Brewhouse Bias – Win, At All Costs – Right?

An article by scottysbrewhouse    1 Comment

When, in sport, is it better to lose to gain future advantage on winning? Just the idea and saying this (typing this) out loud makes no sense to me. Didn’t Herm Edwards quote it perfectly? “We play to WIN the game. We play to WIN the game.”

In the mixed up era of collective bargaining, player’s associations, no salary caps, 17-year-old professional athletes that haven’t even mastered the art of shaving, dumping players and salaries to make room for next year (season ticket holders be damned) and more losses equal more ping-pong balls – I think some changes are needed Mr. Commissioner.

At this point, I think we all know the New Jersey Nets have the John Wall lottery all but locked up. According to Bob Kravitz, columnist for the Indianapolis Star, “If the season ended today — and wouldn’t that be nice? — the Pacers would be tied with two other teams for the fourth-fewest victories (18), meaning they’d have the fourth-best chance to win the John Wall Lottery, otherwise known as the NBA draft lottery.”

Now, this Brewhouse Bias is not here to slam the Pacer organization. I honestly feel Larry Legend and company have been trying hard to recover from the Tinsley-Artest Era. You can’t rebuild overnight after an incident like that (or suffering the loss of Reggie, Mark Jackson, the Davis’, the Dunking Dutchmen and the other team leaders of the ‘90’s).

No, my problem lies with the broken system of the NBA. There aren’t many jobs in life where you can break your leg, shoot your limo driver and still receive a check for millions of dollars. (see: Jayson Williams for more info)

How does a coach motivate a team to win when they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs? How does the owner encourage the coach to win, when a loss means so much more to the future of the franchise?

I know we live in a time where every kid gets a ribbon or a “participation” trophy. We don’t keep score in games – God forbid we teach our kids about competition. (I mean, I was the last picked in every playground sport and I think I turned out pretty good. I think it actually gave me drive and determination to be better and do better throughout my life.) So, are we now approaching a time where I’m going to have to coach my son’s 3rd grade basketball games and tell him, “Tank the rest of the season son. There is a bad ass 2nd grade 2 guard that we really need to get next year”? If so, I’m throwing in the towel now.