I want to start by saying I'm not an economist. I'm just a sports fan. I cheer for my favorite teams and live and die with every second of an important game. I'm having trouble though figuring out why everyone, including Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, is saying this Final Four run is a dream come true for a troubled state in difficult times. This team being here in Detroit for the Final Four is called a silver lining of a dark cloud hanging over Michigan. WHY?
I understand the emotional piece of it and I get that. However, when everyone is referencing the economic state of...well, the state, what do they think they get out of this by the Spartans playing a part? Fans who already live in Detroit will not fill up restaurants or hotels much more than they would have with MSU out of the Final Four.
This is a time for visitors to travel into town and spend their money supporting their team. Louisville would have brought travelers into the city, filled the airport with additional business. Cab drivers and rental companies would have more business then they will with a home team included in the mix. Hotels miss out on a fourth opportunity to serve out of town guest. Local attractions won't see the locals this week. Only three teams and their fans will venture out to places Detroit and Michigan natives have already seen. Potential tax income is wasted.
Meanwhile, lifelong fans who have followed the Spartans their whole life may pool all their money to make it to the games. It is their right to and it makes a good story. What about next week though? When the car breaks down and the money they had is gone from game expenses and they have to max out credit cards for years to keep up. Is it still a great thing for the state of Michigan? Maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but the premise behind what I'm saying is solid and it will happen this week.
Don't get me wrong, this will be a money maker for the state of Michigan and it could not come at a better time. Just don't throw the economic rhetoric in with the story on how Michigan benefits with Michigan State playing in the Final Four.
And for the record...yes...I'm rooting for the Spartans..ha ha
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
We lost...but we still get ice cream, right Coach?
Wow, I'm actually writing about hockey..ha ha. Maybe it's because I'm pulling an Evander Holyfield and coming out of retirement for the 4th or 5th time and making my return to Butler Dek Hockey this Sunday? Nah, that's not it...I'm writing because of something that bothers me about the NHL. Just a little something I feel the NHL should do to spark more fan interest. I believe the NHL's most crowd-pleasing course of action is to take it back a decade and do things the old-fashioned way:
Two points for a win: be it regulation, overtime, or shootout. And (stay with me, folks) zero points for a loss, no matter how it comes.
Sure, I count myself among fans who take solace in the fact my team did not come away empty-handed when the game continues past regulation. And that is just my point: This system takes away the feeling of a gut-wrenching loss for fans. That pain is also as much a part of sports as winning. There should be no prize for coming in second in a two-team race. This isn't Little League; we do not have to reward a team for doing their best and falling a bit short. This is America, and our policy is "Winner take all!"
There could be no greater evidence that this system should be adopted than watching NHL action at this point in the season. This is the time when two teams in contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs will go ultra-conservative in the last five minutes to ensure themselves a point in the standings. This is found especially in inter-conference games since giving the other team a point will not harm a team's playoff position.
Now throw in the fact that the loser of a game gets nothing and things tend to get more interesting. A team who is not a successful shootout opponent will be more inclined to let it all hang out to get a win in regulation or the overtime period, lest they lose everything in the shootout. This also takes away the shootout being an anti-climactic way to end a hockey game.
For example, let's say Phoenix is playing San Jose. There is no question the Sharks are the more talented of the two teams and the odds-on favorite to win the game. Normally if these teams were to go to a shootout, the Coyotes, with a point in hand, would leave most of their fans content. They just took a point from the best team in the Western Conference. Sure, Phoenix fans have a rooting interest in the shootout. But are they that disappointed should they lose? Not really.
Now, take that same point away and you have Coyote fans on the edge of their seat. Poised to leave the Sharks with nothing for their efforts that night. That makes for dramatic television. And, after all, isn't it all about expanding the audience these days?
The "one point for regulation tie" rule was put into effect to let teams be aggressive in the 4-on-4 overtime period and avoid the dreaded tie. This no longer needs to be the case. You can not tie in the NHL! The shootout fixed that loophole. Now that the game has a clear-cut winner and loser, why do we need points for second place?
This also makes the point race at the top of each conference as interesting as the race for the last few playoff spots. For example this year: The Boston Bruins' stumble down the stretch could cost them the top spot had they not picked up points while losing. If a team sitting in the fourth seed could string together five or six wins in a row, coupled with the top seed losing 9 of 12 over a stretch (as Boston did recently) it is conceivable for that team to make an assault on the top conference spot.
Adding more points to the standings just further confuses the general public. The guys on my favorite show, PTI, consistently make fun of the NHL because of the point system and how they don't understand it. But there is one philosophy that everyone understands:
Win or go home!
Two points for a win: be it regulation, overtime, or shootout. And (stay with me, folks) zero points for a loss, no matter how it comes.
Sure, I count myself among fans who take solace in the fact my team did not come away empty-handed when the game continues past regulation. And that is just my point: This system takes away the feeling of a gut-wrenching loss for fans. That pain is also as much a part of sports as winning. There should be no prize for coming in second in a two-team race. This isn't Little League; we do not have to reward a team for doing their best and falling a bit short. This is America, and our policy is "Winner take all!"
There could be no greater evidence that this system should be adopted than watching NHL action at this point in the season. This is the time when two teams in contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs will go ultra-conservative in the last five minutes to ensure themselves a point in the standings. This is found especially in inter-conference games since giving the other team a point will not harm a team's playoff position.
Now throw in the fact that the loser of a game gets nothing and things tend to get more interesting. A team who is not a successful shootout opponent will be more inclined to let it all hang out to get a win in regulation or the overtime period, lest they lose everything in the shootout. This also takes away the shootout being an anti-climactic way to end a hockey game.
For example, let's say Phoenix is playing San Jose. There is no question the Sharks are the more talented of the two teams and the odds-on favorite to win the game. Normally if these teams were to go to a shootout, the Coyotes, with a point in hand, would leave most of their fans content. They just took a point from the best team in the Western Conference. Sure, Phoenix fans have a rooting interest in the shootout. But are they that disappointed should they lose? Not really.
Now, take that same point away and you have Coyote fans on the edge of their seat. Poised to leave the Sharks with nothing for their efforts that night. That makes for dramatic television. And, after all, isn't it all about expanding the audience these days?
The "one point for regulation tie" rule was put into effect to let teams be aggressive in the 4-on-4 overtime period and avoid the dreaded tie. This no longer needs to be the case. You can not tie in the NHL! The shootout fixed that loophole. Now that the game has a clear-cut winner and loser, why do we need points for second place?
This also makes the point race at the top of each conference as interesting as the race for the last few playoff spots. For example this year: The Boston Bruins' stumble down the stretch could cost them the top spot had they not picked up points while losing. If a team sitting in the fourth seed could string together five or six wins in a row, coupled with the top seed losing 9 of 12 over a stretch (as Boston did recently) it is conceivable for that team to make an assault on the top conference spot.
Adding more points to the standings just further confuses the general public. The guys on my favorite show, PTI, consistently make fun of the NHL because of the point system and how they don't understand it. But there is one philosophy that everyone understands:
Win or go home!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Onions!
Yesterday I was at home, watching all my recorded college basketball games from Saturday when my fiance came into the living room. She sat down on the couch, looked at the TV, and proclaimed, "I'm so sick of you watching basketball." She couldn't understand how I could spend hours watching something as boring as the game of basketball. Wait a second...did she say BORING?!?!
So I sat in my chair the rest of the afternoon and wondered to myself how she could call a game I grew to love boring. There are many reasons I love college basketball. I could start with growing up pretending to play the entire NCAA tournament bracket with my Nerf hoop. I could describe the hoop down at Lake Arthur Estates mobile home park. The one with the slanted rim and the concrete court that had potholes that acted as defenders. I could talk about draining endless free throws on that court or on the gravel driveway at my friend's house.
I can also focus on why I love the game now. The way college kids swarm the court, as if a dam had burst 60 rows up, after an upset win over a ranked team or capturing that NCAA automatic bid. Or how about nine seconds left, the floor spread and the arena roaring as the star player holds the ball at the top of the key, about to break thousands of hearts. I could only imagine what it would be like to be in the student section at Cameron Indoor, it has to feel like you're surfing a tsunami. I can explain how March Madness has the power to propel me out of my seat and want me to yell..."Onions!!" Not to mention that I still take vacation time for the first two days of the tournament so I don't miss a single minute of it.
I can confess that I've spent an hour talking to someone and never made a true connection like the one that comes from running a give and go with a stranger during a pickup game. I can remember when I was younger and seeing a play on TV one night, then seeing it again the next afternoon when I brought it (or tried to..ha ha) to the court. I get a kick out of watching the guys on the bench during games stick out their arms to hold each other back, as if saving one another from oncoming traffic, because the last play was just too damn exciting.
I also appreciate the old school ways of college basketball. Like how the pick-and-roll might be the oldest play in the book, and teams still can't stop it. I still enjoy watching and playing (on my PS2) the Princeton style offense. To me a perfectly executed backdoor cut is the most beautiful play in sports. Although I still get goose bumps from the student section reactions to an alley-oop dunk.
I could explain all this to my fiance and she probably still wouldn't understand. Using her as a prop while showing the half-court trap on our living room rug would probably have her totally confused (Yes, the trap is my favorite defense in college basketball). After all, college basketball is a game you have to grow into, and with luck you'll never grow out of it. So overall, why do I love college basketball?
Because it makes me happy...especially when Duke loses.
So I sat in my chair the rest of the afternoon and wondered to myself how she could call a game I grew to love boring. There are many reasons I love college basketball. I could start with growing up pretending to play the entire NCAA tournament bracket with my Nerf hoop. I could describe the hoop down at Lake Arthur Estates mobile home park. The one with the slanted rim and the concrete court that had potholes that acted as defenders. I could talk about draining endless free throws on that court or on the gravel driveway at my friend's house.
I can also focus on why I love the game now. The way college kids swarm the court, as if a dam had burst 60 rows up, after an upset win over a ranked team or capturing that NCAA automatic bid. Or how about nine seconds left, the floor spread and the arena roaring as the star player holds the ball at the top of the key, about to break thousands of hearts. I could only imagine what it would be like to be in the student section at Cameron Indoor, it has to feel like you're surfing a tsunami. I can explain how March Madness has the power to propel me out of my seat and want me to yell..."Onions!!" Not to mention that I still take vacation time for the first two days of the tournament so I don't miss a single minute of it.
I can confess that I've spent an hour talking to someone and never made a true connection like the one that comes from running a give and go with a stranger during a pickup game. I can remember when I was younger and seeing a play on TV one night, then seeing it again the next afternoon when I brought it (or tried to..ha ha) to the court. I get a kick out of watching the guys on the bench during games stick out their arms to hold each other back, as if saving one another from oncoming traffic, because the last play was just too damn exciting.
I also appreciate the old school ways of college basketball. Like how the pick-and-roll might be the oldest play in the book, and teams still can't stop it. I still enjoy watching and playing (on my PS2) the Princeton style offense. To me a perfectly executed backdoor cut is the most beautiful play in sports. Although I still get goose bumps from the student section reactions to an alley-oop dunk.
I could explain all this to my fiance and she probably still wouldn't understand. Using her as a prop while showing the half-court trap on our living room rug would probably have her totally confused (Yes, the trap is my favorite defense in college basketball). After all, college basketball is a game you have to grow into, and with luck you'll never grow out of it. So overall, why do I love college basketball?
Because it makes me happy...especially when Duke loses.
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