Congrats To Leicester City But The EPL Not Having Playoffs Is Ridiculous
As a young soccer fan there are still some things I’m getting used to and this “we don’t have playoffs” bullshit is one that just won’t catch on with me. I can’t accept it. Imagine that at the end of the NHL regular season we just said “OK, congrats Capitals. You win. Let’s go home now.” Imagine that a baseball team’s champagne celebration after losing a game but still clinching the Wild Card was their championship celebration? That would be insanity. You’d lose the best moments in sports history. Adam Vinatieri, Tim Thomas, Dave Roberts, David Ortiz, Malcolm Butler, Tom Brady, Bobby Orr’s leap, “Bird stole the ball!” all GONE. Without playoffs Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. I get that the best team wins and there aren’t flukes who get hot at the right time, and some people like that, but the pressure and tension that comes with a postseason drastically alters the landscape of sports.
People are saying that the Fuchs video is amazing, it’s pretty cool, I’ll give you that, but imagine winning the championship in the basement of a high school party while watching two other teams play? That robs the players and the fans of a significant moment. You don’t get to hoist that trophy while still exhausted, hug your teammates who you’ve been in the foxhole with for a month and a half, scream with the fans as they chant your name. Winning the title from your living room is just preposterous. “Hey congrats, guys! You achieved your life’s goal! Come on and get your troph — oh wait, you’re home with the kids and have got your feet up.” Winning while drinking beers with the lads is cool and all, but I suspect if you asked players who’ve won American championships then they wouldn’t trade that on-field feeling for anything in the world.
Some soccer dork on Twitter told me, “if you don’t get it you never will,” like a regular season champion is some inexplicably difficult concept to grasp. I get it, it’s just stupid.