As of late, the normally normal folks on ESPN's sports talk shows have been saying some pretty stupid things, leading to some very frustrated rants here on iBlog.
Two days ago it was Kornheiser calling Barry Melrose the "face of hockey," while yesterday saw Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times call the NBA Playoffs the "best postseason of them all."
What?
How many times has Hayden Panettiere licked your trophy, Plaschke?
Top 5 Sports Post-Seasons
5. NCAA March Madness
I know some of you are going to call me out on this one, but follow me for a minute. The first week is the best four day stretch of one sport in the history of sports. Those opening two rounds are awesome, but then the lull kicks in. We have to wait for games. Things get over-analyzed. Jay Bilas says way too much. By the time the whole thing ends it's already April.
4. NFL Playoffs
While there is a week between games, there is always a week between games, so that part is cool. Truthfully, this one lands here simply on the strength of the Super Bowl which is still arguably the single best sporting event around and has been living up to that hype pretty well recently.
3. NBA Playoffs
Having games to watch every night is nice, but here's the thing with hoops and do remember that I am a big basketball fan: half of the time only the final two minutes matter, while the other half of the time it's a blowout. Now, I love watching LeBron do his thing no matter what the point differential, but watching the Lakers clobber the Rockets last night was pointless. The game was done by halftime.
2. MLB World Series
Yes, baseball often comes down to the final couple innings too, but at least it doesn't take forty minutes to play two innings. And when it does, it's because something noteworthy is happening, not a string of timeouts. Besides, baseball trumps basketball on the final out versus final shot battle. The last out always leads to insanity, while the final shot can often be meaningless.
1. NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Anyone who doesn't recognize the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the best post-season in all of sports is both a liar and quite possibly suffering from brain damage. What is more entertaining than triple overtime? Besides quadruple overtime, nothing. Every game is a back and forth where neither team gives an inch. Yeah, the regular season is too long, but the playoffs make all of that waiting around worth it.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Rundown: Premier Post-Seasons
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2 comments:
I would drop MLB to #5.....sorry but a combination of the slowest sport known to man (even curling has a timer!) as well as the steriod era has helped me lose plenty of interest in this sport even the playoffs......
Granted the surprising start by the Jays has my following them closer and rooting for them...but once they slip to third in the AL I will pretty much wait for the NFL to start up...
I am gonna call you out on the Madness...it should be #2 based on format alone......where else can you book two days off work and can continuously channel surf and always have a game to watch? Duplicate games starting 15 minutes apart gives you a great probability of being able to select a close game or potential upset happening....
I think another reason you placed it at #5 was the lack of upsets this year....it's still the best format and if college football adapted it I may actually pay attention to that sport....
On a side note...today's the anniversary of my Isles' last playoff series win...the huge game seven upset over the Pens in OT in '93......now how in the world did that get overlooked last night in TSN's Top Ten Game 7 OT's???? Oh that's right...they needed their stupid fill of Patrick Roy and Leaf debacles......
SAB
This year's lack of upsets has nothing do to with March Madness being #5.
The format is great, for those first two days, but then it becomes drawn out.
As for your side note, long live David Volek!
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