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False playoff hopes are product of parity

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index...9613130250.xml False playoff hopes are product of parity Tuesday December 16, 2003 John DeShazier This, we've been led to believe, is what passes as excitement, NFL-style. With two regular-season games left, more teams are statistically in the playoff hunt than ...

 
 
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Old 12-16-2003, 07:21 AM   #1
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False playoff hopes are product of parity

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False playoff hopes are product of parity

Tuesday December 16, 2003
John DeShazier


This, we've been led to believe, is what passes as excitement, NFL-style.

With two regular-season games left, more teams are statistically in the playoff hunt than not -- half of the 16 franchises in the AFC and nine of 16 in the NFC.

Two 8-6 teams are tied for division leads in each conference -- Cincinnati and Baltimore in the AFC North, Green Bay and Minnesota in the NFC North -- and two teams that are 7-7 (Tampa Bay and the Saints in the NFC) still are talking playoffs, though each needs the equivalent of a miracle to win a wild-card spot.

And I can't help wondering how good this really is for NFL fans.

There's enough mediocrity to keep hope alive into mid-December in most cities, enough so-so teams that few franchises believe they aren't on the right path. Seven NFC teams and four AFC clubs have records between 8-6 and 6-8.

Teams in such situations might be inclined to favor the minor-tweak approach in the offseason, believing a tuneup is all that's needed to make things run smoothly. And fans are sold on it because their teams were this close to sneaking into the playoffs, were right in the middle of the race until the last few weeks of the season.

True, at least Saints, Buccaneers, Dolphins fans, among others, still have something to talk about. At least the season isn't officially dead, even though it appears to have gone cold and the pulse is weak and fading.

Players, too, continue to milk it for all it's worth, maintaining the statistical right to talk postseason. And owners have to love it because playoff talk means continued interest, which means filled seats and stadiums.

But the whole reward-for-mediocrity process -- or, worse, the ability and willingness to capitalize off it financially -- produces a queasy feeling. And the feeling is the same whether the league is spelled NFL, NBA or NHL, outfits who allow in so many playoff teams that being average is bound to pay off eventually, given the abundance of franchises and the spread of quality players.

As much as anything, expansion in franchises and playoff formats seems to have fostered a willingness to accept average or worse, to "wait till next year" because the team was only a game or two out of the playoffs, to not demand significant change because a tweak here and there should do fine, especially if a couple of players identified as problems have been run off.

If the Saints somehow make the playoffs -- and given their lack of consistency and the obstacles, don't bet on it -- does anyone really believe the team will make as many changes as it could, and probably should?

Or is there as much, if not more, of a chance that team officials might begin to believe that getting in is proof that things are going right, that the players who look ineffective now might appear a little more attractive through postseason-colored glasses?

That is what parity does. It tricks teams and fans into believing the situation is better than it is, because almost everybody else is flopping around in the same puddle of mediocrity.

That's excitement, NFL-style.

Don't you just love it?

John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3410.
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