The Blame Game-Football and Hockey

Many people love to watch sports in this country. Whether it be the American pastime of baseball or the ridiculous notion of curling, everyone has their preference, or lack thereof, towards sports. But when it comes right down to it, there are certain things that tend to occur within teams that deal with victory and loss conditions. In many cases, there is a primary focal point around one player that always seems to take the fall. In golf, it is typically the player (or the wind if you're a dishonest golf player). In baseball, it may be the outfielder that misses the game-ending catch. But the two sports that have the most black and white, clear cut player that get blamed the most are football and hockey.

In football, the star player of any team is almost always the quarterback. They have to make the right move, keep track of the plays and make the right call as to which option is the best. Not to mention they have to throw the ball to their receiver with enough precision that they can hit their mark and not turn it into an interception for the other team. These are the players in football who, I believe, receive the largest portion of the blame even if it's not entirely their fault. I've seen games where people blamed the quarterback for a bad throw when, quite honestly, the receiver was a high enough caliber player he could've caught it no problem. But he didn't and the quarterback is blamed for the mistake that was made by his teammate. Now, don't get me wrong there are definitive times when the quarterback is at fault for a bad play, but in general they get blamed way too often for a teams success.

Goalies are another great example, being victims of the "blame game." No doubt a good hockey team needs a good goalie in order to be successful, just like football with their quarterback. However, just like football, it's not all about the one player, it's also about the team overall. While a good goalie can make or break a team, sometimes they get too much credit or, in some cases, not enough credit. For instance, the other day in a Penguins game, they lost to the eighth seeded team, the Islanders, in the playoffs four to three. Two of the goals were made, not because Fleury wasn't good enough, but because of the skill of the two players that scored. the game-winning goal was scored on a fluke, yet Marc-Andre Fleury will still be blamed for the ersatz goal.