Throughout the entire college football season you hear the California sportswriters praise USC. Throughout the entire baseball season you hear the northeasterners speculate about the nations love of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Everyone knows both West Coast and East Coast biases exist, but while they are preoccupied battling eachother, the Midwest has flown in under the radar and proven its stake as a dominant player in the sporting world.
I was prompted to write this post after seeing time and time again Around The Horn contestant Jay Mariotti harrassed every time he brings up his city of Chicago, the most recent being a reference to Michael Jordan. Yet Bill Plaschke and J.A. Adante voice their love of USC and think the NBA revolves around the Lakers, Bob Ryan considers Boston the hotspot of sports, and Tim Cowlishaw claims loyalty to about any team south of the 40-degree lattitude line-- all usually going without criticism of regional favoritism. Any mention of Chicago and the other writers let out groans as Reali often mutes Jay. I think he has the right to claim some midwest superiority; let's evaluate:
-The current Superbowl matchup is between Chicago and Indianapolis. People wrote off Peyton because he isn't clutch. People wrote off the Bears because they had no offense. ESPN is wondering if Rex Grossman is the worst quarterback in Superbowl history. Yet, both teams just keep on winning.
-Five of the last six World Series participants were from the two Central Divisions with the past two winners (White Sox and Cardinals) coming from the heart of the midwest. Like the Bears, St. Louis was given the least chance to win it all and were supposed to get swept by the mighty Mets. The ChiSox went 11-1 in the postseason--that's dominance.
-As of today, four of the six teams in the Eastern Conference with winning records are in the Central Division. (And this is after Milwaukee hit a losing streak after its two best players were injured.) The Bulls, Pistons, and Cavs are expected to make title runs in June. I think the east coast's representation in the NBA might be the most pitiful in sports.
-The Missouri Valley Conference is quickly becoming regarded as the seventh "major" conference in NCAA basketball.
Now, I'm not saying the Midwest is the greatest region in sports, nor am I saying it will stay like this. All I'm saying is it would be nice to see a little recognition for its recent accomplishments. I enjoy seeing our teams represent well, especially with the Big Ten and Big XII down this year. However, the east coast still owns the NCAA Tourney (last six champs) and the West is still the power conference in the NBA, but at least the little guys from the land-locked "heart" of the country still have a surprise or two. Go ahead, Jay, let 'em boo you and fight over ownership of the free world...we'll just keep on winning.
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2 comments:
No big deal....but the AL central had three teams with 90 wins....by far the best in baseball...the fact the White Sox could've beat almost any team in the playoffs but didn't make it shows the dominance of the heartland....
great post
I would have mentioned the regular season (like the Cards being the most winning-est team in baseball since 2002, including back to back 100-win seasons in that span) but the two worst teams in baseball being the Royals and Cubs destroys our street cred.
Maybe that'll change for the northsiders this year?
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