RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The following were on my mind after Monday's Super Bowl column to Friday, February 12th:
- Top ten sporting events to look forward to and watch now that football season is over:
10. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness stakes (and maybe the Belmont Stakes if the horse wins the first two races)
Nothing like spending three weeks in May and June trying to see a horse win the three best races in the world, am I right? And it only takes two minute, so you can quickly go back to what your doing in no time!
9. MLB Season
It will really be the only sporting event that you can watch daily between the boring months of July and August, when the NFL, NBA and NHL are in hiatus, and golf and tennis will have only two tournaments to care about. But it get points taken off because unless your team is winning, a game has playoff implications, or it's a real good hitter or pitcher playing, it's gets a little dull watching it. Which is why televising every Little League World Series game is one of the worst things ESPN has done.
8. The NFL and NBA Drafts
The one time of the year where even the league's worst team's fans feel a sense of hope and a better future in the form of a twenty year old that's fresh out of college. Unless the draft pick sucks, then that brings even more depression to the fanbase.
7. Wimbledon Men's Finals
I don't know about you, but as an American I like watching major sporting events that take place in Europe and shown live. Take Wimbledon for instance. You wake up to see some of the world's best players, men and women, fight it out for two whole weeks. Then every day the final match ends around 2-3 p.m. American time, leaving you plenty of time to do things. And the Wimbledon men's finals is probably my favorite time to experience this feeling.
No offfense to the women's side of the tournament, but the men's side is usually the one that brings two of the worlds top players, and not players ranked between #15 and #40 in the world. Also, it has also recently become the site of the year's most entertaining matches as shown by the epic Federer-Roddick duel of last year and the all-timer Nadal-Federer duel two years ago. Add in the tradition and the history, and that is a pretty sweet way to spend your Sunday morning on the couch.
6. NHL Playoffs
Not as good watching it as it was back when Gary Thorne was calling the games, but it's still good. Also, it seems to be the NHL with some of the best postseason overtime games and drama throughout the seven game series. Then again, for me, it may be because the Blackhawks have a chance of winning it all this year. I don't really know myself.
5. Winter Olympics in Vancouver
To all those that say that they will not watch the Winter Olympics, I'm calling foul. I'm calling foul because you and I both know that while you say this, you will still find yourself watching Canada play Switzerland in a curling quarterfinals match at 9 a.m. in the morning. And do you know why is that? Because there's nothing better on during this time, that's why! (and slightly because curling is a fascinating sport to watch. Especially if you've never watched it before.)
Curling aside, it's also the only time when you get to see sports and moments that you won't see in sports for four years. This is the only time when you can watch things like luge, the ski jump, the weird biathlon that they have, and figure skating without looking either weird or a European elitist. You get to see athletes battle the best they can for their countries. Also, when you talk about hockey, this is arguably the best stage to watch the sport in. And, yes, it does bring some great moments from time to time. So don't lie to me that you won't watch it, because really what will you watch? (besides basketball and Tiger Woods-less golf).
4. The NBA from May 1st to August 1st
Normally, I would just say the NBA playoffs (which is from late April to mid June) because, well, it's the NBA playoffs. But this year is different, simply because of the amazing free agents coming at the end of the season. And what a list it is, that can include Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, David Lee, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili, Carlos Boozer, and much more! I mean, just think of all the possibilities, all the teams whose outlook can change for the better, etc.! It all makes up for the possibility of a lockout in 2011.
3. The Golf Majors
For about forty eight weeks of the year, professional golf is boring and hard to watch. Nut then there are those magical four weeks in the spring and sumner that make up for all that. The drama, the greatest golf announcer ever, Jim Nantz (as well as the stupid one-liners of his that he planned hours in advance) calling half of them, the possible great moments, and the hours that you spend watching it are always great. Not to mention the uniqueness of each of the tournaments, with the all around greatness of The Masters in April, the incredibly challenging and grueling U.S. Open in June, the traditional and history of the Open Championship in July and the... "it's a major" feeling of the PGA Championship. Now, add in the drama and what might happen when Tiger Woods come back from his... issues, and it's going to be even better.
2. FIFA World Cup in South Africa
This is like the Super Bowl... but filled with more viewers, more importance, more pride and more nationalism. There's really nothing much to say, other than how over a billion people watched and cared about the last time and how it's the freaking World Cup.
1. NCAA Basketball in March
While the World Cup is fantastic, millions of people don't take a day off from work to watch it. It also doesn't have a fake disease named after it, in this case March Madness (probably one of the most simple, yet brilliant trademarks in sports other than The Big Game and America's Pastime) as well as millions of people filling out on paper who's going to go how far for money. From the always entertaining and incredible conference tournaments in mid March to the final game in early April, the NCAA tournament brings many great things at the table. You have the school pride, Gus Johnson, future NBA stars, games with incredible endings, the lovable cinderellas like George Mason and Davidson that we always love and cheer on, and much more (in fact, Sports Illustrated wrote an article in April 2008 writing a list of 65 great things about it), and that could just happen all in one day! Not only that, but it makes the BCS system of NCAA football a total sham in the process. And until something more incredible show up, or if the field is expanded (very bad idea), nothing can ever top it.
- I'm starting to think that the CSI franchise is either becoming desperate, or running out of ideas. Rascal Flatts? Professional Golfers? Danica Patrick? A case in space? Please!
- If you ever see me trying to disrespect my girlfriend, try to act more manly or not wear any pants in public, blame this year's Super Bowl commercials.
- Putting "Undercover Boss" on after the Super Bowl was a pointless move by CBS for it will not last very long. (Note to all of you 2014 readers: if you want any evidence as to why I am terrible at predictions, and if "Undercover Boss" is a successful show, this is a good one to use. Go ahead, I'll sadly allow it.)
- Does "American Idol" have the rights to performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl? I mean, the last three years did have their past contestants singing it!
- Whenever I see ABC talk about, promote, or show repeats of "Modern Family," all I can think of them saying is: Holy crap, everyone! We actually have a great comedy, everyone! Can you believe it? For the first time in fifteen years, we have the rights of showing a comedy that is both funny... and popular! Hey, I know, let's promote the hell out of it! Reminds me of Subway a few weeks after the $5 footlong campaign launched, or Showtime with "Dexter."
And... that's that! As always, I hope you enjoyed it, an I will see you this weekend with another edition of "End of the Week." But first, how about another Jimi Hendrix song? Last week, it was "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." This week, it's another song with a very memorable guitar riff. I'm of course speaking about "Purple Haze." Hey, did you know that this week, my lit. teacher randomly chosen Hendrix to me for my black history month project? Pretty weird, huh? Anyways, enjoy one of the guitar legend's best:
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you want to suggest anything to mj15 on his next blog entry, e-mail him at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mail might be addressed on a future post.
No comments:
Post a Comment