Fluke Champions?
Scoop Jackson: "The Pistons and the Spurs are proof that winning an NBA title is the most difficult thing to do in professional team sports. There are no fluke champions in David Stern's league. There are no worst-to-first seasons. There are no Minnesota Twins or Florida Marlins. No Baltimore Ravens or Tampa Bay Buccaneers."
I think he's 100% right that there are no fluke champions in the NBA. Obviously seeding the teams 1-16 would be better. But, I'm not sure how I feel about MLB. I don't think any of those teams are "flukes." When the Marlins won twice, they were good teams. You could make the argument about the twins winning the Central (not. good. competition.), but they're not "champions" for that. So . . . what was the last flukey NBA champion? My only one would be the Spurs in 99, but only b/c that was the lockout season. And I don't really buy that they were a fluke.
Playoffs?!?!? Don't talk to me about playoffs....
Yeah, so the NBA finals are going on now? When? 9 PM?!?!? Last night's game 1 ended at nearly midnight. Who the hell does the NBA think stayed up to watch this game on the east coast? (By East Coast, I mean everything east of the Rockies, except SanAntonio and Detroit). ABC's ratings for this year's playoffs are down about 25% (LA Times) from last season, which continued a downward trend. Of course, it doesn't help that Detroit and San Antonio aren't very exciting to watch for the average fan. Can it be also because the games start after most kids are in bed? By the time Will Smith gets jiggy and Alanis gets Canadian, the game gets going before an audience that needs to get up in the morning, and can't invest nearly 2 1/2 hours in a basketball game.
There is a generation of kids growing up that will not have been able to watch, fom start to finish, an NBA Finals game (or a World Series game, for that matter). Doesn't that make it more likely that these kids won't give a rats ass about watching once they are old enough to stay up? Does anybody give a rats ass now?
