A Change Is Gonna Come

Column Like I See 'Em: MLB Preview '08

America's pastime is resurrected every year at the perfect moment. Spring is in the air, while splotches of snow gradually start to disappear, the sun's light pervading the campus well into the 7-7:30 p.m. range, giving us all a gratifying sense of renewal and hope, life and baseball are all back. So rather than struggle to express another sentence of just how overjoyed I am at the changing of seasons, let me give you the top 10 storylines for Major League Baseball 2008 or 1 A.B. (After Bonds) which has the potential to be one of the greatest seasons in history.

Column Like I See 'Em: The End of the Rivalry?

First, Chien-Ming Wang showed why he is still one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball. Then, after a sporadic rainfall blanketed the field a couple of times over, resulting in a two-hour and 11-minute long rain delay, Jonathan Papelbon entered and answered, blazing three straight past Alex Rodriguez, subsequently erupting into his usual extravagant celebration like a sugar-high kid at Chuck E. Cheese. Finally, Phil Hughes didn't have it, and the opposing bats did, while Joe Morgan?in a nutshell?told the world that the minor leagues was a place for young players to develop; the sky is also blue, in case you were wondering.

Column Like I See 'Em

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

Chris Adams-Wall

Columnist

April 4, 2008

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"Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!" Well, maybe not tomorrow. But soon, hopefully."

So maybe this musical excerpt from "Les Misérables" doesn't capture completely the demise of ardent NBA fans everywhere?"life" in the final line would be better replaced with "change"?but that's why Sam Cooke's 1964 hit single sits atop this article. And while it might be too optimistic, I'm under the impression that there's no such thing, and therefore regret not titling it "A Change Has Gotta Come."

The basketball fans of whom I speak know exactly what I'm talking about. They're still singing, and for a while have been singing, the songs of angry men. They're fed up with watching their favorite teams bruise and battle with the league's best and earn a commendable record, only to barely miss the playoffs while clubs on the other side of the Mississippi wallow in mediocrity and capture a five or a six seed. And all of us?whether you be from the abyss in Miami or the Emerald City (now in Oklahoma, apparently)?are disgusted with the lopsidedness of the finals, a spectacle that is now on the same level as watching C-SPAN for three straight hours. I'll say it again: A change has gotta come.

Over Spring Break, while I was watching a couple of my high school classmates compete for Stanford and Davidson in March Madness (no, not Stephen Curry unfortunately), I let my mind drift to America's four professional sports leagues, and with the playoffs at hand, I suddenly found myself wondering why more teams don't make the postseason in Major League Baseball. When you consider that in the other three leagues at least six teams make it (and in two of them, eight make it), you can actually make a legitimate case for expanding the playoff teams in America's pastime. I mean, the season is so long as it is that several teams' seasons end as early as late May, when they start plummeting uncontrollably until August, when they bring up some new scintillating prospects who make a couple good plays in attempts to secure a spot on the roster for next season...when their team will do it all over again. I was having this discussion with a few friends of mine earlier in the week, and they argued that because the season is so long, the best teams in baseball will emerge on their own?why reward mediocrity? And while postseason expansion is something that I truly believe the MLB should explore, my counterparts' argument was a valid one?but even more so for the NBA.

Isn't "rewarding mediocrity" exactly what we're doing now? Okay, so the Eastern Conference has the two best records in basketball. Big deal! In all likelihood, the Atlanta Hawks (yes, the HAWKS!) are going to make the playoffs this year for the first time since Beanie Babies were popular with a sub-.500 record (35-40 as of Thursday), while teams like the Blazers (38-37) and the Warriors (45-30) might miss out just because they play in the West. And the eastern playoff picture could get even worse if Washington, Toronto, and Philadelphia (all at 38-37 as the 5-7 seeds) each drop a couple of games! This year's Western Conference Playoffs have the potential to be the most exciting yet, with the top six teams separated by just three games going into Thursday night. The prospect of an eighth seed upsetting the first seed might not even come as a surprise with such ubiquity of talent found in each of the clubs. But the East is awful. I mean beyond awful. I probably won't even watch, because honestly, it's going to come down to Detroit and Boston; the rest is just for TV ratings...and vomiting. I'm sick of this. A change has gotta come. And here it is:

A playoff overhaul. No longer will terrible teams clinch playoff berths; no longer will we the fans have to suffer through another boring season of playoff basketball; and no longer shall teams be divided by conference come playoff time! Here are my propositions:

Option 1: The top 16 teams will make it into the playoffs (as usual), but seeded one through 16 based on record; think of it as a region (one fourth) of your March Madness bracket, only they will be seven-game series, not one game. I have provided an example below. If the regular season ended today, it would look like the first bracket pictured.

Who wouldn't absolutely love watching state foes Dallas and Houston square off in the first round? There'd be Baron versus Kobe, LeBron in a finals rematch against the Spurs, and Shaq against Dwight Howard. How about a potential Celtics-Mavs quarterfinals matchup? Or King James and Kobe? The Suns' offense against the Pistons' defense? The possibilities really are endless. I hope you're as excited as I am.

Option 2: I almost think I like this option better. Unlike Option 1, the top four teams (cut in half from the present day totals) from each conference would make the playoffs and then seeded one through eight based on record, just to ensure that at least four (per conference) get in. The final eight teams with the best records would then make the playoffs, regardless of conference, and seeded nine through 16 (with seven-game series again for each round, of course). This bracket would look like the second one.

As you can see, the matchups only become more intriguing. With both options, I really don't see how you can go wrong.

NBA Commissioner David Stern and his colleagues, as well as analysts all over the country, are always talking about ways to save the NBA?this is it. When you think about it, it really is the perfect plan. No longer will dreadful teams make the postseason, as these clubs won't be able to rely on the bastion of their conference playing below average ball. And honestly, why in the name of Jordan should geographical location be the ultimate justifier when it comes to making the playoffs? The NFL and MLB don't do that, and they're by far to the two most successful leagues in this country. With either of the new bracket formats, we eliminate filth, and get to watch the best teams in basketball battle it out?in other words, every round would be electrifying, even the finals for crying out loud! I'd feel sorry for Hawks fans who would not be able to watch their own playoff team if this bracket were implemented, but they actually don't exist. And Celtics fans might whine about how difficult it would be for their team to make the finals now. Well, guess what? If they really are the best team in the nation, then they'll get there. That's what this entire makeover is for.

I know what most of you are probably thinking: cool idea, but there's no way it'll ever happen. First of all, I think it's a REALLY cool idea (just look at both brackets again! Can you imagine?). And second of all, we'll see. You really never know. But still, a change has gotta come.

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