And in all sports. In many nations.
Some of you guys know I follow England rugby and, to a lesser extent, football (soccer). The press in England are UNBELIEVABLY critical of teams. To get a positive write up, a team needs to play a flawless and utterly dominant game against an elite team. Then, if you read fan forums, most fans are the same way. Anything less than perfection is evidence of impending collapse.
Again, there is a 2-sides-of-the-coin angle. If the opponent is not elite, then achievement is dismissed. But if the opponent is elite, then all plays in which that opponent expresses its quality--exactly what one would expect from an elite team--is immediately interpreted as a major weakness.
We want our competition to be competitive. And then we want the winner to dominate so much as to eradicate any genuine competition. Hell, fans don't know what they want.
Now step back a bit. Suppose you're watching a game between 2 teams you aren't committed to positively or negatively. You are really neutral.
In such a case, what constitutes a "good game"? Obviously, it would be a close, competitive game with both sides making plays and the lead repeatedly changing hands.
Can we remember that when assessing teams and players? The other team will make plays! Good. If not, the competition would be meaningless. And our guys will make mistakes and miss shots, so to speak. Fine. They are human.
Winning a tough, competitive game against a quality opponent is an achievement even if it isn't dominant and our guys make mistakes. A player who makes winning plays is having a helluva game even if he also makes some mistakes along the way. You know, last year (?), Adam Scott won 2 tournaments in Florida even after repeatedly hitting balls into the water, some down the stretch. But he made the plays to win. The win is what counts, not the balls in the water.
I guess I am ranting here, and I need to stop and get back to work. I just yearn for a sports dialogue that uses analysis to identify legitimate tendencies, but remembers how to remain in human reality and appreciate the value of flawed, all-too-human achievement.