Why Football Will Always Be King
June 23, 2025
These are exciting times for teams not named the Eagles here in Philadelphia. The Phillies are battling for first place in the NL East, and the Sixers and Flyers are preparing for drafts that will define their future.
So why do I find myself counting the days till the new NFL season?
No, it’s not because the Eagles are defending champs in the NFL. And no, it’s also not because the other three sports are in disarray while the NFL continues to prosper. It’s not even because the Birds are a better-run organization than the other three local teams, much easier to love.
Simply put, it’s because nowadays football, despite its own imperfections, is so much better a sport than the other three. Baseball has become a game of catch between the pitcher and catcher, with occasional interruptions when a hitter actually hits the ball. Basketball is a three-point shooting contest, and hockey is, . . . well, I’m not sure. I stopped paying attention years ago.
I put my flagging interest in the other sports to a test on June 22 by watching Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder. I figured if I couldn’t get through the ultimate end to an entire season, if I couldn’t channel the tension and excitement of the fans in that game, then my long history as a hoops guy was over.
It’s official. It’s over – at least for me.
Only through pure commitment was I able to make it through the first quarter. I just couldn’t force myself to care. This is not the basketball I grew up with, and not a game I enjoy any more. It’s that simple.
Maybe it’s the fact that I got to cover, for five seasons, the consummate team, the Boston Celtics, during their halcyon days with Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Those guys passed the ball – quickly and precisely. They didn’t drive the lane just to set up a three-pointer. It was so much more a team game then.
In Game 7 on June 22, the two best teams in the NBA combined for 68 attempts at three-pointers. Ugh. What is this – a game of H-O-R-S-E?
Basketball sucks right now. I’m not alone in that thinking. Just look at the NBA ratings this season. Like the sport itself, they are awful. Other than the COVID season, the Finals have had the worst ratings in history.
You can fool the players and the media, but you can’t fool the fans.
Meanwhile, I realized how much I have come to dislike the current version of baseball – the sport of my childhood – again on June 20 when I was reminded about how the game has become infected with analytics. (See last week’s blog post for a more detailed study.)
This time Thomson violated the basic laws of logic when he removed Zack Wheeler after five innings – five!!! – because the ace had thrown 98 pitches in the biggest game of the season so far for the Phillies and Mets. The fact that Wheeler had allowed no runs was irrelevant.
Plus, no worries. The manager had the next four innings covered, starting with Taijuan Walker, a veteran who no longer knows when batting practice has ended. A free-agent bust, Walker served up meatballs to the first two hitters he faced in the sixth inning, erasing Wheeler’s 2-0 lead before the ace had made it to the showers.
I could hear the murmurs in the crowd asking the same question everyone – except the local media – was asking: Why remove your best pitcher when he’s throwing a shutout?
Because the numbers say you do, dummy!
Where have you been the last 10 years?
The less said about the Flyers right now, the better. They have not earned your time or interest. Their obsession with bringing back players to run the organization is laughable at this stage.
Hockey is a tough sell under the best of times in Philadelphia – it’s not the 1970s anymore – and these are most definitely not the best of times, for the sport or for our team.
If the Flyers want your attention again, they will have to earn it. Don’t hold your breath on that one.
Finally, there’s football. Thank God for football.
The test for how good a sport is starts with a basic premise: Can you enjoy a game in which you have no rooting interest?
Not only can I, I can watch as many as eight games at once, loving all of them equally on The Red Zone Channel. Hell, this summer I find myself sticking for a quarter or more of games from previous seasons on the NFL Network.
Why?
Because football is a sport that offers so much more than the others. Every game matters. There is no drama in sports like a close game in the fourth quarter. The weather adds to the spectacle. There is violence, angst, controversy, unfathomable athleticism.
An NFL game is an event, regardless of the teams or the standings. The best teams provide a bonding experience for entire cities.
Football is the closest thing to sex in sports – with a weeklong buildup and then the payoff.
Hey, I know the NFL has its own issues with analytics, but not to the point where the numbers interfere with a fan’s enjoyment of the game.
Sometimes, analytics actually enhance the drama in football, as seen with the increase of fourth-down attempts, including the quarterback sneaks (and especially the Tush Push).
In short, I can’t wait for the new football season to start.
Since the Eagles play the very first game on the NFL schedule on Thursday night, Sept. 4, the wait will be a few days less this summer.
If you’re counting, there are 73 days until the boys line up and kick off another NFL season
I wish it were today.
I’ll bet you do, too.