I was scrolling through my Twitter feed after the final horn looking for a cheap laugh to lift my spirits1 but instead came across a tweet from a fellow Rutgers alumnus and member of the sports media I found interesting.
5% is obviously not very high in general, and is especially depressing if you consider how much energy a lot of people put into their favorite teams. While I'm not disputing that his favorite teams lose a good amount of their individual games, I will call into question the definition of the term "winning."
There are two ways of thinking in NBA basketball. One is that you're lucky enough to have one of the 5 best players in the league on your team, automatically turning you into a title contender. The other is that if the team does not have such good fortune, it would benefit them to lose as many games as possible in the hopes of securing a future superstar with a high pick in the draft. With 15 teams in each conference, the ability to consistently finish between fourth and tenth is usually seen as a failure. It doesn't matter how many games a team wins as long as they lack the firepower necessary to vie for a championship.
While these teams do not collect rings or hold parades, it seems too simplistic to call their efforts a failure. These teams gain fans, money and notoriety based on their on-court success. The Joe Johnson-era Hawks offered many exciting moments despite coming up short in countless second round playoff series. The Seven-Seconds-Or-Less Suns were one of the most exciting, entertaining and watchable2 teams in NBA history despite never winning a title. Some see those exits as an inadequacy but the 22 other teams would probably have been happy to have advanced that far.
The US Hockey team did not beat Canada. It will not win gold, it will not win silver. It might win bronze, and will play for that tomorrow vs. Finland. Ask Russia if it would rather compete for bronze over being eliminated in the quarterfinals and from medal contention. Ask the Washington Wizards or Sacramento Kings if they would like to be eliminated from the second round over being a perennial cellar dwellers. USA Hockey gained fans and popularity just from its thrilling shootout victory over Russia in the preliminary rounds. This is not the last time the Americans will compete for a gold medal, and the national development program is only going to keep growing. USA did not win gold, but they played as tight a game as possible against the best team in the tournament. They won't be hanging gold around their necks, but they can at least hang their hats on that.
