Wake me when it’s over…

MLB and NBA have a common problem

-by John Busacca

With the kickoff of the NBA season and the ending of the baseball season, I am reminded that I would rather wake from a coma and be forced to watch “The Shape of Water” and the “English Patient” for 12 hours than another baseball game or NBA game. Don’t get me wrong, I love these sports but 162 games in baseball and 20 more playoff games is like watching the Academy Awards show and listening to some ‘Vlade Divac’ looking guy talk about the importance of sound mixing in an international short film that ironically, chronicles the life of a midget.   It goes on and on until you either fall asleep or switch the channel to see what happened on the “Real house wives of Harlem”! Darn that Tenesha, she is always starting fights with her man Anfernee!

As a rabid basketball fan, I will always find some time to watch games on TNT and ESPN but by and large, if the Magic are playing the Heat on a Thursday night in October or November, I am more inclined to flip over to watch some of the Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan football game and this is why these sports continue to be dwarfed by the NFL. Too many games that generally are too long and can last over 3 hours. The NFL and NCAA get it, and literally every week is a make or break game for many teams. Last Sunday we had the epic Chiefs vs. Patriots game that actually had playoff implications for home field advantage in week 6.   Meanwhile, last night LeBron James and the Lakers played the Portland Trailblazers in a game nobody east of Denver watched. I have often wondered why baseball didn’t end the season on September 1^st and immediately begin playoffs so they are done by late September. It really isn’t that hard to do and you can keep your historic 162 game schedule. There is thing called a DOUBLE HEADER that we had as kids growing up in New York. Weekend games in particular were always popular and it was a great day for the family. Today they only do a double header if there was a weather event the day before.   How great would it be if each team had 10-15 double header games per year and they were all on Saturday and Sunday afternoons so families could attend? Don’t give me this bull about the players being worn out because nobody runs in baseball anymore. They swing as hard as possible and stand at the plate to see if it was a home run.

The NBA has the same problem with scheduling its season. 82 games just to get to a playoff in which it seems only 6 teams are eliminated? It’s become ludicrous and time consuming and doesn’t make sense. The NBA should start its season on Christmas day and just play into the early part of summer or even into July. Football camps are not open yet and baseball is the only other competition. Right now I have a hard time watching opening NBA games when there are important Saturday and Sunday games going on in football. In mid July, I could be watching the NBA finals instead of watching the Rays play Cleveland in game number 83 of 162. The NFL continues to flirt with the idea of an 18 game schedule and eliminating 2 of the 4 worthless pre season games. If this indeed happens, baseball is in BIG trouble as it is currently scheduled. Opening the NFL season on August 20^th means that by the middle of September, NFL teams will be playing huge and meaningful games and by October 15^th , right in the heart of the playoffs, game 10 of the NFL will be played on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. Good luck with the ratings of a Red Sox vs. Astros going opposite of Dallas vs. Giants on Monday night football.

Football is king and instead of adjusting to this fact, the NBA and MLB continue to operate like it isn’t true and baseball in particular seems to be stuck in 1955. There are way too many games and competition for eyeballs. Wake me up when something of importance comes around in these sports. Until then, Football owns me and our country until February.

-BSB