[News] ESPN Poll: NBA or NHL playoffs - which is more exciting?

[CaptainCrunch]

NBA basketball is terrible and for a lot of the teams unwatchable. Besides we pretty much know who's going to win.

[troutman]

I don't see how anyone well-versed in both sports could say NBA playoffs are more exciting.

I like basketball, I love to play basketball. But as a spectator sport, the NBA can't touch the NHL in the playoffs.

The problems with the NBA are inherent in the game itself. There is so much scoring, that you are not on the edge of your seat until the very end. And they kill the end of the game with constant fouls, time-outs and free throws. Draw up your plays in practice - you don't need to call every play on the floor.

NBA is not a team game the same way the NHL is. In the NBA 5-6 players get almost all of the minutes in the playoffs. An NHL team needs four lines going. An NBA team can dominate with 2 elite players and a good supporting cast. Upsets are rare.

Nothing builds tension like a PP, or sudden death O/T, or the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.

And if you need it, the NHL has real fights, not slapping contests.

And, beards FTW.

[slybomb]

Basketball is the worst sport imaginable. How exciting can it be when each team scores 50 times?

[redmile04]

voted basketball.. its just marketed better IMO. A bigger hockey fan for sure but would give a slight advantage to the NBA playoffs that being said in a year the flames make the playoffs the NBA wont get watched at all during a flames game!

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

It's cause black people like basketball more.

I KNEW it was them BLACKS!

[Itse]

Pretty clear cut for me.

I have never seen a truly exciting basketball game, and would need a special reason to go see one, for example my crazy sports fan daughter wanting to go.

On the other hand, I rarely watch hockey games where I don't already have a connection to at least one of the teams. It speaks to the quality of the NHL playoffs that they are an expection to this rule. (I also like to watch national teams play.)

However, nothing beats soccer. I make time and pay money to see teams that I have no connection to and watch games in leagues that I don't even care about. Dortmund v. Malaga in this years Champions league still rolls around in my head, and I didn't even know which teams where playing before I opened the TV for the Champions League broadcast that night, and could not have named a single player on either team at that point.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Est1980

Yeah pretty much this. Every time someone tries to tell me football players play the toughest (they are tough), I point out that Steve Yzerman willed himself and his team through 4 rounds of playoffs on one knee. Shuts them up pretty quick.

Are you trying to tell me there aren't countless examples of football players going through a season or playoffs with significant injuries? Because if so, you're completely wrong.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Don't forget that a large percentage of the players in the other 3 sports are all crackhead, ######bag, druggies! You don't find many (if any) of those in the NHL. It's a shame that the other sports are all ingrained in the American identity, so really hockey will never be as big as it should be. Oh well, it's their loss.

Ah yes, because hockey has such a great record of clean living players. No drug issues at all. No active players Od'ing. No arrests. Nope, all clean

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by valo403

Ah yes, because hockey has such a great record of clean living players. No drug issues at all. No active players Od'ing. No arrests. Nope, all clean

Not even remotely close to NFL or NBA. We're looking at relative here not absolutes

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Not even remotely close to NFL or NBA. We're looking at relative here not absolutes

So what percentage of NFL and NBA players are "crackhead, ######bag, druggies". Can you throw me some names?

This idea that hockey players are all these clean living good guys is laughable, and at the extreme end is likely based largely upon race.

[puckluck2]

If you're a hockey fan then the NHL. If you're a basketball fan then the NBA. Not that hard.

[Major Major]

Some very strange opinions in this thread... NBA playoffs are better than NHL because they are better marketed... Huh?? A large percentage of players in the big three american pro sports leages are crackheads... What?? A hockey player lives relatively cleanly to those in other sports? Perhaps if you don't include booze and cocaine...

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by valo403

So what percentage of NFL and NBA players are "crackhead, ######bag, druggies". Can you throw me some names?

This idea that hockey players are all these clean living good guys is laughable, and at the extreme end is likely based largely upon race.

Or newspaper stories, charges laid, and other such empirical evidence. Hockey players are not all clean cut good guys, but again we are discussing relativism, not absolutes. If it helps you sleep at night to make something of this, cool.

And I am not searching for said percentages, but your being obtuse, and for what reason I'm not sure. Ok, I'm racist.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Or newspaper stories, charges laid, and other such empirical evidence. Hockey players are not all clean cut good guys, but again we are discussing relativism, not absolutes. If it helps you sleep at night to make something of this, cool.

And I am not searching for said percentages, but your being obtuse, and for what reason I'm not sure. Ok, I'm racist.

One, I never said you were racist so that's quite the leap. I purposely said that it tinges the position "at the extreme end".

I also understand that we're discussing relativism, and I don't believe that there are relatively more "crackhead, ######bag, druggies" in the NFL or NBA than there are in the NHL. There are certainly plenty of NFL and NBA players who have had brushes with the law, but the same can be said for the NHL. There are also well over twice as many players in the NFL.

Hockey fans love to pretend that hockey players are much more virtuous than the athletes in other sports, when there's really no basis for it.

[Dr. Pepper]

Originally Posted by Major Major

Some very strange <fill in the blank> in this thread...

FYP a bit to cover all the bases. Seriously agree. Thanks for all the intelligent comments from those who can have a balanced discussion. Boo to all the dumb, ill-considered stuff. For those who would like to read a fantastic column by one of the best sports-writers ever - head over to the link below. Warning - it's about basketball and it might broaden your mind a bit: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...estions-part-1

[stignasty]

I have a firefox extension that changes the word "basketball" into the word "poop."

I know you care.

It will be funny when I post this because it will say "I have a firefox extension that changes the word " poop" into the word "poop.""

Too much funny.

Again, you care. Don't try to deny.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Itse

Pretty clear cut for me.

I have never seen a truly exciting basketball game, and would need a special reason to go see one, for example my crazy sports fan daughter wanting to go.

On the other hand, I rarely watch hockey games where I don't already have a connection to at least one of the teams. It speaks to the quality of the NHL playoffs that they are an expection to this rule. (I also like to watch national teams play.)

However, nothing beats soccer. I make time and pay money to see teams that I have no connection to and watch games in leagues that I don't even care about. Dortmund v. Malaga in this years Champions league still rolls around in my head, and I didn't even know which teams where playing before I opened the TV for the Champions League broadcast that night, and could not have named a single player on either team at that point.

[trackercowe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...cted_of_crimes

It's very evident that upon average NHLers commit less crimes than those in other sports. DUE's are one thing, but in terms of serious crimes according to this only 7 NHLers have commited serious crimes. Compare that to the NFL where 28 people have been convicted of serious crimes (including several murderers), 17 MLBers, and 16 NBAers.

Can you name one NHLer who was convicted of a serious crime that wasn't accidental? The only one I can think of is Mike Danton, who really wasn't even in the game anymore when he contracted someone to kill his agent.

Then of course there are reporters who always say that NHLers are the nicest athletes they get to deal with. In part it's a cultural thing, as many players grow up in small communities in Canada and the rest of the world. In this really the only temptation is alcohol, and concerns such as drugs and crime are not usually a major concern in those places. Meanwhile other athletes are brought up in bigger communities where violence, drugs, and crime is a constant. But to say on average NHLers aren't better people than athletes from the other major sports is incorrect, and you really don't need statistical evidence to back that statement up. Just use common sense; aside from the occasional DUI, you rarely (if ever) read about NHLers being in trouble with the law.

Heck I'd say that members of the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders alone commit more crimes then every player in the NHL combined.

[stignasty]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...cted_of_crimes

You could have written that and posted it on wikipedia...

[vilzeh]

Originally Posted by Itse

Pretty clear cut for me.

I have never seen a truly exciting basketball game, and would need a special reason to go see one, for example my crazy sports fan daughter wanting to go.

On the other hand, I rarely watch hockey games where I don't already have a connection to at least one of the teams. It speaks to the quality of the NHL playoffs that they are an expection to this rule. (I also like to watch national teams play.)

However, nothing beats soccer. I make time and pay money to see teams that I have no connection to and watch games in leagues that I don't even care about. Dortmund v. Malaga in this years Champions league still rolls around in my head, and I didn't even know which teams where playing before I opened the TV for the Champions League broadcast that night, and could not have named a single player on either team at that point.

You can't be serious.