• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NHL vs. NBA - which sport deserves to be cancelled?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Hollywood

Banned
The NHL season is officially cancelled, which I'm pissed about and I ask myself why? Why when there is a sport 50 times worse than the NHL called the NBA, that I wish would go on strike for good.

NHL is having financial problems, yeah, but there's not much more exciting games than triple overtime slugfests in the playoffs .... I put NHL up there with March Madness, a close second to March Madness as the best playoff sport around.

NBA to me, is now useless. NBA used to be my favorite sport honestly, back in the Bulls/MJ days ... Jordan, Ewing, Barkley, Drexler, Olajuwon ... those were the days. Today's game is ridiculous. Attendance is dropping, ratings are dropping, and so on .. I think the NBA will be in the same situation the NHL is in, in a few years from now. It's popularity has studily declined every year since Jordan's retirement (from the Bulls, it got a little more popular when MJ came back to the Wiz for awhile). It's just not fun to watch anymore. Most the games resemble some kind of pickup game you would see on the playground. Forget defense, forget teamwork, its degenerated down to a one on one game of basketball with 19 and 20 year olds just out of high school.

It's a travesty the NHL season has been cancelled and the putrid game that the NBA has become is still up and going, declining in popularity year by year. I'll definately miss the NHL playoff action this year.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
NHL deserves to be cancelled only because they saw this coming and neither side did nothing about it until it was too late.
 

android

Theoretical Magician
I love both but as a Canadian I got to go with hockey. Sure it's not the hockey of my youth but i still love it. Change it to basball vs hockey or basketball and its no contest.
 

bishoptl

Banstick Emeritus
I enjoy both. I've actually been watching more NBA games this year due to the lack of NHL action...but if it came down to it I'd side with keeping hockey.

We could always cancel baseball and keep both sides happy. :)
 

cloudwalking

300chf ain't shit to me
Nightbreeze said:
I'm canadian. Love Hockey, Hate Basketball.

I'm Canadian, too... I always found it funny how both sports were invented in Canada, but hockey caught on a million times stronger than basketball ever did. Must have something to do with the snow and ice. :)
 

Brian Fellows

Pete Carroll Owns Me
There is very little emotion or intensity in NBA games and the style of play is pretty boring. Not to mention the NBA mentality of protecting if biggest stars during games. Basically in the NBA the more jerseys you sell more calls will go your way. Its like that in most sports but to me seems much worse in the NBA.

But with that said I'd still rather watch the NBA than hockey.
 

Cloudy

Banned
Hollywood said:
The NHL season is officially cancelled, which I'm pissed about and I ask myself why? Why when there is a sport 50 times worse than the NHL called the NBA, that I wish would go on strike for good.

NHL is having financial problems, yeah, but there's not much more exciting games than triple overtime slugfests in the playoffs .... I put NHL up there with March Madness, a close second to March Madness as the best playoff sport around.

NBA to me, is now useless. NBA used to be my favorite sport honestly, back in the Bulls/MJ days ... Jordan, Ewing, Barkley, Drexler, Olajuwon ... those were the days. Today's game is ridiculous. Attendance is dropping, ratings are dropping, and so on .. I think the NBA will be in the same situation the NHL is in, in a few years from now. It's popularity has studily declined every year since Jordan's retirement (from the Bulls, it got a little more popular when MJ came back to the Wiz for awhile). It's just not fun to watch anymore. Most the games resemble some kind of pickup game you would see on the playground. Forget defense, forget teamwork, its degenerated down to a one on one game of basketball with 19 and 20 year olds just out of high school.

It's a travesty the NHL season has been cancelled and the putrid game that the NBA has become is still up and going, declining in popularity year by year. I'll definately miss the NHL playoff action this year.


You're insane :lol The NBA is making more money than the NHL could ever dream of and that's not because "attendance and ratings are dropping".

Why are you so bitter? It's not the NBA's fault that no one outside of Canada gives a shit about Hockey and the greedy players want to be paid like athletes of the sports that actually matter :lol
 

Pochacco

asking dangerous questions
Basketball's alright.
The thing I hate about it is that, for most games, everything comes down to the final 5 minutes. It's like they play 3.5 quarters only to wind up to where they started: nearly tied.
The final minutes are exciting but the rest of the game, occasional pretty dunks aside, is pretty boring.

Hockey, on the other hand, is more balanced. If a team is ahead by 3 goals in the first period, they have a pretty damn good chance of winning.

But the NHL deserves to be cancelled. The owners and players, at least their representatives, have been total douches for the last few years (and continue to be).

PS: I miss hockey dearly. It sucks that, living in Toronto for the first time, I won't get to experience stupid Leafs fans and won't get to laugh at them when they inevitably lose in the playoffs.
 

Archaix

Drunky McMurder
Cloudy said:
You're insane :lol The NBA is making more money than the NHL could ever dream of and that's not because "attendance and ratings are dropping".

Why are you so bitter? It's not the NBA's fault that no one outside of Canada gives a shit about Hockey and the greedy players want to be paid like athletes of the sports that actually matter :lol


Hmm....I wonder if rooting for one league over another works the same way as rooting for a team...

If that's the case, be on the lookout for the NBA fire sale, teams will cost no more than twelve cents apiece.
 

crumbs

Member
I'd like to have both, but if I had to choose, I'd keep the NBA. I haven't closely followed the NHL since 1997, and I don't know why I started losing interest. The NBA may not being doing as well as it did during the 1990's, but I still enjoy it.

Back in my college years, my roomates and I had season tickets for hockey every year, and I loved it. I think it has something to do with the fewer games and always watching it live that made is so hard to go back watching the NHL.
 

Cloudy

Banned
They're all just games, and people like some games more than other games.

When it's gonna cost the owners less to not have a season than to have one, you know no one cares. I even read that ESPN's ratings for poker were better than what they got for NHL!
 

DMczaf

Member
Cloudy said:
When it's gonna cost the owners less to not have a season than to have one, you know no one cares. I even read that ESPN's ratings for poker were better than what they got for NHL!

:lol

ESPN also had their highest basketball ratings ever (NCAA or NBA) during the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs last season.
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Brian Fellows said:
There is very little emotion or intensity in NBA games and the style of play is pretty boring. Not to mention the NBA mentality of protecting if biggest stars during games. Basically in the NBA the more jerseys you sell more calls will go your way. Its like that in most sports but to me seems much worse in the NBA.

But with that said I'd still rather watch the NBA than hockey.

I'd agree on all accounts. I really think they need to reduce the number of NBA games every year - at the very least guarantee there is at least 1 day off between games for every NBA team for every game. That would make every game more important plus make sure everyone plays with more intensity (as they have more time to rest). Right now it's like some weird offshoot of baseball (except you actually can play baseball every day) in how often they play.
 

spliced

Member
NBA is so meaningless until there is 5 minutes left. Why bother playing the first 40+ minutes?

Sometimes the 4th quarter will be good in the NBA if you have some decent teams and they don't go wild with timeouts and fouls.

I don't wish the NBA to be cancelled or anything though, all I want is Bettman and Goodenow fired on wednesday.
 

Cloudy

Banned
I'd agree on all accounts. I really think they need to reduce the number of NBA games every year - at the very least guarantee there is at least 1 day off between games for every NBA team for every game. That would make every game more important plus make sure everyone plays with more intensity (as they have more time to rest). Right now it's like some weird offshoot of baseball (except you actually can play baseball every day) in how often they play.

Why would a fan of the sport want LESS games? Every game is important if your fave team is not a power team or a perennial loser :p If you are a casual fan, don't watch till the playoffs. Guys like me want all the hoops we can get :D Oh and if your conditioning is good, 3-4 games a week is nothing (even if you're not a pro)...
 

Hollywood

Banned
The sport itself isn't the problem, basketball is probably my favorite sport, but I can't stand the NBA. NCAA Basketball is about 50 times better to watch. There's intensity, strategy, teamwork, and the fans there actually seem to care about their team ... most are actually a part of the school.

The NBA though, I cannot stand. It's just turned into a one on one playground type game, with ex high school guys who only care about 'they bling'. I agree with what Bird said a while back, most people just can't relate to the game anymore because its a one on one playground game with a thug image. And it don't have anything to do with black or white, because 10 years ago there were just as many black guys playing. It just seems the quality of the sport has gone downhill, maybe why we're getting our ass kicked in the Olympics every couple years.
 

crumbs

Member
I don't think NCAA basketball has more strategy than the NBA, it probably just seems like that because of the lack of talent or skill on most college teams. A lot of NCAA games become 3 point shoot-out because the 3 point line is way too close. I find the top teams in the NBA to be far more fun to watch.

The fastest way to show that you're not a basketball fan is to say that only the last 5 minutes matter, that's a joke.
 

jenov4

Member
Pochacco said:
Basketball's alright.
The thing I hate about it is that, for most games, everything comes down to the final 5 minutes. It's like they play 3.5 quarters only to wind up to where they started: nearly tied.
The final minutes are exciting but the rest of the game, occasional pretty dunks aside, is pretty boring.

What he said!
 

Hollywood

Banned
crumbs said:
I don't think NCAA basketball has more strategy than the NBA, it probably just seems like that because of the lack of talent or skill on most college teams. A lot of NCAA games become 3 point shoot-out because the 3 point line is way too close. I find the top teams in the NBA to be far more fun to watch.

The fastest way to show that you're not a basketball fan is to say that only the last 5 minutes matter, that's a joke.

Yes the NBA is very strategic by adding an 8 second backcourt violation to speed up the game and illegal defense calls for having a defender in the key for three seconds also, to make sure the score approaches 120 every night. I'm still waiting for the rock and jock 50 point basket to be added to the game.
 

Cloudy

Banned
The final minutes are exciting but the rest of the game, occasional pretty dunks aside, is pretty boring.

That just means you don't really like the sport. It'd be like me saying Hockey is boring cos they hardly ever score. Wouldn't that sound pretty idiotic? :p

PS: I actually enjoy Hockey
 

crumbs

Member
Hollywood said:
Yes the NBA is very strategic by adding an 8 second backcourt violation to speed up the game and illegal defense calls for having a defender in the key for three seconds also, to make sure the score approaches 120 every night. I'm still waiting for the rock and jock 50 point basket to be added to the game.

You must not watch or follow the NBA because everyone's been bitching for the last several years about the low scoring games. Yes, there are more teams averaging over 100 ppg this season, but it doesn't approach the averages set during the era that you mentioned before.
 

bishoptl

Banstick Emeritus
The NBA should do with Slamball what the NFL did with the XFL - take a page out of their more extreme competitor and add some of their ideas.
 
Could care less about hockey or the NHL but they need to get their act together before they lose more fans from their already shrinking fan base. As far as big time sports in the US they're already behind the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA Football, and NCAA basketball. Golf is also still holding steady and NASCAR is growing exponentially as well (how is beyond me but hey whatever floats your boat). About the only sports i can think of that are less popular than hockey are tennis, soccer, and any kind of pro women's sport (although i do love women's volleyball of any kind :D).
 

mCACGj

Member
I miss hockey so much right now. Espcecially after needing something to pick me up after the Eagles loss, I need to see the flyers choke too.

The NBA doesnt play defense. It's like watching street ball, it's not very entertaining. College basketball is the only decent basketball to watch, and boy can't I wait for March Madness.
 

SA-X

Member
DMczaf said:
:lol

ESPN also had their highest basketball ratings ever (NCAA or NBA) during the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs last season.
Hey the eastern conference finals was awesome last year so FUCK OFF!! [/Pistons fan] ;)

That said, both leagues/sports are great, although Hockey is better.
 
This is a stupid thread. Why not just ask which sport you like more?

Hockey, in my eyes, is a fucking billion times better than basketball in so many ways. But the way the NHL has been run under Bettman since the last bargaining agreement was reached has been fucking idiotic, and the NBA deserves more success and thus not to be cancelled in contrast to the NHL.

So, on the corporate side of things, NBA > NHL

On the sport side of things, NHL > NBA
 

Gilatif

Member
I love the NHL and loathe the NBA.

That being said, the NHL is reaping what the players association sowed. ASS HOLES like Michael Peca take most of the blame. They sign a contract, then REFUSE to play, because they think they are worth more than the signed for! Arbitration comes in, and sides with the players! Dickwad in chief, Eric Lindros never played a single professional hockey game, but he refused to play with the Nordiques, the team who drafted him. He feels as though he should be able to dictate who he plays for, and demands to play for "a contender". Quebec trades him for Forsberg and others, trades others for Roy, and then wins 2 Stanley Cups in Colorado.

Asshats like Yashin, Sean Avery, etc. all made this possible. You won't play for 200,000 in the NHL, but you'll be what amounts to a hockey mercenary in the minor leagues for 1000 bucks a week? Screw you bozos. I'll watch Junior league hockey.
 
If I had to choose one, I'd get rid of hockey. Not because I dislike it or anything, but because my brother makes money playing besketball and has a good chance of making it to a European league later this year. Personally, I don't watch either.
 

cloudwalking

300chf ain't shit to me
Gilatif said:
Asshats like Yashin, Sean Avery, etc. all made this possible. You won't play for 200,000 in the NHL, but you'll be what amounts to a hockey mercenary in the minor leagues for 1000 bucks a week? Screw you bozos.

Amen to that. Whatever happened to playing the sport FOR THE LOVE OF THE SPORT.
 
Bat said:
The misconceptions in this thread about the NBA are absolutely ridiculous...
How about you point them out and correct them instead of adding an absolutely worthless post? Sounds productive!
 
The NBA this season has been terrific. Scoring is way up, and there's high octane teams like Phoenix, Seattle, Sacramento, Miami, etc. who are a lot of fun to watch.

The NHL is in bigger trouble. Even if they get a good salary tax system in place, really they need to contract four or five teams and they need a Gretzky or Lemiuex type superstar with real charisma and style to sell the sport (sorry, as much as I like Joe Sakic, he doesn't even come close to cutting it).

Why the hell would you put a hockey team in NASHVILLE? Hello? McFly?
 
Eventhough i have seen some great NBA players(Zan Tabak and Oliver Miller) pass through my town I have to say NBA is nothing compared to the NHL.


NHL is just amazing. I dont like the 100 point NBA games i dont like the lack of roughgplay or the way it always becomes a fould fest at the end of close games.
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Cloudy said:
Why would a fan of the sport want LESS games? Every game is important if your fave team is not a power team or a perennial loser :p If you are a casual fan, don't watch till the playoffs. Guys like me want all the hoops we can get :D Oh and if your conditioning is good, 3-4 games a week is nothing (even if you're not a pro)...
Hey, if you think even half the players (especially the stars) for the NBA out there are giving 100% every night they have a game, maybe you should have a sit-down with Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady. Alternately, there's a pretty good SI article in the current issue about back-to-backs in the NBA, and how poorly teams play in them. Keep in mind these guys aren't just playing a game, going to bed, then playing another game the next day - there is a significant amount of travel involved too. It's emotionally tiring as well as physically tiring, which just makes it harder on them. Compare the average playoff game to the average regular-season game - the intensity that those guys play with isn't even comparable. That's why so many people only watch the NBA postseason. I'd advocate a system with fewer games so that each game is more meaningful. That would make every game more important and certainly up the intensity level of the average NBA player.
 
The NBA has been higher scoring and there's been more highlight plays this year, that's good.

One thing I would say is lacking this season is some of the rivalries aren't quite as intense because many teams are in transition phases with the Lakers having been dismantled.

I'm all for shorter seasons for more intensity, but realistically that's not going to happen.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom