If you read my description for this blog you know that this is designed to be a sports blog written by a sports fan. So for my first ever post I have decided to let everyone know what changes I feel are necessary in the 4 major sports as well as NCAA Football and Basketball.
First lets start with an event currently taking place. Everyone loves the NCAA Tournament. Hell, even people (men and women) who don't watch one minute of college basketball all season fill out a tournament bracket, meaning this might be the best and most watched championship we have in America. That does not absolve the NCAA from needing to make changes to the tournament structure.
Now I realize my dream of a bracket involving all 334 Division 1 basketball teams will never come true, but an expansion from 65-68 teams is very feasible.
The NCAA currently uses a "play-in" game between #64 and #65 to see who gets the right to lose to the overall #1 seed in the tournament. This is not fair to #'s 61-63. A #16 seed has never and most likely WILL NEVER beat a #1, giving 64 and 65 the only legitimate shot to actually win an NCAA tournament game. If you expanded the field to 68 teams and have four play-in games, two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday before the tournament, then all of the lowest seeds in the tournament will have a legitimate shot at feeling the joy of winning a tournament game. The NCAA has three extra games with which to make more money, and teams like Chattanooga and Radford don't go home with the sole experience of losing by 56 and 43 points respectively.
Moving on to the NFL now seeing as this is the time of year the league conducts their owners meetings and rules changes are discussed, digest this one why don't ya. Expand the playoffs to 7 teams from each conference and only give the number 1 seed in each conference the bye week. With the expansion to 4 divisions in each conference it has become abundantly clear that one mediocre team, at least, will make the playoffs every year due to winning a poor division (see 2008 San Diego Chargers, 8-8) and one decent team will be left out due to only two wild card spots (see 2008 Patriots 11-5, 2007 Browns 10-6). If the NFL expands to 7 teams from each conference it would have 3 games in each conference on Wild Card Weekend and then 4 teams left in each conference the following weekend. WORKS OUT PERFECTLY!!!
Major League Baseball: SHORTEN YOUR SEASON back to 154 games. There is no need to be playing playoff baseball in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit or any other city where there is a threat of snow. Look at last years World Series and the 1997 World Series in Cleveland for your references. Word is Game 7 this year would be on November 6, and we call them the boys of SUMMER!!
Hey David Stern, why do you need 3 or 4 days in between Games 1 and 2 of a first round playoff series? The Answer: YOU DONT! I'll give you a pass on the terrible officiating seen in the NBA these days but there is no need for the playoffs to last nearly half as long as an actual season does.
For all you hockey fans out there, ( yes some still do exist ), first thing Gary Bettman should do is cut the number of teams in the league by half. In fact that is something all commissioners should do. Secondly, and I know its tradition but get rid of the blue lines and offsides. You want to see more scoring, thats how you do it.
Finally, College Football. Do I really need to say it........PLAYOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And thats it, my girlfriend may have stopped listening to me but I'm supposed to listen now. Check back soon.
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Good stuff Will...Good stuff. Looks like you got something to keep you busy now. You know Hess and Bows started a blog up too?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think the NCAA tourney is perfect and I was actually against adding that 65th team. I mean where does it end..68? 109? 342? These teams need to stop complaining and just win more games. You want to be in the tourney...well dont lose to Morgan State in December.
As a Patriots fan I feel the pain more then most when an 11-5 team does not make that playoffs. With that said I like the NFL system and would not change much. My one complaint is the draft system. Patriots should not be picking after teams like Minny and Philly since they did make the playoffs. The league system says those teams had a better season so that should be reflected in the draft. Just my thoughts. What do I know though.
Hi Will this is Sporty. The Blog is great. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete"DA"