Most fans, at some point or another, have been fans of on-the-bubble teams; the teams that are just barely good enough to make a run at the final playoff slot. When they manage to sneak in, we’re happy. When they’re edged out, we instinctively accuse the unfair nature of the league’s playoff system. This happened in the NFL last year, when Patriots fans whined that their 11-5 team missed the postseason and the 8-8 Chargers made it. It also happened in the 2007-08 NBA season, when fans of the Warriors (48-34), Blazers (41-41) and Kings (38-44) were on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference’s Hawks (37-45).

So, between the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball, which league’s playoff system tends to cheat the most objectively qualified teams out of playoff spots over recent years? Raw data (represented by blue bars in the graph below) places MLB far ahead of the pack, but I’ll argue that within context (red), the NBA isn’t far off despite its relatively simple admission system.

EDIT: A firm handshake is extended to commenter David Munk. I originally failed to count two snubbed NBA teams, and managed to mis-calculate the snubbed MLB teams entirely. Here is the corrected graph.

I’ll explain the math below.

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Last night I was watching “Jeopardy!” in a motel with Tom Cruise, and I got to thinking. Which cities have enjoyed the most championship appearances? In other words, which cities’ teams have provided the most bang for the buck by playing until the final round of the season?

Each segment in the map above connects two cities whose teams faced off in an MLB, NFL, NBA or NHL championship within the last fifteen years (in other words, as far back as a twentysomething can remember). The mess you see above looks sort of like a representation of flight patterns, and we can interpret it as such if we choose to ignore that the Super Bowl is never held in either team’s city.

The map screams “flyover country,” though “flyover country,” at least in terms of major sports happenings, seems to be smaller than I would have guessed. Denver has enjoyed a pretty solid showing, as have Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis. But this map reinforces the theory reflected by the last autism-inducing map: that Kansas City is a miserable sports town. It’s sad that the city hasn’t seen a championship appearance since 1985. It’s sadder that when teams from California face teams from the Northeast, as they often do, they apparently have to fly right over Kansas City. When Kobe Bryant or Derek Jeter fumble with the championship rings on their fingers and look out the windows of their planes, they see a little landlocked city populated with little ant-like specks. And in terms of relevance in modern sports, they may as well be. Aw, man, aw, that’s cold, man.

Yesterday, as you well know, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens in a stout contest of the footballing variety. Just before that, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia NFC Championshipgles to advance to the Super Bowl. But by far the most frightening, awe-inducing moment of the day came in the latter game, when Willis McGahee attempted to catch a pass over the middle and was utterly destroyed — mind, body, and soul — by Steelers DB Ryan Clark.

In all, it was a clean hit, the sort of tackle the tackler dreams of making, even if he is knocked out cold, as Clark was. But it’s also the sort of hit that injures people forever, and McGahee’s immediate reaction, lying on the field, prone, not moving his arm slightly, was one of disaster.

There, in one play, is the nature of the NFL. We love crushing hits. We hate career-ending injuries. If McGahee would have rolled over slowly and walked off the field, the idiot patrol on ESPN Monday Night Countdown would have screamed, in unison, that McGahee got “JACKED! UP!” Instead, Clark’s helmet position was within the millimeter space necessary to make McGahee’s head snap back. So instead of screaming at McGahee, the same people are praying for him. As if praying to a preferred deity does anything except make the rest of us feel better. That is the modern NFL: Violence is awesome until someone breaks their neck. Then it’s time to break out the rosaries. Rational, huh?

People tend to do crazy things when their team is on the verge of greatness. “Oh, dude: I’m going to totally get a tattoo commemorating my team of choice’s historic run. Would you also like to get ink on your body to remember such an occasion?” (This happens when your team sets history in another way, too.)

Another thing that always happens during playoff/championship runs? The mayors of opposing cities betting each other the finest meats and cheeses from their land. I think Mayor Daley always offers deep dish pizza, corruption and your choice of school board chair in these things.

But, in Pittsburgh, things are a bit different this time around. That’s because the mayor of that city is named “Luke Ravenstahl.” And they’re playing the Ravens. So people called up some talk radio show and said he should totally change his name to “Luke Steelerstahl,” because that’s completely sane and rational. Except it isn’t at all.

So then Luke took them up on this. Except he maybe didn’t.

The mayor this morning began, but did not complete, a Verified Petition for a Name Change.

Civil court staff gave the petition a docket number but said they did not expect to file it, in part because it was not complete and they did not receive the requisite $108 check. Had Mr. Ravenstahl completed the process, a police background check and other steps would have followed.

So after he staged a presser about the name change this morning, he reportedly ended up not following through on it … yet. Shocking, I tell you. But anyways, who knew talk radio callers had so much power?

Link via Fark.

This, my friends, is what happens when you beat the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the playoffs, holders of the best record this regular season at 13-3:

The Ravens got worked in just about every offensive category Saturday, but played some tremendous defense, getting stops and turnovers and escaping with a 13-10 win. And then they got treated like the Beatles in the airport when they played Baltimore’s Civic Center in September of 1964. Not too shabby, eh?

Play this video with the sound down, there is a naughty rap lyric or two for the soundtrack.

Happy New Year, Tavaris Jackson:

The Eagles ended up winning yesterday in Minnesota, securing  a matchup with the Giants this weekend at the Meadowlands. Should be a fun one. Tavaris Jackson, still in a confused state after the above hit, is rumored to be showing up in an Eagles jersey, ready to play quarterback and possibly still foaming at the mouth.

However, upon seeing Clemons in the locker room before kickoff, he will snap out of it, take the first flight back to Minnesota and call his mommy. (Was that the dumbest thing you’ve ever read? I’m betting it was.)

Vid via Trico Suave.

I’ve never bought a ticket off of Stubhub, but I know people that have. And, it’s never really much of a pleasurable experience: They’re a ticket brocker, they jack up prices, people pay anyway and then they complain about it. But if you’re looking for a ticket to a game or a concert, they likely have it. Powerful, Stubhub is.

But, Stubhub isn’t all about profits. No friends, they’re giving to Mother Earth this holiday season. For every ticket sold on their site to an NFL playoff game, they’re planting a tree in a nearby forest.

Playoffs: One tree will be planted in a National Forest for each playoff ticket purchased on StubHub. The number of trees to be planted in each forest depends on the number of tickets that are purchased on StubHub for each team’s home game(s). All tickets purchased will be attributed to the home team’s designated National Forest.

Super Bowl XLIII: One tree will be planted in Florida’s Ocala National Forest for every Super Bowl XLIII ticket purchased on StubHub.

Fans have two ways to participate in StubHub’s Tickets for Trees program:

1. Buy an NFL playoff ticket or Super Bowl XLIII ticket on StubHub
2. Donate directly to your team’s National Forest–every dollar plants another tree

Look like Minnesota’s Superior National Forest isn’t going to get much of a makeover.

Via Green Daily.