Double-dose of playoff fun
April 22nd, 2008, 10:54 am · Post a Comment · posted by Alex Kreitman
The NHL and NBA playoffs are in full swing. Hockey already got its first taste of drama with the Montreal Canadiens knocking off the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of a first-round series Monday night.
I wasn’t as bummed out that the Bruins lost as I thought I’d be. I definitely got excited when they won game 6 to force a deciding game, but the loss didn’t mean all that much to me.
I wasn’t expecting much from the B’s since they were a No. 8 seed and to be honest, I haven’t followed the Bruins as religiously as I do with the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics. But I did watch a few games of the series, whenever they were on, and naturally pulled for my hometown boys in black and yellow.
But I do stand firm in saying that the NHL playoffs are extremely entertaining. I love this time of year. The intensity rises and the hits are ferocious on the ice. I remember just two years ago this month I was on the Carolina Hurricanes beat as they cruised through the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup finals.
The Hurricanes won it all that year and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was so cool to be at a major sporting championship, and yes, hockey is still a major sport.
Alongside the NHL is the NBA’s postseason which I don’t usually care for. I think both leagues drag out their postseasons, but the NBA seems to start off at snail speed. For example, the Celtics crushed the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night in Boston. Game 2 of that series isn’t until Wednesday night and the game is still in Boston. There is no reason they can’t just play the game Tuesday or even Monday. Why do they need at least one day off after every game, it’s ridiculous.
There are also so many teams in the playoffs that I don’t really start paying attention until it gets closer to the end. I mean the Hawks for example are the No. 8 seed and they’re terrible. They have no chance of beating Celtics. Their record is way below .500 and they flat out stink and aren’t worthy of the playoffs. A team like the Golden State Warriors, well above .500, just missed the playoffs.
It’d make more sense to just take the 16 best teams, but that’ll never happen. It just doesn’t make me want to watch the lowly Hawks play instead of a quality team like Golden State. It’s really too bad.
