Thursday, January 4, 2024

The silliness of what if

 Saw the other day that Vegas put out a hypothetical betting line on a hypothetical Georgia-Michigan national championship game, and I immediately had two thoughts:

1. I had no idea there were so many butt-hurt, we-shoulda-been-in-the-CFP  University of Georgia grads working in Vegas.

2. Beating a horse this dead is not only sad and pathetic, it's downright silly.

Because, listen, people, and I'll put this in all caps so you'll be sure to hear it: GEORGIA'S NOT HERE. You can wish the Bulldogs were, you can say they were clearly one of the best four teams in college football this season, but they lost the one game they couldn't afford to lose.  

Say what you will about Michigan and its real natty opponent Washington, but they didn't. They ran the table -- Washington in arguably the nation's toughest conference. So they deserve to be right where they are.

Running fake betting lines inserting Georgia for Washington not only disses the Huskies, it's just plain silly.  Harmless, sure, but silly.

Although the implication behind it -- that Georgia is the ACTUAL best team in college football -- presents an interesting exercise in logic if you extrapolate it on out.

For instance ...

* The Texas Rangers won the World Series, but the real champions were obviously either the Atlanta Braves or Baltimore Orioles. They were, after all, the two best teams in baseball this year until, like Georgia, they lost when they shouldn't have. That made the Fall Classic between the Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks the Faux Classic, right? 

* Fairleigh Dickinson beat Purdue last March in a stunning NCAA Tournament upset, but, like Georgia losing to Alabama,  that was just a big ol' fluke so Purdue was your real regional champion and should have assumed its rightful place in the Final Four. I mean, the Boilermakers would have pounded Florida Atlantic or San Diego State, right?

* Wyndham Clark won the U.S. Open golf tournament in 2023, but, come on, it's not like he's better than Rory McIlroy, who finished second by a stroke. Just like, you know, Alabama wasn't better than Georgia, even though it beat the Bulldogs in the SEC title game.

*  The best team in the NHL last year was the Boston Bruins, so they should have been playing Las Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final. They didn't, but they should have been. And, look, even Vegas had them favored over the hometown team in this totally legit fake betting line!

And last but not least ...

* Trump won! Trump won! Even though he lost!

Speaking of totally legit fakes.

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