An NBA Dream Is Already a UEFA Reality

Almost all basketball fans in the United States of America are clamoring for a National Basketball Association Final that pits the Los Angeles Lakers against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

From what I can tell, a growing number of general sports fans in the USA are catching the scent of a special series featuring arguably the two best cagers on planet Earth—LA's Kobe Bryant and Cleveland's LeBron James.

I'm right there with 'em—seeing the Black Mamba writhe against King James would be just the thing to make me forget my growing disillusionment with the game.

Until reading this little gem from Robert Burns at Fox Sports, I was also part of different group.  One about to ignore another athletic spectacle not likely to be seen again for a long time.

The Union of European Football Associations Champions League Final.

I reference the NBA because, in truth, the UEFA ultimate match is the Lakeshow versus the Cavs, Kobe versus LBJ times about a billion.

Whether you follow soccer or whether I'm a fan of association football is irrelevant to the ultimate question of which is the globe's biggest sport—it's the game played using the ball with colored pentagons.

And it ain't close.

We all know the tired and confounding truism that, for whatever reason, the game hasn't caught on in America with the same fervor.

Well, perhaps that could change in the very near future.  If you—like me—are breathlessly rooting for a final that allows Earth's two best basketball teams and players (again, arguably on both accounts) to settle the matter on the court, then perhaps you can join me in seeing such a series for what it really is.

That's a poor man's version of Manchester United versus FC Barcelona.  Very poor.  Destitute and homeless.

The game for club football's unrivaled glory has every element of a Lakers/Cavs confrontation, but on a much grander stage. Plus, it's already set and about to happen. 

Consider:

1.  Sir Alex Ferguson versus Pep Guardiola

This is a bit of a stretch since Phil Jackson versus Mike Brown doesn't have the same zip.

While Phil is a decent approximation of Sir Alex, Brown doesn't have quite the laurels of Guardiola.  Still, the UEFA match features one of the greatest managers in the sport's history against a young, up-and-comer—just like the Association's final could.

Phil Jackson has his nine NBA rings, but that's about all he's got on Ferguson.

The Man U manager's list of career achievements begins with a spot in his sport's English Hall of Fame.

He's also been knighted, won the most Manager of the Year awards in British history, won more major trophies than any manager in the country's history, and has been at the helm of Manchester United for 23 years (since 1986, the second-longest tenure in Man U's history).

Even more impressive, the club has won more honors under Fergie's tutelage than in all it's previous years combined.  Phew.

Both Jackson and Ferguson are former players whose reputations as leaders of teams greatly overwhelm those of their playing days.

Neither Brown nor Guardiola can measure up to his counterpart in terms of career achievement, but both are respected figures in their sports of whom stellar things are expected.

2.  The UEFA Champions League

This would be like if each country had its own version of the NBA and the imitations could rival the original thing in terms of performance.  Then, each national basketball association sent its best teams to a Super-NBA and duked it out to see who's the best.

That the idea is so far-fetched in basketball is what makes the soccer-equivalent's existence so special and is perhaps the greatest testament to football's superiority in global popularity.

So many countries are able to compete at such a high level means, not only is soccer the most played sport on the planet, it has been such for a long time.

Organized in 1955, the European Cup (UEFA's championship trophy although not called by such) is the most prestigious club trophy in soccer.  The tournament features the 16 best teams from around the world, starts in mid-July, and concludes the following May.

Yep, if you thought the NBA Playoffs were long and settled the matter thoroughly, they've got nothing on world football's version.

Although Real Madrid is the most decorated team in league history with nine titles and Manchester United sits in sixth place with only three, Man U is undefeated in Champions League Finals.

3.  Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi

Again, I don't pretend to be a football expert or even casual fan.

However, from what I can tell, this is the Real Great Debate.  While Kobe-LeBron outranks this particular match-up in my personal universe, the larger one will be fixating on the play of the Portuguese winger and that of his Argentine counterpart.

I don't know what a lot of those players of the year and teams of the year mean, but I assume they're similar to most valuable players and all-star/All-Pro teams.  So I'd say both players have decent arguments supporting their cases for the game's premier talent.

I do know that Ballon d'Or means Golden Ball and goes to the best soccer player in the world.  Additionally, it sounds really cool.

Ronaldo's already won it in 2008, becoming Man U's first such winner in 40 years.  No small accomplishment considering its one of the most successful and storied soccer clubs in England—a country rich with the sport's history and grandeur.

Messi was the runner-up that same year.

The same can be said about the FIFA Player of the Year award, which Cristiano also won in '08 with Messi at his heels.  Both have been compared to some of the most heralded names in soccer history.  Sound familiar?

With these three points, I've barely scratched the surface in revealing how vastly more apocalyptic the clash between Manchester United and FC Barcelona will be.

The soccer final features many other elements which either rival those of, surpass those of, or simply don't exist in the NBA.

There is superior crowd/player passion, incredible individual talent and athleticism, glittering team histories, an international superstar cast, complexities of nationalism at stake with each team representing one country while its constitution features citizens of many different ones, a chance for the first repeat winner in almost two decades, key injuries to significant pieces, a final battle in the city of gladiators from antiquity, and on and on.

My grasp on the sport is tenuous and I'm sure I've made egregious mistakes above—offensive to any true fan of the game.  But I promise to atone.

And I promise my atonement will start tomorrow, when I'll be glued to the television for the moment of truth.

Hopefully, some of my fellow American sports fans will be joining me.

Because, if you can appreciate the NBA Finals prospects, you should be able to appreciate the UEFA Champions League climax already upon us.

**www.pva.org**