BREAKING: ESPN THE MAGAZINE EIC RANKS ALL SPORTS IN INAUGURAL EDITOR'S BLOG POST

One day, I have been assured, a very wise man in a robe of some sort (possibly embroidered) will sit in a tea shop (or possibly an airport kiosk) and write a few strategic lines of code in a yet-to-be-invented programming language that will allow editors of magazines, with just the touch of a button, to produce blog entries for their publication's website.
     Sadly, that day is still very far away, which means that I, Gary Belsky, editor in chief of ESPN The Magazine, must do the job myself . This is all the more challenging since: a) I'm tired after editing our fantasy baseball package; b) most of the blogs I've read over the years bore me; c) I've never really written a blog post and I secretly think I should be telling you about why tuna on whole wheat is my favorite sandwich or what sites I visit when I want to add to my weird collection of silver things that I keep in that box on the table in my office; and d) see "a" through "c" again.
     But in considering this problem I came up with what I consider a brilliant solution: Steal an idea from myself.
     And so, as we march through time together on espnthemag.com, I will be regaling you with my regularly updated list of the 27 best sports in the world today, according to me. Officially, by the way, it's called "THE 27 BEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, ACCORDING TO ME."
     It's something I sometimes send to certain people at work, and let me tell you they love it! Well, they don't hate it. I think. Anyway, sometimes, for sure, I will tell you about encounters I've had with athletes who visit our offices (Michael Robinson of the 49ers is very nice), lunches I've shared with open-wheel drivers (Sam Hornish can pack it away) and email habits of my ESPN comrades (Golic is way more responsive than Greenberg is all I'm saying).
     But when I've got nothing of interest in any of those areas, I will at the very least always update you as to my listed view of the sports world. And that should matter, because I am the editor in chief of ESPN The Magazine. And I have a blog. At least for the next few hours. Oh, and if you've got an issue with anything I say, tell me: gary.belsky@espn3.com.

THE 27 BEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, ACCORDING TO ME

1. MLB *
2. Soccer (Europe)**
3. NFL***
4. Stock-car racing****
5. Sepak Takraw (Philippines)
6. Bandy*****
7. NHL
8. Tennis
9. Beach volleyball (Women's)******
10. Boxing
11. Skateboarding
12. Bull Riding
13. Open-wheel racing (ex-USA)
14. Horseshoes
15. Lacrosse (NLL)
16. Eton Wall Game
17. Surfing (ASP)
18. Rugby (sevens)*******
19. Rowing (eights)
20. NBA
21. Wheelchair tennis********
22. MLS
23. Cricket*********
24. MMA
25. Horseracing (USA)
26. Corrida*** (Portugal)
27. WNBA

* Spring training. Nothing makes anyone who has any interest whatsoever in sports happier for a brief moment than the realization that Spring Training is upon us. Except maybe that NFL training camps have started.

** This despite the fact that Leeds United, my favorite team since I roomed with a guy from that Midlands city in 1979, has been relegated to the third division, making them the Arizona Cardinals of British football, which is cruel irony since I am also an Arizona Cardinals fan in American football.

*** The greatest calendar of any major professional sport in this country: starting in January, you got the playoffs, Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Combine, free agency, draft, mini-camps, training camps, preseason, regular season. It's a full-year sport. I'd be shocked if the National Football League ever falls out of my top 5.

**** NASCAR, yeah, but especially all the lower circuits, which are kind of even cooler than Nascar, because they are all that much closer to the days of Cale and Junior and Drew and The King. Also, when I was at the Super Bowl, at the ESPN VIP Tailgate Party before the game, they had some pro drivers take us around the Phoenix International Raceway in real stock cars and, let me tell you, once you do that even for a few laps you won't ever wonder if racing is a sport or if drivers are athletes or if we should all be paying way more attention: it is, they are and we should. We were going like 120 mph max and there were only six cars on the track and no one was driving angry and I am, in general, pretty physically courageous (except for anything involving dentistry) and I almost lost my lunch. Wild. Makes me think it's gonna be hard to ever knock stock-car racing out of my top 10, but who knows. Oh: The game that day was fun too.

***** Soccer on ice. C'mon, how can you NOT love this sport.

****** This has nothing to do with what you think it does. Athletes who perform in sand maybe the most underappreciated athletic achievement in the world today. Aside from stock-car drivers. You know, like me.

******* I played club Rugby for three days as a college freshman at St. Louis University. This list is pretty much my only chance to talk about that. So expect this sport to stay in my top 27 for a loooooong time.

******** My nephew helps organize wheelchair tennis for the USTA, which only matters because he made me watch some videos of these athletes and they're kind of incredible. Not in the what-an-inspiration kind of way but more in a that's-freaking-amazing-what-they-can-do kind of way, and also in an I-hope-I'd-have-enough-gumption-to-compete-like-this-if-I-were-ever-wheelchair-bound-like-them sort of way. (Gumption is a great word, not for nothing.)

********* Also know as bullfighting, also known as the cruelest sport this side of dog fighting. It's on my list, and always will be, so I can regularly make the point that Europe is in a, inexorable state of slow, sad decay. Seriously, what kind of people think it's a sport to taunt a dumb animal, then stick swords into its back. Couldn't happen to a nicer continent.

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