xpisblack: Not a causal connection, but the Patriots never won before the salary cap era, and look what happened to them. Eventually.j

My point remains that the number of championship teams in other American pro leagues makes the NBA look unfair. NFL, MLB, even NHL teams win at a more varied clip than NBA teams. And each other league can point to its own setup to explain the relative parity, but the NBA is left with no justification save that MLB has no salary cap (and is therefore more fair), the NFL has schedule disparity (and is therefore more fair), and NHL has... Canadian teams and lower overall salaries (and is therefore more fair). Or something.

Except the salary cap isn't necessarily a causal connection, either. The NBA championship goes to the same teams because the format of the NBA playoffs and the game of basketball lends itself to the best team actually winning. It's exceedingly rare for an 8-seed to knock off a 1-seed in the NBA playoffs short of injury (D-Rose this year) because in a 7-game series the best team will almost always win in basketball. In baseball, a wildcard knocking off the 1-seed is almost a yearly event because of the general unpredictability of baseball. That unpredictability shakes out over 162 games.... not so much in 3.

The NBA's playoffs are formatted so that the best teams actually get through to the championship game. The other sports' playoffs aren't. In the other sports' cases, it's nearly impossible to format the playoffs in a way that reduces randomness. If you take out the playoffs and just look at the teams that make the playoff tournaments every year, no sport really has a great competitive balance, because the supply of great players/coaches/executives are exceedingly limited.

the best way to win a championship in basketball is for the best players to collude into signing with one team for less dough then they could make with their original teams, how that got past the nbapa without them shiatting their collective britches over it is astounding.

you bet your ass that the mlbpa goes ape poopies every time a player takes less than market value.

TheJoe03: idesofmarch: If the Phillies win a world series in 2013, the Yankee haters who harp about their payroll will give the Phillies the same treatment, right?

As a noted hater of Philadelphia sports teams, the answer is yes. BTW, fark the Yankees.

The Phillies aren't due to win another world series until 2036.

Sorry, but as a die hard Tribe fan, I would much rather have this than what the Dolans are doing to my team. Are the Phillies woefully under performing? Yes. Does this team have the talent to turn it around next year and contend? You betcha.

The Tribe have barely any star power and most of the casual fans can't name anyone beyond Grady Sizemore who hasn't been healthy in 3 years. I don't mean to hijack this thread into a Tribe biatchfest, but while some of these contracts are out of control, at least this shows Phillies fans that ownership gives a crap and gives fans a reason to come to the stadium.

AngryPanda: Serges: Sorry, but as a die hard Tribe fan, I would much rather have this than what the Dolans are doing to my team. Are the Phillies woefully under performing? Yes. Does this team have the talent to turn it around next year and contend? You betcha.

The Tribe have barely any star power and most of the casual fans can't name anyone beyond Grady Sizemore who hasn't been healthy in 3 years. I don't mean to hijack this thread into a Tribe biatchfest, but while some of these contracts are out of control, at least this shows Phillies fans that ownership gives a crap and gives fans a reason to come to the stadium.

To be honest, there's still a very outside chance that they can turn it around this year and lose in the divisional race. If the Phils win the next series against the Braves (which they probably won't, but a guy can dream), and the Mets and Marlins continue this downward spiral, the Phils will bump up a spot or two in the standings, which can make all the difference.

Oh, you daydream believer you.