http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/spring-training-reporting-dates-30-teams-143413257.html
Fuck this no baseball shit, I want some fucking baseball!
This brings up a good question, and I'll crowdsource it amongst this blog's three readers: Why do the teams start at different times? Seems like the competitive edge goes to those with more time, so why would any team give themselves LESS?
Can't you actually have too much of a good thing? I mean, on the one hand you have the NBA this season showing that after a shortened training camp and pre-season you're going to get sloppier basketball.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand you have hockey where teams routinely get cup hangover. After lasting longer than any other team (playing more games, taking more hits), they get less time off to recover before getting back in camp.
Seems like you can start too early and create mental and physical fatigue down the stretch. A certain amount of conditioning will prevent injuries, but you can overwork anything.
I think it depends on the sport, though. I don't think I'm telling stories to assert that hockey is more physically punishing than baseball, so a longer season is a more iffy proposition. Hence, baseball's absurdly long season.
ReplyDeleteBut still, I'm kinda thinking in more relative terms- if a bunch of other teams are starting on Feb. 18, don't you want to, too? I guess we can make allowances for who had a longer postseason, but the Cardinals are starting early, the White Sox are starting late, so that doesn't seem to be the whole story.