Sportscaster

I felt the need to defend myself just a little bit more with regards to the NBA playoff games running long.  Listen, it is ruining the integrity of the game.  It is!  Even a decade ago, games were probably a minimum of half an hour shorter…quarters are still 12 minutes long, that means that extra time is entirely filler.  I am aware that companies are paying ABC, the NBA whoever to put their ads on, but realistically the NBA needs to draw a line.  At some point their product is going to suffer…in fact, I would argue it already has.  I’m sorry 4 hour playoff games are just too long.  TOO LONG!

If you are a player, let’s take Kevin Garnett for example (probably the most intense guy you’ll ever see), your intensity impacts your performance on the court.  If Kevin doesn’t sleep the night before and is so jittery before tip off it looks like he will explode (which is pretty much what he looks like before every game) and 4 minutes into the game when he has blocked 2 shots, picked up a foul, thrown down an alley-oop, and is as into the game as you could get the whistle blows and he has to walk over to the bench sit down and “relax” for a solid 3-4 minutes.  This is not because the opposing coach called a timeout to reset his defense, it isn’t because Doc Rivers saw something he could take advantage of on the offensive end, it is because TV needs to stop the game so they can get some commercials in and make some unnecessary cash.  I’m sorry there is no way you could convince me they need more money. 

Listen, I am not claiming a game should go commercial free or that the game shouldn’t be stopped.  All I am saying is it has gotten completely out of control.  ABC (who owns half the freaken world), the NBA and everyone else who profits from this crap doesn’t need it…they have plenty of money and could easily handle a commercial break once a quarter…with the rest of stoppages in play coming from timeouts.  There is no reason why they couldn’t cut the duration of an NBA game on TV to 3 hours…no reason.  Not to mention the ads that are running have no purpose anyway…do you really not know what Diet Coke is…or that cars are actually for sale in your area?!

And who knows maybe Kevin Garnett will actually benefit from not having to sit down every 8 seconds and perhaps playing for an extended period of time where he can get into a rhythm.  Something that used to happen often in basketball…now its two 3 pointers, timeout…another 3 pointer, then a TV timeout…what the hell kind of a rhythm is that…3 shots took 9 minutes.

by: Domenic Scarano

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