I think he's right about the Pats being the favorite every year, at least for the last 6-7 years. He's wrong about most else.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I tried finding it but can't.

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Wow

I won't edit and will leave the scar.

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I laughed for a bit at that. Would be less funny if it came from Caller Bob or something but usually you don't have ones that bad.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Pats have been the favorite to win the Super Bowl 8 times since 05. I'm fairly certain that they have probably been the favorite to win the conf 12-13 times in the past 15 years

Sudden death randomness increases the likelihood that the same team won't get there and nothing else.

Again injuries were the reason that Cleveland got there last year

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You answered the exact opposite of his question, which was about how often GS has been favored to win it all in the last 5 or so years, and how many times the Cavs have been favored to win the East in recent history.

G.S. Has been favored to win the past 4 years. Cleveland the last 4. There were teams capable of knocking them off (OKC, S.A. Houston) along the way. That is why its a misnomer to constantly suggest that "you know who was going to win the championship" before the season started. They have been tested in 2 of the 3 years that they have won the championship. Would have been a 3rd but Leonard was injured. Last year they probably lose if Paul doesn't get injured.

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"Sure, they were expected to win from day one, but consider that at one point they almost didn't!" is such a funny defense.

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Just trying to illustrate how they weren't a shoo in. It still doesn't excuse the fact that New England has been favorites or no lower than top 3 favorites to win the Super Bowl for 15 years running. You can just pencil them in to win and take your chances. The NBA has had at least 5-6 teams serve that purpose over the same time span.

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So it's ridiculous to suggest that the NBA has a more or less preordained Finals picture, even winner, despite Golden State being heavy favorites for the last few years and converting their chances. But at the same time it is inexcusable for the Patriots to be favorite picks before the season, despite not converting even most of the times they were picked as favorites?

And how are we determining "favorites" here? I don't think there is any doubt that Golden State was considered the most talented team in the NBA the last few seasons, but the same cannot be said of the Patriots being the consensus "most talented" team in the NFL year in and year out.

What do you consider a shoo-in? A team that goes undefeated in the regular season and playoffs?

The rest of your post is just nonsense to distract from the fact that it has clearly been shown the NBA is far more predictable than any other sport. Again, you should just accept it and move on. It's not necessarily even a critique. Some people like juggernauts.

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Actually I like seeing the "best of the best". I agree there is some predictability (probably a lot) but that has never bothered me. For as long as i can remember there have always been about 3 teams that were slightly better than the rest. I'm good with that. If the NBA really wanted unpredictability they'd make each round 1 game or best 2 out of 3 even. They want to see the "best of the best" play in the finals if possible and I am good with that. My point is that the NFL has "dynasties" also. Always have. The only reason that there is less predictability is because the games are single elimination as opposed to series. There are teams each year that are head and shoulders above the rest but circumstances (not parity as it is often portrayed on here) may lead to them not winning the championship.

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Just throwing this out there. No Super Bowl winner has ever not been undefeated in the playoffs. Sound like parity?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You're not exactly in mid-week form with this one.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

To make things fair the NBA go with a 15 man roster in the playoffs but randomly select 3 guys each game as ineligible. Sorry Miami, but Wade, Bosh, and LeBron are out this game, time for the Birdman and Supernintendo Chalmers to pick up the slack. Yes it’s a stupid idea, I still like like it.

It's cool that you can still get enjoyment from watching the league even if you find the ultimate outcome to be at least somewhat predictable. However, because of the predictability, I really can't get much enjoyment out of regular season NBA basketball. Therefore, I don't watch it, and I don't consider the league to be "dynamic." Further, from the other posts in this thread, I don't think I'm unique. That's why I really thought Bernstein's comments were off base.

everyone is entitled to their opinion but the facts are the facts. NBA is the fastest growing American based sport in this country. Not even close. Youngest demographic fan base as well.

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I think this is pretty simple.

In any given year, if I offered this wager at the start of the season:
I pick two teams, you get every other team in the league. The winner is the person who picked the champion.

The only wager I would take the two teams is in the NBA.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!