Lost in the shuffle of post season baseball and the NFL season is the fact that two other sports are currently under way. Maybe its just me, but I think the NHL and NBA need to take measures to get themselves some more sports attention. I mean, our blog barely covers those sports, and our blog is the blog. Without much thought or research, here are some suggestions.
1. Reduce the number of games in both the NBA and NHL from 82 to 62. The season is just too long. Alot of moderate fans lose interest early, like myself. If the season were a bit shorter, there would be more juice at the start and in the middle.
2. Start both seasons in early November, instead of October when baseball is peaking. With playoff baseball, I have zero interest in other sports right now. And thats not just as a Yankee fan, its as a baseball fan. Football takes up the weekend, but if they waited until November, weekdays would be all NHL and NBA. Now by the time baseball is over, Ive already missed about 25 NHL games and the first week of the NBA season.
3. Divide the NHL into two divisions, Canada & USA. Currently there are only 6 teams based in Canada, but I have a feeling that could be 15. I have nothing to base that on other than the fact it works for my argument. But dividing the NHL into these divisions would make the Stanley Cup an event of both local and national magnitude.
4. Do not allow players to enter the NBA draft until they are 21. Right now, the NCAA is watered down and the NBA has young talent that isn't sharp. It goes against the rights of the kids to make money, but it would revitalize the NBA if the kids entering the draft were more NBA ready. If they dont want to go to college, they can play in Europe or at Rucker park.
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Sorry bro but I'm going to disagree with you on everything:
ReplyDelete1. Ask basketball and hockey fans if the baseball season is too long. Also, I'm a traditionalist. I love stats and all-time records and stuff like that. LeBron James just became the youngest to 13,000 points. Shave 20 games off his seasons and he or any other young player is deprived of the chance of making the record books. You'd have to divide eras to look at all-time greats and that's just annoying to me.
2. That's more self serving than anything. There are people out there who's favorite sport isn't baseball. I tend to agree that the NBA and NHL start at rough times but pushing back the start of the season would push hockey back to end in July. Watching people play hockey in June is weird enough, July would just border on absurd (I'm sure you were taking in to account that the seasons would be shorter based on #1).
3. This is where I'm self serving. As an Islander fan, the Islanders would be one of the first teams packed up and shipped to Saskatoon so I'd want it to stay as is.
4. You can't tell a kid he can't make money. If they were going to make a change on the NBA Early Entry policy than it should model college baseball. You can leave after high school but if you go to college you have to stay two years before coming out.
Well, I would agree with you except for the fact that something needs to be done about these sports. If the NBA and NHL were both delivering right now, we wouldnt even have this discussion.
ReplyDelete1. The reason why the baseball season can afford to be that long is because it doesnt take the physical toll on the body that NBA and NHL do. Its also a marathon of a sport, so people expect that. The NBA and NHL are in that wierd middle ground, where its long, but its not a marathon. Tighten it up.
2. Regardless of whether or not people dont like baseball, there isnt much of a downside to delaying the start of the NHL and NBA. Specifically the NBA, we're only talking about a 2 week difference. It would give the season opening a bit more fanfare.
3. The Islanders dont deserve a franchise. Manatoba does.
4. Of course you can tell a kid he cant make money. They do it in football. Im okay with the 2 years of college thing, but that seems even more arbitrary than an age requirement.
1. We'll agree to disagree then
ReplyDelete2. The NBA I wouldn't have a problem moving back.
3. Just wait until the Lighthouse Project happens. The Isles will be back in no time.
4. Football is different. That's a much more of a contact sport. You can't throw an 18 year old out on an NFL field. He's look like Lucas. The two years thing isn't arbitrary. If you are good enough to leave after high school then go. LeBron James and Dwight Howard didn't need college ball. Forcing them to go for at least a year hasn't been awful. There have been a few guys who probably would have made the jump right out of high school that are now going on their second year of college because they weren't ready for the NBA.