i feel this way every year...

[acroyear]

I am eternally surprised by the fact that the "winter" sport of hockey has its finals 10 days away from the start of summer, months after the last vestiges of snow and ice are off the bulk of the country.  I know the reason (its cheaper to compete for air time and fan attention with baseball than it is to compete with football) but still - they wonder why by the time June rolls around, nobody gives a shit, then maybe they should keep the winter sports in the winter where they belong.

Basketball?  Screw June - College's system works for the money and attention - go with an all-or-nothing tournament - create a May Madness (the hype around March is over as is the hype of baseball's opening in April), refresh everybody's attention rather than reminding us that you have 4 teams playing a max of 15 games over the course of 5 weeks by which time its taken so long we're just eternally sick of the whole damn enterprise.

Hockey should start 3 months earlier and end 3 months earlier, while we still "feel" cold.  Basketball should end with a rousing free-for-all rather than this dragged down day-after-day of the same 10 names being repeated as if they mean something after this long.

bleh.

Comments

[thatwasjen]

I know the reason (its cheaper to compete for air time and fan attention with baseball than it is to compete with football)

Is that why? I thought it had gotten out of hand with the most recent expansion. (But don't mind me; I still can't forgive the NHL for abandoning the historic division and conference names.)

I think October is the right time for the hockey season to start. But I think the schedule is far too long. The finals should be completed by the end of April at the latest. Although that would place the all-star break at a weird time near Christmas, wouldn't it?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

the all-star break at a weird time near Christmas

exactly the problem - it gets eaten up by the college bowl games and the end of the main season of NFL. there's simply no way they can compete. the ideal *time* for hockey is to have its all-star break is in Feb, so its not fighting March madness or baseball's opening day.

now, that doesn't mean that the allstar game HAS to be exactly mid-season, but nobody thinks about those kinds of alternatives. how about the allstar game in feb, but for an october start date: rather than being arbitrary, the allstar break that late in the season becomes the last-call for trades before the final rush.

of course, i don't give a crap about the game - i just think its stupid to have a winter game's final in what is effectively the summer.

[mandrakan.livejournal.com]

The "historic" division names were in place for all of 19 years (1975 to 1993). "East" and "West" are more historic (although much less cool, I admit).

And acroyear70, if we were to move the NHL season 3 months earlier, it would start on July 1. That's hardly better than ending on June 9 (later in Olympic years).

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

so shorten the damn season, 'cause lets face it, after the last players strike nobody who doesn't play themselves gives a rats ass anymore.

:)