WBOB Original Reads

Salk: It's Only Preseason Football

8/25/2017

Tyler Salk

No matter what, every year, fans seem to think preseason football games are the most important things. Summer League basketball. MLB spring training. All are must watch events. And more importantly, need to be talked about non-stop like they matter.

They definitely do matter. Preseason exhibition games are very helpful for players, coaches, and front office personnel. Players learn how to work with their new teammates, and role players battle it out to determine who will make the team. Coaches learn what’s working and what isn’t. They’ll determine if new plays need to be added, who plays well together, etc. Front office personnel make the decisions as to who will make the team.

But if the Celtics lose a summer league game? Who cares. What does that say about them? There is a reason we don’t see the stars on the field as often during exhibition games, and that’s because the final score of the game is insignificant.

Now that doesn’t go to say that individual performances don’t matter. Good performances, I’m willing to brush aside. If a guy has a good game, great. Going back to what was just said, there aren’t stars on the field/court as much. We can’t evaluate a guy positively if he isn’t going up against the best talent.

If he has a bad game (football )or bad series of games (anything other than football) against talent inferior to what we expect to see when the outcome does actually have meaning, that’s a bad sign. That’s something to look into, because if he can’t beat relatively mediocre players, how can a player compete for your team when it does matter.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is my proposal. Still watch the games. Still root for your teams. But if a guy has a good preseason game. If the team wins. Don’t treat it like winning a super bowl or throwing a perfect game. There’s an entire season that needs to be played. There’s a lot less meaning behind preseason sports, and it’s about time some of you learned that.