After a long week of classes, I decided to spend part of my Friday night watching my two favorite teams compete: the Blackhawks and Bulls.

That night I witnessed the Bulls dismantle the league’s worst team, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Blackhawks squeeze out a win against the mediocre Columbus Blue Jackets. 

After watching a lackadaisical 102-90 Bulls victory that came just weeks before the playoffs, I came to the conclusion that these sports have regular seasons that are too long.

I know many might not feel any pity for me. Once again, my favorite basketball and hockey teams will be making the playoffs, while some cities battle to have one team qualify, if that.

The problem is my teams and teams like them are not playing to the best of their ability at this moment. 

Players are being rested until the playoffs start, because that’s when the real games start. 

This is especially true for superpowers like the Miami Heat, who knew they would be in the playoffs after their opening night win against the Bulls, 

Although no fan enjoyed the recent NBA and NHL lockouts, the shortened seasons made the sports much more exciting. TV ratings went up both nationally and locally for both leagues during the lockout seasons.

I can remember the start of last year’s NHL season, when the Blackhawks traveled to Los Angeles to face the Kings on Los Angeles’ ring night. 

With a commanding 5-2 win, I threw away all of my hatred toward the players, the owners and the league. 

I was in love with the sport again. I watched each game until that fateful June night in Boston, when the Hawks lifted the Stanley Cup once again. 

The same went for the 2011 NBA season. 

After I opened all of my presents on Christmas Day, I was excited to see Derrick Rose take the court against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. 

I was hopeful for that season and watched the Bulls dominate nearly every game, until Rose went down with his first injury in the opening round of the playoffs. I watched each game because each game mattered; there was no margin for error. 

The same can’t be said about a baseball season. As the saying goes, “It’s just one of 162 games.” In today’s society, the average fan is too busy to watch all 162 games in a season. 

For all April and parts of May, many ballparks not in New York and Boston are embarrassingly empty. Who wants to sit outside for three hours in the cold to see — in Chicago’s case — bad baseball teams play?

As it is with all things, the NFL has it right. The NFL season of 16 games in 17 weeks is what America looks forward to all year long. 

Each game is enticing and draws huge amounts of people. I look forward to each Bears game because I know that game might make the difference in a NFC North title, a wild card berth, or in the team missing the playoffs once again.

This is one reason why the NFL is king. If there were 20 or 25 games in the regular season, it would be less special. 

The thrill of an NFL game cannot be matched by anything else, especially a matchup between the White Sox and Indians on April 13.

In order for the other three major sports to match the intensity of the NFL, they should reduce the amount of regular season games. The NBA and NHL season should be reduced to 66 games and the MLB to 148 games. 

It would make the seasons much more exciting as well as improve player safety.  

Initially, this may not sit well with the financial side of sports. 

Fewer games means less money from tickets, concessions and merchandise. The demand for tickets will be higher, allowing organizations to set higher prices. 

If viewership is up as well, advertisers will pay more for commercial spots, replacing and even adding more revenue that was lost with fewer games.

It would result in happier organizations, sponsors and most importantly, a happier fan base. 

It would also result in the memories like the ones I was able to be make with fewer games when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in the lockout-shortened 2013 season.

Michal is a freshman in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and @bennythebull94.