Post-game

Now that the NBA and NHL postseasons have concluded (successfully for both leagues, according to Nielsen), a question and a thought:

First, is there such a thing as post-Finals depression? For years, we have heard about the post-Super Bowl depression once the victor raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It’s as if the entire country – let’s not say world, only North America and its expats care about the NFL – has to take a few billion Prozacs to get by until September. However, this has been a pretty good year; better yet, a great three-year stretch for both leagues.

The momentum has been building to the point that while you still have those complaining about the image problems of some NBA players, length of the seasons and the fighting on the ice, you’re hearing more about what goes on in the games themselves. The fact that people are starting to ask what are they going to watch until the NFL begins says so much about how the NBA (and in a smaller scale, the NHL) have wooed fans back over the last few years.

Secondly, now that baseball monopolizes the major league spotlight for the next twelve weeks, it will be interesting to see how the sport’s television partners fight for a lion’s share of the fans’ attention. It’s a little different this time around thanks to the arrival of MLB Network.

Unlike other league-operated channels, MLBN is available in far more homes because it is partially owned by several major cable carriers such as Time Warner and Comcast. With that wide availability, the channel is going head-to-head with ESPN’s national coverage, even though Nielsen does not track the channel just yet.

The channel has the bandwidth to shine the light on every team. ESPN does not and cannot focus on a handful of sports while TBS and FOX are focused on weekend and playoff broadcasts only instead of wrap-around pre- and post-game analysis.

While relying on social network and message board chatter may not be the best barometer of the network’s early success, it seems that many people are making the switch to the new guys/gals on the block. Yet, as the weather warms up and the intensity of the season grows, we’ll see how the network performs against the established broadcasters.

Thoughts?

Premature

The Orlando Magic reminded us all of the classic adage; NEVER put the cart before the horse.

These are certainly not the NBA Finals most of you wanted, but it’s the series that might provide the better show.

I’ll give you time to pick up your jaw.

Sometimes, the best matchups in sports are not always about superstar player versus superstar player in nearly the same position. The majority salivated from the thought of Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James as the best shooting guard and best small forward in the game would have defended each other for most of the Dream Finals. Yet, now, we have one of the game’s best backcourts in Los Angeles going against one of its best frontlines with those proverbial ‘X-factors’ littered all over.

Let’s cut through all of the broken dreams and the exaggerated “I’m not watching the NBA ever again” histrionics that many people are taking on. If this generation’s Dream Finals came to fruition, based on the game play we ‘witnessed’ in the Conference Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers would have been destroyed in a sweep.

If those Cavaliers – with LeBron James having to do everything short of tying his teammates’ shoes, it seemed – could not get past the Orlando Magic, did you honestly think that they would match shot for shot with the Lake Show? The Magic has a pretty good roster; shooters abound with Hedo Turkoglu, Mickael Pietrus and Rashard Lewis (who has been the best second-fiddle this postseason), heady point guard play between Rafer Alston and Anthony Johnson and the overlooked backup center in Marcin Gortat.

The Cavs, while still boasting a solid roster, would have had no answer for the depth of forwards the Lakers boasts between Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom (who could be a sixth man or starter, depending on matchups). Even the Lakers’ bench, as inconsistent as it had been for stretches in the season, is superior to Cleveland’s as Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell, Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown certainly provide more than Wally Szczerbiak, Ben Wallace, Daniel Gibson, Joe Smith and Sasha Pavlovic.

Of course, the most intriguing one-on-one matchup will be between the beast that is Dwight Howard and the coming-back-to-form Andrew Bynum. It may not be Patrick Ewing versus Hakeem Olajuwon in the best pairing of centers in the last two decades of the Finals, but there’s a potential for a classic battle in the paint.

To those who opined for Kobe-versus-LeBron, there was a pretty good chance that you would have been more than disappointed. Kobe-versus-Courtney Lee doesn’t scream ‘marquee matchup’, but the Lakers versus the Magic may be the best way to cap off what has been a banner year for the league.

Say What?!?!: While I believe that ratings should be taken in the proper context, TV by the Numbers wants to know how you think these Finals will fare. I say pretty well.