We are witnessing the end of two of our favorite sports seasons.
There are large throngs of basketball fans taking in the NBA Finals, which kicked off Thursday. And dedicated hockey fans will be glued to the Stanley Cup Finals, which begin Saturday.
Even though there are no former Wyoming Cowboys involved in the NBA Finals, I’m interested.
And while there aren’t any former Wyoming Cowboys involved in the Stanley Cup Finals, I’m interested.
I’m just one of many who like the games. I like to watch these two sports at all levels of play.
I admit that I don’t follow the NBA as intently as college basketball. And hockey is just one of those sports that I catch when I can.
But these are two sports that are pleasing to the eye, fun to watch and similar in many ways.
Both sports feature end-to-end, continuous action.
Both are played on similarly shaped surfaces. One is played on a hardwood, rectangular court, the other on a rectangular sheet of ice.
Now, I fully admit that my NBA and NHL viewing is extremely limited. I just don’t take in a lot of the pro version of hoops — and even less of college or pro hockey.
But this is a time of limited possibilities. The pro version of basketball will have to be good enough, for now. Actually, it’s all there is.
The Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals will have large audiences. It’s a natural growth in viewership that comes with postseason play. The NBA Finals are made even bigger by the end of the college basketball season.
Both of these finals are “best-of-sevens,” and I love best-of-sevens.
These are the finals. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s what it always comes down to for a championship.
Finals will draw all kinds of different audiences. There are, of course, those who are regular fans and followers, which make up the biggest group. But a final series will draw many who haven’t participated on a regular basis. In fact, there will be some who haven’t watched a minute of NBA all season who will take a peek of the finals.
And there will be a huge audience of first-time viewers of the Stanley Cup Finals.
These two events will simply be of interest to many more than usual because the finals, themselves, are unusual and, well, final.
I know that sounds redundant and maybe a bit silly, but just the fact that it is the last basketball and hockey to be played makes it interesting.
There seems to be an extra layer of interest around here for the Denver Nuggets.
I suppose that makes sense. Colorado is a bordering state, and Denver isn’t all that far from the Cowboy State. The Nuggets following in Wyoming may not be to the level of Denver Broncos here, but there is a pocket of support for the Nuggets as they take a shot at their first-ever NBA title.
The Nuggets are the No. 1 seed playing a No. 8 seed, Miami.
Led by Nicola Jokic, who should have been the NBA MVP this season, I like Denver in this series.
Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are a blast to watch, and Miami has proven capable of knocking off higher seeds, but the Nuggets are different and better than they have been. I’ll take Denver in six games.
And in a totally different scenario, the NHL begins its process to determine the winner of the iconic Stanley Cup.
This a different scenario in that I haven’t followed or studied the NHL very much this season.
So with that in mind, I’ll take the Las Vegas Knights over the Florida Panthers, also in six games.
And both champions call the West home.
