Roscoe, all three of the reasons you gave for the importance of the regular season make sense to me. And thinking about them (specifically: asking myself exactly how the regular season matters with respect to these three things you listed?) made me realize something that is perhaps obvious: there is NO formula! There is no ONE factor! The regular season is indeed something like a creative process. What, ideally, with talent, work, and luck, you'll come up with is a champion. But it's not a science, it's an art and anybody who has ever painted or made music or written or engaged in any number of other artistic practices knows that the fact the thing doesn't always lead where you hoped and planned doesn't render the whole process of getting there worthless. Which leads me to want to add my voice to what you and Webz also said: enjoying the ride.

That said, sports are also for those whose main or even sole priority is championships. I imagine they are getting a different sort of enjoyment out of the whole affair (and not just the enjoyment of winning the championship, even the enjoyment of kvetching at all the little things that seem to be in the way of that). It might be hard for me fully understand, but I wouldn't want to go so far as to begrudge them their enjoyment.

When I get frustrated -- slight digression -- with the forum is not with the different opinions or ways of enjoying (or not enjoying) the team, and not even with the attempts to convince others to see (and enjoy or not enjoy) the team the way we do, but when it polarizes into right and wrong. That right and wrong thinking just seems goofy to me when it comes to what is, essentially, an art.

Part of my hope for this thread was that it would foment a specific and elaborate presentation of viewpoints on how the regular season relates to the post-season without degenerating into a right/wrong, black/white thing.

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