The "Wins and Losses" Farce

One of the key metrics for evaluating a pitcher in baseball is their record of wins and losses. It is essentially an accounting of how many runs opponents scored off the pitcher and his 8 defensive teammates relative to the number of runs the pitcher's 9-man batting order scored during the time when the pitcher was in the game. If it sounds like the pitcher plays only a fractional part (albeit an important fraction) in the final outcome, that is because it is so.

So why do we continue to track and consider this statistic as important? Obviously, good pitchers on poor teams can out-perform bad pitchers on strong teams and have an inferior Win/Loss record. It makes no sense.

Unless you look at it in relative terms.

Relative to the trend of looking at Win/Loss records for NFL quarterbacks, rating pitchers on that measure seems comparatively brilliant. Of course that is only due to the unfathomable absurdity of hanging a win or a loss for a 53-man football team on one player.

It is all over the news today. With last night's win over the Packers, Favre has become the first QB to defeat all 32 active NFL football teams in his career. I guess he did it all by himself. Forget the fact that the Vikings held the Packers to zero points through three trips to the red-zone and had 3 take-aways in the game. Forget the special teams play. Forget football's best running back, Adrian Peterson, who drew a stacked box all night and opened up the passing lanes for a talented core of Vikings receivers. Forget all the coaching, and scheming, and game-planning, and play-calling. Favre did it alone.

How can smart guys, who played the game and then became analysts, spew this crap? I can tolerate it in baseball because sometimes a pitcher throws nine innings of excellence and deserves recognition as the key contributor to a win. But in football, I cannot abide this emerging trend.

Welcome Back, Brett

The FCC has really been bearing down on me for not posting about Favre over the past few weeks. Now that there is some news, I can share my thoughts and get the law off my back.

A high percentage of the news coverage on Favre for the past two years has been either snarky commentary on his waffling about retirement or pejorative speculation about his ambition to hold the spotlight. I think this says more about the state of journalism than about Brett Favre.

My first reaction when I heard the news of his arrival at Vikings camp was joy. I like to witness history and now we all have another season to watch him push certain records (consecutive starts by a QB and all-time TD's to name two) further out of reach. I think his story is an interesting one and his presence in the NFC North adds drama to the league. I can't wait to watch the season unfold.

In terms of impact, I don't know how much athletic ability he has left but it must be something close to the ability he used last year to help the Jets get off to a hot start prior to his arm injury. I would doubt that his experience has become obsolete and his decision making ability should be as sharp as ever, especially in the familiar offense the Vikings run. For all those reasons, he should be a very capable QB on a very solid team.

More importantly, his example of professionalism, both on and off the field, will likely help the team assume a winning work ethic and mentality that will push them to reach new levels of success. I wish him well and I look forward to watching.