The Mild Mild West

Notice how things have worked out lately in the world of sports? It's like schools and teams west of the Mississippi have become second-class citizens in the upper echelons of athletics. Consider:

The NCAA men's Final Four in the hoops championship. Duke played Michigan State and Wisconsin squared off against Kentucky. Three from the eastern time zone and one from the central. The easternmost of them all -- Duke -- would go on to become champions. Nobody from west of the Mississippi even made it to the Big Dance.

Same with the ladies' Final Four. UConn played Maryland and Notre Dame had it out with South Carolina. All four cities that are home to these universities reside in the eastern time zone. As we know, UConn, the easternmost school, won the championship by thumping Notre Dame, the westernmost of the quartet, in the Finals. Nary a central, mountain, or pacific time zoner could qualify for this particular prom either.

Go back and recall the Super Bowl. The farthest east NFL team (Patriots) defeated the farthest west team (Seahawks).

Before that, it was the Ohio State Buckeyes of the eastern time zone trashing the far western Oregon Ducks in the college football championship.

No doubt about it, 2015 has been a good year so far for the east when it comes to championships. With the NHL and NBA playoffs coming up soon, it could conceivably even be a seasonal sweep. Few would doubt the NHL playoffs are a crap shoot, perhaps rivaled only by Major League Baseball in their unpredictability. Anybody can get hot -- or lucky -- and wind up hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup. In the end, there will be one team from the "east" and another from the "west" slugging it out in a 7 game series. A coin flip, at best.

In the NBA, there's no doubt the Western Conference is vastly superior overall to the East from top to bottom, but only one Wild Wester will survive their brutal playoff rodeo to advance to the Finals. Once there, they might well meet -- the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is noted the Atlanta Hawks have a far superior record but, after a slow start, Lebron and Company have finally gelled and have been on a roll. Bet your kids or their college funds against Cleveland's version of the KKK (the King, Kyrie, and Kevin) at your own peril.

Last year was quite the opposite. The San Fran Giants won the World Series, the San Antonio Spurs the NBA championship, the LA Kings the Stanley Cup, and the Seahawks hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy as Super Bowl champs. Of course, those pesky UConn Huskies from the east had a pretty good year themselves, seeing as how they won both the mens and ladies college hoops titles, but overall 2014 was the year of the West.

Funny how that works out sometimes. Know what's really confusing? The politics of it all. The northeast, which is "right" on the map, typically leans left. Most of the western states, which are "left" on the map, normally lean right.

And if you're a sports fanatic and ever figure out how THAT works, you should quit whatever job you currently have and move to Las Vegas -- or Atlantic City. Be it west or east, they have a spot for you.

I believe the correct term is "bookie".