Read the debate intro, Sports Geek’s argument that a pre-season poll should predict the rankings at the end of the season and Loyal Homer’s argument that it should be a real-time snapshot of the college football landscape.
Cheesy-Voiced Radio Announcer: “We last left Bleacher Fan just before revealing the future observed from gazing into a crystal ball. Let’s see check back in to see what the future holds for our debaters…”
Bleacher Fan (in an airy and mysterious voice): I see the winner of this debate, and it is… SPORTS GEEK!
But wait, that’s not all I see… there’s more to this premonition… Loyal Homer, next week you will begin to panic because you think you lost your Hello-Kitty backpack. Don’t worry… it will be right behind the sofa, where you dropped it after you started singing your favorite Miley Cyrus song as it plays on the radio tomorrow afternoon! It has been foretold!
Obviously, no one can gaze into a crystal ball and predict the future. That doesn’t mean, though, that people should not try. Speculation is part of what makes being a sports fan so much fun! Between friendly wagers with your buddies, office brackets, and pre-season polls, everyone tries to play “know-it-all” for the chance of making it look like YOU are the expert and YOU know what you are talking about.
At first, I was in complete agreement with Loyal Homer. In all reality, no one can measure future statistics and no one can predict injuries. The best gauge that a pollster has in evaluating talent is to measure and interpret what they see in the present. To be frank, Loyal Homer made one comment that I just couldn’t agree with, no matter how much I tried. That comment was regarding the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs.
Loyal Homer argues that the Georgia Bulldogs were a very deserving #1 team in the pre-season, despite the fact that Georgia was rarely mentioned in BCS talks. Due to a schedule which included some difficult matchups, Loyal Homer argues that very few expected the Bulldogs to finish the year as champions.
I just can’t buy that argument. How can a pollster in one breath say that Georgia is the best team in football, then in the other say that they won’t make it through their schedule? Isn’t the best team SUPPOSED to be the best BECAUSE they can beat all the other teams? Look at the Florida Gators, who had an equally difficult schedule, yet somehow managed to defeat LSU, Georgia, Florida State, South Carolina, and even defeated the then-ranked #1 teams Alabama AND Oklahoma in back-to-back games, on their way to winning the national championship.
I understand that it is difficult to choose which one team out of 119 will be the single champion every year, but I cannot agree with a statement that sets a team up to be the BEST in football, then closes by questioning that team’s ability to win games. By selecting Georgia as the best team in the nation during the pre-season, the implication is that they have a strong likelihood of surviving their schedule, no matter how daunting it is. If the pollsters didn’t think Georgia could get through their schedule, then they obviously were NOT the best team.
What ultimately clinched the ‘W’ for Sports Geek was the point that skillful pollsters can gauge the current climate of the football season and successfully apply that towards a forecast of how the season will play out.
I don’t think I would go as far as Sports Geek in saying that the voters need to “put a stake in the ground” or otherwise appear “gutless.” The uncertainty of the future has to allow for some flexibility in the voting process. Otherwise, the polls would never change, because a hard and fast ranking would be established during the pre-season. By declaring that the pre-season poll was a “statement” of who the best WILL be, the pollsters would essentially be choosing the National Championship matchup before the season even began, defeating the purpose of actually playing the season out.
While Sports Geek keenly recognizes that the “good” voters can forecast season results with some level of accuracy, there is still a day-to-day nature embedded within the game which must be accounted for.
Last, before I forget, the crystal ball has also shown me that Sports Geek will have “bad dreams” after watching Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and will therefore have to sleep at night with the lights on… IT HAS BEEN FORETOLD!!!
