The Hardest Championship To Win
February 1st, 2009 by MattToday’s Super Bowl got me thinking about which of the 4 major sports championships is the hardest to win.
You have to break this down in 2 ways:
1. How hard is it to get into your sport’s playoff round?
2. Once in the playoffs, how hard is it to win the whole thing?
There are many arguments for the Stanley Cup being the most difficult to win, but is that really so? More teams get into the playoffs than not (16 out of 30). The NBA allows just as many also-rans into their postseason tournament as the NHL does. In the NFL, 37.5% of the teams make the postseason, while in baseball, just over 25% get in. It is just too easy to get into the NBA or NHL playoffs for those to be the most difficult.
The Stanley Cup requires the most postseason games to be played to win it all, and the postseason takes 2 months to conclude. In baseball, the postseason is squeezed into less than a month and 11 games wins it all.
Frankly, I don’t think the Super Bowl should even be in the discussion. You can win as few as 3 games in the playoffs to take home the trophy. A team can get in with a .500 record, catch a couple of teams on off weeks in the playoffs, and hoist the trophy at the end. I’m not suggesting it is “easy” to win the Super Bowl, just easier than it is to win any of the other 3. The counterargument to this, of course is how in God’s name have the Eagles found a way to never win one of the first 42? You’d have to ask them.
For my money, the World Series is the most difficult. The smallest number of teams even gain entry to the playoffs, after playing 162 games to see who makes it. Imagine if baseball had 8 teams from each league in the playoffs. There would be a far greater chance for some of the teams buried in great divisions to catch fire and win it all. As it stands, only the very best teams make it in.
So, am I right? Is the World Series the hardest one? Or is the Stanley Cup the be all, end all? Or have I completely lost my mind because it is actually the Super Bowl?
Oh, and “Go Steelers!” For the simple fact that my wife is from the Steel City.
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LIKE I CORRECTLY PREDICTED LAST MARCH- MY PHILLIES WILL BE THE 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!! I HAVE BEEN A PHILLIES FAN FOR 49 YEARS!!!!!!!
Only in the NFL can playing 16 regular season games lead to a “championship.” The likelihood of serendipity is much greater in the “one game wins it all” format than in the other three major sports leagues. The playoff selectivity and marathon schedule of MLB sets it apart from all the others. There is no question the World Series is not only the oldest professional championship, but the most difficult to achieve, and most prestigious to attain.
I agree that the NFL should not be considered in difficulty of winning. But the NHL is the most physical, drawn out playoff in any of the 4 major sports.
In baseball, you only need 11 games to win it all, and only have to get through 2 rounds (one of which is a best of 5) to get the the championship round.
Basketball requires the same number of wins and games, but is no where near the physical standards of the NHL.
There is also the prestige of winning the cup, the Stanley Cup…the only trophy in the 4 major sports that is handed down from team to team. In my opinion, the Stanley cup is not only the hardest to win, but holds the most prestige to its sport.
Well let’s look at each sport
World Series: By far, it’s the oldest and most prestigious championship in all of sports (being the fact that baseball is America’s pastime). Considering the MLB allows the least amount of teams from each league to enter it’s postseason (4 from each league), as opposed to the NBA and NHL (8 teams from each conference) and the NFL (6 teams from each conference). So, in baseball, the teams that make the postseason have to be really good. In the other sports, some teams that make the playoffs stink (how many times in the NBA do you see a sub-.500 team from the Eastern Conference in the playoffs) and even the NFL (a wild-card team can be 8-8 and go at least to the conference championship). on top of that, baseball is the hardest sport to succeed in (players get lost in the minor leagues), the hardest sport to play (hitting a round ball with a round bat is difficult), and the longest season by games (162 game schedule). then the postseason is a max 19 games (max 5 games in the first round, max 7 games in the LCS and world series). so that’s a potential 181 games of grueling baseball. Plus, baseball isn’t time-restricted, so games can go on forever, making them even more grueling
NBA Playoffs and Stanley Cup Playoffs: i compare these two because they’re pretty similar (82 game schedule, 8 teams from each conference make the postseason, 4 rounds, and each round is a best of 7 series.) that’s a maximum 110 games played. now basketball and hockey are by no means physically easy sports (basketball players get injured a lot and hockey is a natural contact sport), but to me they don’t compare to the physical grind that football provides, and the mental grind (and to a point, physical) that baseball provides. these sports are time-constricted, so players can control the clock to their advantage, and you can sub. can’t do that in baseball.
Super Bowl: I say the Super Bowl is the trickiest one. What takes the steam out of football is the fact that it’s a one-game-per-week schedule. But with good reason. If football was an every-day sports, the IR list would be overloaded. But what gives the championship that much more harder to achieve is that every game in the postseason is a do-or-die situation. if you lose a game in the postseason, that’s it. there’s no series, there’s no “We’ll come back and get em in game 7.” that was game 7. plus, you look at the teams with the most championships won in each sport, football is the only sport where the team with the most championships won is in single digits (the steelers with 6 super bowl championships, while the montreal canadiens have 24 stanley cup championships, the boston celtics have 17 NBA championships, and the yankees of course, have 27 world series championships).
therefore, i conclude, i agree with matt and think the world series is the hardest championship to win
why:
most games played
nature of the sport
prestige of the championship
hardest sport to get into the postseason in
Those who believe the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win are insane. Look at all the players that have a Stanley Cup. It’s true free agency has a lot to do with that, but the World Series is far more difficult to win. I’m right, deal with it. Anyone who wishes to fight me over this argument may email me at rals25@yahoo.com. We’ll set up a time so I can whip your monkey ass.
Stanley by far. Baseball isn’t a contact sport so the wear and tear isn’t as bad. Hockey is full out exertion, body checks, always skating your hardest. And you can win the cup in a minimum of 16 games max is 28. Finnishing it in 16 is almost unthinkable. Baseball you can win games due the pitching rotation. so in my opinion Stanley. not to mention its the biggest trophy
even though it is not in the top 4 sports, the memorial cup is clearly the hardest to win. The memorial cup is combined with a few different leagues(QMHL, WHL, LCH, OHL, the CHL,) There is then a bracket set up according to conference. This bracket is lengthy and brutal. When you emerge as the winner your are not done. You are then entered in another bracket., This is the actual bracket for the memorial cup. This bracket consists of many teams, and is very brutal. This is why most of the men that win the memorial cup go on to be stars in the NHL. Such as sidney crosby, Roberto luongo, Jonathan Tavares, brad richards, Shea Weber. Oh yeah, there is also a round robin tournament to produce rankings.