Is parity good for sport?

FOR a bevy of reasons, the 2020 AFL season is shaping up as one of the most even in league history, with fifth-place and 17th-place separated by one win, and perennial strugglers Gold Coast and Carlton seemingly making their collective way over the hump into weekly competitiveness.
Pundits and bookies agree that Adelaide is this year’s only dunce, but despite that, heading into this week’s slate of games, only Fremantle is considered worse than a 3/1 underdog in its derby showdown with West Coast.
Even Carlton is given a realistic shot of knocking off league-leaders Port Adelaide, and GWS will be very slight favourites when Brisbane come to town.
All of this points to a season with at least seven (GWS, West Coast, Collingwood, Richmond, Port Adelaide, Brisbane and Geelong) premiership contenders, and no dominant force reigning over the league.
While this sounds great on paper, history tells us these are the kind of years that do not carry massive historical significance.
Obviously, with the 2020 season being as unique as it is, the idea that this season could be lost in history is laughable, but the debate on whether a clear premiership favourite is a good thing for the sport is still valid.
In the 21st century, the teams I remember fondest are Brisbane’s 2001-03 side, who despite never finishing top of the ladder, were considered favourites all the way through the finals every year and delivered on that promise.
In 2004, when I saw Port Adelaide finally able to overcome the side I viewed as unconquerable, it was permanently engraved on my brain, and as a Brisbane supporter, I still harbour negative feelings towards the Power because of it.
We remember Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and Kobe and Shaq’s Lakers teams, and Lebron’s ‘Heatles’ in Miami. At the time, as well as rooting for your own team, fans could unite against a common ‘evil’, and the road to see who would be able to dethrone the kings was as engaging as any sports story out there.
I hated seeing Geelong keep winning last decade, I hated seeing Hawthorn dominate through the start of the 2010’s, and I hated 2018 and 2019 where Richmond spent both years as incredibly short-priced flag favourites.
But there’s a difference between hating a team, and hating watching a team play, because those sides showed the pinnacle of how football in their respective eras should be played.
The theatre of sport is something I will never take for granted, and the unknown of this season will be fun in a very unique way.
But one thing, for me at least, is for sure. Every good story needs a villain.