Playoffs "likely" to expand according to Goodell

[Big McLargehuge]

Worst commissioner in sports history.

 

[Hockeyfan02]

This has been rumored for a couple years and so has a franchise in London, not sure why they're being treated as breaking news. The owners want to expand the playoffs and expand to other markets so they can milk as much money from the cow as they can. Goodell gets the ideas attributed to him and takes any heat that comes with it so the owners don't look any more greedy to public than they already do. If the owners didn't want these things Goodell wouldn't have any of these "ideas".

 

[Voight]

Worst commissioner in sports history.

He's had that mantle for a while and it just keeps growing and growing and growing.

 

[Hasbro]

Making extra points longer. It actually did cost the patriots a potential chance to go to the SB.

Which was a rule change championed by Bill Belichick.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Worst commissioner in sports history.

Don't love hockey really but that Bettman guy is pretty bad. I think 3 lockouts?

Selig wasn't that great outside of adding the Wild Card.

I don't love the NBA anymore but I thought Stern was rather weak. He let Donald Sterling so what he pleased for 30 years for example.

 

[Shockmaster]

to lazy to read the article, but would this remove the byes?

It would for the #2 seeds in each conference. The #1 seeds would get a bye for the Wild Card round. So the Wild Card round match-ups would be:

7 vs 2
6 vs 3
5 vs 4

 

[Gene Parmesan]

This has been rumored for a couple years and so has a franchise in London, not sure why they're being treated as breaking news. The owners want to expand the playoffs and expand to other markets so they can milk as much money from the cow as they can. Goodell gets the ideas attributed to him and takes any heat that comes with it so ithe owners don't look any more greedy to public than they already do. If the owners didn't want these things Goodell wouldn't have<script id="gpt-impl-0.0649122807662934" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gpt/pubads_impl_83.js"></script> any of these "ideas".

Yup. Goodell takes the bullets for his bosses. Same as Bettman.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Don't love hockey really but that Bettman guy is pretty bad. I think 3 lockouts?

Selig wasn't that great outside of adding the Wild Card.

I don't love the NBA anymore but I thought Stern was rather weak. He let Donald Sterling so what he pleased for 30 years for example.

You do know commissioners just work for owners and that they control professional sports leagues right?

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

You do know commissioners just work for owners and that they control professional sports leagues right?

Yeah but I do think there's some things they have a control over. Like what happened with Donald Sterling in the NBA. Stern knew for years. I don't know about the other owners but I'm guessing if they did in a sport that isn't predominantly white they wouldn't have been okay with that.

 

[rangerssharks414]

This is clearly an attempt to get more money. But we will all watch...

The NFL playoffs are perfect in my opinion. I bet they're going to have to have Monday playoff games if they expanded them.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

This is clearly an attempt to get more money. But we will all watch...

The NFL playoffs are perfect in my opinion. I bet they're going to have to have Monday playoff games if they expanded them.

I don't know about perfect. I've never been a fan of a best of 1. As it has to be though, yeah probably. Though I really don't miss the days of teams having a bye week and the SB being 2 weeks from the conference title games.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Worst commissioner in sports history.

He's had that mantle for a while and it just keeps growing and growing and growing.

And having it while Gary Bettman exists is impressive.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

It would for the #2 seeds in each conference. The #1 seeds would get a bye for the Wild Card round. So the Wild Card round match-ups would be:

7 vs 2
6 vs 3
5 vs 4

That's actually a good idea. Don't see why people are blasting it. They'll be begging for it to be installed once their team goes 10-6 and misses the playoffs.

All the Bettman hate is just a circle jerk. Seriously. He may not be the best commit of all time, but he's been the best thing to happen to the NHL since Wayne and Mario.

 

[What the Faulk]

That's actually a good idea. Don't see why people are blasting it. They'll be begging for it to be installed once their team goes 10-6 and misses the playoffs.

All the Bettman hate is just a circle jerk. Seriously. He may not be the best commit of all time, but he's been the best thing to happen to the NHL since Wayne and Mario.

Average win total of the 7th seed is 9.1. Not good enough? Win more games. Plus Bye + HFA is way too much of an advantage for the 1 seed. Lots of reasons this is a bad idea.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Average win total of the 7th seed is 9.1. Not good enough? Win more games. Plus Bye + HFA is way too much of an advantage for the 1 seed. Lots of reasons this is a bad idea.

Almost every year there is an 8 or 9 win team that makes the playoffs. Heck, a few years ago a 7 win team made it. But that happens 100% due to playing in a weak division.

On the flip side, a 10 win team misses the playoffs almost every year. A poster in this thread posted that a 10 win team missed the playoffs 5 times in the last 5 years.

I rather see a 10 win team make it in. Furthermore, 14 teams out of 32 is still relatively elite company considering more than half the league makes it in the NHL and NBA.

And yes, the best team in the conference has been awarded a bye and HFA for as long as I can remember. This will not change.

I don't see any negatives to this change. I think people complain for the sake of complaining about the NFL.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

That's actually a good idea. Don't see why people are blasting it. They'll be begging for it to be installed once their team goes 10-6 and misses the playoffs.

All the Bettman hate is just a circle jerk. Seriously. He may not be the best commit of all time, but he's been the best thing to happen to the NHL since Wayne and Mario.

My Pats missed twice going 11-5 and you won't see me complaining that there should be more playoff teams.

 

[What the Faulk]

Almost every year there is an 8 or 9 win team that makes the playoffs. Heck, a few years ago a 7 win team made it. But that happens 100% due to playing in a weak division.

Not always, no. And it will happen more often the more you expand the playoffs.

On the flip side, a 10 win team misses the playoffs almost every year. A poster in this thread posted that a 10 win team missed the playoffs 5 times in the last 5 years.

So...win more games? Sucks that a 10 win team didn't make it, but that's not some magical cutoff that guarantees you anything. It's a nice, round number, and that's it.

I rather see a 10 win team make it in. Furthermore, 14 teams out of 32 is still relatively elite company considering more than half the league makes it in the NHL and NBA.

And the NFL is better because of it. Every game is magnified. There's nothing stupider than running through 82 games then having more than half the league make the playoffs, essentially rendering the regular season meaningless.

And yes, the best team in the conference has been awarded a bye and HFA for as long as I can remember. This will not change.

What I mean is, they will be the only team to get both. And that's too much of an advantage.

I don't see any negatives to this change. I think people complain for the sake of complaining about the NFL.

Because **** is perfect as it is. Why do we need to change things? We've had the same format for 26 years. It isn't suddenly in need of a tweak.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

16 games is a small sample size. Is a 14-2 team really better than a 13-3? is a 9-7 team really better than a 8-8 team? Adding 2 more teams isn't diluting the talent level, nor is it lowering the entertainment value of the playoffs.
It gives an extra fan base a reason to cheer during the playoffs, and it is driving up revenue for the league which most important above all else.

No the current format is not broken, but this proposed format doesn't break it either. I actually like it. And I'm not saying this from a selfish mind set. I'm a Steelers fan, we make the playoffs more than pretty much any team.

 

[Roboturner913]

I feel like a 10-6 or 11-5 team missing the playoffs should not happen. I'd rather have a 7-9 team included than have a 10-6 team left out.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

That's actually a good idea. Don't see why people are blasting it. They'll be begging for it to be installed once their team goes 10-6 and misses the playoffs.

All the Bettman hate is just a circle jerk. Seriously. He may not be the best commit of all time, but he's been the best thing to happen to the NHL since Wayne and Mario.

Then the NHL must be really lame. I mean 3 work stoppages, having games decides by a skills competition don't exactly strike me as good. Its like the NBA saying we will decide games with a dunk contest or 3 point shooting contest or the MLB having a HR derby.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

16 games is a small sample size. Is a 14-2 team really better than a 13-3? is a 9-7 team really better than a 8-8 team? Adding 2 more teams isn't diluting the talent level, nor is it lowering the entertainment value of the playoffs.
It gives an extra fan base a reason to cheer during the playoffs, and it is driving up revenue for the league which most important above all else.

No the current format is not broken, but this proposed format doesn't break it either. I actually like it. And I'm not saying this from a selfish mind set. I'm a Steelers fan, we make the playoffs more than pretty much any team.

I see your point. There is the problem, 16 game schedule. Its a small sample size where close to half the schedule is based on division play. Some say throughout sports we should ditch divisional records and take the best records. Now, I'd be for ditching divisions altogether, unfortunately the NFL has this problem with season length.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Then the NHL must be really lame. I mean 3 work stoppages, having games decides by a skills competition don't exactly strike me as good. Its like the NBA saying we will decide games with a dunk contest or 3 point shooting contest or the MLB having a HR derby.

The work stoppages were/are a necessary evil. It brought us the cap and a league where every single team has a chance to succeed and compete.

The shootout is a great alternative to a tie. Who wants to see a tie when they're watching sports? That's like watching a movie that ends in a cliff hanger.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

That's actually a good idea. Don't see why people are blasting it. They'll be begging for it to be installed once their team goes 10-6 and misses the playoffs.

All the Bettman hate is just a circle jerk. Seriously. He may not be the best commit of all time, but he's been the best thing to happen to the NHL since Wayne and Mario.

Mine team did and it was the best thing that could've happened. Lovie may still be here otherwise.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

The work stoppages were/are a necessary evil. It brought us the cap and a league where every single team has a chance to succeed and compete.

The shootout is a great alternative to a tie. Who wants to see a tie when they're watching sports? That's like watching a movie that ends in a cliff hanger.

I don't mean to be that guy but the #1 sport around the globe has ties probably more than any other result and I've never heard rumblings about it being changed. Now in competitions like the World Cup past group play they do settle games tied after Extra Time on PKs but I also would say the sports are entirely different. You can watch a soccer game and not see a legit scoring chance all game. Its not like hockey where you know that someone will score sooner or later. I do hate that but I do understand that is an issue. I know that my fellow Americans knock this that the World Cup can be decided by PKs. I haven't seen how other countries view that though but you also have to understand many of those countries don't have a lot of sports options so maybe they don't know better about how there's generally a winner.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Ties make sense in soccer since scoring is so low, they're crap in a sport with 3+x the offense. At the very least I'd be more accepting of ties if it shared the same point system it does in soccer, but it doesn't.

Not sure why I'm having a soccer vs. hockey argument on the football board, but sometimes you can't help but take the bait.

I'm not a fan of expanding the playoffs at all. I'd be more open to deleting the automatic playoff berth for division winners. Winning a division with 3 other teams in it isn't that impressive.