Playoffs less fun without villains
by Doug Street
The world needs villains. Hey, villains can make a great story. A lot of great pieces of literature had a hated villain which needed defeated so the good guys could win.
So when both the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots failed to make this year's NFL playoffs, a little part of me was sad because, after all, if those two teams aren't in the playoffs, who is there to root against?
Of course, there is a large percentage of people around here who will be rooting for the Steelers this postseason as they have done so many other times over the past 35 years.
But when the Steelers aren't playing, and one of the other games are on, isn't it fun to root against somebody? Dallas and New England would have been the perfect teams to root against.
That's why this postseason won't be as fun as others, even if the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl.
Wasn't it great to watch New England lose the Super Bowl last year? Of course it was. You wanted them to lose just as much as I did. It wasn't that I was opposed to a team having a perfect season, just not that one, especially after Spygate.
Around here, the Patriots have been hated since the 2001 AFC Championship game when they defeated the heavily-favored Steelers. Add a coach (Bill Belichick) who thinks he invented football and looks down on everybody, and it's so easy to root against them.
The Cowboys are another animal. Hating the Cowboys has been a Western Pennsylvania tradition for more than 30 years.
From the early days of Roger Staubach and Ed "Too Tall" Jones, to Michael Irvin and the "White House" gang of the early 90's to the smug Jerry Jones and Terrell Owens of today, it's still fun to root against the Cowboys.
Alas, that won't happen this January. And if that isn't bad enough, there isn't another team worthy of good, solid fan hatred.
n Tennessee: Yeah, Albert Haynesworth stepped on a guy's face a couple of years ago but he's found redemption. And as a Penn State grad, it's hard to root against quarterback Kerry Collins.
n Miami: They're too much of that feel-good, worst-to-first story.
n San Diego: Too boring to care about.
n Indianapolis: I can see where some people root against Peyton Manning. But he's so goofy and seems like a decent guy that he's hard to hate.
n Baltimore: They make the best case, considering the rivalry with Pittsburgh. Though the Ravens had a good season, I'm not sure they'll build up much of a playoff run and could easily lose to the Dolphins.
The NFC doesn't have many characters worth hating either.
n New York Giants: This would be the perfect team - defending Super Bowl champs with Plaxico Burress shooting his mouth off. Then Burress decided to shoot himself in the leg and the Giants hatred level has diminished considerably.
n Carolina: See San Diego.
n Minnesota: Ditto.
n Arizona: That's a sad-sack team worth pulling for, especially with Larry Fitzgerald.
n Atlanta: See Miami.
n Philadelphia: Another boring team, even if they are from this state.
There may be some exciting plays, players and finishes in these NFL playoffs. But there will be something missing.
There may be some good stories to come out of these games, but without villains, these playoffs just won't be the same.
The world needs villains. Hey, villains can make a great story. A lot of great pieces of literature had a hated villain which needed defeated so the good guys could win.
So when both the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots failed to make this year's NFL playoffs, a little part of me was sad because, after all, if those two teams aren't in the playoffs, who is there to root against?
Of course, there is a large percentage of people around here who will be rooting for the Steelers this postseason as they have done so many other times over the past 35 years.
But when the Steelers aren't playing, and one of the other games are on, isn't it fun to root against somebody? Dallas and New England would have been the perfect teams to root against.
That's why this postseason won't be as fun as others, even if the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl.
Wasn't it great to watch New England lose the Super Bowl last year? Of course it was. You wanted them to lose just as much as I did. It wasn't that I was opposed to a team having a perfect season, just not that one, especially after Spygate.
Around here, the Patriots have been hated since the 2001 AFC Championship game when they defeated the heavily-favored Steelers. Add a coach (Bill Belichick) who thinks he invented football and looks down on everybody, and it's so easy to root against them.
The Cowboys are another animal. Hating the Cowboys has been a Western Pennsylvania tradition for more than 30 years.
From the early days of Roger Staubach and Ed "Too Tall" Jones, to Michael Irvin and the "White House" gang of the early 90's to the smug Jerry Jones and Terrell Owens of today, it's still fun to root against the Cowboys.
Alas, that won't happen this January. And if that isn't bad enough, there isn't another team worthy of good, solid fan hatred.
n Tennessee: Yeah, Albert Haynesworth stepped on a guy's face a couple of years ago but he's found redemption. And as a Penn State grad, it's hard to root against quarterback Kerry Collins.
n Miami: They're too much of that feel-good, worst-to-first story.
n San Diego: Too boring to care about.
n Indianapolis: I can see where some people root against Peyton Manning. But he's so goofy and seems like a decent guy that he's hard to hate.
n Baltimore: They make the best case, considering the rivalry with Pittsburgh. Though the Ravens had a good season, I'm not sure they'll build up much of a playoff run and could easily lose to the Dolphins.
The NFC doesn't have many characters worth hating either.
n New York Giants: This would be the perfect team - defending Super Bowl champs with Plaxico Burress shooting his mouth off. Then Burress decided to shoot himself in the leg and the Giants hatred level has diminished considerably.
n Carolina: See San Diego.
n Minnesota: Ditto.
n Arizona: That's a sad-sack team worth pulling for, especially with Larry Fitzgerald.
n Atlanta: See Miami.
n Philadelphia: Another boring team, even if they are from this state.
There may be some exciting plays, players and finishes in these NFL playoffs. But there will be something missing.
There may be some good stories to come out of these games, but without villains, these playoffs just won't be the same.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:05 AM
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