ESPN Sportsnation is conducting a series askign about each sports championship, with the world cup as an option to select. http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling?event_id=202
My votes: Most Exciting Tourni: NCAA Most Deserving Champion: NCAA Final To See: World Cup Most Passion from Fans: World Cup NFL Playoffs: Keep Current System NCAA Playoffs: Keep as is Most Difficult to Understand: Olympic Figure Skating
Mine would be Most exciting: World Cup Most Deserving: World Cup (2+ years of qualifying) Final To See: World Cup Most Passion From Fans: World Cup NFL Playoffs: For the love of God, don't expand it. NCAA Format: It ain't broke. Don't fix it. Toughest to Understand: None of the above are that hard to figure out.
just voted 1) Which postseason tournament is the most exciting to watch? 45.3% NCAA men's basketball tournament 23.2% NFL playoffs 12.0% Stanley Cup playoffs 8.6% MLB playoffs 7.1% World Cup soccer 3.7% NBA playoffs 2) Which postseason system is the most fair and produces the most deserving champion? 20.8% NBA playoffs 19.5% MLB playoffs 17.6% NCAA men's basketball tournament 17.5% Stanley Cup playoffs 16.6% NFL playoffs 8.0% World Cup soccer 3) Which event would you most like to attend? 41.0% Super Bowl 17.4% World Series, Game 7 14.8% Final Four 10.9% World Cup soccer final 10.6% Stanley Cup, Game 7 5.3% NBA Finals, Game 7 4) Which postseason tourney evokes the most passion among fans? 33.5% NCAA men's basketball tournament 29.2% World Cup soccer 24.0% NFL playoffs 6.6% Stanley Cup playoffs 5.0% MLB playoffs 1.6% NBA playoffs 5) How many teams should the NFL have in the playoffs? 60.4% 12 (current system) 24.2% 14 15.4% 16 6) What would be the best system for the NCAA Tournament? 84.5% Keep it as is 10.5% Let in every team and expand by two rounds 5.0% Cut back to 32 or 48 teams 7) What system is the most difficult to understand? 42.2% Olympic figure skating 28.6% America's Cup 18.2% College World Series 11.0% World Cup soccer Total Votes: 58,002
Do you people notice something here: The World Cup is the odd man here; it doesn't belong in this poll. In other words, all of the other championships are club championships; the World Cup is a championship of nations, not clubs. So why would they even bother to include it in this poll? Why not use any of the English, UEFA, CL or MLS club championships instead? But then again, being an ESPN poll, methinks they included the World Cup in this poll deliberately, with the intention of internally sabotaging the poll.