The "****" In The "Crapshoot" Theory
It's amazing how an idea gains traction the more it is repeated despite it's sheer unbelievability. The theory that the post-season is a "crapshoot" has become so widespread that it is now a part of every team's excuse when they were supposed to win a series but didn't. The media uses the phrase so constantly that it has become a permanent part of the lexicon and is integral to an endless cycle absolving blame to those that have failed to meet expectations. It's a very convenient belief to have for those that haven't done their jobs and are looking for an excuse.
If the playoffs are a crapshoot, then why was Joe Torre so celebrated when his team kept rolling sevens in the late nineties winning one championship after another? If the playoffs are a crapshoot, why don't teams simply pick lineups, starting pitchers, relief pitchers, etc. out of a hat and hope that it's their lucky day? This whole idea that there's no one to blame when things go wrong in the playoffs is stupid. Sometimes things go wrong due to bad luck, but that won't define an entire series. A manager can only do so much, but there are times that he can win or lose a playoff series with one stupid or smart maneuver. The playoffs are not a crapshoot; they're not a lottery. The very idea is a transparent attempt to explain the unexplainable or protect those that the media feels an affinity to. That's why the crapshoot theory should just be shortened to "****"; because it's nothing more than an excuse for failure.
I hate the Yankees.
GO PHILLIES!!!
YANKEES ***** =)
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I am sick of hearing about that "crapshoot" theory too. A team and its players have to step it up when it matters most.
http://statisticianmagician.mlblogs.com/
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Crapshoot may be a bad term. I think the idea is being the better team overall means little. There is a reason baseball seasons are 162 games long. Five games, even seven, are, indeed, something of a crapshoot, with the caveat that means the team which just happens to be hot at the moment usually prevails.
Michael Norton - Some Ballyard
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I agree that one thing can turn a short series one way or the other and the worse team on-paper wins sometimes. If a team like the Devil Rays were inserted into the playoffs, they'd have a decent shot of advancing despite how bad they are because of their two starting pitchers in Kazmir and Shields. My problem isn't with the reality that upsets happen and there's not much that can be done to stop them sometimes; but the crapshoot theory has become so prevalent that nothing is ever anyone's fault anymore; no strategy decisions, no failures, no nothing can be pinned on anyone because it's all being chalked up to a roll of the dice. Sometimes there IS someone to blame.
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Point taken. "Crapshoot" is an example of ascribing causality to a description of the phenomena. It isn't inherently random; there are, indeed, causes, and hence responsibilitym, just like it is in the regular season. As they say, baseball is a game more about failure than success--a hitter is successful only about a quarter to a third of the time.
Michael Norton - Some Ballyard
http://mlblog.someballyard.com
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I think it makes things interesting when teams like the Rockies come out of nowhere; or when Tony La Russa and his old powerhouse teams lose and then one of his weakest teams wins the championship due to his strategic brilliance; or when the Yankees world crumbles because they keep losing in the first round. Things would be boring if they went according to script.
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