Monday Musings

With winter over, the fun is just starting

by John Furgele (The All Over the Place 228)

Joy to the World—the long, cold, dark winter is over. We know this because the NHL and NBA playoffs have begun and while the playoffs will seemingly last forever, it’s good to see that the most meaningful games are back.

In less than two weeks, we will have the Kentucky Derby, an even surer sign that winter is officially over. 

Like many, I wish the NBA and NHL regular seasons were shorter. We know this will never happen, but doesn’t a 72-game season make more sense than one that has 82? It’s only ten games, but it just seems like the right amount of games to play. Revenues and network demand for inventory will prevent this from ever happening, but starting the playoffs in March is something that few would complain about. 

For some reason, though, I like the 162-game MLB schedule. Perhaps it’s because they play games every day, but if they cut down to 144, 152, or 154, I wouldn’t complain.

Speaking of sports, it’s impossible to avoid gambling commercials, they’re everywhere. And sadly, TV broadcasters often discuss money lines and prop bets during games. Just 10 years ago, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that gambling would ruin the integrity of professional sports; today he sleeps with the devil and seems to enjoy it. After all, this is a guy (and a league) that will step over their best friend to pick up two quarters off the street.

Last week, Jontay Porter was banned by the NBA for life for betting/making a prop bet on a basketball game that he was playing in. It didn’t get much play in the press which goes to show you how much in bed they are with the gambling outfits. If this happened eight years ago, Congress would conduct a hearing; today, it just gets brushed off. But there will come a day when a true scandal hits professional or professional college sports. It’s an earthquake, just waiting to happen.

My son and I attended Game 2 of the ECHL’s North Division Semifinals. The game pitted the Maine Mariners and the homestanding Adirondack Thunder, in Glens Falls, NY. There were 4,701 fans in the 4,860-seat Cool Insuring Arena. On Friday, there were 5,017 in that same arena–standing room only.

It’s nice to see a small community embrace a minor league team like this. In some ways, it restores my faith in humanity. While most of us are consumed with watching multi-millionaires play professional sports, there is something to be said for getting out and watching the local team perform.

Fans in major league towns have forgotten this. In Buffalo, there is much lament over the cost of the PSLs for the new Bills’ stadium, while others complain that the NHL Sabres have now missed the playoffs for a 13th consecutive season.

Fans in Buffalo have other options besides taking out a home equity loan to secure their season tickets. They could attend a Triple A baseball game, a University at Buffalo football or basketball game, or games at Daemen, Buffalo State, Niagara, or Canisius. But, if they do that, they can’t keep up with Bills and Sabres doings–the classic case of FOMO.

My son asked me a good question during the game–“Why are there so many minor league teams in hockey and baseball and very few in football and basketball.”

That’s an excellent question. We know why there isn’t minor league football; the colleges provide more than enough labor for the NFL. Basketball has always surprised me. We have the G League, but I’m not sure how communities feel about it. Hockey is still the least played by youth of the big five sports (soccer counts), yet, they have a robust minor league system with the AHL, the ECHL, the SPHL, and the Federal Prospects Hockey League. Like baseball’s minor leagues, it is well organized and games and teams are embraced in cities like Glens Falls, NY and Estero, FL. 

If you’re going to have a minor league team, hockey and baseball make the most sense. In addition to Triple A, Double A, Single A and Rookie Ball, baseball has several independent leagues and teams in places like Sioux Falls, SD which for those who follow, makes summer better.

The survival rate of minor league hockey and baseball surpass those of basketball and the other sports. I look at cities like Rochester, NY–they’ve had the Triple A Red Wings since 1899 and the AHL Americans since 1956. Other minor league entities have come and gone, but those two remain.

Soccer is trying to replicate what (minor league) baseball and hockey have. The United Soccer League continues to grow with 24 teams (and three more coming) and a feeder system below it. And the teams are in cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Phoenix, and San Antonio. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rowdies drew, 1-1, with El Paso Locomotive FC before 4,945 in Tampa, a solid crowd for a minor league sport.

We know that the cost of attending major league sports isn’t getting any cheaper; in fact, those that attend are often our highest earners. Sure, you can wait for Seat Geek bargains, but if you’re a planner and need to secure tickets in advance, it will cost you. Minor league sports exist for many reasons with affordability being one of them.

Women’s sports continue their ascent. On Saturday, the PWHL moved its Toronto-Montreal contest to the Bell Centre, the home of the Montreal Canadiens. The place was packed with 21,000 fans who saw Toronto prevail in overtime.

I’m not sure when we woke up and started paying attention to women playing sports, but who cares. It looks like women’s sports are finally here to stay. Over the weekend, there were several NWSL games on TV and I have to believe that one of the networks will pick up PWHL games, hopefully in time for the 2024-25 season.

While Caitlin Clark deserves credit, she can’t get all of it can she? Did 21,000 plus go to the Bell Centre for a hockey game because of her? Were NWSL stadiums filled for that very same reason?

Maybe there is some fatigue with men’s sports. In basketball, they shove Curry and James down our collective throats. In football, the NFL has become a 24/7/365 machine. Baseball, despite its rules to speed up the game, still has economic disparity between its teams, and a younger generation that simply doesn’t pay enough attention to the National Pastime.

Women’s sports are new and refreshing. We don’t know who the stars are, so we’re investing our time to find out for ourselves. If that’s the case, I hope it continues, because they are worth watching.