No 'sure thing' in sports
Going into any game there is almost always a favorite to win, whether it be a game of horseshoes or the Super Bowl. Analysts, fans, sports writers and people that don't have an opinion of their own until someone shares theirs, all seem to think they know who is going to win before the game has even started.
I often get teased for my undying optimism about my team, whichever that may be depending on the game, being able to pull off a win. I have always subscribed to the "Any Given Sunday" theory. After all, if the team that is "definitely going to win" is so set in stone, then why would the game even be played? Sure there are always powerhouse teams that have epic seasons and streaks of championship glory, but that doesn't mean that they will win tomorrow. If that was the case there wouldn't even be sports seasons. Medals and trophies would just be handed out once a year to the team with the most all-star players. But the reality is, anything can happen. Sports history has shown us that, and so did the last two weeks of girls Class A basketball.
Going into the Northwest Divisional Tournament, Libby and Columbia Falls were expected to stroll easily through the bracket and land comfortably at the state tournament. But that was not the case. Libby lost out in two games, despite having one of the best shooters and rebounders in the conference, Jackie Mee. Meanwhile, the Wildkats had a fairly easy win over Whitefish, but hit a roadblock in the championship game when they met the third-seeded Bigfork Valkyries, a team they had beaten twice, 51-36 and 49-43, in the regular season. Although Columbia Falls was expected to win the game, Bigfork nearly left with the first place trophy and pushed the regular season champs into overtime before losing, 55-53.
At last weekend's state tournament four teams went in as number one seeds from their conferences. Each of these teams were matched up with a number two seed for the first round of games, which by all statistical accounts should've given the number one seeded teams the advantage. However, all but one top seeded team lost their first game, and that team, Anaconda, ended up going on to win the championship for the second year in a row.
Sports are filled with numbers that help fans, coaches, recruiters, analysts and journalists compare athletes and teams, but they are not as concrete as we tend to make them out to be. We must remember that teams are made up of people. They make mistakes and they do amazing things. They improve and they go through slumps. They are not robots that can be programed to win or lose as planned.
On any given day a team, a player, a coach, can have the best or worst game they have ever had. A team can make a huge mistake or benefit from another's. Players create opportunities and miss them. Bad calls are made by officials and wrong-doings are missed just as easily. Easy shots are missed and impossible shots are made. Call it luck. Call it peaking at the right time. Call it having the worst happen at the worst possible time. But really it isn't any of these things. It's just a game that is full of countless possibilities, endless factors and a vast number of variables and unknowns until the final score is left sitting on the scoreboard.