New Jersey, sports capital of the world?

This hasn't been your garden variety NBA and NHL postseasons, but it has been your Garden State variety.\nAfter all, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup Monday one day after Continental Airlines Arena co-tenants, the New Jersey Nets, played an NBA Finals game in that very same building.\nWhile the location for these games has stayed the same, the games they play are heading in different directions.\nMonday night's Game 7 drew the highest ratings for a hockey game since moving to broadcast networks in 1998. Meanwhile, NBA Finals ratings are way down with Game 1's ratings decreasing by 40 percent from last year and Game 2's down 29 percent.\nIs this a trend reversal? Will hockey become bigger than basketball?\nWhile I am not a hockey nut, we can only hope. The NBA Finals are drudgery, almost impossible to watch. The Spurs are so much better than the Nets that it seems amazing the Nets have already managed to win a game. The Nets seem to have to get on a hot streak just to get to 80 points.\nWhat's even sadder was that we saw this coming. About halfway through the regular season, it was pretty obvious the Western Conference representative was going to win the championship. \nFor whatever reason, some people thought the Nets sweeping the Celtics and Pistons back to back to get to the Finals was a sign that they had a chance. In fact, all it did was make the rest of the Eastern Conference look worse.\nThe Nets just have two players that consistently give the opposition matchup problems -- Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin. Still, though, Martin has to use his explosive leaping ability for many of his opportunities, scoring often in transition and off offensive rebounds. Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles and Lucious Harris are capable of scoring, but they need Kidd's marvelous passing to set them up.\nHaving said that, Kidd, a very underrated defender, has oftentimes looked heavy-legged against Spurs' point guard Tony Parker. Parker looks to score as much as pass, and his brilliant shooting keyed San Antonio's first two wins in the series. With rumors abounding that Kidd will leave the Nets for the Spurs as a free agent during the upcoming offseason, one can't help but wonder whether the Spurs are about to separate themselves even further from the Lakers, the only team that matters. (If you don't think that, how do you explain why ratings have headed so far downhill?)\nThe Nets are known as an excellent defensive team, but Kidd's getting worn out chasing Parker, and Martin cannot handle Tim Duncan one-on-one.\nMeanwhile, the Tim Duncan Master of Fundamentals label is all well and good, but I think it is an attempt by desperate NBA writers to bring back despondent fans who decided in Post-Jordan Era II (1998-2001) that all players were jerks and the game wasn't worth watching. Actually, Duncan is a marvelous athlete whose plans to qualify for the Olympics in swimming representing the U.S. Virgin Islands were ruined by Hurricane Hugo's 1992 imposition on the island, ruining all St. Croix's swimming pools. \nFundamentally sound? Sure, but he's not some shlub that figured out the fundamentals and became a superstar.\nThe Devils-Mighty Ducks Stanley Cup Finals was far more tense and intriguing, though it was somewhat done in with five of the seven games being routs. With home ice advantage being less meaningful than in any other sport, somehow the home team managed to win all seven games.\nThe Devils won despite a power play that was more a rumor than a threat, but it made for an interesting contrast with a Ducks team always looking to skate in open ice.\nWhile it seemed odd a player from the losing team won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff's Most Valuable Player, Ducks' goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere was a deserving winner. The Ducks won so many narrow decisions in the playoffs including an improbable 8-0 in overtime, a great credit to a goalie who based his game more on positioning and anticipation than acrobatics.\nAs I have watched more, my appreciation for the Stanley Cup playoffs has grown, and the game has made more sense.\nThe more I watched, I was even able to notice the puck. The next thing they could do is legalize the two-line pass to make the game more interesting.\nHowever, my hopes for the NBA Finals also apply to hockey: Don't ask for too much.