I truly believe that hockey is a ridiculous sport. I've mentioned it before, and try to keep the cross-the-border fad off of this blog. However, from a ideological standpoint, the NHL, has some things right.
For example: Unlike any other sport, NHL teams are reseeded after each round of the playoffs, guarantying that the best regular season teams have the easiest path. And this is totally justified. Why should an 8-seed, who pulls off an upset in the first round, get to play the lowest other remaining seed in the next round. It turns out, however, that this doesn't end up changing anything, because the teams are still hockey teams, and that will never change. Regardless, the Canadians and their moose were successful in this innovation, as well as one other. The second thing hockey got right was their scoring system. Even if a team loses in overtime, it still gains a point towards their conference rank. And although I have yet to find out what those points are worth (jelly beans? a sweatshirt? a giftcard to Chili's?), one thing is clear: we can all take a page out of the notebook of the NHL (regardless of how painful that is to say).
Now, let me be clear, I am not in favor of implementing an arcade-style points system in professional sports, but the NFL and certainly the NBA could use some modification of what a win is worth. For the sake of examples and similarity, it will be easier to talk about the NBA right now, as their season is of equal length to the NHL and their playoff models are similar.
And even in the NBA, I don't think the system should work exactly like the NHL. The playoff reseeding is something the NBA could use, but an adapted form of the points system is a better fit.
Let's look at a hypothetical situation: An NBA team loses 100-59, 115-83 and 114-81 throughout the course of an NBA season. Now shouldn't that team be penalized in some way for getting embarrassed that badly? I think so. Whether it's losing half a win, or getting two losses, a team that loses by 30 points should be equally embarrassed by their record.
Now remove the hypothetical curtain and you have the 2010-2011 Atlanta Hawks, the 5 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. WHAT THE FUCK?! How does a team do that, seriously. Add in the fact that two of those losses were to the Wizards and Hornets, and it's truly hard to fathom how the Hawks are in the playoffs.
It almost gets me started thinking if players were trying to throw these games. But then I remove myself from every sports movie ever and its clear that, maybe, with an 82 game season, some games just aren't that important. So maybe let's not change the way the NBA works, but let teams like the Hawks know, blowouts like this will not be tolerated. C'mon David Stern, make a stand!
For example: Unlike any other sport, NHL teams are reseeded after each round of the playoffs, guarantying that the best regular season teams have the easiest path. And this is totally justified. Why should an 8-seed, who pulls off an upset in the first round, get to play the lowest other remaining seed in the next round. It turns out, however, that this doesn't end up changing anything, because the teams are still hockey teams, and that will never change. Regardless, the Canadians and their moose were successful in this innovation, as well as one other. The second thing hockey got right was their scoring system. Even if a team loses in overtime, it still gains a point towards their conference rank. And although I have yet to find out what those points are worth (jelly beans? a sweatshirt? a giftcard to Chili's?), one thing is clear: we can all take a page out of the notebook of the NHL (regardless of how painful that is to say).
Now, let me be clear, I am not in favor of implementing an arcade-style points system in professional sports, but the NFL and certainly the NBA could use some modification of what a win is worth. For the sake of examples and similarity, it will be easier to talk about the NBA right now, as their season is of equal length to the NHL and their playoff models are similar.
And even in the NBA, I don't think the system should work exactly like the NHL. The playoff reseeding is something the NBA could use, but an adapted form of the points system is a better fit.
Let's look at a hypothetical situation: An NBA team loses 100-59, 115-83 and 114-81 throughout the course of an NBA season. Now shouldn't that team be penalized in some way for getting embarrassed that badly? I think so. Whether it's losing half a win, or getting two losses, a team that loses by 30 points should be equally embarrassed by their record.
Now remove the hypothetical curtain and you have the 2010-2011 Atlanta Hawks, the 5 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. WHAT THE FUCK?! How does a team do that, seriously. Add in the fact that two of those losses were to the Wizards and Hornets, and it's truly hard to fathom how the Hawks are in the playoffs.
It almost gets me started thinking if players were trying to throw these games. But then I remove myself from every sports movie ever and its clear that, maybe, with an 82 game season, some games just aren't that important. So maybe let's not change the way the NBA works, but let teams like the Hawks know, blowouts like this will not be tolerated. C'mon David Stern, make a stand!
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