There are two words (and all of their derivations) that I’ve come to hate over the last year or so…�expect� and “compete�. These two words are certainly not complicated to spell, pronounce, or use in normal conversation. However when they are used on sports message boards, the meanings can become nearly incomprehensible and stretched beyond recognition.
When someone uses “expectâ€?, it can mean anything from hope/dream, predict, and even require. For example if your manager (or Significant Other) says, “That was not what I expectedâ€?…then the meaning is obvious and it is not good. When a fan talks about “expecting to do betterâ€?, it is often hard to tell if that is a prediction or a hope. (The insanity of a fan talking about requirements for the coach/team should be obvious to all and not worth discussing…though some fans do so incessantly.)
“Compete� can also have several different meanings. For example, Stetson arrived in Raleigh with coaches, players, tennis shoes, etc. They ran, jumped, dribbled, and shot for 40 minutes and thus the sentence “Stetson was competing with NC State.� is a perfectly acceptable statement…..except for the little fact that Stetson would offer no competition to any ACC school.
In the sports world, “competitive� is normally used to describe a close game that could have been won by either team. Over a longer period of time, to say that one program was competitive with another would normally mean that your team won some games, even if the “bad guys� won more often. However, when the wins on the court/field occur less frequently than February 29th, then we have a problem.
So to help ground the optimistically-delusional fans, I am going to provide an illustration of a program that is competitive with a superior program…Maryland vs Duke. I don’t think describing Duke as having a superior program (or at least having superior results) to any other program in America over the last 20 years will raise much controversy. From 1999 through 2005, Duke finished ahead of Maryland in the regular season standings five times, tied with them once, and behind Maryland once. However, the 17 games played between Duke and Maryland over the last seven seasons break down as follows:
|
Location |
Record |
|
@ Maryland |
3-4 |
|
@ Duke |
3-4 |
|
Neutral |
1-2 |
|
Total: |
7-10 |
This series contains overtime games, last-second shots, frantic comebacks…and a few trouncings. Maryland has finished the ACC regular season the last two years at 7-9, but still won three of five games against Duke who was ranked in the RPI Top-5 both years. Imagine that…actually beating a top-10 team. Guess we should tell Gary not to try so hard since losses to top-10 teams don’t count. 😉
It’s both sad and funny to watch some NC State fans try to define “competitive� in ways that don’t require winning. The saddest example has to be the silly spiel about State beating the last seven national champions in basketball. The only time that State beat one of these eventual national champions was in the 2002 ACC tourney when they upset Maryland. How anyone can take pride in beating a school before or after they won the NCAA tourney is beyond me….but we have fans that do.
Final Note
By almost any definition, Wake Forest and Maryland have both been competitive with the top teams in the country over the last few years. However, it is Maryland that has a regular season title, ACC Tourney title, two Final Four appearances, and a National Championship. They keep score for a reason……the real goal is to win and to win championships.
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Raw Data for |
||
|
|
Away |
|
|
Maryland |
Home |
|
|
(1) |
Home |
|
|
(1) |
Away |
|
|
Maryland |
Neutral |
|
|
|
Home |
|
|
(12) |
Away |
|
|
(4) |
Away |
|
|
|
Home |
|
|
(1) |
Home |
|
|
|
Away |
|
|
(1) |
Neutral |
|
|
(2) |
Home |
|
|
Maryland |
Away |
|
|
(2) |
Neutral |
|
|
(1) |
Home |
|
|
(1) |
Away |
|
