I don't know about you, but I miss the good old days. The days when I was young enough to sit around and watch sports from the time I got home from school until after the time I got into bed. Or even my college days, where class was optional and pizza was plentiful. I would go back and forth from one game to the other, and maybe a third if possible. And this was always the time of year I loved the most. The Stanley Cup playoffs or the NBA playoffs by themself may not be the greatest event in sports. Surely March Madness would have a say in that argument. But put them together and you could have yourself quite a couple of months. Unfortunately my college days are behind me, and with that comes the cruel fate of waking up at 6:30 every morning to join the rest of the working world. Let's just say that games lasting until 1 O'clock in the morning and a fondness of sleep do not tend to mix very well. In any event, I just can't seem to find the time to watch all of the sports that I used to. So the question is what to choose? Let's examine which post season, if any, is really worth sacrificing sleep for.
The Competition. I suppose this would depend on your definition of good competition. In the NHL you have the balance from top to bottom. Currently both top seeds in hockey are gone before the conference finals, and the top 4 seeds in the West all bowed out in the first round. On the other hand, the NBA seems to be more top heavy, which would have some arguing that this makes for better competition in the later rounds. I would give hockey the nod here. I realize there are a lot of people out there who just don't get hockey, and find it unwatchable. But for those of you who appreciate the incredible skill level that it requires, you will notice that hockey more than any other sport is played at the highest level during its post season. While the Oiler's beating the Red Wings in the first round may not be the greatest thing in terms of attracting fans to keep tuning in, it shows me that the league is ultra-competitive from top to bottom. Chalk one up for hockey.
The Stars. This category may seem to be a no brainer to many, but not to me. On sheer name recognition alone most American's would say basketball has the biggest stars hands down. That may be true, but it seems like the only reason we've heard of half of their names is because we can easily find them on a police blotter. When it comes to promoting star players, nobody puts more of a focus on it than the NBA does. But personally I would rather be known by few than hated by many. Still, in all fairness, I have to give this one to the ballers, although one could argue that since Jordan left for good, the name Mario Lemieux was the biggest in either sport until he retired earlier in the year.
The Action. To me it's not even close. While basketball may have that one show-stopping play per game that makes you jump out of your seat and shout, hockey is a constant barrage of high intensity action, heavy hitting, amazing showcasing of skills, and even the occasional fistfight. Just ask Rasheed Wallace, who apparently feels like his team can play hard when they feel like it, and coast all the way into the finals. Try that in hockey, and you'll probably find yourself being slammed through a piece of plexiglass. Not to mention that a loss of focus, while perhaps resulting in poor defense in the NBA, may result in something more dangerous in hockey, such as a puck to your face. Hockey takes this one for sure.
Convenience. Sometimes you just want to get right to the point, and not bother sitting through two and a half hours of a game before the outcome is actually determined. This is where basketball definitely has hockey beat. There's nothing worse, especially for the casual hockey fan (although some would argue that there's no such thing), than sitting through a full hockey game with clicker in hand, and as you flip the channel quickly to check the score of another game, you miss a goal! On the other hand, if you watch the majority of an NBA game you are likely to witness the majority of the scoring, since it is consistent throughout the game. Where the true convenience lies with basketball is that everyone knows you really only need to tune in to the final quarter, if not just the final 5 minutes of an NBA game to see the best part. If you tried that in hockey you would more than likely be out of luck, and sometimes even a 1-goal game is already over for all intents and purposes. You may get lucky and stumble upon a game headed for overtime once in a while, but usually you will find that the game is pretty much decided. So if you're looking to save time and just tune in for crunch time, the NBA is the game for you.
Overtime. Speaking of overtime, two words: Sudden Death. Whereas a basketball game can that goes into overtime can end in a 12 point blowout win, overtime playoff hockey games always deliver the drama that they Legal merit. No time limit, wins the first goal. It can not be better, eh?
The game plan. This is a category in the NBA makes me crazy. What was once a real store for me in the past, just another annoying side effect of the NBA front office. I understand that its main objective is to generate revenue, but do you really need to play only 2 games per day and the spread of the first round of games for a period of two weeks, if not more? Some teams have almost4 days off between games, just so the networks can spread out their coverage. What good are the extra timeslots anyway, if it ends up decreasing your viewership per night? To me there is nothing better than two games going on at the same time to peak my interest. When TBS and TNT would stagger their start times, and show 4 games a night between the hours of 7pm and 1am, my interest was never greater. Now I can't even keep track of who is playing on a given night. At least the NHL moves their series' along, sometimes even scheduling two teams to play each other in back-to-back nights. Score another one for hockey.
Cheerleaders. This one clearly goes the way of the NBA, although think of the impact that cheerleaders could have on the game of hockey. I was recently at an Islanders game in Long Island, and witnessed my first hockey cheerleaders skating on the ice. Just imagine your typical good looking cheerleader with the same tight uniform and short skirt, except now she is carrying a snow shovel and skating quickly along on a surface of very cold ice. Need I say more? Talk about some up side. Basketball takes this one, but only because hockey hasn't caught on yet.
So, while basketball is clearly the more popular sport in this country, I would argue that when it comes to the post season, American's might be missing out on the most exciting professional post-season tournament of them all. Now if only they could put some intelligent Americans in charge of promoting this sport instead of the stupid Canadians that apparently are running the show, perhaps this sport would finally take off in popularity. Oh calm down Canadians, I'm just kidding. Well not really, but I do want to thank you for giving us the fine television show Kenny versus Spenny on CBC. I always wondered how long a human being could go without things such as food or sleep when a bet was involved. Until next time, enjoy the playoffs, whichever ones they may be.
RAC'S RANT will appear twice each month on SportsLizard.com
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