NFL -- Are You Ready For Some Football? -- Week 10

[Donegeal]

I know. But what I'm saying is part what Snoopy said. 'Best team' does not automatically mean 'Champion' and vice versa.

With the playoffs and the Superbowl, there is no disscussion about who the league Champion is, but that does not mean there is a definitive 'Best Team'.

[snoopy369]

I think I agree with sloww here.

/me goes to get his temperature checked...

[Donegeal]

I'm not saying he's wrong either. I'm just saying that 'Champion' and 'Best Team' aren't always the same team.

[snoopy369]

I think both Sloww and I are saying that they are the same thing.

[Donegeal]

Well you're both wrong.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Donegeal
I know. But what I'm saying is part what Snoopy said. 'Best team' does not automatically mean 'Champion' and vice versa.

With the playoffs and the Superbowl, there is no disscussion about who the league Champion is, but that does not mean there is a definitive 'Best Team'.

The best team is the team that can rise to the occasion when the situation warrants. Barring cheating or poor officiating, this is the Champion.

It is "performance when it counts" that matters...not latent talent.

[SlowwHand]

If New England goes undefeated and gets thumped in the Super Bowl by a 14-2 regular season team, the Pats aren't the best team.
They win the regular season, congratulations; now move over while we crown the Champion.

[Donegeal]

No. I'd still say NE was the best team. Perhaps this other hypothetical other team was better for one game, but to say one team is better based on one game is ridiculous. Saying they are Champion, fine; better, no.

Besides, the entire point to these posts is to show that even with a playoff and Championship game, there can still be a debate as to the 'best' team.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
If New England goes undefeated and gets thumped in the Super Bowl by a 14-2 regular season team, the Pats aren't the best team.
They win the regular season, congratulations; now move over while we crown the Champion.

What if they lose to a 9-7 team on questionable calls.

The best team is subjective and whatever you think it is.

The Champion is the winner of the Super Bowl.

The purpose of playoffs is to take a group of the top teams and give them a somewhat equal chance at winning the championship.

as a side not - the best team is probably the team that would be favored in the point spreads on a neutral field.

BTW were 83-79 St. Lous Cardinals the best team in the 2006 baseball season. They were the Champions.

[Donegeal]

That's baseball... and a completely different situation because its a series rather than a single game. The Cardinals I think, if anything, were an example of a team that got hot at the right time rather than the 'best'... sorta like my Steelers example.

[-Jrabbit]

Donegeal, you're just being obstreperous. What's the freaking point of having a championship game, if not to crown the best team?

History is filled with great teams with key injuries, or who couldn't beat a single specific defensive scheme, or who weren't optimized for the weather conditions of the championship game. A lot of of people thought the post-85 Bears were the best team in football for another couple years. BUT THEY DIDN'T WIN THE BIG ONE. Doesn't matter the reason, they fell short.

Now: Look back 20 years. No one talks about McMahon getting hurt. They talk about those teams as Falilures.

You can squawk all you want about the quality of a given team. The goal of the season is to be on top at the end. Period. There is no reward for being favored in Vegas, nor for being the best team on paper.

Only for victory in the final game.

Repeating: The single stated goal of the season is to win the final game. If you don't do that, it doesn't matter what else you did. You are not the champion, and you are not the best team.

Get over it.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Donegeal, you're just being obstreperous. What's the freaking point of having a championship game, if not to crown the best team?

History is filled with great teams with key injuries, or who couldn't beat a single specific defensive scheme, or who weren't optimized for the weather conditions of the championship game. A lot of of people thought the post-85 Bears were the best team in football for another couple years. BUT THEY DIDN'T WIN THE BIG ONE. Doesn't matter the reason, they fell short.

Now: Look back 20 years. No one talks about McMahon getting hurt. They talk about those teams as Falilures.

You can squawk all you want about the quality of a given team. The goal of the season is to be on top at the end. Period. There is no reward for being favored in Vegas, nor for being the best team on paper.

Only for victory in the final game.

Repeating: The single stated goal of the season is to win the final game. If you don't do that, it doesn't matter what else you did. You are not the champion, and you are not the best team.

Get over it.

I agree people remember champions. I just don't aalways agree that the champion was the BEST team. You could certainly say they were the best of the 2 competitors on that given day and that game was the championship. But I'll us e my first example again.

What if the Patriots lose to a 9-7 team on questionable calls? The 9-7 is the champion. And it wasn't luck because they had to beat other teams to get there. But I still don't think that the champion is the defacto best team.

As for baseball being a series - I would think the more games you played the more likely the best team would win. Would you rather play Tiger Woods one hole for a $1,000,000 and hope you got really lucky or try and beat him in a 72 hole tournament. I'd take my chancve on one and cough when he drives .

[Lord Avalon]

I think the SB winner is more than just the best of the two teams on SB day. After all, they had to go through the playoffs, facing elimination if they should lose. So it's not the same as a regular season game, where a win or loss (generally) doesn't determine anything.

[-Jrabbit]

BUT THEY ONLY PLAY THE ONE GAME.

You spend your whole season preparing for it, and yes, things have to fall your way. And when it's over, there's a champion. ONE.

There's an old saying: I'd rather be lucky than good. You (and others, not bothering to track who) have this insane insistence that being more technically skilled is somehow the same as being the best team. IT JUST FREAKING ISN'T. It merely gives you an advantage in competition. But the proof is in the pudding. Sometimes it doesn't work out. IT MEANS YOU WEREN'T THE BEST WHEN IT COUNTED.

It's all about getting it done under pressure. The athletes and coaches themselves are cool with it. They know they have to deliver on the field, when it counts, and they know sometimes the breaks don't fall their way.

Sometimes a key player is hurt.
Sometimes there are bad calls.
Sometimes it's muddy or cold.
Sometimes the wind shifts.

No one cares who's more talented, or the best on paper.

THAT'S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAMES!

Anyone trying to console themselves with "if only" or that "oh, gee, we were really the better team" is just peeing in the pity pot.

[PLATO]

It is very simple...Champions perform when it counts. If you can't do that, then you are not the best...period.