As much as I enjoy the drama of a hard-fought, competitive battle in any sport, I like a good one-sided game even better.

I'm not talking about a Super Bowl in which one team grabs all the marbles, but something decided over the course of a season.

For example, Tiger Woods' dominance in golf the past 12-plus years has been remarkable — although the year has been one he would like to forget — and has him poised to take his place among the greatest golfers of all time.

In auto racing, Jeff Gordon was the boy wonder of NASCAR in the 1990s and into the early 2000s, winning dozens of races, including 12 in one season. He won four series titles along the way and was in the top three for several more.

In tennis, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, as well as Venus and Serena Williams, are among the sport's all-time players.

I'll admit I'm not a big fan of spending your way to championships — the New York Yankees, for example — but pure talent will always rank high with me.

Lance Armstrong, while he's never failed a drug test, won seven consecutive Tour de France titles, and with each one I pulled for him to come back and win another.

Why? Because I want to be able to say that I've seen the best of the best over the long haul, not just a one-year wonder or a flash in the pan.

And that gets me back to auto racing and why I'm pulling for Jimmie Johnson to win this year's Sprint Cup championship, which would be his fifth consecutive title.

In the Race for the Chase, in which the top 12 points leaders compete for the title over the final 10 races of the season, Johnson won last week's race, then finished third Sunday to take a 36-point lead over Denny Hamlin and 54-point edge over Kevin Harvick with six races remaining. The other nine drivers in the Chase field are more than 100 points back.

When it comes to those final 10 races, no one has been money more than Johnson, who excels at most of the tracks and knows what he needs to do to win.

When he won consecutive titles, that was a rare feat in itself. Then came a third and you wondered if he could do it again. Surely, four was next to impossible, especially with the quality of drivers in the 43-driver field week in and week out.

The depth of good drivers in NASCAR now compared to 20 to 30 years ago is amazing.

Now, Johnson, who is having his worst season in the past five, has found his way back to the top of the standings — and he has the experience and know-how to stay there.

Five crowns seemed far fetched at the start of the year and even more unlikely during the season. Now, Johnson is looking to hang cement his spot as one of the all-time greats.

All of which makes it that much more fun to witness.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.