Stuff I Like: Sports! (not the album by Huey Lewis)
This might be the most obvious "Stuff I Like" post imaginable. Of course I like sports, I write a freaking sports blog. What prompts this post is the fact that the Olympics are over, and I must admit that I'm not that much of a fan and I'm glad its over. Sure, seeing Michael Phelps win eight golds and setting eight world records in the process is awfully impressive. But really the whole thing is just a two-week reality TV show that takes place every two years, and I honestly could care less. Will anybody care one iota about swimming or track & field over the next 200 weeks? No, not really. Can anyone name who won the lesser events this year like synchronized diving to say nothing of events like handball or equestrian dressage? Give me regular season baseball any day of the week and twice on Sunday. In fact, here's how I rank the sports, in terms of my interest, 10 to 1 with 10 being the highest:
10. NFL - It's an incredibly close call between Football and Baseball, because I honestly can't pick a favorite between the Cubs and Bears. It makes my brain bleed. So I put NFL first because I'll watch pretty much any NFL game televised, and I don't watch a whole lot of complete baseball games outside of the Cubs.
9. MLB - Really, on a scale of 1-10, I'd give the NFL about a 35 and MLB about a 34. I love baseball. The only reason I don't watch every game televised is because I already spend 20 hours a week following the Cubs. Seriously. And now that I think about it, I only catch maybe 12 hours of football a week. Maybe I should switch them.
8. College Football - As previously discussed, there's a huge gap between MLB and College Football for me, but I'd still put it 3rd on my list. This sport has been rising fast for me. As recently as five years ago I barely had a passing interest. (Understandable because I went to NIU). The lack of a true champion and all the Youngstown State cupcakes that the powerhouses face always pissed me off. But after further thought, the bowl system ain't that bad. It makes every regular season game mean a whole lot more. And who doesn't love rivalry week?
7. NBA - Back in the Jordan heyday, this sport very well have been number one for me. But the post Jordan years were such a disaster that they forced me to care a little less about basketball. I can watch the Bulls when they're competetive (ie. close to .500), but I can't stomach when they're slogging through 15 or 20 win seasons. I still catch a lot of the playoffs, though. So I guess you could say I'm a bit fair weather on basketball.
6. Golf with Tiger - Here's another sport I wouldn't dream of watching back in the old days. When it comes to Golf, I generally only watch Majors. And when Tiger's not playing, I tend to watch them a little less. But Tiger is so transcendent, he demands your attention. He's insanely good and has that Jordan magnetism.
5. College Basketball - March madness is cool. Final Four is must see. Regular season is a good time waster.
4. NHL Hockey, Golf without Tiger - Hockey looks great in HD, and the Blackhawks are really coming on strong. I wouldn't be surprised if Hockey moves up this list in the next year or two.
3. Olympics, Arena Football - Ah, the impetus of this exercise shows up at numero 3. Basically, I care about the Olympics about as much as I care about Arena Football. It's entertaining enough when its on, but I don't exactly check the box scores after its over.
2. College Baseball, Soccer - When it comes to Soccer, I'm a typical American. The fact that it rates lower than the Olympics should tell you something.
1. Tennis, Softball, Little League WS, Bowling, Fishing, Strongest Man, Lumberjack Competitions - I've been known to land on channels showing all of these sports and hang out for a good 15-20 minutes. But that's about it.
Another thing that gets me about the Olympics, is that its not always the best athletes. For one thing, some countries (USA! USA!) are overflowing with capable athletes, and other countries can barely scrape up five people that have ever seen an Olympic-sized pool, let alone swam in one. So they "borrow" our guys. Would it be as interesting if there were five Americans, two Chinese guys, and a German in one competition? Maybe not, but at least the best eight guys would be duking it out. Plus, I'm a firm believer that the true "best athletes" in the world are pretty much all in the NFL or NBA (or playing Euro Football). If you dangle a $20 million dollars a year at guy like Devin Hester and tell him to train like hell for four years to do nothing other than "run real fast," do you think he could win a gold? He might not beat that Lightning Bolt guy, but I'd sure as hell like to see what would happen if he'd try.
Check that, I don't want him anywhere other than running crossing patterns for the Bears. Actually, I don't even see the point in him doing that. (What the hell are you thinking, Turner!?) Send him deep. Every play.
Till next time...