|
There's been a lot of debate in the past few weeks about teams benching players and how it's unfair to the fans and to the competitiveness of the sport to bench players for whatever reason there is. The biggest controversy was the Indianapolis Colts benching their starters in the 3rd quarter against the New York Jets. On one side we had the people complaining that the Colts could've achieved history, that they were losing their edge by doing so, that the fans shouldn't be succumed to watching a half ass performance, that it was just unfair to the game. The other side of the ladder rationalized what they were doing by saying that they were only preparing themselves for the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl championship, that they needed to rest their players, that they earned the right to do whatever they wanted, and that they don't owe anyone anything and should do what's in their best interest. 
My take on what the Colts should've done is this. There's no such thing as perfection. One person's perception of perfection is different than another person's perception of it. The Colts could've achieved the 19-0 season and would've been placed on a pedestal, but for how long? The next thing we know we would have a team that blows everyone out and runs the gauntlet easily and now they're considered the best. Then we have a change in the NFL where games are increased to eighteen a year and someone goes 21-0 and now they're the best. It's a never ending road to find perfection so I don't think it matters either way what their decision is. All of that doesn't matter though. What I think is ridiculous it's acceptable for a team that has wrapped up the division to bench players, but it isn't okay for teams that are completely out of the race to bench players. I guess this is just the hypocrisy of benching players.
Everyone thinks it's unfair to lose on purpose, but when you look at the whole picture, is it really that bad? I just explained above how people justify for the winning teams. Now I'm going to justify it for the losing teams. Sports are a game and sports are a business. In both aspects it makes sense for losing teams, that have no chance of the playoffs, to bench players, and even intentionally lose the game. First of all the game aspect. Every game has strategy involved. There's no right and wrong strategy; there's only strategy that works and strategy that doesn't. Each team should be able to decide their own strategy and sometimes it may work and sometimes it won't. If a team is not going to make the playoffs then they should do what is in their best interest. Benching players that could become injured is in their best interest. Losing games to better themselves for draft pick position is in their best interest. Just like the teams that win the division earn the right to decide, the teams that are horrible have also, in their own sort of way, earned the right to decide.
On the business side of things there are plenty of variables that go into the decision to tank the season or night. Businesses are about making money, but you're not going to achieve that without bringing fans in. Tanking the season isn't really going to hurt your fan base. You're already losing consistently and playing to lose won't hurt you profit wise. By positioning yourself to obtain a top draft pick you are actually getting the fan base more excited to see a star player and probably making your team better. You will also have to pay that player more so it could also cost you financially.
The business side is much harder then the strategy side due to the fact that every decision will be effecting one person negatively and one person positively. Strategy wise it works. The season doesn't matter and you will be improving your team for the future. This is the dilemma that teams should have the power to have, but instead we consider unmoral to lose on purpose. Maybe we just don't analyze the situations from all sides. When teams win and they bench players we consider it smart; teams that are bad and bench players are looked at as cheaters and bigger losers. Maybe that's the problem with losing teams. They're too scared to do what is actually right for the team because it looks bad so they continually keep doing the wrong thing. Either way, we're all hypocrites towards the situation.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 