As a fan of the Toronto Raptors, watching the NBA Finals produces increasing despair. The two teams battling it out for the championship are so much better than our guys they seem to be playing in a different league.
In English soccer, teams at the bottom of the best division are booted (har de har) to the next division while the top teams from below are promoted. There’s infinitely more prestige in becoming Premier League champions than winning any other division.
North American professional sports doesn’t subscribe to a relegation system (Future headline: “Raptors 905 join NBA next season, while Brooklyn Nets become G-League squad”…not happening in my lifetime), which in a way is too bad but not the point of this post.