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Last April, while arguing that high school, college and professional basketball isn't what it used to be, that in my view the game hadn't changed for the better, I confessed that I enjoyed watching the Stanley Cup finals more than the World Series, the Final Four, Super Bowl and NBA playoffs.
Have you been watching the Blackhawks lately? Is there anything more exciting than an evening at the UC? Talk about entertainment...the whole package, Kane, Toews, Havlat, Khabibulin, , the National Anthem, nonstop action, Pat Foley, Eddie Olyczyk. It's so good that you even forgot how much you had to pay to park your car, right?
But the Stanley Cup is more than the Blackhawks. Did you see the Red Wings/Ducks series or the Penguins/Capitals series or the Bruins/Hurricanes series? Crosby vs. Ovechkin. Never a dull moment. No television timeouts, just a lot of overtime periods. Sensational skating. Great shots.
That's the beauty of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Unlike the regular season, where the teams play only a 15-minute overtime before resorting to penalty shots to settle a tie score, the teams play 20-minute overtime periods to determine the winner. I still remember staying up until 2 a.m. one night until a game finally ended in the fourth or fifth overtime.
A Tribune critic complained about the NHL's television contract with Versus, claiming that he couldn't find the network. He also must have trouble finding the NBA playoff on TNT. But Blackhawk fans won't have trouble finding Versus. And, to its credit, Versus has done a marvelous job (better than NBC) of producing the Stanley Cup games. If you have trouble locating the puck, you aren't paying attention. And, in these games, if you aren't paying attention, you'll miss two or three goals.
But while I'm praising the Stanley Cup, I have another confession to make. Next to the Stanley Cup, I think the most entertaining sports show on television is the Champions League, the European soccer playoff which pits the best teams in England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and Russia. The championship match, televised by EPSN, will be played between Manchester United and Barcelona on May 27 in Rome.
I know, I know. Soccer is boring, right? Maybe in the United States. Not in Europe. It's a different game. Watch just one match and I'm sure you'll be convinced. Remember, this is the most popular sport in the world, outside the United States. More people watch the World Cup on television than any other sports event. The Champions League is just as exciting. Manchester United is the New York Yankees of soccer.
Soccer, like hockey, is nonstop. The clock keeps ticking. If there is an injury, time is added on after each 45-minute half. Oh, eventually, after a couple of overtime periods, they settle a tie game via penalty kicks, which sort of takes the fun out of it. But that rarely happens. The players are so athletic, so talented, icons of their own sport, as big in Europe as A-Rod or Kobe or Tom Brady in the United States.
Be sure to watch on May 27.
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