Bask in the hater-zone!
Some nice shots fired at sports cliches as well. In "defense wins championships" news, the Bears lost because they couldn't score when they needed to and because their defense looked like garbage against the true league MVP. Perhaps that classic phrase should be changed to "more often than not, the better team wins."
In "some guys are just winners and clutch winners always win" news, Tom Brady lost!
The more sports I watch, the less I believe in old sports adages like "clutch" or "choke" and the more I believe that sports outcomes are greatly impacted by chance, circumstance, luck, bounces of the ball, opportunity, etc.
Simply put-Sports outcomes are the "Match Point" of sports!
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I will concede that I overstated my original point to be "outrageous." I do think some perform better in "big moments" and some shrink but I think the idea is overblown. Let me try and clarify my position a little:
I probably believe a little more strongly in the idea of "choke" as opposed to "clutch." I don't necessarily believe that guys can summon some sort of hidden talent that they can't normally find. I suspect that clutch performances are a result of someone else's choke. There are certainly exceptions. But I think the general sports fan perception is that EVERY athlete has two sets of skills-his/her everyday-game-skills and his/her "big game/moment" skills. Generally speaking, I don't believe that. I do believe in exceptions when a track record warrants it.
That brings me to my "opportunity" or "circumstance" point. I think percentages and the shear number of chances play a huge part in "big game" performance. The more chances an athlete has to participate and either succeed or fail in a big game, the more likely their body of "big game" work will fall in-line with their "un-big game" work. Allow me to throw out a few examples: John Elway and his opponents.
In ’86 hotshot punk Elway has a good year on a good team and caps off the AFC Championship game with “The Drive.” So he’s clutch? Not so fast. Broncos get smoked in “The Bowl” and Phil Simms has an all-time day. So is Simms more clutch than Elway?
Broncos return to the Super Bowl the next year only to lose to the Skins and another record setting performance. Timmy Smith set a rushing record and Doug Williams thoroughly outplayed Elway. Is Williams more clutch than Elway?
Broncos return in ’89 and lose in the king of embarrassing defeats-Niners 180, Broncs 10. Montana throws 34 TD passes in the first half alone. There is a pattern developing. Elway sucks in the Super Bowl.
However, he makes two more trips to the “Huge Game” and wins them both while acting particularly “clutch.” What the hell happened? I would say simply that Elway got numerous opportunities to show you what he is capable of. His Super Bowls were him at his best and his worst. Most guys don’t get five chances so history remembers Phil Simms as a big game, super accurate passer (when he really wasn’t unusually accurate.) Simms never had a chance to show you a bad game. He would have had he started another Super Bowl.
I gotta cut this short.
GO SPORTS LEGENDS!
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