The Best and Worst of Must See Sports

Harry Potter's hat probably works better.

The Daily Hat Trick has offered its insightful commentary and prognostications on the biggest sporting events of each week in Must See Sports. Since this past December, Hat Trick readers can expect to see a heaping pile of…predictions and more every Thursday. Sometimes my projections are accurate. Other times…not so much.

I use the word “advantage” instead of “prediction” or “winner” at the end of each Must See summary. If I am ever wrong, which is every week, a reader can never say I steered him in the wrong direction and influenced him into making a bad bet. There is a difference between thinking one participant in a sporting event has an advantage and declaring that the participant will win. In addition, the word “advantage” gives me enough face saving wiggle room to explain what the heck happened in case my expert analysis (and by “expert” I mean a guy who sits on his couch with the remote) goes horribly wrong.

Nonetheless, I have expressed some strongly worded expectations in some of the Must See summaries. Some have hit the bulls eye and cause me to give thought to sports forecasting as a back up career. Others have landed my foot so far in my mouth that I could floss my teeth with shoe laces.

Here are some of the best and worst of Must See Sports:


BEST

Thursday, March 17, 2011

"NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Second Round

Southwest Region
(5) Vanderbilt Commodores vs (12) Richmond Spiders

The “12-5” upsets seem to be an annual tradition in the big dance, and Vandy is ripe for the picking. Vanderbilt is simply not consistent and they have trouble putting away opponents. Richmond is a quality mid-major, winners of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, with single-digit losses and wins over #8 Purdue and #25 Temple during the regular season. This could be a problem for the SEC school.

Advantage: Richmond"

How this made the "best": Every Joe in every office everywhere in America who takes part in a March Madness bracket pool picks upsets in the NCAA Tournament every year. Most of them are wrong.

The reason one team is seeded significantly higher than another is because, through out the season, the team with the higher seed has demonstrated that it has a significant advantage over a lesser seeded team. To correctly pick an upsets, especially one with a seeding gap as wide as a “12-5”, one has to observe signs that the higher seed was overrated and the lower seed is underrated. That is often easier said than done.

Nonetheless, it looks like the proper signs were read here at the Hat Trick. Richmond not only upset fifth seeded Vanderbilt, but also won in the third round of the tournament to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Spiders were more than a one trick pony, making me look like I know what I am talking about!

The Richmond mascot looks more like a roach than a spider, to me. 1

February 11, 2011

"Los Angeles Clippers at Cleveland Cavaliers

This may be the ultimate trap game. First of all, if you are a Clippers fan, you have to be thrilled that the expression “trap game” is being used in reference to your team at all. It means that there are actual expectations and that your team is expected to win. I cannot recall the last time this was the case for L.A.’s “other team”. Thank Blake Griffin for making this team relevant, at any level, again.

The Clippers have a winning record in calendar year 2011 and, frankly, if they played as well on the road as they do at home, they might be in the Western Conference playoff race. With two months remaining in the season and the always existing possibility a hot run by the Clippers and a cold streak by the Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, or Nuggets, a playoff run is only slightly far-fetched.

So why is an inter-conference matchup of two sub .500 teams “must see”? Because you could be witnessing history! A (27th consecutive) loss by the Cavs would give them the dubious distinction of having the longest losing streak in the history of all major American professional sports, eclipsing the 26 consecutive losses by the 1976-1977 Buccaneers (random trivia – which team did the Buccaneers beat to snap the streak in ’77; hint: it was played in the Superdome...DOH!!!).

So why do I think this could be a trap? The Clippers DO play poorly on the road. The Cavaliers have been within striking distance of some respectable teams, late in games, lately. And nobody but nobody wants to be the biggest loser of all-time. Last, point guard Mo Williams, whose absence coincided with the Cavs play going from “bad” to “the word ‘bad’ would be offended”, practiced earlier this week and may return Friday, just in the nick of time to help spare Cleveland the ultimate embarrassment.

Advantage: Cavaliers (you read it HERE first, folks – and it will be deleted here first if Cleveland looses badly)"

How this made the "best": Why was a game between two NBA teams with Draft Lottery ping pong balls in their futures worthy of being “Must See”? Because history was on the line! The Cleveland Cavaliers had lost 26 consecutive games and were just one loss away from setting the record for most consecutive losses by a major North American professional sports franchise. The Los Angeles Clippers, with an injection of optimism from future Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin, were showing clear signs of improvement and had a winning record during the past month. Only a FOOL would pick the Cavaliers to win. Right? THAT’S…why they PLAY…the GAMES!


While the Cavs’ victory that evening does not necessarily preclude me from being a fool, I would not be made into one from my prediction. In my bold prediction, I left a disclaimer that it would be deleted if the Cavs were blown out. I am sure many Cavs fans are glad it remained in place.

Then-Clippers gurad Baron Davis got a taste of Cleveland. Now he gets a buffet. Davis was traded to the Cavs later in the season.  2

WORST

December 19, 2010

"New England Patriots at Green Bay Packers

This could be a titanic battle of possible Super Bowl contenders or another Patriots (11-2) landslide. The Packers (8-5) hopes for this Sunday Night Football matchup, and perhaps their entire season, likely hinges on the status of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who suffered a concussion in last week's loss to the Detroit Lions. The Packers are at a slight disadvantage if Rodgers can go. With Matt Flynn at the controls, the Packers can chuck this game into the "L" column like real life patriots chucked 18th century British tea into the Boston Harbor.

Advantage: Patriots

How this made the "worst": This projection was correct on picking the winner, but way off on "why" and "how". I seldom missed Sunday Night Football last season, but I expected such a one sided game that I did not flip on the tube until a friend texted me and let me know that Flynn was having a breakout game. I had to eat my words as the Packers went from chucking this game into the “L” column with Flynn at the controls, as I expected, to nearly stealing this game from the Patriots “W” column.

Flynn passed for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving the Pack the lead by six points in the fourth quarter. Alas, Tom Brady went “Tom Brady” and led the Patriots on two scoring drives for 10 points, giving New England a 4 point squeaker of a win. Regardless, Flynn made me eat my words and helped out his future free agency value immensely that night.

Several editorials were painting Flynn as the next Tom Brady after his performance against the Patriots. SLOW DOWN! 3

January 6, 2011

"New Orleans Saints (11-5) at Seattle Seahawks (7-9) (NBC)

This could be dubbed the "Life's Not Fair Bowl". The defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints, with an 11-5 record, just one game back of the NFC's top seeded Atlanta Falcons, have to travel to Seattle, home of the NFC West Champion Seahawks, with 7 wins and 9 losses. REALLY??? You carry a 6-9 record into Week 17 and a team with 11 wins has to travel to see YOU to defend its championship. REALLY???

The Saints placed running backs Chris Ivory (the Ivory Tusk) and Pierre Thomas on injured reserve, ending their seasons. Reggie Bush faces his old college coach at USC, Pete Carroll. Seattle is at home. The Saints clearly play a half-step down when in cold weather. And Qwest Field may be the loudest outdoor stadium in the NFL. Okay, Seahawks Fan...dream over. Time to wake up.

Advantage: Saints"

How this made the "worst": Yeahhhhh. This one didn’t work out so well for me. Being a Saints fan, no doubt, influenced the tone of my synopsis of this game. Regardless, I never saw the Saints being on the losing end of a game against a team with a losing record (even if that team is at home) after putting up 36 points against that team. That is exactly what happened and the score looked closer than the game actually was. The final sprinkle of insult to injury: Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch broke several tackles, on a play that will be in highlight reels for many years to come, en route to the touchdown that put the game out of reach. Why tell you when I can show you?

NINE missed tackles? REALLY??? 4

I hope you all enjoy each edition of Must See sports. Just remember that I aim to entertain and inform. I’ll leave the predictions to the pros!


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1) Image from indiatimes.com
2) Image from thegamingpost.com
3) Image from totalpackers.com
4) Video from YouTube