Clevland Browns fans would say the NFL.
Winning one game would be looked on as a crowning achievement.
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NHL is the hardest IMO.
Salary cap and a draft setup where it can take years to turn around a side. 82 regular season games of very physical action and some bizarre fixturing at times. Then when you get to playoffs it’s 4 rounds of best of 7 in very tough and physical encounters. Pittsburgh who won it this year for instance had to play in 25 playoff games and were close to elimination several times
Valid points but I’m not sure. Of all the sports from that part of the world, hockey is the one I follow. It amazes me that in the 80’s there was a period when the NHL had 20 teams in the old divisions and 16 of them would qualify for playoffs. It’s a different landscape now with 31 teams, MLB on the other hand has 12 teams qualifying out of 28 a leaner prospect. Wildcards also go an extra round of playoffs. That however is only one variable of many.
This might be impossible to calculate but I’m sure there are some utter probability geeks who might be able to formulate this. Yanks love analysing this stuff, putting a figure to it and while it’s not gospel, like all statistics it’s how they’re interpreted and what value you put on them. Without detouring the thread away from baseball any further I’ve thought about this because some years ago it hit me that with 18 teams, it’d suddenly gotten harder for us (amongst others, perhaps not free kick Hawthorn and the new clubs) to win a flag due to additional clubs entering amongst other things.
EDIT.
Link to the first article I’ve stumbled upon. It’s lengthy and probably flawed.
Not to kick a good man when he is down but (I am a happy Giants fan after all) Dave Roberts should have pulled Darvish after the 1st. The stuff wasn’t there. The Astros had him figured out (having played him umpteen times when he was at the Rangers), And, for god’s sake, this is Game 7! Looking back at Game 7 in 2014 Bochy had no hesitation yanking Tim Hudson in the 2nd inning after he gave up 2 runs and hit a batter. Ofcourse, we all know what first Jeremy Affeldt and more importantly, Mad Bum did after that.
Hockey is great. Really getting into it lately. Went to see a game in Vegas and it’s great fun. Fans are VERY passionate, and even in the cheap seats you get a great view cos the rink is smaller
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30 teams in MLB
6 divisions of 5 teams
Gees, you’ve clarified that i can’t count.
It wasn’t intentional. I’m just a massively pedantic pain-in-the-ar*se.
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Only 10 teams qualify for MLB playoffs. The 6 division leaders and 4 wildcard teams (2 from each league).
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Disappointing! Sounds like the sort of thing Hawthorn or ■■■■ Carlton would try, and of course have it swept under the table.
I wonder if they’re going to continue investigation into other clubs.
I’m never a fan of shonky practices.
The vibe is that more than a few clubs are likely a tad nervous tonight.
Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees (?!?!). Yuck.
For a lazy $325 million over 13 years.
The stench of rejection is strong in San Francisco. Stanton and Ohtani say “no thanks!”.