Change is sweeping the sports world too

After more than six months of campaigning, yelling, screaming, misstatements, debating, and refusing to drop out, the Democratic primaries finally came to an end last night. And at long last, Barack Obama is the party's candidate. Although you wouldn't know it from Hillary Clinton, who didn't exactly give a speech inferring that the race is over.

Anyway, Obama's mantra of change seems to be the best way to sum up the sporting world right now. The Cubs are in first place for the first time in 100 years, the (Devil) Rays are leading the American League, the Yankees are last in the AL East, the NHL led off SportsCenter the other night, the Celtics and Lakers are facing each other for the first time in two decades, Big Brown is set to win the first Triple Crown since 1978, Mixed Martial Arts is on CBS, and Pacman Jones is finally reinstated -- on the same team as Tank Johnson and Terrell Owens.

Speaking of MMA, I think this is an XFL situation in the making. The product is not deep enough to support a growing fan base when it's on a Saturday night in June. Plus, most of the initial ratings were pure curiosity. Look at American Gladiators. It debuted on NBC in January with 10.7 million viewers, and last week it got about 4 million viewers. Once the fascination dies down, the MMA will likely die within a year or two. The product just isn't good enough.

As for Lakers-Celtics, whatever the ratings are, they won't be high enough. Getting either the Lakers or the Celtics in a Finals matchup used to ensure a double-digit rating. Getting both should mean ratings galore. If the NBA is as relevant as it was in the 80's and 90's, asking for 15 million people to tune in wouldn't be extreme. If the NBA can't easily secure double-digit ratings with these two teams, with Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, the league needs to orchestrate the Knicks trade for LeBron James, because it's the only hope they have of reclaiming the Jordan years.