According to the latest numbers, there are 3 unbeaten teams in the NFL after three weeks. That's 32 teams we're talking about.
Twenty-nine NFL clubs have already lost at least once. Wow.
Would this kind of parity be good for the bj-league? And if so, how should the league go about aiming to have this kind of parity? I'm curious to examine this issue in greater detail in the coming months.
Last season, there were 11 of 16 teams with 20 or more losses (in a planned 52-game season). After the March 11, earthquake, three teams -- Sendai 89ers, Tokyo Apache and Saitama Broncos -- stopped playing, which made the remaining portion of the schedule a bit wacky.
Has rapid expansion -- from six teams in 2005 to 19 for this season (actually 20 if you count the Tokyo Apache, the league's first long-term disappearing act/on-hiatus/quasi-permanent departure) -- led to a guaranteed amount of parity? Or is it simply growing pains? Or both?
Whatever you want to call it, there are three teams entering this season that have won championships in the league's six years of existence:
*Osaka Evessa (3)
*Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (2)
*Ryukyu Golden Kings (1)
So, therefore, there are 16 other franchises in the fight for that coveted first championship.
That's a good thing.
But does it really mean all teams have a 1 in 19 chance of grabbing the winner's trophy?
Opening day rosters, and rosters after New Year's Day, Valentine's Day and the signing and trade deadlines in the early spring, will go a long way in determining who has the pieces in place to be major contender this season.
Twenty-nine NFL clubs have already lost at least once. Wow.
Would this kind of parity be good for the bj-league? And if so, how should the league go about aiming to have this kind of parity? I'm curious to examine this issue in greater detail in the coming months.
Last season, there were 11 of 16 teams with 20 or more losses (in a planned 52-game season). After the March 11, earthquake, three teams -- Sendai 89ers, Tokyo Apache and Saitama Broncos -- stopped playing, which made the remaining portion of the schedule a bit wacky.
Has rapid expansion -- from six teams in 2005 to 19 for this season (actually 20 if you count the Tokyo Apache, the league's first long-term disappearing act/on-hiatus/quasi-permanent departure) -- led to a guaranteed amount of parity? Or is it simply growing pains? Or both?
Whatever you want to call it, there are three teams entering this season that have won championships in the league's six years of existence:
*Osaka Evessa (3)
*Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (2)
*Ryukyu Golden Kings (1)
So, therefore, there are 16 other franchises in the fight for that coveted first championship.
That's a good thing.
But does it really mean all teams have a 1 in 19 chance of grabbing the winner's trophy?
Opening day rosters, and rosters after New Year's Day, Valentine's Day and the signing and trade deadlines in the early spring, will go a long way in determining who has the pieces in place to be major contender this season.
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