The Blame Game By: Joshua Chamberlain Posted: February 16, 2012
In the days following the Super Bowl, I heard a lot about who was to blame for the Patriots’ loss. This type of thing happens after most big games, as fans of the losing team look for ways to soften the blow by finding a scapegoat. After all, if one person can be blamed, it makes the whole thing easier to digest. Sports fans have been doing that for years, and Boston fans have gotten especially good at it.
After the most recent big game loss, here were the lines of blame most commonly spread by Pats fans:
I found it funny, though not altogether surprising, that I heard next to nothing about the team that actually won the game. Even Mario Manningham’s spectacular catch down the sideline of a perfectly-thrown Eli Manning ball was used as a reason Belichick messed up. I actually got caught up in it myself, at one point using Welker as a scapegoat when one of my friends blamed Brady. Further thought on my part, however, provided a more realistic and rational analysis, though the Patriots fan in me hates to admit it:
The Giants were the better team.
We have all fallen victim to playing the blame game. It is a seemingly natural response as a sports fan. In some cases, it is justifiable and even admirable. As a coach, for example, I try to instill a sense of confidence and accountability in my players. I want them to believe, and I truly DO believe, myself, that if we do our jobs on the field and don’t make mistakes, we will win the game. When we don’t, I ask myself what I could have done to change the outcome and I ask my players to do the same. It is called responsibility. At the same time, however, I get upset if people outside the locker room question the effort of my players or trash my team. I also bristle a little bit when someone says that the other team might just have been better.
If that is the case, who should be allowed to question what a team does? Fans’ emotions often hinge on the outcome of their favorite team’s games, and while that might seem ridiculous at times, it is why professional sports exist in the first place. Nobody would get paid to play a game if there were no fans willing to pay to see that game.
The question remains: does that give the fans a right to be irrational in their reaction to the games?
The answer changes depending on who you ask. Fans say they have earned the right since they are the reason the games exist in the first place. Players say the fans don’t understand what the players put into the game and generally try to keep the fans as a distance. Sports analysts generally play both sides, as they need to maintain access to the players while making the fans feel important. None of the mentioned parties, however, want to admit that the opposing team was just better. That seems like a cop-out. It goes against everything we teach young athletes. Americans want accountability, even if it comes at the cost of rationality.
I have no problem with fans being emotional about the games. Players need to understand why they are employed in the first place and should respect that the fans keep them employed. If fans want to garner more respect from players, however, they need to be more rational in their analysis.
The Giants played well enough to win. They had better receivers and a significantly better defense, and those two factors eventually won them the game. To overlook those factors and simply blame one aspect of the game or one Patriots player is utterly ridiculous…but it does make sense.