Overblown Non-Story of the Week (Week of Dec. 29th)

Ah yes, it's OBNOTW time once again. And if you follow sports through the week, and know me, you have to know where I'm going this week. In case you weren't already in the know, the New England Patriots are 15-0 and will take their shot at the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history against the Giants on Saturday night. I'm technically awarding co-OBNOTWs this week, because there are actually two distinct stories I'm about to discuss, but since they both center around this one game, I'm okay with that.

First of all, the ongoing controversy regarding the NFL showing games on its own NFL Network, which is only in about 40 million homes nationwide hit the forefront again, as this game was originally slated for the NFL Network exclusively. However, with the threat of Congressional intervention hanging over their head, the NFL caved this week, and the game will also be shown nationally on both NBC and CBS. If you've been paying any attention to me at all, you know just how much I love it when Congress sticks their nose into the business of professional sports, and this is, of course, no exception. At some point it apparently became an inalienable right for Americans to see NFL football on "free" TV. I was not consulted. I'm not going to go into depth about the whole dispute between the NFL Network and several major cable carriers, but the bottom line is that it's a market issue that will work itself out given time, and Congress sticking its nose into the middle is probably about the worst thing that could happen for all parties involved, including fans, in the long run. The level of furor about the whole thing is hilarious to me, since the local markets have to be provided with a network feed when games are on cable, and no one that doesn't get the NFL Sunday Ticket package can get every NFL game on their TV anyhow.

The other overblown story as it relates to this game is the "controversy" surrounding whether the Giants, who have already clinched a playoff spot and have nothing to gain or lose based on the outcome of this game, will play to win the game, or rest their key players in preparation for their playoff game next week. The "controversy" seems to stem from some idea that, since the Patriots have a shot at history, the Giants have an obligation to make them earn it. I'm not going to give a blow by blow of the whole saga, but at this point it seems that the Giants will oblige those want them to give the Patriots their best shot.

That there's even a debate here is an absolute joke. I'm sorry, but no NFL team has any obligation to pursue anything but their best interests in winning a championship. To suggest that the Giants should be honor-bound to do something that is counter to those interests because their opponent has history on the line is ridiculous. Football is a contact sport. Players get injured in virtually every game, and virtually every player is banged up in some way by the end of the season. The Giants played well enough in their first 15 games as to render the 16th game meaningless to them in the standings, and so they've earned the right to allow guys who are banged up to get some rest, and to keep other guys who may not be hurt out of harm's way. If Tom Coughlin does decide to go all out to win on Saturday night, I sincerely hope it is because he genuinely believes it's in the best interests of his team today, and not because he's bowing to external pressures. Coughlin doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would do that, but you never know.

Coughlin really needs to win the first playoff game now, regardless of what he decides to do on Saturday. If he goes all out to win on Saturday, and then loses next weekend, the media will rant about how he should have rested his guys. If he rests his key players, and loses next weekend anyhow, a large segment of the media will probably suggest that he somehow broke the momentum of a team that had won 3 of their last 4 games by resting everyone. That's the glory of our media when it comes to coaches - the only "right" decisions are the ones that look good in the rearview mirror. Let me personally go on the record now and say that I think it would be foolish for the Giants' starters to get anything more than token minutes, and it would be crazy for guys like Plaxico Burress and Brandon Jacobs, who are already fighting injuries, to see the field at all.

The biggest part of the joke in all of this is that, other than Patriots shot at history (which seems inevitable regardless of what team the Giants decide to field) the game is completely meaningless in the standings, for both teams. The Patriots, like the Giants, are locked into their playoff position, and if they didn't have a shot at perfection, they'd probably be resting their key players as well (although, given the way Belichick has operated this season, that may not be a safe assumption.) If there was going to be a controversy regarding a team with their playoff position locked up resting key players, it should really center around the Indianapolis/Tennessee game, where Indy has nothing to play for, whereas Tennessee is in the playoffs if they win. Cleveland would get in if the Titans fall. Colts coach Tony Dungy has made it clear that he will be resting players, specifically noting that Peyton Manning will play no more than a half, and possibly much less. If the controversy was surrounding this game, I'd be a little more receptive to it, since the game actually has playoff implications. I still wouldn't really care, because the fact is that Cleveland flopped against a bad Cincinnati team last week to put themselves in this position. They can get mad at the Colts all they want if the Titans prevail against the Colts's second string, but the bottom line is that had they taken care of their own business, they would have clinched their playoff spot last week, and would likely be doing the same thing this week as the Colts are doing. In fact, since the result of their game is actually meaningless, there's a possibility they could be resting their own players in preparation for a playoff game if the Titans fall. Again, a team is obligated to pursue their best interests in winning a championship, and nothing beyond that. Playoff implications wouldn't change that opinion, but at least the controversy would be around something meaningful.

Instead, we have yet another complete non-story in the national spotlight, which is great for this blog, but sucks for the millions of Americans who don't (yet) read it.