The 30-Game NBA Season

This is my annual post on why the NBA season should only be 30 games.  Maybe as many as 30 games, but fewer regular season games that are more meaningful would attract more TV viewers, increase the popularity, and ultimately benefit the NBA. Today, this blog will not talk about cute kids, my wife, or my mortgage, but it is more something fun for me.

The NFL is popular because most males play football growing up and understand the rules and enjoy watching the games on TV. I know that the same can be said about basketball or baseball, too, but the unspoken popularity of the NFL is the gambling, office pools, fantasy football (which is really gambling in a different form), etc. I have watched the 4th quarter of a Thursday night game between two last place teams in the NFL because of the office pool, but would never do the same thing for an NBA game. I think the other aspect that enhances the gambling opportunities is simply that the games are played once a week on a regular schedule.  Also, a team can lose a few games without being eliminated from a championship. but at the same time, there are few enough games that each game does matter. I guess that is where I am going with this, that other major sports could learn a lesson from this strategy as well.

Baseball is talking about adding another two teams to their playoffs because more fans will be excited about post season play and more fans will attend late season games, making more money. This argument is false. Just look at the NBA where more than 50% of the teams make the playoffs but no one really starts watching the games until the semi-finals anyway. 

At this point in the season, most of the NBA teams have played 20 games, or 25% of their season is complete. Today, we can look at the standings and already know who will make the playoffs. There may be some jockeying for position between teams to be the #6 or #7 seed, but nothing of any consequence. Really, the remaining 60 games are for owners to make money to pay outrageous player salaries and give more opportunities for fans and dads taking their kids to games to pay $6 for a hot dog and $9 for a beer and $5 for cotton candy, etc.  For my family to go to an NBA game, it is between $250 - $350 dollars for tickets, parking, and popcorn and a drink.  If we bought any souvenirs, add another $50 minimum.  Or, I could buy the kids an iPad for the same price that will last much longer. 

Additionally, it doesn't help when only 9 teams win the championship in the last 34 years. It drops to just 7 teams when you take out one-year champions, Philadelphia and Dallas. Only 8 other teams have been to the finals and lost.  Put another way, for the past 34 years

• only 23% of teams have ever won a championship,
• over 50% of the teams in the league have never played in the championship finals.  

In the same 34-year time period, 16 different teams (50%) have won the Super Bowl and only 5 teams (12%) have never been to the Super Bowl.  And one of those, the Jacksonville Jaguars have only been in existence since 1995. From a fan's perspective, on opening day, only 1 in 4 NBA fans believe their team can win the championship while each year in the NFL brings new hope. Some of the NBA fans are just hoping to win one series in the playoffs for it to be a really, really good year before they get beat by the Lakers or the Celtics or the Heat. 

I do not watch games on TV because the schedule is so erratic. My favorite team might play five games in one week and two games the next, and not even on the same day of the week. I do not even know which games will be televised. However, with football, I know that my team will be on TV every Sunday. It is either the early or the late game, but Sunday afternoon, I can watch football with my friends and root for my favorite team. Owners could make more money by having fewer games that were more meaningful in deciding the league champion. The TV and radio broadcast rights could be sold for more money if more viewers watched. More viewers would watch and more fans would attend if there were fewer games and the schedule was played at the same time each week. Games could be played on Wednesday and Saturday for 17 weeks, just like the NFL does. The NFL plays a schedule where not every team plays all the other teams and that has not dampened enthusiasm for their sport. Why does the NBA insist on having every team play every other team, both home and away?

So, without further ado, we will write down the eight teams from each division that will begin playing the real NBA season starting in April and ending in June. Check back in April to see how meaningful the remaining 60 games were. 

Eastern Conference                       Western Conference
1. Toronto          16-6.                    1. Golden State     19-2
2. Atlanta           15-6                     2. Memphis           17-4
3. Washington   15-6                     3. Portland             17-5
4. Cleveland      13-8                     4. Houston             17-5
5. Chicago         13-8                     5. LA Clippers       16-5
6. Milwaukie      11-12                    6. San Antonio      16-6
7. Miami            10-12                    7. Dallas               17-7
8. Brooklyn         8-12                     8. Phoenix           12-11

9. Boston.           7-13.               **12.Oklahoma City   9-13

I included Oklahoma City because they had early season injuries and should be significantly different the rest od the season.  The teams that are currently 9th, 10th, and 11th in the Western Conference d not really matter.  At best they can hope not to be swept in the first round of the playoffs. 

Update in June...

April 27, 2015

So, here are the playoff teams for the recently concluded NBA season. 

Eastern.          Western

Atlanta.           Golden State

Cleveland.       Houston

Chicago.         Los Angeles Clippers

Toronto.          Portland

Washington.   Memphis

Milwaukie.       San Antonio

Boston.           Dallas

Brooklyn.         New Orleans

That is it.  In the interest of reviewing crazy predictions, let's look and see what would be different if there really only had been 30 games in an NBA season. 

So, if the season had ended after 30 games, all of the teams listed above would have still been in the playoffs except for two teams -- one from each conference. Phoenix fell out of the playoffs and Miami was the other playoff team after 30 games that missed the cut after the full 82-game season.  

New Orleans edged out Oklahoma City in some tie-breaker procedure -- the team we highlighted at the 30-game mark, while Phoenix had a late season losing streak to fall by the wayside. Miami was the team from the Eastern Conference that avoided being swept by the #1 seed and missing the lottery by a slim one game difference.  

Projecting one step further, none of the #6-#8 seeds advanced to the second round, and they only won eight games for all teams combined. Almost half of them by San Antonio, The defending champions. If there is one positive thing as we go into the second round, it looks like there will be a new NBA champ this year instead of the usual group of 6-8 teams.  Next year when I write this post, maybe the NBA will be celebrating its 10th champion in the last 35 years.  Or to view it from a different perspective, 67% if the NBA teams have not won a championship in the past 35 years. 

Bring on the 30-game season!  Stop the charade of a real competition when the other 50 games are nothing more than a money grab by greedy owners. More excitement for the fans!

Funny stories I want to remember

The other day at dinner, Delaney came up with a great idea.  She said, "Do you think that if we saved a whole bunch of ear wax and then mixed it with some perfume, that we could make scented candles?"

Last weekend at a soccer tournament on a day that had a 20-degree wind chill factor, our team was waiting for the game before us to end.  Erin, Kali, and Kassie were sitting huddled in blankets trying to stay warm.  Andrew was wearing shorts and juggling the ball in the cold.  Erin said, "Andrew, will you come snuggle and keep us warm?"  He replied, "No, I want to juggle.  Hey!  Juggle and snuggle rhyme!"  A clueless teenage boy.

Happy Birthday Delaney!

HToday is Delaney's 11th birthday. She is 11 today. Soon enough, she will be graduated from high school and on her way, but today is one more chance to celebrate my daughter. 

We haven't done it in the last few years with my job shuffle and such, but I am actually waiting for 6th grade lunch to begin. I have brought Five Guys Burgers at Delaney's request for her lunch, and I will have whatever Dana packed for her. I hope it is good!  I am also supposed to see what her locker looks like decorated for her birthday. Dana had supplied Grace with pictures and other stuff so we will see what it is like. 

There were two big presents this year; black hi-top converse and an iPhone. It is Dana's old one, but still it is Delaney's own phone. 

Happy birthday and don't grow up so fast. Let me enjoy you a few more years. 

Hanging out with the kids

No McChickens yesterday, but didn't weigh myself because I had to be at work early. 

Tuesday at the house, a summer evening.  Nothing really special, just summertime which is nice. 

Yesterday was hot, but the best news in our lives is that Pop now has air conditioning in his house. Yeah!!!!  Yesterday he said how he could not really tell the difference in temperature even though the day before it was 93-degrees. But then, he walked from his air conditioned house to the car and said, "it was really a warm one today". 

Delaney had soccer practice last night.  Once again it was a very slow practice which little bits of running. Andrew and I went down to work on his goal kicks because they had mentioned it to him at practice. The best news so far had been that he was 1 of 2 goalies at practice yesterday. No matter how he played, the coach had to notice that he was one of the two goalies there.  And then today, one of the seniors introduced himself to Andrew and the coach gave Andrew some advice. Maybe the hours of kicking soccer balls will pay off this year. 

We finally played Risk last night with the kids. It actually went pretty well and even Delaney said she had fun.  I am pretty sure the best part was when she got to wipe out all of her brother's armies in North America. Anyway, it was a fun summer evening spent with Dana and the kids. 

Late summer

286 pounds and two McChicken today.  I had gotten down to 279, but then couldn't pass up the drive thru.

Today, I discovered that public school is not free.  To send Andrew to school in the Fall, it will cost approximately $415 dollars, with an extra $40 thrown in if he wants a year book.  That will pay for his printing, if he wants to use a computer in the library, his student ID, allow him to take band class, play soccer, and includes an AP test that he has to take because he signed up for the class.  At this point, we have not included the dreaded school supply list which I estimate at another $250 and then school pictures.

Yes, I do have a high schooler now and I am sure that four years from now I will say to myself where did the four years go.  For now, I want him to get good grades so he has as many options open to him as could be possible when he graduates.  I also want him to be involved in his school, so high school is more than going to class and watching others.  I would want him to earn a varsity letter, mostly for the experience of playing for your school, not a college scholarship.  And I want to know what the difference is between the Drama club and the Thespian Club.  Isn't that the same thing?

Let's take this blog serious

I really do not know what to do with this blog, so from now on it will be photos, random observations, and maybe a witty insight or two if we are lucky.

Let start like Bridget Jones. 285 pounds today and two McChicken. I am sure there is a correlation

Funny dinner story

So, the other night at dinner, I learned how great it is that my daughter is a great reader, good speller, with an advanced vocabulary as compared with context and understanding the book or story you reading. Or your child as the case.may be.

So, somehow we were talking about the new Katy Perry video with her song "Roar". Andrew was describing what the video was like and different scenes in the video. Meanwhile, I had only heard part of the conversation and asked why Katy Perry was singing about "War". After a number of confused looks and some explanations about "Roar" (the song by Katy Perry) and painted face tigers and jungle back drops in the video, I was caught up with the conversation. 

So, Delaney chimes in that in the book she is reading (The Book Thief) people call each other "Wars".  That sounded odd so I asked if it was a nickname between friends or how they were using the word "War". 

The boys call some of the girls "wars" in the book.   Dana chimed in and said, "how do you spell "war"?"

Delaney answered "W-H-O-R-E.  The 'WH' sounds like when you say 'Whale'."

At that point, Andrew choked on his drink and burst out laughing with the rest of us.  We explained that whore is actually an insult that boys used and a very mean thing to call a girl.  It means the girl has sex with a lot of boys.

Yes, reading does expand your vocabulary.

Recycling confusion

Today I was at a meeting for work. They had muffins, orange juice, and coffee. I enjoyed my blueberry muffin and a glass of orange juice, and then at the break, I went to throw away my garbage. I was confronted with five containers with instructions and slots with different shapes and cut outs:

1.  Glass - square slot

2.  Bottles and cans - circular slot

3.  Paper and cardboard - diagonal rectangular slot

4.  Plates and napkins - large square opening

5.  One big garbage can with a black trash bag and no top

So where do you think I put my paper napkin, wax paper muffin wrapper, plastic cup, and heavy paper/ cardboard like plate?

In the container that was easiest. 

30-Game NBA Basketball Season

This is my annual post on why the NBA season should only be 20 games.  Maybe as many as 30 games, but fewer regular season games that are more meaningful would attract more TV viewers, increase the popularity, and ultimately benefit the NBA. Today, this blog will not talk about cute kids, my wife, or my mortgage, but it is more something fun for me.

The NFL is popular because most males play football growing up and understand the rules and enjoy watching the games on TV. I know that the same can be said about basketball or baseball, too, but the unspoken popularity of the NFL is the gambling, office pools, fantasy football (which is really gambling in a different form), etc. I have watched the 4th quarter of a Thursday night game between two last place teams in the NFL because of the office pool, but would never do the same thing for an NBA game. I think the other aspect that enhances the gambling opportunities is simply that the games are played once a week on a regular schedule.  Also, a team can lose a few games without being eliminated from a championship. but at the same time, there are few enough games that each game does matter. I guess that is where I am going with this, that other major sports could learn a lesson from this strategy as well.

Baseball is talking about adding another two teams to their playoffs because more fans will be excited about post season play and more fans will attend late season games, making more money. This argument is false. Just look at the NBA where more than 50% of the teams make the playoffs but no one really starts watching the games until the semi-finals anyway. 

At this point in the season, most of the NBA teams have played 20 games, or 25% of their season is complete. Today, we can look at the standings and already know who will make the playoffs. There may be some jockeying for position between teams to be the #6 or #7 seed, but nothing of any consequence. Really, the remaining 60 games are for owners to make money to pay outrageous player salaries and give more opportunities for fans and dads taking their kids to games to pay $6 for a hot dog and $9 for a beer and $5 for cotton candy, etc.  For my family to go to an NBA game, it is between $250 - $350 dollars for tickets, parking, and popcorn and a drink.  If we bought any souvenirs, add another $50 minimum.  Or, I could buy the kids an iPad for the same price that will last much longer. 

Additionally, it doesn't help when only 9 teams win the championship in the last 33 years. It drops to just 7 teams when you take out one-year champions, Philadelphia and Dallas. Only 8 other teams have been to the finals and lost.  Put another way, only 23% of teams have ever won a championship, and 50% of the teams in the league have never played for a championship in 33 years.  In the same 33-year time period, 15 different teams (46%) have won the Super Bowl and only 5 teams (12%) have never been to the Super Bowl.  And one of those, the Jacksonville Jaguars have only been in existence since 1995. From a fan's perspective, on opening day, only 1 in 4 NBA fans believe their team can win the championship while each year in the NFL brings new hope. Some of the NBA fans are just hoping to win one series in the playoffs for it to be a really, really good year before they get beat by the Lakers or the Celtics or the Heat. 

I do not watch games on TV because the schedule is so erratic. My favorite team might play five games in one week and two games the next, and not even on the same day of the week. I do not even know which games will be televised. However, with football, I know that my team will be on TV every Sunday. It is either the early or the late game, but Sunday afternoon, I can watch football with my friends and root for my favorite team. Owners could make more money by having fewer games that were more meaningful in deciding the league champion. The TV and radio broadcast rights could be sold for more money if more viewers watched. More viewers would watch and more fans would attend if there were fewer games and the schedule was played at the same time each week. Games could be played on Wednesday and Saturday for 17 weeks, just like the NFL does. The NFL plays a schedule where not every team plays all the other teams and that has not dampened enthusiasm for their sport. Why does the NBA insist on having every team play every other team, both home and away?

So, without further ado, we will write down the eight teams from each division that will begin playing the real NBA season starting in April and ending in June. Check back in April to see how meaningful the remaining 60 games were.

Eastern Conference                Western Conference
1. Indiana   19-3.                      1. Portland     18-4
2. Miami      16-6                      2. San Antonio    17-4
3. Atlanta    11-11                     3. Oklahoma      17-4
4. Boston.   10-14                     4.  Los Angeles Cliippers     15-8
5. Charlotte. 10-12                    5. Houston     15-7
6. Washington.  9-11                 6. Denver     13-8
7. Detroit      10-13                    7. Phoenix     12-9
8. Chicago.    8-12                     8. Golden State.   13-10

9. Cleveland. 8-13.                    9. Dallas     13-10

Looking at the standings, really, the top four or five teams in the west are really the only ones with a chance.  The rest are playing to see who gets beat in the first round of the playoffs that no one will watch anyway And can we just skip the first two rounds of playoffs and get to the Miami vs Indiana battle, please. 

May 7th, 2014 update:    We got six out of eight teams correct in both the Eastern and Western Conferences.  Detroit and Boston felt out of the playoffs in the east, while Denver and Phoenix missed the playoffs by one game. Of the four teams that we did not predict after the 20-game mark in the season, all of lost in the first round of the playoffs except one -- because Brooklyn and Toronto played each other and one of them had to advance. 

An interesting note, of the eight teams remaining, only two are among past NBA winners in the past 30 years. Probability says there should be a new champion, but I have faith the NBA will stay on script. 

June 6th, 2014 update:  The first game of the championship was last night.  San Antonio and Miami both survived the last eight teams and for 34 consecutive years, the NBA champion will be the Lakers, the Celtics, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, San Antonio or Miami, no matter who wins this year.

Hey, NBA!  If you want more fans, make the league more fair so the other 23 teams have a chance to win a championship and not just the seven big city teams you favor all the time.