Sports Credibility Scale

KGB's well-timed rant on the NBA got me fired up to finally polish off my much anticipated, long under development Sports Credibility Scale. In short, this rates many (but not all) major sports on their credibility. It's a blend of the legitimacy of the competition plus a reflection of the sports vs. entertainment tradeoff.

First a disclaimer - the ratings should take nothing away from the talents of the individual competitors. The ratings address the sports in the broadest terms possible.

Let's begin. First, we need to define the bottom.

Zero stars: Professional Wrestling. No further explanation necessary, right kids?

One star: Boxing. This is tougher than you might think. If this sport could be fairly and consistently judged, this would be high up. But the sketchy judging coupled with the heavy gambling influence weigh this down. Ask yourself this question: have there ever been fixed fights? Um hmmmmmm.

Two stars: NBA. I *think* the credibility is here, but the whole Dick Bavetta factor and continual implications of the NBA orchestrating desired outcomes (see KGB's Pistons/Heat rant) quite honestly scare me. And then there's the sports/entertainment factor. The scales tip unfavorably toward entertainment instead of sports. Ever watch a game...the second there's a timeout, cameras are on the floor, in the players' faces, in the freaking huddles for crying out loud. Marketing is geared toward the individuals over the teams ("Kobe and the Lakers take on Shaq and the Heat"). Music plays during the game. I could go on, but let's just say I long for the glory days of Bird and Magic.

Four stars: Major League Baseball. First, notice the size of the gap between the NBA and baseball. This is no accident. Now, the only concerns here are the one-on-one nature of the pitcher-batter matchups, and the sheer length of the season. But it's not "Jeter and the Yankees vs. Manny and the Red Sox"...it's Yanks/Sox. That's the difference. And it's a huge one. One more thing...screw Jeter and Manny. David Wright is God.

College Basketball. Let's face it, there have been point shaving scandals. And I can understand it from this standpoint: these guys generate tons of money for their universities and receive next to nothing (except an education, but that's another rant). And it's much easier to fix a basketball game than a game in...

Four and a half stars: College Football. Same setup as basketball, except there are fewer games (less opportunity), crazier fans (bigger backlash), and it's much MUCH harder to fix football than basketball.

NFL/NHL. Same as above. Both are hard to fix. Both emphasize the team and the game over the individual. Anyone trying to undermine this game from within would get the living shit beat out of him in the lockerroom too. The NFL could have had the coveted five star award, but this past year's playoff officiating debacles are somewhat concerning.

Five stars: Golf. It's individual competition. Every shot has tons of witnesses - look at Michelle Wie's drop last fall. The players call freaking penalties on themselves. And there are no guaranteed contracts. The only payoff is in winning, and you can't do that any way but on your own. Guys sometimes tank tournaments, but that's because they want to get home - not because any kind of fix is in.