Rant 1: When the unmatched Bobby Orr scored his famous goal -- well, it's famous to hockey fans -- to win the Stanley Cup for the Boston Bruins in 1970, the date was May 10.

That seems like a reasonable date for the season to end. This greed-inspired playing into mid-June is nuts.

 Rant 2: I sometimes hear people describe NBA players as the greatest athletes in the world. But I don't buy it.

No question, pro basketball players are tremendous athletes. But can you really be "the greatest" if, to excel at the highest level, you had to have the luck of genetics on your side so you could wind up being super-tall?

Surely the greatest athletes are average-sized people who succeed strictly as a result of their enormous talent and grit.

And what about an ability to suffer for your sport? I suspect cross-country bicycle racers routinely endure pain that would make many ball-sports competitors whimper. 

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