How long should a Season be?

With the talk about going to 18 games in the regular season in the NFL it makes you think about what is the perfect length for a season in any given sport.  College and Pro football seem to have it right so far.  The season is short enough that you don’t get bored with it and long enough that every game has meaning.  All indications are that the NFL will go to the 18 game season.  It seems that some of the players are not real thrilled with this and worry that it will shorten their careers.  Yes the intensity of live games compared to preseason games it there and there is a chance of more injury but the reality is that adding two more games will not make a lot of difference for the players other than they will make a bit more money.  They are going to take away two non paid games and add two paid games.  It is a win win for the players.  Take away to meaningless games and give them games that mean something and puts a little more change in their pockets.

Sports that in my opinion that have seasons that are way too long include: Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, NASCAR, Golf

Hockey and Basketball pretty much have an identical season.  They both play 82 games and they both let 16 teams in the playoffs.  I don’t have a huge problem with the number of teams that they let in the playoffs.  I do have a problem that they take a day off between all the games.  If a playoff series goes to 7 games it takes a full two weeks to play.  That is a long time.  With an 82 game season there are going to be games in the middle of the season where players and fans are both sleep walking though them.  It takes away from the meaning of the season and from the interest in the games being played.

The two longest seasons by far are NASCAR and PGA Golf.  Both start early in the year and end well into fall.  Both have interesting events scattered through the season.  Neither of them have a good solution for a playoff.  NASCAR really needs to end before football hits it’s second month.  As it is not here we are in October and the NASCAR champion won’t be crowned for 7 more weeks.  It is just two long.  At least golf ended a few weeks ago but with the way their playoff is run no one really knew that they were in their playoffs.

Football has it right.  Switching 2 games from pre season to regular season will just make it more interesting.