An advice column for people who live with people who live for sports
What happened on Sunday, February 8, 2015?
Rivalries, new and old: The NHL scheduled their nationally televised games yesterday in a way that reflects the nature and status of the sport. Hockey is blessed to have some great and very old rivalries that continue today with as much fervor as they did decades ago. The Boston Bruins vs. the Montreal Canadiens is one of those. The sport also has the ability, because of its physicality, I think, to develop new rivalries between good teams. The Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues may be on their way to developing a new rivalry. Yesterday, both sets of teams played. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2. Line: There’s no rivalry like Boston, Montreal, but Chicago and St. Louis have potential.
Change the playoffs, exhibit L: This past week, the Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Adam Silver, came out in favor of the idea of letting (basically) the sixteen best teams into the playoffs instead of the top eight in the Western Conference and the top eight in the Eastern Conference. The game yesterday between the Toronto Raptors (East) and San Antonio Spurs (West) was just one of many reasons why. After an 87-82 victory over the Spurs, the Raptors are in second place in the East with a 35-17 record. The Spurs, with an almost equivalent, 32-19 record, are in seventh place in the West! Line: And that’s why it may be time to change how playoff qualification is done!
Home cooking good for the USA: The USA Men’s National Soccer team had not won a game since their thrilling victory over Ghana way back last summer during the World Cup. Since the World Cup, they had lost or tied five games in a row until yesterday when they beat Peru 2-0 in Los Angeles. Probably no one should be happier about the win than coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was getting some seriously heated criticism from fans and media members for the team’s lackluster play. Line: USA! USA! FINALLY!
