1/16/2007
Why parity is a necessity in sports.
Has it really been 10 months since I last wrote in this blog? I guess I've been too busy with school and work or I've just neglected the blog completely. Anyhoo, I will try to post some thoughts as they come to me. Today I would like to talk about something that I believe has saved competitive sports in this country for becomming too dull and predictable. The concept is known as parity and it can be simply defined as a change from year to year in rank, social standing, champions, etc. Parity is an essential cog in the athletic landscape because it builds interest. I believe that the greatest asset one can pocess as a sports fan is the ability to except the unexpected in that you never really know what will happen during any given game, season, or career. This is where parity comes into play.
There is a need for partity in sports because without it the thrill of athletic competition would simply be nonexistent. Take for instance the period of baseball between the years of 1996-2000. This was an era in which the New York Yankees won every single World Series played with the eception of 1997 in which they lost to Alex Durka's Cleveland Indians in the division series. The Indians in turn lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series. Unless you are a Yankees fan, you were likely to find that period of baseball incredibly dull and perhaps painful as I did growning up an hour and a half from Boston. The Yankees were just that good, and every baseball knew it. I don't know what the ratings were for the series the Yankees were in, but I'd be willing to bet that outside of the tri-state area they declined every year simply because America grew tired of the Yankees winning every year. Imagine Major League Baseball without the wild card. The wild card needed to be created in order to spark a national interest in the game come October because history has shown that teams like the Braves, Cardinals, and Yankees seem to be in the post season every year. It is a known fact that since since the wild card was introduced in 1994, four teams that won it went on to win the World Series. Since 2001, only two teams in professional sports the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Lakers have repeated as champions in there respective sports. The rest of the time there has been a new champion in all the rest of sports and as a sports fan it is fun to see different teams that have proven they deserve to win reach the pinnicle. This is why parity is an essential necessity in keeping the interest alive in athletic competition.
There is a need for partity in sports because without it the thrill of athletic competition would simply be nonexistent. Take for instance the period of baseball between the years of 1996-2000. This was an era in which the New York Yankees won every single World Series played with the eception of 1997 in which they lost to Alex Durka's Cleveland Indians in the division series. The Indians in turn lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series. Unless you are a Yankees fan, you were likely to find that period of baseball incredibly dull and perhaps painful as I did growning up an hour and a half from Boston. The Yankees were just that good, and every baseball knew it. I don't know what the ratings were for the series the Yankees were in, but I'd be willing to bet that outside of the tri-state area they declined every year simply because America grew tired of the Yankees winning every year. Imagine Major League Baseball without the wild card. The wild card needed to be created in order to spark a national interest in the game come October because history has shown that teams like the Braves, Cardinals, and Yankees seem to be in the post season every year. It is a known fact that since since the wild card was introduced in 1994, four teams that won it went on to win the World Series. Since 2001, only two teams in professional sports the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Lakers have repeated as champions in there respective sports. The rest of the time there has been a new champion in all the rest of sports and as a sports fan it is fun to see different teams that have proven they deserve to win reach the pinnicle. This is why parity is an essential necessity in keeping the interest alive in athletic competition.
