Day 279

Fresh Start_279: Underdogs vs. “the Top heavy league”
Around this time last year, I wrote a column about underdogs and how a potential matchup of Toronto and Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals and the Tampa Bay Lighting facing off against either San Jose or Nashville.

I wrote that column about how underdogs had the potential to ruin the exact thing they represent with a possible matchup of underdogs. Toronto and Oklahoma City were up in both of their series and it was a possible matchup. The Tampa Bay hockey market is a “C” market at best and the way San Jose was last year, I could say the exact same thing. Pittsburgh ended up making the Stanley Cup Final—and winning being the favorite, so the underdogs lived yet another year.

Pittsburgh is back in the Stanley Cup Final again this year against the “Smashville” Predators—having the classic David vs. Goliath matchup with two great teams even with Nashville being the underdog in this scenario.

In the NBA it is yet again the Cavilers and the Warriors. “The Trilogy” is enticing for sure, but there is a need for an underdog in the NBA. With the Cavs and Warriors making the Finals for the third straight year—the casual NBA fan wants to see something different. It isn’t that interesting to bet on the two teams that have made the Finals the past two years to make it again. Their needs to be a Boston or a San Antonio in the Finals, and after the winner of “The Trilogy” I think there will be a different Finals next year.

It might not be Warriors because of how tough the West is in the playoffs. Let me say that again, the West is tougher than the East in the playoffs. The way the 7th seed in the Memphis Grizzles took the Spurs to six games is better than the Hawks going to six games against the Wizards—because of how close the games were, and the competitiveness of the games.

Teams like Washington, Boston, and Milwaukee will be around for the next five years to be the pest to the Cavilers and it is crazy to think that Lebron will continue to make the Finals for the rest of his career… right?

With the Stanley Cup Finals starting tomorrow, and the NBA Finals on Thursday the two leagues are in two total opposite directions. Even with the possibly of two underdogs draining the markets, the stories of them going up against the powerhouse is just what we live for in sports. The word “underdog” is probably the second best word in sports behind “Game 7.”  

Personally, I hope Boston, Washington, San Antonio, or even teams like Houston or Milwaukee to dethrone the Cavilers or the Warriors because seeing the same two teams in the Finals three years in a row is getting old. Even with the historic and ridiculousness that Lebron making the Finals for now the seventh straight year. Boston has the 1st overall pick this year so add the best player in the draft to a Conference Final team to make it tougher for Lebron and the Cavs. In the West, give San Antonio a healthy team, the series might go seven and anything can happen.

Next year will be the year that the NBA can sway into the top heavy league that the “experts” claim we are in right now, and this year is the year in the NHL that the league as a whole hits a prime—getting into households it wouldn’t get into if the Predators didn’t get into the Stanley Cup. It is truly amazing how different these two playoff series can be from one year to the next, and it is incredible to see what happens in these leagues with the way that the Championship series swing.
Sources:(bleacherreport.com)

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