The Broken NFL Playoffs
I'm not necessarily a sports guy. I was never a jock, never had posters of sports figures on any wall. Ever. I own no sports memorabilia or clothing. I don't even wear baseball hats, as I think they look juvenile on grown men unless you actually happen to be on a field somewhere playing the sport. There are a couple of sports figures I deeply admire - Muhammad Ali comes to mind - but only because I admire them for the way they use their fame and position for positive social gain.
I am a slave to no organized sports schedule. Except for two: Wimbledon and the NFL playoffs (I'm also a huge fan of MMA, but I don't consider that too "organized"). In the first instance I love the sport of tennis, being one of the few sports I actually played in my youth. I like the one-on-one aspect of the game. In the second, I love the game of football, especially in the playoffs. I have never really rooted for one team over another, I just wanted to see a good game.
Although my local franchise, the NY Giants won last years Superbowl in a fantastic game, Kerry J. Byrne makes a powerful argument at Sports Illustrated that the current NFL playoff system is deeply flawed, allowing mediocre teams to dominate the playoff picture.
The current system offers what economists and sociologists might call moral hazard: It alternately rewards inferior teams, such as the 8-8 Chargers or 9-7 Cardinals, simply because they were better than three rivals in a weak division, or punishes superior teams, such as the 12-4 Colts, 11-5 Patriots or 9-6-1 Eagles, who had to fight through brutal regular seasons in tougher divisions. That's not a very good system.
I'd have to agree. If this in any way interests you go read the article.
Comments
Thanks for bringing up last year's Superbowl... ass.
Kidding, I'm a huge NFL & MLB fan, Basketball is OK, too many one man teams though, hockey I never really got... the whole boxing on skates thing... anyways...it's not just the NFL that has this problem, this is divisional sports, if a division is full of sucko teams, a .500 team can make the playoffs like that.
Never mind the Pats destroyed the Cards 47-7 in week 16. Now the coaching staff and even the front office is getting looted.
I like the Eagles for the SB this year, if McNabb doesn't turn it over 3 or 4 times, and if Westbrook is effective.
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