EL BARRIO, EL BRONX – I don’t do windows and I don’t do deadlines. That is my response to Different Matt‘s piece yesterday. I didn’t have the busiest week but it was busy enough and thankfully I picked up pieces of news along the way to make sure I was ready to fire when it came late night article writing time. So today we look at the Canadian-less NHL playoffs, the US Soccer Womens’ National Team’s Lawsuit, early retirements from the NFL, and the NBA Playoffs.
Noh Canada!: Diff was here yesterday to talk about the playoffs and somehow he left this out. I am sure Cheesy might have more to say tomorrow but this is big news. For the first time since the NHL-WHA merger in 1979, there will not be at least one team based in Canada in the NHL Playoffs. It is harder for them since the NHL likes to take perfectly good hockey cities like Quebec City and Winnipeg and strip them of their teams though Winnipeg got theirs back but QC is still waiting. So they only have 7 teams whilst ‘Murica has 23 but usually at least one Canadian team makes the playoffs. If anyone remembers the shock when Team USA didn’t win the Olympic basketball gold or the World Championships, this is the same for Canada. The nation is a bit crestfallen because they usually back whichever Canadian team is in the playoffs but it looks like the Canadians will just have to root for the team with the most Canadian or best Canadian player this year. With each team in the league, having a roster that is half Canadian, it is not that bad, they’ll get over it.
USSWNT Lawsuit: This won’t seem as serious because its soccer, women’s soccer at that. However, 5 member of the US Soccer Womens’ National team on behalf of themselves and their teammates have sued US Soccer Federation for unequal wage pay. The USA women apparently don’t get paid as well as the men that represent the country and they are tired of it. There can be arguments about the men playing in a successful pro league that bring US soccer money but it is also questionable when you consider the results internationally. There have been 7 Women’s World Cups with the USA women having won 3, finished runner-up in 1 and third in another three. For the little they are paid they get greater bang for the buck. Do they benefit from America’s advancement in Women’s sports as compared to the rest of the world sure but there are plenty of more liberal countries like Sweden, Canada or Germany and they can’t compete with the USA’s record. This is a serious case and you want to support the women but there is one frightening thing that must be considered. All great legal minds (or fans or legal dramas) know that precedent is all important in the world of law. If they win then every national sporting organization that is not paying equally will face a lawsuit and that may financial break some organizations. This is not to mention a possible worldwide ramification. Stay tuned, because we live in interesting times.
NFL Retirements: It seems that 30 is the new cut off age for NFL players. You have Calvin Johnson retiring and Hassain Abdullah. Johnson is retiring to avoid any more physical injuries to his body, having already proven his greatness. Abdullah has had 5 concussions and fears the next one will do irreparable harm. With all this new information coming out about the long term effects this is what the players and to a lesser extend fans asked for. Enough information for the players to sit down with their family and make a decision about their future and life. Hopefully most of these guys have been doing so good saving too and may go back to school and get their degrees.
NBA Playoffs: A few months back our own Angry Ward proved to be a clairvoyant. He said we should end the NBA season now and just have a semi-final between Golden State and San Antonio and OKC and Cleveland. It was funny then but now as the season drags on into playoffs. It is going to be essentially that. There are 3 teams in the west worth a damn and no one in the East but the Cavs. A lot of time and energy could have been saved if the league weren’t obsessed with betting and making money by having such a long regular season.
That’s it for now, come back tomorrow for Cheesy Bruin.
