The Best/Worst Things About Preseason Sports

With the opening of NFL training camps this week—making it acceptable for us fans to talk about fantasy football now—it got me thinking about some of the good and bad things about the preseason.

Sure, while the preseason brings along a lot of hype, patience and teasing for the real thing, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its benefits.

But since I truly believe we should all be stoked that it's beginning, here are the best and worst things to keep in mind during essentially high-profile practices.

Best: Accessibility to Favorite Players/Teams

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If it seems like you have a tough time trying to pose for photos with your favorite players during the season, the preseason is a place where teams actually encourage it.

While you shouldn't run onto the field of play to try to give some dap to the athletes playing, when attending training camp or scrimmages, there's a good chance that you'll get the opportunity to meet your athletic heroes—which is really cool.

Unlike the regular season, when players need to remain focused because the games matter, preseason practices and exhibition games don't carry as much weight, so athletes are more prone to being laid-back.

Worst: Preseason Rankings

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For so many reasons, preseason rankings in college basketball and football mean absolutely nothing—except to those who obsess over them like a new girlfriend or boyfriend or something.

Yes, it's cool to see your favorite school sitting in the top 10, but come December, once the games have been played out, will any of it really matter? Probably not.

Rarely does a No. 1-ranked team go all season long sitting in that spot, as team's have nights off or just get overmatched sometimes, and all preseason rankings do is let down the fans who actually believe them to be worth substance.

In fact, want to know how ridiculous these things are? The South Carolina Gamecocks football team was in the top 10 in last year's college football preseason polls, and it finished 7-6 after getting humiliated in its opening game on national TV.

Best: New Rosters/Storylines

Whether you love the hype or not, something that I enjoy is the anticipation of seeing a new roster play together for the first time.

Last year, it seemed that everyone was itching to find out what LeBron James and his new teammates, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, would look like on the Cleveland Cavaliers together.

This season, it's the excitement of a loaded San Antonio Spurs team coming together.

And this happens across all sports, as free agency, trades and other roster/personnel changes bring new energy and drama to certain teams—which is great for fans to be a part of.

Worst: The Superfans

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Don't get me wrong—I'm as stoked as the next guy that the games are back and that we're inching closer to the real thing, but that doesn't mean us fans should be in midseason form before that happens.

Being a sports fan is tricky sometimes, with the best ones understanding when it's necessary to be ridiculous and when there are times to just sit one out.

During the preseason, it should be the latter, leaving the face paint and trash-talk at home, keeping it locked up for when the games really matter.

Oh, and if you're the type of person to start a fight during any game—specifically at a preseason one—you should be banned from the stadium for life. C'mon, dudes, these games don't matter!

Best: New Uniform Unveilings

Us sports fans seem to obsess over the unveiling of new things—especially when it comes to the threads that our teams will be wearing during a season.

From college sports teams holding full-fledged parties to announce their new designs to people actually trying to leak pro-team uniforms on the Internet, we all just seem to love these new, trendy styles.

With these announcements come plenty of excitement, which is why I absolutely love when a new uniform gets released by a team.

Worst: The Length

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What really irks me about the preseason? Besides the way that some people treat it like it's the regular season, how about the fact that it seems to last forever!

As the NFL has debated for the past few years about how many preseason games are necessary for teams to get ready for the regular season, it's pretty common sense that the practice season doesn't need to stretch as long as it does.

Hell, do the names Lorenzo Taliaferro, Brice Butler and Jayrone Elliott ring a bell? Probably not. Yet those are the three guys who led the NFL in rushing yards, total touchdowns and sacks, respectively, during last year's preseason—because the starters rarely play deeper than the first half during these meaningless games for fear of injury.

It's time to shorten the preseason in all sports, like, right now.

Best: Rookie Initiations

Who doesn't like to see some good-natured rookie initiations to build team unity and crack us up? I certainly enjoy them—mainly because I'm not the one who's being forced to do them.

With so many solid instances of rookies forced into doing something they don't want to, when done in an appropriate manner, these can't be beat, as it's a reminder to the first-year players—no matter if a first-rounder or an undrafted guy—that this isn't college anymore.

Like those before them and future players after, rookie initiation is always funny to see.

Worst: Way-Too-Early Predictions

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All sites are complicit in this, but similar to the preseason rankings mentioned earlier, in the same vein as putting teams in a random order from Nos. 1-25 is attempting to see far into the future, actually going on a limb and predicting a champion before a single meaningful play is run.

I get that it's fun for people to hear talking heads who are analysts give their picks, but though I seem to be in the minority based on its popularity, it's tough to think that these people will be right the majority of the time.

It can actually get to be exhausting to see so many different opinions and, honestly, may be best reserved for fans to have with buddies over a few beers.

Really, it's sometimes hard to care who sits atop the NBA power rankings in September or which college football or basketball team is supposed to win it all prior to kids even being enrolled at that university!

Best: Hard Knocks

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

If there's one appetizing treat into preseason that every football fan loves, it's the HBO TV show Hard Knocks, which gives viewers an all-access pass into what life during an NFL training camp is really like.

Since 2001, cameras have followed a number of teams around, giving stories about little-known players who are hoping to make the team to the heartache of guys getting cut and, finally, all the funny moments in between.

With this year's version slated to follow the Houston Texans—which should be entertaining after the summer superstar defender J.J. Watt has had—I've got my DVR set to watch these all the way through in preparation for the NFL season.

I have a feeling I'm not the only one.

Worst: Meaningless Games for Full-Price Tickets

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If you haven't noticed, there seems to be a greedy epidemic that's spread like a wildfire through numerous sports leagues, punishing fans for wanting to try to see live games—even if they don't actually count for anything.

For years, there have been rumblings about how ticket prices remain too high for fans to buy during nothing more than an exhibition game, or, even worse, there's just not enough intrigue from fans to even want to go.

With NFL teams charging near the full prices they do during regular-season games, fans will continue to be turned off and avoid heading to stadiums, so let's hope that this changes in the near future.

Teams need to just start doing a lottery for $5 tickets to every home game, making a small profit for those who really want to make it out to catch a game.

Best: Fantasy Sports

Editor's Note: Video contains NSFW language.

To say that people love their fantasy sports is an extreme understatement, as buddies in recurring league's talk smack to one another all year long in anticipation of a new season to get underway.

Well, the preseason finally brings that to us all, wiping away any past failures in hopes of building the best team you can find.

From reading numerous ranking magazines to second-guessing yourself on reaching for a player a couple of rounds too early, fantasy sports is a hunger that nearly every sports fan just can't help but feed.

Worst: Injuries

JOHN BAZEMORE/Associated Press

Nobody likes injuries regardless of when they occur. However, the ones that happen before the regular season even begins are always just a little harder to swallow, as they feel like they could have been avoided since the games don't matter.

Of course, when you have professional athletes playing as hard as they can, there are going to be a few bumps and bruises, with major injuries occurring in some instances.

They're never fun to see—especially if they happen to a star player on your favorite team and/or are career-threatening to the player—so when they happen, it's about as big of a blow to everyone before the regular season begins.