Do you know your champions?

 

Was talking to a friend the other day about tennis.

Yes. Tennis.

We both enjoy the sport. And, for years, he has attempted to make a part of the summer a trip to see some of the U.S. Open played in person. For a variety of reasons—including the French Open having just concluded and Wimbledon getting started—the subject was part of a recent conversation.

Here’s the kicker… he is a huge fan of the sport. Huge. And yet he couldn’t quickly rattle off the recent champions.

Now, Covid as a part of all of this. Wimbledon was cancelled in 2020. The French Open moved its tournament into September. But on the men’s side it isn’t too difficult. It’s all Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Not kidding, either. Other than Dominic Thiem winning the U.S. Open in 2020, Djokovic and Nadal have won everything since Wimbledon in 2018.

One reason for our conversation is Naomi Osaka (and all support from us to her). She’s won four of the last ten women’s grand slam tennis tournaments held.

But the crazier part that came to our mind is that after sorting out the tennis champions, we really stumbled to name the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL title holders. The Super Bowl and Tampa Bay was easy enough. And although the World Series and Los Angeles took us a moment, it connected immediately after we remembered the NBA and Los Angeles. And that left hockey. Who won the greatest trophy in sports, the Stanley Cup?

I’ll give you a moment.

Funny thing about Covid. It shifted seasons and championships around for just about every league except the NFL. The NBA played its championship round basically in early October, and the NHL went mid to late September. MLB finished its year just about as usual, but played a modified season, including extra playoff teams.

Ok, that’s enough time.

Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. (And, amazingly enough, Tampa Bay also faced Los Angeles in the World Series. They only have three professional teams, and came darn close to sweeping the trophies from those sports. And, Covid again, the Toronto Raptors did play the current season in Tampa. Crazy world. Anyway…)

My friend and I began having a debate about whether or not the hesitations and forgetfulness in our recollections was us, a Covid-based hangover, or just general indifference. While people obviously go crazy for the Super Bowl, enjoy sports in general, and sports wagering is taking root across the country now that it is being legalized in so many places, the question we had was whether or not people have better things to do.

Consider: Monday Night Football.

At first glance, the broadcast is considered an institution. And, fair enough. But for decades, as it was aired on ABC, it was part of a limited television schedule. Three major networks. Some other channels that were essentially all local productions. As a result, when Monday Night Football was on, you basically watched it or you weren’t watching television.

Basically, is an important word in that last sentence, because obviously NBC and CBS had shows playing. But Monday Night Football is now on ESPN. Rounds of professional playoff action heads to TNT, TBS and other stations that are not part of the major collection of national networks. The broadcast landscape has been changing for decades. Television shows have improved, spread out across networks and providers, and there’s no going back as services continue to develop.

I suppose a part of the disconnect could be us. It could definitely be me. While the interest is there in a variety of ways and for many reasons over recent years, the devotion to dozens of games for the regular season isn’t the same. I tend to concentrate more during the playoffs.

But I think there is something to the memories of people as a whole playing into this as well. A fascinating study would be attention spans. We’ve moved our news and information into character-limited immediacy. We want it fast and first, in many ways sacrificing the accuracy of reporting. It all becomes there it is, done, next, without much time to create an imprint that lasts.

And if you don’t believe me, then let’s close with a question. I told you during this essay that the last four professional champions in the NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL were the Los Angeles Lakers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Can you tell me the four that won each title before them?

If you don’t know, take a minute to research it yourself. I’m guessing it’s possible you might need help with one or two, and if that’s true, it moves the needle a bit more closely toward general indifference. (But hey, how great was the first season of Resident Alien?

 

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail me at Bob@inmybackpack.com