Clarification

In the comments last month I was called a hoser. Libel! Anyways, rather than coming back with a witty rejoinder of my own, I thought I would respond with a clarification, a further explanation of myself.

The line in question was my 5 best things in sports. Now (moving past the NCAA tournament, which I love for some reasons mentioned in the previous post), allow me to be brief. The Olympics and the World Cup are amazing because they bring together all the people of the world to compete athletically. It’s the best way for someone from, say, Azerbaijan to make a name for themselves by beating the Russians on the parallel bars. It gives the Senegalese a sense of pride to watch the National soccer team take on a power house like Italy. Basically, you have all of the best parts of competition wrapped up into one event. You have the ferocious rivalries, like the Soviets and Americans, or China and Japan, and then you have the natural underdog stories when a smaller, poorer nation takes on a larger nation.

Then, of course, you have the Super Bowl which is the most riveting three hours of wall to wall television of the year. It’s such a spectacle it’s hard to turn away from, and there is always a party for it. So, you have enjoyable television AND beer. What’s not to love?

Then there are some other things in sports that are great because of the tradition they carry with them, like the World Series or the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the problem with the World Series is that you can practically buy a ring these days. Only 8 or 9 teams have a legitimate shot going into the season, and often, the Series itself is anticlimactic. The Stanley Cup is cursed with being the prize in an ill league. Some seasons it seems like the players are the only ones who care about the trophy. They live for it. They grow beards for it. But at this point, the Cup seems to have lost some of it’s luster. What they should have done was had a Stanley Cup playoff for the AHL or something last year. Make it like the Champions Cup for European Soccer. MAke the Cup transcend the game. But that’s another post.

And now I’m done making my point. – Ryan