Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Us Against The World!!


Nation,

I'm distracted by a key decision this month- I-phone or Blackberry? Anyone want to weigh in on this?

It's playoff time in the NFL, and once again our sports channels are bloated with cliches and "expert analysis". My favorite thing to do at this time is
  • Listening to players being interviewed and count how many times the word "You know" is uttered during an interview. (It's hard not say it, but it is still shoddy and takes away from these speeches)
  • Hearing experts contradict themselves with tired cliches that are just plain wrong. With the Ravens still alive, you can expect the same "Defense Wins Championships" sludge being thrown around.
  • Watch some damn exciting football. It would be a lot better if the Patriots or Cowboys were around, but still lots of good stories.
A disturbing trend in the post game reactions has been occuring during the entire playoffs. It seems every team that has won every game says the following
  • "no one thought we could win"
  • "no one gave us a chance"
Seriously? The NFL, one of the last venues of sheer testosterone, resorts to passive aggressive pats on the backs . I understood the Giants feeling that way last year in the Super Bowl. However, every team in the entire playoffs? You really think the world didn't give you a chance to win over a team with virtually the same record? Vegas would differ.

I understand that these comments are simply a by-product of team attitude and preparation. People with something to prove have an easier time being motivated. However, it makes me (and others) miss the cockiness of the Patriots in recent year. Swagger can be fun.

So, what about your team? Does your team and its leader try to play the underdog card when you're facing equal competition? Does your team expect to beat all comers? Would you change the way you team approaches the competition? Given the lack of parity in ultimate and the rarity in which an elite team goes down, Us against the world is a tactic that might be more easy to stomach in ultimate.

1 comment:

Me said...

Yeah. Ditto of what Sharpie said.
But after our discussion I'd wait to at least compare them to the Palm Pre. After the little information that the site has, it looks to be the best of both worlds!