Why are all the major sports dominated by one league?

[JordanIB]

NFL: AFC with all the legit conteders.

NBA: East is a joke.

MLB: Everyone viewed the winner of the AL bracket as the eventually champion.

NHL: Umm.. I don't know, it's the NHL. I know Buffalo is good this year. Don't know anything else.

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So are there any thoughts or theories on why these leagues are so dominated by a single conference?

Is it just variance?

One thing that just came to my mind: Is it a case of everyong racing to catch the dominant front-runner? For example, in baseball you had the Yankees of the late-90s. If you were an AL team and had dreams of winning the title, you had to build your team to compete with them, and this is in some ways still true. Are we seeing the ripple effect of the Yankees dominance?

Can the same be said of the NFL (Patriots?) and NBA (I dunno...not as strong...Spurs?). If the West has been strong in hockey, then I would bring up the Red Wings/Avalanche.

There are likely major Swiss cheese holes in this "theory"...I just didn't want to ask what folks though and have nothing myself.

Discuss.