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At least, not to me. And, I actually mean that more as a compliment than a slam. Let me explain.
When it comes to the playoffs, and especially the finals of most sports there is an intensity like no other time during the season. The players step it up, the fans step it up… the atmosphere and the play on the field, court, ice are electric. There’s a big difference for example between a regular season hockey game and a playoff hockey game of any level, let alone the Stanley Cup Finals or especially a Game Seven of the finals!
Other sports are the same way. Looks at the fantastic athletic event that is March Madness in college basketball. Play in the regular season may be exciting for die-hards, but come March, tiny schools who weren’t even on the national fan or media’s radar are suddenly playing like – and becoming? – champions.
There’s just a different level to the playoffs in most sports.
Except the NFL.
I don’t mean that as a knock on the NFL players, coaches, fans or anything. Again, it’s really more of a compliment. I don’t know if it’s because there are fewer games, or because of the sheer intensity of the sport, but I believe every NFL game offers the same level of competition, energy, atmosphere, and fun for the fan. Now, there are some that are a small step up. The Bills hosted their first Monday night game in over a decade this past season and their stadium was rockin’! Fans were totally pumped up. The team played out of their minds. But what for? Just a regular game.
This is my point. The NFL has the best overall product because every game can be – and usually is – as intense as if it were for the ultimate championship.
But then we have the Super (Hype) Bowl. Two weeks of incessant media hype, covering every story from every possible angle ad nauseam. We don’t watch much TV around here lately, so actually I haven’t been bombarded as much this year as past years. But it’s still there. I’ve caught the fringe stuff. And tonight there will be all the flashiness that the NFL wants to bring to their “showcase event”.
Does that make it better? Does that make it a more competitive game? Do we really need all that stuff?
In the end, I’ve already seen all the best games this season. (I could be surprised, but usually the Super Bowl does not live up to its hype…) The Patriots vs Dallas, Indy, and even Jacksonville in the playoffs. All the Bills games… 😉 And a handful of other very exciting competitions. Probably were better games than tonight’s game will be. At least they were better than some other Super Bowls I have seen.
So, I’ll stick with my vote for the NHL playoffs, March Madness, and maybe even a few others as being a bigger step up in the post season than the NFL offers. I’d rather watch most any NHL playoff series than the Super Bowl most year.
(Of course, it would help if my team was in the Super Bowl… then I might be saying, “This is going to be the best game EVER!!) 😉
Nah. Gimme some NHL playoffs and March Madness. I’m good to go.
C’mon…the Pro Bowl has got to be an exception to your “static level of intensity theory.” You can’t tell me you think they’re running full-speed in HI?
-heent
p.s. I do think they step it up a bit for the playoffs.
Well, you’re right. I wasn’t counting the Pro Bowl or pre-season. I just meant regular season games vs post season. And yeah, I stick by that. Don’t know if it’s cause of the intensity of the game (has to be played at the highest level all the time) or the shortness of the season or what… I just don’t notice the same difference between regular and post season as I do in other sports (mentioned above).
That was a very fine game on Sunday though. What I saw of it. 🙂
And what about those regular season games just before the playoffs where the top teams don’t play the starters or only play them for a few minutes?
-heent
Did you hear that the league is trying to avoid that by restructuring the playoff seedings? Pretty cool idea. All the division winners will still make the playoffs, but they won’t get the automatic 1-2-3-4 seeds. They would be seeded according to their record. So, if a team wins their division with a 9-7 record, while THREE teams in another division all have better records, that division winner might be the 6th seed.
Could give teams more incentive to play that final game. But, there will still be some who will sit it out.
I still stick by my assertion that every football game is played full-on, just by the nature of the sport. Maybe I should say 90% of them. 😉