Burns: Difference between the biggest and the best
Apr 28, 2010, 5:35 PM | Updated: Jan 14, 2011, 4:23 pm
On Tuesday, I podcasted about the difference between the biggest and the best.
Avatar was the biggest movie last year; it grossed three-quarters of a billion dollars domestically, 2.7 billion worldwide. But it wasn’t the best movie last year. That distinction belonged to The Hurt Locker. The story of Iraq war bomb diffusers/adrenaline junkies only grossed 16 million dollars domestically. Avatar grossed 46 times as much money as Hurt Locker.
Avatar was bigger. The Hurt Locker was better.
I make the same distinction with the Coyotes. You won’t find a better story than what this organization has endured this past year: Bankrupt. Balsillie. Gretzky. Hamilton. Glendale. Judge Redfield T. Baum. Not having a coach until half way through training camp. And through all that turbulence, they finish with the best record in franchise history and the first playoff appearance in nearly ten years. The perfect ending would have been a win over the Red Wings on Tuesday. In that regard the Coyotes just couldn’t quite finish. But it’s still the premiere sports story of the year in this town; the only story on the horizon that could be better than the Coyotes would be the Suns first ever NBA Championship.
But don’t confuse “the best” with “the biggest”.
You don’t need another lecture about the power of the NFL (though did you see the TV ratings for the NFL Draft last week – they bullied the NBA on a night where LeBron and Kobe both played). But I do find it interesting that the most read story on our website (as I am writing this blog) is about Alan Faneca signing with the Cardinals. When that news came down yesterday it created instant buzz. You sat up and took notice, put your eyeballs on it. I’m guessing it’s probably what you’re talking about in your cross-cubicle-conversation today. The Suns have a long-standing history of dominance in this market. A regular season D-backs game against the Dodgers (on April 15th) got better TV ratings than a Coyotes playoff game against the Red Wings the next night and I can’t say I’m surprised.
Cue Bruce Hornsby and The Range. That’s just the way it is.
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