Where U.S. Sports Fail

It's the final day of the season of the regular season and two teams are fighting for the last spot in the playoffs. It doesn't matter if this is the NFL,MLB,NHL,or NBA. These two teams are most likely playing at different times for television purposes. This is where U.S. Sports Fail. Flashback to last year, The Philadelphia Eagles are relying on a crazy scenario in the 1PM football games to be eligible to make the playoffs. The Eagles play the Cowboys at 4:15PM at home for no other reason then TV. These two teams are battling for the last playoff spot in the NFC. The last thing that had to occur for the Eagles to have their destiny in their hands was for the 4-11 Raiders to travel to Tampa Bay and beat a Buccaneers team trying to clinch a playoff spot. This game was played at 1PM and the Raiders used a huge 4th quarter to pull the upset and set up the Eagles-Cowboys showdown for a berth in the postseason. The Eagles would go on to crash the Cowboys and eventually go to the NFC Championship game. At 1PM the Eagles' playoff hopes were on Death Row, at 4:15PM the Eagles were pardoned by Al Davis. All games on the last day of the season should be played at the same time.

Last night, an epic, heart breaking moment took place and you didn't know or care about it. Imagine how exciting the last day of the season would be if we took after soccer. Honduras and Costa Rica were vying for the last guaranteed spot in the World Cup. Costa Rica needed a win or a Honduras loss or tie. Honduras need a win and a Costa Rica loss or tie. Both games started at 8PM. Costa Rica held a 2-0 in the 70th minute and despite leading 1-0 Honduras seemed destined for a playoff with a South American team to determine its World Cup fate. Flash forward, the final whistle has just blown declaring Honduras 1-0 winners and the United States are playing with 10 men in stoppage time down 2-1. The United States have drawn a corner and the divided nation of 7 million Hondurans come together to cheer on the Yanks and hope they can send them to the World Cup. With the United States surely down to their last chance to equalize, defender Jonathan Bornstein delivers with a header into the back of the net in the 95th minute. Ticket to South Africa punched for Honduras, heartbreak for Costa Rica.

The fairest thing to do for the sports on the last day of the season is to start games at the same time. Each team with something on the line would be playing with the same sense of pressure. They would be scoreboard watching during the game instead of knowing exactly what they need to do to go to the playoffs. The fans at the games would be checking scores on their cell phones and relaying information to their neighbors. There would be pure drama that could not be matched. Imagine the Raiders down 10 points in the 4th quarter needing to win for the Birds playoff hopes. The Eagles in the 4th quarter in a close game are feeling resigned to their fate and maybe just maybe are not playing with the same emotion. The crowd comes alive with each Raiders score and the Birds don't have to look up at the scoreboard they know they are still in it.