Shadow Wrought's Journal: Thoughts on Sudden Death Overtime

The 2010 NFC Championship game went into Overtime. One of the biggest names ever to play the game, Brett Favre with 19 seasons under his belt stood on the sideline, waiting for his chance for glory and redemption. It never came. The New Orleans Saints won the toss, drove to within field goal range, and roared their way to the Super Bowl on the leg of their young kicker.

Is this really fair?

Yes, absolutely. Favre had his chance and threw it away. With time running out he had a decision to make. He had space to run to get his team into field goal range, or he could try the kind of throw that freshman quarterbacks in High School are benched for. Every day people have to live with the consequences of their decisions, why should Brett Favre be any different?

The whole debate about sudden death overtime is skewed by focus on the coin-toss; that random chance is playing an inordinate amount in the determination of victory. To focus on the coin-toss is to forget that a preceding 60 minutes of football has already happened. The Vikings had plenty of opportunities to win the game and fumbled them away. Literally.

Think about another aspect of football culture. After the Vikings beat the Cowboys, one of the Cowboy linebackers decried the Vikings for throwing for a touchdown late in the game with an already sizable lead. The cultural answer across the board: "If you don't like it, stop it." Why should overtime be any different? If you don't want your fate decided by a coin-toss don't throw the football into the gut of a defender. Don't fumble the ball over and over and over again.

In short, you had 60 minutes to take care of it yourself and didn't. You can't now blame the coin-toss for not having a chance. And we, as a society and a culture need to stop lamenting every time a second chance isn't given. It used to be that second chances had to be earned, now they're handed out de rigueur. Except in the NFL, where decisions still have the consequences they should.

Re:

[Shadow Wrought]

This is why the NFL is better than EVERY OTHER SPORT ON EARTH. Fundamentally it is setup differently than the others. Baseball's innings are played to give both teams an at bat but, after the fifth, the game is considered complete and a game can be called without the teams finishing their at bat. You could make the entire game of soccer sudden death only and not change it substantially. Basketball has too much scoring for sudden death. As for hockey, I actually saw game winning slap shot off the OT fac

Re:

[Shadow Wrought]

Actually I kinda like the Bowl system, I just don't like the BCS. I kind of like the Plus One idea, so after all the bowl games are played, then the top two teams are picked. I wouldn't mind expanding that to a plus 4 either. They already have the BCS Championship so deep into January anyway, I don't think additional games would hurt.

I totally agree on the prevent defense all so. I hate it. (Well, unless my team is down and the otehr team is running it!)

I think the rest of the OT debate we simply

Re:

[peacefinder]

Why not a time-limited OT?

Please don't mistake this for actually giving a crap about Farve, the Vikings, the NFL, or even sports in general. Just curious. :-)

Re:

[Shadow Wrought]

Oh I know you're a football fan! I don't find myself particularly against a time limit which, unfortunately, makes Luke727's words above more powerful than I admitted earlier. Dangnabbit. I'll have to give that some thought...

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[lmnfrs]

It's all aspect. I always think of football's value being in the pressure, as you say. Does that actually make it the best, and the NFL great considering how well they implement the display of pressure? Considering that the last opinion I heard, coming from a low-brow hillbilly stereotype, described soccer as boring since it lacks sudden exciting turns in the control, strategy, and momentum of the next play, and implied those mood alterations as an amazingly accurate metaphor for the personalities of popula

Off-topic :)

[knifeyspooney]

I followed you here from the recent RIAA story [slashdot.org]. I found your signature entertaining. An elegant reformulation of the adage, and answer to your question, could be, "Brevity is a necessary but insufficient condition for wit."