Absurdities In Sports

I think we may have been better off before the pervasive, heavily specialized sports coverage that began with the founding of ESPN. As there has become more and more space in which to cover sports, there has not necessarily been anything more to talk about. Instead, desperate people must find more and more things to say about the same stuff that used to be covered adequately in much less time every week. I could certainly do without sports for most of the week. Just give me the pre-game, the game and the post-game. I'm happy to forget the sport entirely in the off-season.

Other people don't feel that way, and they are the ones getting their way. I guess that's mostly fine with me. Other people's passions only affect me as much as I let them. Still, because I have friends who are so passionate that they must partake in all this dubious news around clock, I would have to cut them off to not hear it anymore. I'm not going to do that, obviously, so I'm just going to wind up hearing this stuff and being infuriated by it.

There are a couple of things that bugged me a lot leading up to March Madness. It is as the playoffs begin in some sports that you may have teams that are still undefeated, or that have not lost in a while. Invariably, someone will suggest that such teams should lose in order to shake off the pressure of remaining undefeated. I can't understand that at all. I can understand saving players for more important games down the line, or holding back key plays. I can't understand tanking at any time. I like to think that players and coaches have a level of pride and competitiveness that could not stomach that. Additionally, I wonder if the pressure of being undefeated could really outweigh the pressure of contending with the league's best for the championship. I doubt it.

Another thing was about seeding. They seed NCAA tournament teams according to how well they did in the regular season. The regular season's best teams have the easiest road to the finals, but statistically it doesn't work out so that all four number one-seeded teams reach the semifinals. Commentators will say, therefore, that it actually may be a bad thing to have wound up with a top seed. That I don't understand either. What is one to do? Quixotically attempt to obtain the mid-level seed judged by statisticians to most often reach the finals? It's absurd.

The pointless talking is close to over, thankfully. The same people will keep doing it, but those who are interested in the games will watch the games, and the rest will constantly have their ear open to talk about the games. I will be paying attention to the games (or at least the ones that are available to me). I hope to see my favorite team go all the way, and with a minimum of chatter. Either way, I know I'll be happy in the end with the "One Shining Moment" montage, which is always a highlight of my year.