Love or Hate Them; Dynasties are Necessary.

The Chicago Bulls of the 90's, the New England Patriots since 2001 and the Golden State Warriors of the last five years all have one thing in common. They are all dynasties.

A dynasty is defined by a team, or person, exerting dominance over its league over a given period of time. Trying to label a dynasty is purely subjective, as the criteria to reach the pinnacle changes from person to person.

Sports in general bring about discussion and arguments. Defining the best, or if a team qualifies as a dynasty is just one of the many debates.

The definition of a dynasty changes based on the sport, or emotion of the individual While the teams change, one debate that always reigns supreme is if dynasties are good, or bad for their sport.

It is not a subject often discussed, and frankly I only see it when a team exerts dominance of its sport. Routinely, a dynasty is viewed with rose colored glasses once the run is viewed over.

"The sport is better with _________ are competing for championships." Something along these lines is often heard as one of the iconic, former dynasty is struggling. Recently, you've likely heard this referenced in regards to the New York Knicks, or Los Angeles Lakers.

Because statements like these are brought up in times of parity, or even when a team is currently ruling a sport, I believe dynasties are a necessity.

Why? Simple. People like winners.

I'm not meaning people enjoy jumping on the bandwagon. People either love being on the side of the domination, or being the side that brings the run to an end. When it looks like a dynasty is soon to be over, you can witness sharks in the water. They're circling trying to find the crack in the armor.

If you've kept up with the NBA this year, you've heard analysts reaching for stories as to why the Warriors run is over. Losing to the Raptors on Thursday, there's talks of Curry's age and the injuries to Durant and Thompson. Everyone just wants to be there when the run ends.

What about Tiger Woods and the PGA? From 1996 to 2008 the PGA Tour nearly tripled in money in winnings. According to BusinessInsider, 1996 the PGA gave $101 million dollars in prize money. By 2008 when Tiger won his 14th major, winnings totaled $292 million.

By 2009, Woods had 71 victories, which included 14 majors. He had never missed a cut, and never relinquished a lead when leading by three strokes in the final round.

People tuned in to watch his dominance over the competition. They want to see the best at the top of their game, and the numbers back it.

In 1997 and 2003, Woods' first two Masters victories, Nielsen ratings 14.1 and 13.3, respectively. According to FiveThirtyEight, that's roughly 50 percent above the long-term average. That's over 20 years ago, so look at the data from The Masters this year.

Ratings are initially skewed as the final round started earlier as inclement weather threatened the area. That being said, viewership peaked early in the afternoon 12.1, the highest rating for the tournament since 2013. According to Golf.com, the tournament also had the highest share of TVs in households since 2011.

All because Tiger was making a run for his fifth Green Jacket. From 2010-2019, Woods had 10 Tour victories, which is minuscule compared to the first part of his career. But, marching to his 18th major victory, it brought eyes to golf that otherwise ignore the sport.

How about the NFL, arguably the most popular sport in the world?

During the 1980's & 90's, the NFC won 16 of 20 Super Bowls over the AFC, including a run of 13 straight from 1985-1997.

Here's a interesting fact: From 2002 through this year, three quarterbacks (yes, three!) represented the AFC in the Super Bowl. Who? Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Peyton Manning.

No one truly complained about it during these times. Viewership, and money, continues to climb as the NFL increases in popularity.

Don't get me wrong. I can see where the other side is coming from. Before a season begins, the winner is determined. It removes excitement, kills hope and brings upon despair. "Next year is our year," is something said without much belief.

People still go to games, and turn the TV on. Why? Because they have hope their team can be the one to down the giant. Fans flock to games where the best team shows up, in hopes of seeing the upset. Defeating the best team, could be he turnaround they need. Fans love their teams with blind faith. It's truly what makes sports great.

With all due respect to fan bases across the sports landscape, people need to be realistic. Every year, we say it's a new season and everyone starts fresh. But, there's always a few teams that have the chance to win it all, while a handful of teams are rebuilding. It is the nature of the beast. As Joel Embiid always said, "Trust the process."

This isn't a fact of competitive balance, or teams holding a firm grip on their respective sport. It boils down the management, development, and getting lucky. I don't think Patriot fans suspected much out of the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, Tom Brady.

There are always memorable moments that occur during the runs of various dynasties. No one will forget David Tyree's helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII as the Giants went on to defeat the Patriots.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, will never forge LeBron coming home and bringing a championship. ESPN 30 for 30 "Believeland," an history of the bad luck that's happened to Cleveland sports, was updated when the Cavs won the 2016 NBA Championship. The documentary was released a month before the Cavs claimed their first title.

And now, you have this year.

Golden State, making their fifth straight appearance in the NBA Finals, met the Toronto Raptors making their firs appearance. Additionally the St. Louis Blues, making their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, making their fifth appearance.

Honestly, I was holding onto writing this article until both finals completed. The fan in me hoped to see the underdogs - the Blues, and Raptors - come home with a championship. Simply, I wanted to see some fresh faces holding the championships.

Before you jump on me, let it be known that I only watched these games because the big names were there. I believe the casual fan would more likely watch a Super Bowl involving the Patriots and Eagles. Do you think people want to watch a Super Bowl between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions?

People prefer to watch the winners, to witness the best of a field exerting dominance over their profession. They may hate the team now, but eventually they will move on to respecting the run a team had. That's the unfortunate part of a dynasty. There are people who dislike the run a team has that they fail to realize what they're seeing before it is too late.

You're missing one of the all-time greats at quarterback because of your disdain of anything Patriot. There was backlash against the Bulls of the 90's for their run, including a 72-10 record season, topped off with a championship. In 2016, the Warriors topped the win total, at 73-9, but failed to finish with the title, losing to the aforementioned Cavs.

A microcosm of the discussion between parity, and dynasties, can be seen with the men's NCAA Basketball Tournament. Year in and year out, people flock to make brackets, predicting the winners of each game over the three week span.

People try to predict the upsets to win the various pools they may enter. You're always going for the first or second round upset, but eventually the blue bloods (Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas) start to take over. Rarely do people take a higher seed, over 10, farther than the first weekend. Those that do? Likely alums, or just hoping for chaos.

That is my point. Contrary to belief, people will tune in to see dominance in action. People want to be there for the chance to see the dynasty end, or something magical happening. That is what makes sports great.

To say you were there for the magical moments, like the Miracle on Ice, are what people tune into sports to see moments like this. Without dynasties, these moments wouldn't be as special.