Mike Francesa: 'They' Are Killing Sports

Mike Francesa has forgotten more about sports than the rest of us will ever learn and few people in recorded history have ever enjoyed them more. That's why it's so jarring and depressing to wake up on a soggy April Friday to discover that the Sports Pope is losing his religion. The very last thing he would ever want to do!

As of press time it is unclear who they are or why MLB and the NBA are at the top of the list. Francesa should be praised for holding his tongue on the deterioration of sports until it was impossible to continue. It must have been tough to suffer in silence, knowing that speaking out with such vagaries would shake baseball and basketball to their very rotten cores.

Thank you, Mike! Thank you, Mike! Thank you, Mike!

It's fair to say both MLB and the NBA have some problems. The three true outcomes era has resulted in long stretches of inaction as the ball is in play far too infrequently. The NBA is trying to cram two seasons' worth of games into a tiny box and it's exacerbated the load-management problem to the point of near comedy. Despite all this, I've personally found more enjoyment in both recently.

The NBA has such an embarrassment of talent. There are two dozen players who have developed a signature skill set and it's never been more compelling to watch a roster 1-15 attempt to function together when there is no routine. Major League Baseball has a new crop of players who are actively courting the spotlight and pushing to usher the sport into a more fun future.

But that's just me. Here's hoping the two leagues in question can win Francesa back again. They've all had too many good times together to just throw it all away. A lot worth fighting for here.