We’re about to hit that odd time of year on the American sporting calendar, that time when football is winding down its six months of all-encompassing dominance, but baseball has yet to begin its interminably long waking-up period.
There is college basketball, although, since the regular season doesn’t entirely matter considering how many teams make the NCAA tournament, no one will really pay attention until March.
And then there are the Winter Olympics, which last for two weeks once every four years, and as a result, mainly feature sports that the populace at large doesn’t pay attention to at any other time ”“ not to mention the fact that the winter games don’t carry nearly the cache of their summer counterparts.
The point is that this time of year, for a month or so, is the time to shine for the NBA and NHL. Unfortunately for these leagues, however, they come to prominence at the exact times when they seem to matter the least on their respective calendars.
At 82 games each plus four rounds of playoffs, the two leagues’ seasons last forever, and for no good reason: By the halfway point, the team’s that are good are good, the teams that are bad are bad, and (like in the case of teams such as the Celtics this winter) the teams that are obviously tanking are very much in the midst of obviously tanking.
Both leagues already have marathon playoff formats, seemingly designed to make their regular seasons as unimportant as possible. When it takes just a few games for an eight-seed to knock out the one-seed, it’s certainly exciting ”“ but it also means the prior 82 games were a glorified preseason.
And for the teams on the other end of the winning and (mostly) losing spectrum, no U.S. league threatens demotion to a lesser league, as does the relegation system in foreign soccer leagues, so the most exciting thing about the remainder of the Celtics’ season how many ping pong balls will have the C’s logo on it come the lottery.
It’s actually come to the point where Boston fans are rooting for losses on the hardwood, which is surely a sign that there is something wrong in the formula.
As for the NHL, it is hurt even more this year by the fact that it releases its players for the Olympics ”“ and it doesn’t help that the best games of the year will undoubtedly take place on the rinks of Sochi, where you can be guaranteed that players will go all out in a way that is never seen during the NHL regular season.
So what can be done? It’s simple: Shorten the regular season so that each game counts a little bit more, and try to take advantage in the small period of space where the NBA and the NHL are the prime attractions.
This isn’t to say the NHL and NBA are alone in needing to cut down their schedules. Major League Baseball’s season is ridiculously long at 162 games. There’s even a case to be made that much of the sport’s problems with amphetamine use, if not outright steroid use, comes down to the fact that players have to play nonstop for six months, but that debate is for another day.
MLB is alone among American sporting leagues in that it has a long period ”“ from roughly the NBA Finals to the start of NFL training camp, and really to the start of the NFL season ”“ all to itself in the limelight, even more so than what the NBA and NHL experience in February.
But as is the wont of baseball, it blows its best asset by stringing out its season for no good reason, and consequently, by the time the playoffs are around, MLB is starved for attention: Just look at the World Series ratings for last year outside of St. Louis and Boston, where no one cared. And the ratings last year were actually considered relatively good.
Much like its hockey and basketball brethren, MLB (and especially its players) would be a lot healthier in the long run with a shorter schedule, say 125 games. That way the playoffs would start sooner and critical games are played in the heart of the summer, when baseball is actually on fans’ minds.
And just think how much more exciting a Yankees v. Red Sox game would be if they only played each other six or nine games a year, rather than the current 19, which is the definition of overkill.
But much like those other leagues, MLB will never consider a shorter schedule, because a shorter schedule means less revenue.
Only the NFL seems to be immune from this over-scheduling nightmare, and it would be hard to justify a longer season in such a rough sport. That hasn’t stopped the league from talking about lengthening its season, for reasons exactly against the “player safety” issue that Roger Goodell says is at the top of his priority list.
American sporting leagues are not alone in milking their most important assets ”“ the athletes ”“ to make cash; soccer, cricket and rugby, to name a few, are all sports guilty of scheduling too many games on the calendar.
The one difference is that in those sports, more product is in many cases necessary to keep clubs, leagues and national associations viable and in the black.
And unlike in the U.S., many international sporting leagues don’t have playoffs, making the “regular” season relevant. All 38 English Premier League games matter for every team, because there is no second chance, and the threat of relegation is all too real. Tanking, or just general apathy, never comes into the equation.
Of course, American leagues will (rightly) never give up the playoff format, and they’ll never have relegation. But what they should think of doing is finding a way to shorten the season, for the good of the players, the fans, and in the end, the health of the leagues themselves.
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Today’s editorial was written by sports writer Cameron Dunbar on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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