- Hope Doesn?t Change
Considering the sad state of the major sports leagues ? why aren?t more fans wondering, ?Why even bother??
For too many they have no shot of seeing their teams advance to a post-season, now or seemingly for some, ever. Yet they are still there.
Seriously - why is there even one L.A. Clippers fan? Is there any logical reason that there are millions who follow the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Both of these teams have demonstrated a singular spectacular skill ? and that is to consistently suck. Yet both have people lining up at the turnstiles and tuning on TV to witness their latest version of the ?agony of defeat.?
For those who aren?t sports fans, this kind of devotion defies explanation ? yet these people are legion.
The two sports that are in action right now - Major League Baseball and the National Football League are turning more folks into these poor misfortunate saps because even before the first pitch is thrown or the first kickoff is made, an increasing number of teams are already out.
The NFL just finished its sixth week of the season. A cursory glance at the standings indicates there are an alarming number of bottom feeders who aren?t just on life-support ? they?ve already pushed up the daisies.
Nine teams in the 32-team league are not only going to miss the playoffs ? they?re already late night TV punch-lines. Washington, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Tennessee and Oakland have been simply awful all season long ? with a handful, the Titans, the Rams and the Buccaneers a long-shot to win even once.
Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes on a single quarter against Tennessee over the weekend, and looked like he wasn?t even breaking a sweat doing it. There were calls of the Patriots running up the score winning 59-0, but that?s hardly fair. What was New England supposed to do every time they had the ball? Give it the Titans and take a seat to let them score? Even if they did, the Titans would probably have fumbled it out of bounds.
There is economic parity in football, but there certainly is little on the field.
The Redskins sell out every game in their brand new stadium and have a rabid fan base. Unfortunately their management is so incompetent, they can?t even figure out how to fire their coach, Jim Zorn. Instead this week they took away his play calling rights, handing them over to a guy, who just two weeks ago, was calling Bingo games.
More than a quarter of football teams are already ?also-rans? one third of the way through the season.
With baseball matters are even worse.
The teams that remain in the World Series chase are all big-money franchises with loaded rosters. Creative management wasn?t required to build these teams - thick check books was all that was required.
At an equivalent point in baseball?s season, which was early July, a look at the standings reveals that a full ten of the thirty MLB teams were basically already out.
That?s a full third ? yet folks were still lining up at the box offices looking for tickets.
It?s crazy really.
Of course it all has to do with hope because once in a while, there is the occasional surprise: The playoff run no one saw coming.
Like just last year when the Tampa Rays earned a World Series spot. Or the year before when it was the Colorado Rockies turn. Or the year before that when St. Louis finished 4 games over .500 and still won the trophy. The Arizona Cardinals may have gone 9-7 last season and snuck into the post-season - but they still played in the Super Bowl.
The thinking goes, if it can happen to that team, which had generally been considered one of the worst run in sports for decades, it can happen to anyone.
But the ugly truth is, overall, when it comes to seasonal results, baseball, football, basketball and hockey are all remarkably predictable. You can forecast the majority of the participants in their respective postseasons with to a significant degree year after year.
And just as certain can you pick those teams that will seemingly never aspire much, like the Clippers, the Lions, the Leafs and the Timberwolves ? and many, many more.
Hope doesn?t change.
Sucking rarely does either.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald AKA Couch
Considering the sad state of the major sports leagues ? why aren?t more fans wondering, ?Why even bother??
For too many they have no shot of seeing their teams advance to a post-season, now or seemingly for some, ever. Yet they are still there.
Seriously - why is there even one L.A. Clippers fan? Is there any logical reason that there are millions who follow the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Both of these teams have demonstrated a singular spectacular skill ? and that is to consistently suck. Yet both have people lining up at the turnstiles and tuning on TV to witness their latest version of the ?agony of defeat.?
For those who aren?t sports fans, this kind of devotion defies explanation ? yet these people are legion.
The two sports that are in action right now - Major League Baseball and the National Football League are turning more folks into these poor misfortunate saps because even before the first pitch is thrown or the first kickoff is made, an increasing number of teams are already out.
The NFL just finished its sixth week of the season. A cursory glance at the standings indicates there are an alarming number of bottom feeders who aren?t just on life-support ? they?ve already pushed up the daisies.
Nine teams in the 32-team league are not only going to miss the playoffs ? they?re already late night TV punch-lines. Washington, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Tennessee and Oakland have been simply awful all season long ? with a handful, the Titans, the Rams and the Buccaneers a long-shot to win even once.
Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes on a single quarter against Tennessee over the weekend, and looked like he wasn?t even breaking a sweat doing it. There were calls of the Patriots running up the score winning 59-0, but that?s hardly fair. What was New England supposed to do every time they had the ball? Give it the Titans and take a seat to let them score? Even if they did, the Titans would probably have fumbled it out of bounds.
There is economic parity in football, but there certainly is little on the field.
The Redskins sell out every game in their brand new stadium and have a rabid fan base. Unfortunately their management is so incompetent, they can?t even figure out how to fire their coach, Jim Zorn. Instead this week they took away his play calling rights, handing them over to a guy, who just two weeks ago, was calling Bingo games.
More than a quarter of football teams are already ?also-rans? one third of the way through the season.
With baseball matters are even worse.
The teams that remain in the World Series chase are all big-money franchises with loaded rosters. Creative management wasn?t required to build these teams - thick check books was all that was required.
At an equivalent point in baseball?s season, which was early July, a look at the standings reveals that a full ten of the thirty MLB teams were basically already out.
That?s a full third ? yet folks were still lining up at the box offices looking for tickets.
It?s crazy really.
Of course it all has to do with hope because once in a while, there is the occasional surprise: The playoff run no one saw coming.
Like just last year when the Tampa Rays earned a World Series spot. Or the year before when it was the Colorado Rockies turn. Or the year before that when St. Louis finished 4 games over .500 and still won the trophy. The Arizona Cardinals may have gone 9-7 last season and snuck into the post-season - but they still played in the Super Bowl.
The thinking goes, if it can happen to that team, which had generally been considered one of the worst run in sports for decades, it can happen to anyone.
But the ugly truth is, overall, when it comes to seasonal results, baseball, football, basketball and hockey are all remarkably predictable. You can forecast the majority of the participants in their respective postseasons with to a significant degree year after year.
And just as certain can you pick those teams that will seemingly never aspire much, like the Clippers, the Lions, the Leafs and the Timberwolves ? and many, many more.
Hope doesn?t change.
Sucking rarely does either.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald AKA Couch
