Lots of people may really dislike the idea that teams have to play meaningless matches, but this reminds me of the way US sports used to be. I hate that our current playoff structure (in MLS and other sports) invites almost everyone in. This is a 3 game tourney and some hate that there are meaningless games (yes, I do know that some hate the entire tournament not just the games after a loss). NFL, 16 games. NBA, 82. MLB, 162. All of those used to have much smaller playoffs with some teams playing a half season of meaningless games.
That makes sense. On the other hand, I prefer those long seasons and small playoffs that don't much exist any more and never minded that teams at the bottom had no way to aspire to the playoffs. I think the main reason I lost touch with baseball was they kept a 162 game season while expanding the playoffs too much. Back then I never minded mid-September baseball games between 2 teams with no playoff hopes. The season was the thing whether in April, June or with a week to go and nothing to play for. Because in fact there is always something to play for. Among other things, it's your job, and you should want to do it well, which equally applies to hobbies and pastimes. Watching professional athletes take the job seriously because of pride and duty even when little is on the line is an important learning experience for kids. Playoffs were dessert and a reward for actual excellence over a long period. Late season games with no playoff consequences were where you saw the preview for next year as teams played AAA league call ups. But they counted, so it was better than Spring Training. Learning to find meaning in activities that do not promise a potential reward (promotion, a trophy) or punishment (relegation) is good, actually. Not everything has to, or should be, momentous, and IMO demanding otherwise is sad, honestly.
I'm unusually passionate about league seasons. I've never met anyone who thinks as I do on this topic. I'm annoyed by anything that diminishes, distracts, or gets in the way of full season league competition whether it's oversized playoffs or overlapping tournaments. Which is why I don't much care for UCL or CCL (despite the name they are tournaments not leagues) and especially detest new additions like Leagues Cup. I carved out an exception for old school national multi-level tournaments like USOC, FA Cup (League Cup can pound sand), Copa del Ray, etc.
Long form seasons do the best job of identifying deserving champions. I loved calculating Games Behind, explaining why the loss column is not all that matters, and Magic Numbers. The annual rhythm of months long league seasons in different sports gives a structure to the passing years that used to come from marking Holy Days or agricultural endeavors. We could do with fewer manufactured and scheduled bursts of excitement and more sports that offer a regular dosage of low key experiences with random, unscheduled moments of beauty, drama, farce and thrills at unpredictable intervals. All sports did it to some extent, and baseball did it best, but we lost it to expanded playoffs and the ESPN/internet highlight/batflip culture.
I'm old. What do you want.
Also I've been thinking about these ideas for some years now and it all just came together this morning for some reason.
www.mlssoccer.com
