Absurdly Metro
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2007
- Messages
- 580
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I was reading a blog by John Walters of NBC Sports after the BCS championship game and he brought up the idea that most of the country (including the president elect) are clamoring for a college football playoff in the interest of "fairness" and to make sure the best teams (like 13-0 Utah and 13-1 USC this year) have a chance to play for the championship. He then contrasts that overwhelming sentiment to the almost indifferent attitude the same people (except Pats fans of course) have regarding an 11-5 team being left out of the playoffs.
Of course, that led me to wonder if this contrast in attitudes about what's fair is simply a double standard or if it is something more sinister, namely, more anti-pats bias?
Do you honestly believe that if it had been the Jets, Giants, or Cowboys sitting it out at 11-5 while the team they absolutely destroyed in week 16 is in their conference champion game there wouldn't be a huge sh*t storm right now for the NFL to take a look at the playoff system this offseason? Is it because it's Belichick getting screwed that it's like "oh well that's just the way it goes sometimes?"
Another point I'd love a playoff advocate to explain to me: Why, if it is unfair that 13-0 Utah or even 12-1 USC does not "have a shot" at the national championship (and I'm not saying that it is fair), do I not hear a similar uproar about the New England Patriots? The Pats finished 11-5 this season, giving them a better record than four of the twelve NFL teams that made the playoffs.
The Pats have a better record than one-third of the teams in the NFL postseason, and they're not invited? That's fair? I understand that they didn't win their division, but isn't a division an artifiical construct meant to make it easier for fans to develop rivalries, etc.? Does anyone really believe the Pats, who beat the Arizona Cardinals 47-7 in their 15th game, are a worse team than the Cards, who are playing in a divisional playoff game this evening?
I understand how the NFL works and I'm not saying they need to alter their system. What I don't understand is how those who gripe for a playoff in college football can be perfectly fine with the Pats not being in the playoffs. Because it seems to me that their argument, that Barack's argument, is that the best teams are not settling it on the field. Well, then how do they explain 8-8 Arizona in the postseason and 11-5 New England not in the postseason?
Of course, that led me to wonder if this contrast in attitudes about what's fair is simply a double standard or if it is something more sinister, namely, more anti-pats bias?
Do you honestly believe that if it had been the Jets, Giants, or Cowboys sitting it out at 11-5 while the team they absolutely destroyed in week 16 is in their conference champion game there wouldn't be a huge sh*t storm right now for the NFL to take a look at the playoff system this offseason? Is it because it's Belichick getting screwed that it's like "oh well that's just the way it goes sometimes?"
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