Did you know the NBA Finals were on last night?

I didn't. At 3-0 the series was a foregone conclusion, the U.S. Open was on until 7 so I barely watched Sportscenter, and even with the 8 hours of sports talk radio that I listened to yesterday I was unaware that game 4 was last night. Winning their fourth title in nine years, I'd say the Spurs have a dynasty going. But I still think the salient story from the NBA Playoffs is that the playoffs are broken.

If this were the NFL there would be a myriad of changes in the offseason. Realignment, reseeding in the playoffs, the silly "Leaving the vicinity of the bench" rule, the lottery, and the dirty play of Bruce Bowen and the Spurs would be addressed. I accept the fact that you can't just combine the East and the West and put the 16 best teams in the playoffs - travel concerns, a lack of geographic rivalries, and unbalanced scheduling make that impossible. But, judging from David Stern's interview on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday, there's the very real possibility that next year's playoffs will be just as flawed as this year's playoffs. Maybe it's for the best; that's 20 or 30 less hours I have to spend watching basketball.

How to fix the NBA Playoffs

Fixing the NBA is a tall order, but fixing the playoffs isn't. With ratings down 25% from last year and dropping each game, something has to be done to regenerate interest in the NBA Finals. The key thing that's missing is momentum. With only one game played last week Sunday to Saturday, it was easy to forget the NBA is on. I forgot to check the game after The Sopranos finale. Barring the break between series, there should be one day between games - no more, no less. And the de facto finals were of course played in the second round. Just taking the top 16 teams is too drastic a measure, but eliminating the divisions and just having two conferences, and reseeding each round, would insure that the best basketball would be played in the conference finals if not the NBA Finals. It's not as if division races or division rivalries generate any excitement. And in this scenario even if the finals are a mismatch, if the conference finals are compelling the NBA would have some momentum going into the Finals.

Mismatch

A recurring theme on ESPN Radio, Sportscenter, TNT pre- and post-game, and any other outlets that are broadcasting the NBA Finals is effusive praise for Tim Duncan. Now Duncan is a great player, in the discussion for the greatest power forward, a top 50 player all time, and soon to be a four-time champion. But if you could have either Shaq or Duncan for a career, of course you take Shaq. It isn't even close. I can't believe that the ESPN/TNT heads keep directly or indirectly bringing up that comparison. The dominant low post scorer of the modern era versus a guy who does the little things. Center versus power forward. Above the rim versus below the rim. A natural 300 lb versus a natural 240 lb. You don't have to break down the film like Jaworski in the NFL films vault to figure that out.

Salute!

When The Sopranos debuted back in 1999, it was unlike anything else on television. Other shows featured sex, violence, and adult storylines, but The Sopranos had a slickness to it that made it feel more cutting edge. Shows like NYPD Blue and LA Law preceded The Sopranos, but the both had a pervasive Bochco-grittiness that served as a reminder that they went places Hill Street Blues had gone before. Since then shows like The Shield, Deadwood, and 24 have arrived with morally ambiguous characters, ultraviolence, and a healthy helping of nudity, and suddenly The Sopranos doesn't feel as fresh anymore.

So does that make The Sopranos the greatest drama of all time? How about Hill Street Blues, for its groundbreaking adult content? Or my favorite, The Shield, for continuing to build on these templates? This is the same kind of problem you have comparing athletes across different eras: evolution. Current all time home run leader Hank Aaron played at 6'0" 180 lbs, the same height and weight listed for light hitting Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp. Twenty years ago there were only 27 players in the NFL weighing 300 lb or more. Now there are hundreds. Education about nutrition, weight training, and sports medicine has made athletes bigger, stronger, and faster, making it difficult to translate dodging tacklers or crushing homers 40 years to today.

I'm for progress. I get more enjoyment from watching Batman Begins than Citizen Kane, I've watched enough tape to be confident that Shaquille O'Neal would dominate Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain, and I watch syndicated episodes of Seinfeld while I've never seen and episode of All in the Family beginning to end. So for me the bloom has been off the rose for The Sopranos for some time. But its influence is unquestioned, and it's easy to forget what it once was.

This just in: The Spurs are boring

Anyone who tries to tell you that the Spurs aren't boring is a sadist. So they're a great team. So Duncan is a great player. Rocky & Bullwinkle are a great team. Robert De Niro s a great actor. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle starring Robert De Niro is a horrible movie. Just because you don't want to watch it, it doesn't mean you don't appreciate great actors. And just because you don't enjoy watching Duncan hit a 12 foot bank shot, commit a foul at the other end, and pop the eyes halfway out of his head at the ref in protest, it doesn't mean you don't appreciate great basketball. Because this isn't it.