Which Major Sports League is the Most Competitive?

[WildCard]

Just a random thought but which of the big 4 NA sports leagues does everyone think is the most competitive? If we're going by how often a new team wins a championship, it's baseball; the MLB also does not have a salary cap, and with the disparity of money in the league there is often rampant tanking and small market teams aren't competitive for years on end. If we're going by how narrow the gap is from top to bottom, it's probably hockey. If we're going from if a team can win on any given day, it's probably the NFL, but in the NFL nothing really matters unless you have one spot on your roster filled with a top end player; the other 21 positions really fall to the side

So, how does everyone here value/define which league is the most competitive? 

Edited June 10, 2019 by WildCard

[Taro T]

Would have to go w/ hockey.

You don't get '75 Caps squads show up more than once/ decade.

It's also very difficult to win the President's Trophy & Lord Stanley's.  The playoff bracket is completely wide open & there are a handful of teams that barely miss.

Though teams might win a couple of times within a short period, very few manage to stay at the very top echelon more than a handful of years.

Though you don't know who will win the WS, you know at least 10 teams with 0 chance in April.

Basketball has GS with a stranglehold in the West.  And football has the Cheatriots with a strangle hold on the newer conference.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I went NBA simply because a team can be dominant for years in the regular season and in the playoffs, but in the playoffs anything can happen and often does when you get to the final.

Warriors = 5 straight trips to the final and all of the WCF have been billed as the 'real final'.  Well the Warriors record in the final now is 3 - 1 and most likely to be 3 - 2 after tonight.  That is not dominant, IMHO, in the finals for such a dominant team.

Also, I do not believe KD will play tonight.  And if he does he will be no factor.

I really hope the Raptors win tonight, if for no other reason than to have that so very annoying Drake dink shut the heck up.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Hockey and it isn’t even close. 

[WildCard]

6 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I went NBA simply because a team can be dominant for years in the regular season and in the playoffs, but in the playoffs anything can happen and often does when you get to the final.

Warriors = 5 straight trips to the final and all of the WCF have been billed as the 'real final'.  Well the Warriors record in the final now is 3 - 1 and most likely to be 3 - 2 after tonight.  That is not dominant, IMHO, in the finals for such a dominant team.

Also, I do not believe KD will play tonight.  And if he does he will be no factor.

I really hope the Raptors win tonight, if for no other reason than to have that so very annoying Drake dink shut the heck up.

LeBron lead teams went to the Finals 8 consecutive years, and the Warriors have been in the Finals 5 consecutive years. The other thing that sucks is super teams of course

[I Remember Imlach]

What St. Louis is doing this year and what Nashville did a couple years ago prove that in the NHL if you make the playoffs you can get hot and anything can happen.  And notwithstanding the Sabres (and occasional exceptions elsewhere) it seems most teams have some kind of shot at the playoffs.  I just don't believe either of those things in the other sports.

Edited June 10, 2019 by I Remember Imlach

[WildCard]

3 minutes ago, I Remember Imlach said:

What St. Louis is doing this year and what Nashville did a couple years ago prove that in the NHL if you make the playoffs you can get hot and anything can happen.  And notwithstanding the Sabres (and occasional exceptions elsewhere) it seems most teams have some kind of shot at the playoffs.  I just don't believe either of those things in the other sports.

Well football for sure that can happen. The Cardinals were 9-7 when they went to the Super Bowl

[Doohicksie]

I think it's easier for an NFL team to get hot and run the table in the playoffs since every round is a one-game elimination.  It happens (and happened a lot this year in the NHL) but it's extremely rare for a low seed to knock off a high seed in a best of seven series; it means the lower seed has to upset the higher seed four times to advance to the next round.  In the NFL, a team that get's a couple of lucky breaks in a single game can knock off a much higher ranked team.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Hey @WildCard,

NS here ... many times a caller, but never a listener.

How come MLS is not on your list?

Thanks.  I'll hang up and listen now.

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I think it's easier for an NFL team to get hot and run the table in the playoffs since every round is a one-game elimination.  It happens (and happened a lot this year in the NHL) but it's extremely rare for a low seed to knock off a high seed in a best of seven series; it means the lower seed has to upset the higher seed four times to advance to the next round.  In the NFL, a team that get's a couple of lucky breaks in a single game can knock off a much higher ranked team.

With the NFL giving the top 2 seeds a bye week, they have a significant advantage not given to the other 2 division winners not the wild cards they have to play in the 1st weekend.

Though the '80 Raiders won a Superbowls as a Wild Card, and the Cards got to the Superbowls against the Steelers, they are the exception rather than the rule.

In the NHL, you can expect 4 upsets out of the 8 1st round match ups pretty much every year.  The game is MUCH tighter in the playoffs than the regular season & a hot goalie can definitely stymie what should be a better team.

[WildCard]

6 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Hey @WildCard,

NS here ... many times a caller, but never a listener.

How come MLS is not on your list?

Thanks.  I'll hang up and listen now.

It's not considered a big 4 NA sports league; I really doubt most of the posters on here follow it

[Sabres Fan in NS]

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

With the NFL giving the top 2 seeds a bye week, they have a significant advantage not given to the other 2 division winners not the wild cards they have to play in the 1st weekend.

Though the '80 Raiders won a Superbowls as a Wild Card, and the Cards got to the Superbowls against the Steelers, they are the exception rather than the rule.

In the NHL, you can expect 4 upsets out of the 8 1st round match ups pretty much every year.  The game is MUCH tighter in the playoffs than the regular season & a hot goalie can definitely stymie what should be a better team.

Was not the 1992 Bills team that went to the Superbowl a WC team?  Was that not the comeback year?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

It's not considered a big 4 NA sports league; I really doubt most of the posters on here follow it

?

[Taro T]

12 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Was not the 1992 Bills team that went to the Superbowl a WC team?  Was that not the comeback year?

They were.  But they also were 11-5 and had they won in the RS finale in Houston would've been the division winner.

Never said WC's can't get to the show, but the odds are stacked against them.

[Skibum]

It's a toss up between NFL and NHL for me. Both leagues have teams that go from rags to riches and vice-versa in one season, pretty regularly. The only problem with parity in the NFL is the Patriots. 

[WildCard]

Pretty amazed nobody has picked the MLB. They have the least repeat champions in the last 20 years

[Sabel79]

1 hour ago, WildCard said:

Pretty amazed nobody has picked the MLB. They have the least repeat champions in the last 20 years

They also have 1/3 of the league reliably deemed non-contenders on opening day, and increasing by the end of May.