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Friday, December 30, 2005

To Play Or Not To Play

Last year, about this time, I was riding on the cheese steak highway straight to the Super Bowl. The stars were in alignment, the energy on the field was like a meteorite hurtling through space. Nothing was going to stop the boys in green from taking the NFC Championship in stride and booking their private jet for the jaunt to Jacksonville.

Peeling back the layers of the fried onions, however, revealed a bit of "uh-oh", but I chose to ignore it. I'm just a fan, I thought, not a coach or an analyst. But it seemed to me that resting these guys for what amounted to almost a month was a risk. In looking back, it may have been the nail in the coffin.

It's that time again where teams have secured their playoff spots, their bye week and, if they were super effective, home field advantage throughout the playoffs. All great things to have when going into the final battle for the ultimate bragging rights in the NFL: the Vince Lombardi trophy. To rest or not to rest? That is the question coaches ask themselves. I say no. They, of course, won't listen.

Having been a fan of a team destined for the Super Bowl, I understand the strategy of keeping your best players off the field when the outcome of a game isn't going to give you any better position for the post-season. We all know players have targets on them so why chance an injury when nothing is on the line? Rest them. The players probably crave rest at this time in the year too. Their bodies have been through the equivalent of a human pinball machine for months. A little R&R would feel oh so good right about now. Maybe a little too good.

Soft feet don't make for a comfortable marathon.

As a fan it just doesn't sit right with me. (I reiterate my initial support for holding out Donovan McNabb and his merry men for the final two games last year.) I wonder if all that rest takes the edge off. And then there is the issue of paying for a full season of play - whether you are a season ticket holder or a subscriber to one of the many pay TV services available. Not only do season ticket holders have to shell out major dollars for meaningless (to them) pre-season games, but they must also sit through scrub matches in the final weeks of a brief season (brief when compared to the number of games played in other sports). It's like going to a broadway play starring Bette Midler and finding the following on a piece of paper inserted into the Playbill: Appearing in the lead role of "Bette Midler on Broadway" is Suzie Smith from Boise.

Sure, the fans are likely thrilled that their team is in the enviable position of holding out the starters, but I wonder if they feel the same "uh-oh" I did. It seems to go against the grain to proactively make one's team a lame duck. This is a SEASON. There are 16 games to be played and played well. Whether you are out of post-season contention or locked in at home for the duration of the playoffs should not matter. A game is a game. It's a roll of the dice, but that is what makes sports exciting.

Coaches have a tried and true method of remaining focused during the season by refusing to look beyond the next game. Then, when it matters most, they allow their team to focus ahead to the post-season, and give their starters a holiday from competition. Uh-oh.

IT HAS TO BE SAID: We the people of the United States have got to check ourselves into celebrity rehab. When there are more stories about Paris Hilton than President Bush circulating in viral-like fashion around the TV, the radio and the internet, we have a problem, or shall I say, an addiction. If we cared as much about the environment and the corruption in politics as we do about the latest make-ups and break-ups in Hollywood we would not have lost a jewel of a city (New Orleans) and we would all be much richer (Anybody find that missing 7 billion dollars? I could have sworn I put it right here?)

Happy New Year!
Carol

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