It’s good to have a reminder just how exciting playoff baseball is. Last night’s tiebreaking, play-in game between the Rockies and the Padres had me on the edge of my seat for innings on end. The back and forth play by the teams, especially the remarkable relief work in extras, had me thrilled and genuinely excited as not only a baseball fan, but as a sports fan in general. It’s a whole different brand of baseball; tons of more drama and excitement are injected into every game. This is what the season’s about.
There no playoffs quite like baseball’s system; arguably the second best in all of sports. Firstly, you can rule out the BCS because it’s that dumb. The Nextel Cup and the PGA’s FedEx Cup aren’t going to be up there. In the NBA, most fans lost interest before the Finals even started this year. Like the NBA, the NHL allows more than half of their teams in, which lowers the feeling of exclusivity. Now, of the major sports, that leaves the NFL, NCAA basketball and the MLB. My thought is that the Final Four is the most exciting in the first weekend and that the fans that’re only really in it for pools filter out after the first or second weekend. The MLB have the most exclusive playoffs in all of sports with only eight of the 30 big league teams making it to the postseason. Now that is a system that truly weeds out the best of your sport, while also creating the most drama for playoff races (ask any Mets fan how they feel right now). That leaves the NFL, which is only fitting as the best run league ain North America has the best playoff system.
And by the way, San Diego fans must be really in the dumps this week. First the Chargers lose AT HOME to the lowly Chiefs and then they lose the wild card in extra innings to the Rockies when Matt Holliday slid into home, avoided the tag and was called safe even though he clearly didn’t touch the plate. How bad can the morale in that city be right now?