Prophecies
April 24th 2008 02:39
Sports is all about hype. It's all about anticipation. It's all about endless debate. Occasionally it's about those rare days when all the hype, anticipate and debate fades into insignificance and you're there, witnessing a classic moment where two teams with everything on the line battling it out to decide exactly who is the champion. Then it's about reflecting nostalgically on these classic battles.
In the early rounds of the AFL it becomes difficult to sort out just what the results really mean. Geelong is on track to be the next Brisbane Lions 2001-2003. The last time Geelong started 5-0 in 1998 they missed the finals. Hawthorn is set to be the big challenger. In 2001 Hawthorn started 8-0 and then last five of their next seven and finished fourth. Yet the anticipation for the Geelong v Hawthorn battle in round 17 can hardly be held in.
The NBA playoffs have begun too and every game's result while not definitive in a seven game series somehow speaks volumes about how good the team and their championship chances are to the word-hungry sports journalists. Yet if there's anything that's been proven it's that the results of one game rarely affect another. An example being in the NBL Grand Final series earlier this year when a miraculous comeback by the Sydney Kings in Game Four seemed to hand them all the momentum only for the Tigers to bounce back and win Game Five and the series.
I wrote a piece called "Prediction Posturing", Really Long Link that highlighted the ridiculousness of pre-season "expert" predictions in AFL. Through the first five weeks of the season I was proven correct with the overwhelmingly popular choices for second and third, those eternal wannabes, St. Kilda & Fremantle, failing to live up to the hype. Their high-profile draft choices once again duping experts into believing that somehow this constitutes a good team. While Fremantle have looked dismal winning only one game, St. Kilda have certainly not looked like the premiership team many predicted in lame losses to the Bulldogs and Geelong.
So while journalists whip up a storm of debate, and generate hype and anticipation, we all wait for that day when everything coalesces and you have two teams recognised as the best, playing their best, struggling against each other, and finally willing their way to victory and you don't need to check the newspapers the next day because you saw what happened, and you'll be talking about it with your mates for the rest of your years because they're the moments that make sports worthwhile.
In the early rounds of the AFL it becomes difficult to sort out just what the results really mean. Geelong is on track to be the next Brisbane Lions 2001-2003. The last time Geelong started 5-0 in 1998 they missed the finals. Hawthorn is set to be the big challenger. In 2001 Hawthorn started 8-0 and then last five of their next seven and finished fourth. Yet the anticipation for the Geelong v Hawthorn battle in round 17 can hardly be held in.
The NBA playoffs have begun too and every game's result while not definitive in a seven game series somehow speaks volumes about how good the team and their championship chances are to the word-hungry sports journalists. Yet if there's anything that's been proven it's that the results of one game rarely affect another. An example being in the NBL Grand Final series earlier this year when a miraculous comeback by the Sydney Kings in Game Four seemed to hand them all the momentum only for the Tigers to bounce back and win Game Five and the series.
I wrote a piece called "Prediction Posturing", Really Long Link that highlighted the ridiculousness of pre-season "expert" predictions in AFL. Through the first five weeks of the season I was proven correct with the overwhelmingly popular choices for second and third, those eternal wannabes, St. Kilda & Fremantle, failing to live up to the hype. Their high-profile draft choices once again duping experts into believing that somehow this constitutes a good team. While Fremantle have looked dismal winning only one game, St. Kilda have certainly not looked like the premiership team many predicted in lame losses to the Bulldogs and Geelong.
So while journalists whip up a storm of debate, and generate hype and anticipation, we all wait for that day when everything coalesces and you have two teams recognised as the best, playing their best, struggling against each other, and finally willing their way to victory and you don't need to check the newspapers the next day because you saw what happened, and you'll be talking about it with your mates for the rest of your years because they're the moments that make sports worthwhile.
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