Dylan Cleaver: When more doesn't equal better

Blame McDonald's.

Yes, they're an easy target but who else do you point the finger at for this bloated sporting carcass that even the vultures are ignoring?

It was McDonald's that started the Supersize culture, appealing to man's insatiable appetite for saturated fat. "Do you want an upgrade with that?" has become the zeitgeist for the 21st century.

But the term 'upgrade' is misleading - it implies better. What you're actually getting is a 'moregrade'.

So when Sanzar went to News Ltd and offered them a Supersize 14 rather than 12 and nine Tri Nations' tests rather than six, the broadcaster adhered to the "I'm not hungry but I am greedy" principle and lapped up the moregrade.

It's the same with the NPC, a once perfectly serviceable if slightly mundane provincial championship. So what did the NZRU do? Chris Moller went to Sky TV and the rugby public and said "do you want an upgrade on that?"

So it took the competition, pumped it full of steroids, put wings on it, called it the Air New Zealand Cup and hoped it would fly. At this point, it is trundling down the runway hopelessly failing to get any wind beneath its wings.

It might yet be saved by the excitement generated by the knockout stages but it is worth remembering for posterity how you feel about the competition now before being blinded by finals fireworks.

The problem is not confined to the 15-man code.

The NRL is lurching its way through a finals series hamstrung by a confusing system, low-quality league and hopeless mismatches. Even Channel Nine's vaunted commentary dream team has been off the pace in its efforts to provide CPR on flatlining matches.

Week one had St George's one-sided demolition of Brisbane, the Bulldogs hammering an out-matched Canberra and the Melbourne Storm's bore-fest victory over the Eels. Week two was worse: St George thrashed the life out of Manly and Newcastle didn't show up to play Brisbane.

The problem, again, is that the season is too long.

Twenty-six rounds is at least four too many for a combative, high-attrition sport like league. In some respects, the winners are just the luckiest - the last men standing.

Strangely, the men in charge - broadcasters or administrators, take your pick - should turn to the country that gave us McDonald's to find the answer.

American Football is a sport beyond the comprehension of most New Zealanders. An hour of 'action' is somehow spread over three to maximise advertising potential but if you look at the big picture, the season is a thing of beauty.

Beginning in September, there are 16 rounds spread over 17 weeks followed by a simple playoff system and January belongs to the Super Bowl build-up and all its unseemly hype. Everybody knows who and where they're playing during the regular season years in advance, making sure traditional rivalries are honoured.

It's a season crystalised in five months but during that time, football is king.

Granted, they don't have the pesky matter of international fixtures to worry about but if they did, there'd be plenty of time to play them.

At the moment, the domestic rugby season begins in early February and ends in late October. That's effectively nine months of rugby - a moregrade that's getting harder and harder to chew.

Perhaps we should have heeded the words of English author Sir Kingsley Amis back when colour television was a nice idea and plasma meant blood.

"More is worse," he wrote.

Much worse.