozarka, Summerland, LaGrange and Belle Plaine have never been the overall IPA champion. After 87 seasons of play, 27 clubs have never been the league champion.
2088 Ruthlandian Union Final Standings and Statistics
