Bik's Week 9 Picks: June 20th 1994

I may have only been a mere 9 years old but it’s stuck with me since then. And really its something that I will always look back to. I think about why can’t we get back to that point? But also about how we got to this point. And how potentially different it could have been.

As the NHL has finally done the inevitable and cancelled its show-piece regular season game, The Winter Classic, I think back to when I was 9 years old. June 20^th 1994 to be exact.

It was then when hockey could no longer be ignored in the North American sports landscape. After all, it was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Let's just get this out of the way first - The NFL is the top league in North America and will never be topped. So that struggle for #2 is a rotating and on-going battle. But back on June 20th 1994, Hockey had arrived into the mainstream, and quite impressively. Think about the timing. Just 2 years earlier the Dream Team had just been assembled. The NBA was witnessing Michael Jordan's prime. Meanwhile the NHL had Gretzky in LA and was coming off 1 of the most exciting Finals ever (Rangers - Canucks).

Really think about the comparison between the 2 sports and how difficult it is to play one vs. the other. It's difficult to relate to NBA stars because the most paramount requirement in the NBA is height. Put watching an NBA game within the 1st 10 rows on your "Sports Bucket List." It's staggering when you get close to these athletes because they're incredibly freakish in comparison to the public. Yet all you need is shoes, a hoop and a ball to play basketball. Hockey requires the ability to skate, expensive equipment, and also the skill to wield an instrument that has a curve in it to control the object which 9 other players a competing for. And SI was commenting on how hockey was here and ahead of the NBA.

I'm not going to get into battle from that point on because what spawned was the dead-puck era while both leagues had to contend with the MLB and its home-run craze so lets fast-forward to the end of the last lockout. The NBA was in shambles. A lack of recognizable and likable stars (which can't be over-stated because basketball unlike any other sport is so "naked" in nature as in its stars are just wearin a jersey and are so perfectly visible to everyone), a product that was genuinely lethargic and lazy and most importantly full of scandal. When I think of mid-late 00's NBA the following 3 spring to mind, in any order: Kobe's sexual assault, The Malice at the Palace, and Tim Donaghy ref scandal. Without looking it up I can't remember who won which championship in what year during that stretch. Outside of maybe the Pistons title for being the most boring finals ever.

On the flip-side the NHL had ended the the dead-puck era and emerged from the lockout with a bevy of new stars to play in a league with improved rules to benefit the skill that is required to play in the NHL. The moment was then and was begging to be taken advantage of. You had 2 huge young superstars to build and market around with Crosby - Ovechkin, you had a sport which visually was being played at a brilliant speed that was bringing out the best in not just new talent, but those who were given a breath of fresh air and space on the ice they had hadn't seen in a long time. There was no reason for the NHL to not take this opportunity and cement itself in that #2 spot.

But it never happened. Simply put. It. Never. Happened. And not that it should matter to the hardcore hockey fans because they might just stand by their game that they love, but the moment is gone. It's not coming back, and if it does - it will be the next generation of fans that will experience it. Look what's happening in the NBA. It's too compelling of a story/season to be ignored, but equally as damaging for the NHL's rapport with its fan-base - it's so compelling that hockey might not have a place on our TV's soon.

We gravitate towards greatness. It just happens, whether pro or con. When it appears you can't get away from it. For 9 years we wondered when LeBron James would force us to have the greatness discussion. 1 NBA title, 1 Finals MVP, and a playoff performance for the ages has forced us to have that discussion. For me, hating LeBron James was about his apathy towards his game - not about the way he exited Cleveland. Look, he wanted to leave Cleveland and that was his prerogative. The manner in which he presented his plan was bush league, not that he left. The age-old phrase is that winning trumps everything and LeBron got his title and did it in a fashion that will never be forgotten. It took 9 seasons, but LeBron finally developed all the tools to his game to make him unstoppable, most notably a low-post game which opens up the floor for shooting team-mates and puts him in a spot that nobody can defend him. From Game 5 of Round 2 to the point where he held the trophy was a phenomenal stretch of basketball. So now he has his ring, what's left is his standing in the all-time basketball hierarchy. The Heat are unleashing what can only be described as "position-less basketball" operating an offense that is all about LeBron doing LeBron type things from the low-post. Oh and by the way, this is just 1 story-line for the NBA this season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder fell victim to the The Heat in last years final and did so with a trio of young likeable talent. Kevin Durant, through no forced marketing has kind of become the Bizarro LeBron. The league's 2nd biggest star is about as likeable of a pro-athlete that you will find. Open to the fans, not overly cocky (a problem with attaching yourself to NBA stars), and an elite ability to do what he does best - score points at an astonishing rate. Add in Russell Westbrook and James Harden, it looked like the Thunder were set up for a decade of title contention. Amidst a contract struggle, the Thunder made the decision to move James Harden breaking up the trio and potentially removing themselves from the championship discussion. A move like this is highly scrutinized since the line between contenders and not is so slim - they had a formula that worked and tampered with it. Oh and by the way, this might not be the most compelling storyline of the NBA this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers refuse to be a sub-plot in the NBA. So after a 2nd round playoff exit, what do you do? Go out and make 2 of the biggest trades in recent NBA memory. A top 25 player of all-time in Steve Nash, and the poster-boy for the "Wow" factor in Dwight Howard. It's impossible to watch Dwight Howard play basketball and not think "Wow". He's a 7 foot, perfectly sculpted specimen that can run the floor at blinding speeds for a human that size. He can jump higher than I stand and has a likeability factor that is through the roof. This is potentially the final run Steve Nash has in him and the Lakers went from 1 of the most disliked teams to a team everybody is rooting for because of Nash. The unfortunate problem is the Lakers play in the Western Conference with Oklahoma and another team with an incredibly story: The San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, for non NBA fans/NHL fans, are essentially the Detroit Red Wings of basketball. With Tim Duncan continuing to re-invent himself and sacrifice for the betterment of the team, they've remained in contention year after year after year. It's no secret age is catching up to him, but with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli this could also be their last run at a championship. Oh and by the way, these are just 2 story-lines for the NBA this season.

Here's a quick run-down that the NBA has going for itself this year alone:

• Houston with Jeremy Lin and James Harden in its back-court
• Chris Paul in a contract year with the LA Clippers and playing with Blake Griffin.
• Anthony "Unibrow" Davis coming into the league as 1 of the most-anticipated prospects since Tim Duncan.
• A brand new team in Brooklyn headed by an owner with endless money to spend in Mikhail Prokhorov.
• A comeback season by former MVP Derrick Rose following a knee injury in the huge basketball market that is Chicago.
• And the Knicks now competing with a 2nd New York team with a super-star in his own rights, Carmelo Anthony.

I came out of the last lockout (just having to write "last lockout" is depressing... sigh) ecstatic that the NHL had made changes to improve is product. That won't be the case this time around. I'm always going to think about June 20th 1994 as the time the NHL pulled ahead of the NBA and had a chance to stay there. But there's a difference between thinking it - and experiencing it. The NBA is experiencing its moment to surge into that 2nd spot - and not leave for a while.

Week 9 Picks. Home team in CAPS.

Chiefs (+7.5) over CHARGERS
Chargers won 31-13 on Thursday Night.

Broncos (-3.5) over BENGALS

PACKERS (-10.5) over Cardinals

COLTS (+2) over Dolphins

BROWNS (+3) over Ravens

Bills (+10) over TEXANS

REDSKINS (-3) over Panthers

JAGUARS (+5) over LIONS

Bears (-3.5) over TITANS

SEAHAWKS (-4.5) over Vikings

RAIDERS (-1.5) over Buccaneers

Giants (-3) over Steelers

Cowboys (+4) over FALCONS

Eagles (+3) over SAINTS

This Week: 0-1

Last Week: 7-7

Season: 59-58-1