Human Victory Cigar

One reasonably accurate way to think about the overall health of the NBA is through analysis of the average television ratings for the Finals. Higher ratings mean more fans and more money for the owners and subsequently the players.

Over the past 31 years the Finals’ broadcasts have averaged a 12.5 rating. This means that on average 12.5% of all U.S. households able to receive television signals (regardless of source) watched the NBA finals. To place this number in context, the average NBA finals game over the last 31 years would rank fifth on this television season’s ranking of top rated programs, just a bit behind Dancing with the Stars (Is this a weird country or what?). Average finals ratings have gone from a high of 18.7 for the 1998 Bulls/Jazz series to a low of 6.5 for the 2003 Spur/Nets extravaganza. For comparison, the highest rated NFL Superbowl of all time was in 1982 with a 49.1 rating. Four of the top ten most highly rated programs of all time are Superbowls (though still beaten by the finale of M*A*S*H, an episode of Dallas, and part 8 of Roots). (Continued)

Well, well, well….Welcome to the new year Pistons fans! After a shortened playoff run, a longer summer break, training camp, and two weeks of the new season, your beloved Pistons are…

3-5.

…Crap…

A) That’s what you’re saying

and

B) That’s what you’re seeing.

(Continued)

I was devastated when Ben decided to walk. Devastated. I still am. But even so, I thought our Detroit Pistons would recover and remain among the upper echelon in the East.

However, I’ve seen enough to know that we are not going to be such a team.

This is a mediocre team, a fat team, and a team holding on to a bygone era. This is a team headed nowhere, with no future to speak of. The Pistons - only recently the league’s most intimidating team - have become a platoon of walking dead. They are ghosts of a more successful time (that we can now put in a tidy box called The Ben Wallace Era). (Continued)