You know my headline for yesterday's post, about winning being the "only thing"? Turns out that is true for professional sports, and even semi-pro sports (college football).
Wouldn't you know that this fall has featured three teams I follow quite closely -- the Colorado Rockies, the Denver Broncos, and the Iowa Hawkeyes -- and each has had trouble with winning. I am certain that with the Broncos and the Hawkeyes, just a few plays going the other way, just a few changed decisions by coaches or quarterbacks, and both those teams might have much better win-loss records. And winning would cover up other issues with those teams.
For the Rockies, there are no good arguments that they were "that close" to a winning record or making the playoffs. They were just not very good and there is little hope for that to change any time soon.
But here's the thing about those two football teams: they are not only losing too often but they are boring. Defense wins titles (and the Broncos rode a fine defense to a Super Bowl title only six years ago), but much of the joy of watching sports lies in the drama and the excitement of scoring points, or being a constant threat to score points. Americans have trouble with soccer due to the infrequent scoring, though there are lots of other joys to be found and the country is getting better at recognizing that.
But it turns out that the "winning is the only thing" cliché may be overly simplistic. Most cliche's are.
Right now I would be OK with just some occasional excitement from those football teams. I honestly don't see exactly how anything will be changing for either team in the next few months, and that is more depressing than any win-loss record.
Worse is the fact that there are all sorts of other pro and college teams that boast exciting offenses and maintain enough defense to keep things interesting. Yes, teams can have both.
Now, if you told me that a year from now things may feel very different, with Russell Wilson and the Broncos and whoever is coaching them getting on a roll, with high-scoring offense and stingy defense, I wouldn't be shocked. Stuff like that happens in sports. Changes can be made. Momentum is real.
Same with Iowa. The coach probably won't change -- he's an institution -- but perhaps a hot shot QB could come to campus and perhaps some new offensive schemes could be created and taught during the off-season.
But right now, my practice is to record the games and wait to watch... or simply hit DELETE, as I did with the last Broncos game, not even bothering. I may end up watching some or all of the Iowa game this Saturday as they play at Ohio State, but that is more closely related to the urge to gawk at a traffic accident than in hopes of the "good guys" overcoming the #2-ranked Buckeyes.
Ironically, I regularly watched at least parts of Rockies games this summer. Each game contains the possibility of surprise, and even the lowly Rockies could defeat the Dodgers or Yankees or whomever is in the post-season from time to time. With 162 games, no one contest makes or breaks the season.
Football is much more tense, with each loss causing angst and the possibility of a "lost season."
Until the Broncos turn things around, my go-to TV viewing on Sundays is NFL RedZone. It's all highlights, all action, all drama, and all scoring. Bonus: I don't care much about the outcomes of most of the games the station flits among, so I can just enjoy the athleticism, the in-game drama, and the passions on the field.
I create my own rotation of college games on Saturdays by flipping from network to network, trying to avoid the endless commercials and searching for a team on a roll.
But deep inside I still yearn for the Broncos and Hawks to win this weekend, however ugly the games may be.
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