I've never had a post whose purpose was to link to another blog, but today, Joe Posnanski totally nails it. I discussed something similar a while back with Players make plays, but Pos' is pretty good.
Joe Posnanski's blog is true when the competitors are nearly equal. I do believe that winners win and losers lose but I believe in other factors too. Let's imagine a basketball game between team A and team B. Team A is a group of "winners." Team B is a group of losers. Everyone on team A is 5'10" and weighs 160 pounds. Everyone on team B is 6'6", weighs 260 pounds and has NBA-level talent and skill. The winners will lose this match up 10 out of 10 times simply because they are over matched. Secondly, when talking about professional team sports then there is always a coach involved. Let's imagine another basketball game, the opponents are equal. Team A is a bunch of winners, team B is a bunch of losers. Although, team A's coach is far less intelligent than team B's coach in terms of coaching basketball. Who wins? I bet the losers do 10 out of 10 times. Bottom line is, if all is equal than yes, winners win and losers lose. However, the natural ability of the competitors has to be taken into consideration. Maybe one side never has a chance because of their ability regardless of the fact that he/she/they are winners.
That's not what Pos was saying. He acknowledged that "(t)he Kansas City Royals have been playing astonishingly bad baseball for more than two months now" and feels that they "come by this record honestly". And he's ok with it (well, it bothers him greatly, but that's not why he wrote the column). It's that they or some of their fans blame injuries to players who are worse than league average for their ineptitude. It's the excuses, not the losing. If Team A in your example cited a bad bounce or a couple bad foul calls or started saying, "if that three pointer had gone in and then we forced a turnover and got another three, we would have been right in it", that's what he's talking about.
5 comments:
There are literally dozens of people awaiting you or Alex to post the definitive Grand Masters Recap.
Double game point final not exciting enough for you?
-a
Joe Posnanski's blog is true when the competitors are nearly equal. I do believe that winners win and losers lose but I believe in other factors too. Let's imagine a basketball game between team A and team B. Team A is a group of "winners." Team B is a group of losers. Everyone on team A is 5'10" and weighs 160 pounds. Everyone on team B is 6'6", weighs 260 pounds and has NBA-level talent and skill. The winners will lose this match up 10 out of 10 times simply because they are over matched.
Secondly, when talking about professional team sports then there is always a coach involved. Let's imagine another basketball game, the opponents are equal. Team A is a bunch of winners, team B is a bunch of losers. Although, team A's coach is far less intelligent than team B's coach in terms of coaching basketball. Who wins? I bet the losers do 10 out of 10 times.
Bottom line is, if all is equal than yes, winners win and losers lose. However, the natural ability of the competitors has to be taken into consideration. Maybe one side never has a chance because of their ability regardless of the fact that he/she/they are winners.
That's not what Pos was saying. He acknowledged that "(t)he Kansas City Royals have been playing astonishingly bad baseball for more than two months now" and feels that they "come by this record honestly". And he's ok with it (well, it bothers him greatly, but that's not why he wrote the column). It's that they or some of their fans blame injuries to players who are worse than league average for their ineptitude. It's the excuses, not the losing. If Team A in your example cited a bad bounce or a couple bad foul calls or started saying, "if that three pointer had gone in and then we forced a turnover and got another three, we would have been right in it", that's what he's talking about.
I went back and re-read your "Players make plays" entry. Great, great post.
We all should keep that in mind every point.
Seems relevant, though a little late - David Sirlin has spoken similarly before.
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