As a youngster, I ofttimes intellection that front-runners were the purposefully grievous minions of the sports world, doing their best, or worst, to secure that the Los Angeles Lakers, city Red Wings, Auburn Tigers, and so on, were unnaturally pet over small-market, lesser-known teams.
But event and undergo hit taught me a some things. Front-runners are typically not semiconscious of existence front-runners, which helps vindicate ground the phenomenon continues unabated.
For instance, if we are to verify the NFL Network's agglomerated word, the metropolis Cowboys hit been the most precocious aggroup in the association for 10 straightforward seasons. They were the most precocious aggroup when they went 6-10 in 2010, and they ease had the most talent in the association terminal flavour when they ended 8-8.
If the Cowboys closing 8-8 this year, Rich Eisen module materialize on camera incoming August and communicate histrion Faulk which aggroup has the most talent in the NFC, and Faulk module frown thoughtfully and say, "I conceive the Cowboys..."
We crapper either hold that this is a noble conspiracy, that every NFL Network analysts are secretly vetted by Cowboys someone Jerry Jones, or we crapper actualise that there are added factors at work.
Of course, money plays a bounteous persona in determining which teams module be hyped in the media, but it's not everything. The New royalty Jets display a aggregation of money for ESPN, but no digit on domestic TV is predicting that the Jets module get the Super Bowl this season.
The actuality most front-running has more to do with manlike nature. Journalists (and fans) are manlike beings, and humans are lazy. We favour to adopt that programme module move itself, that losing teams module ever move to lose, and stardom equals success.
In hindsight, it is cushy to wager ground Buster politico knocked discover Mike Tyson, but at the time, nobody gave it an iceberg's quantity in inferno of happening.
Also, some "experts" verify the event to expert every NFL or college aggroup thoroughly. Familiarity breeds favoritism. Chris Mortensen has belike watched more Cowboys practices than every added teams place together, and players separate to countenance enthusiastic in seven-on-seven drills with nobody tackling them. The sports media haw fuck an underdog story, but in making predictions, they souvenir who they wager every the time.
Accordingly, the Frontrunner Awards are not meant to personally untune anyone. But that does not modify the fact that small-market, under-hyped teams are effort the dig from the media on a conformable basis. And the Geek favors impartiality and official above all.
So, with that in mind, here are our threesome medalists for this week.
Gold Medal: Andy Behrens, character Sports, for "The New metropolis Saints are the NFL's Number One Fantasy Team in 2012"
The Geek has never been a follower of vision football. There is something eery most ignoring the actualised outcomes of games and adding up a clump of statistics to wager who "won." But forward you opt to eat in the "fantasy" of the NFL as a large science equation, digit staleness actualise that a unfit aggroup module undergo in the stat lines.
Mr. designer ostensibly lacks appearance in intellection that the Saints' choler module exclusive move as if the generousness gossip never happened. Their accumulation module be mettlesome in the brief term, message that the choler module hit inferior event with the sport and inferior beatific earth position.
New metropolis isn't meet absent its nous coach, the Saints are absent their interval nous coach, and the fact that histrion Brees gets a aggregation of wager results on Google or Twitter is not feat to magically bushel the damage.
Behrens also trumpets Darren Sproles as the most arable backwards in the association way into this season, ignoring that streaming backs, especially small ones, go in cycles. Sproles isn't more precocious than physiologist Peterson or more varied than Reggie Bush. He was meet flourishing and blistering in 2011, and played in a well-tuned Ferrari of an offense.
Considering the Saints an unconquerable scoring organisation way into 2012-13 is a artist warning of a front-runner fallacy: that the time past is sure to move itself again and again. As Bill Parcells is inclined of pointing out, every assemblage is a newborn deal.
The Saints module not be on crowning of the NFC this season, in vision stats or otherwise.
Roger Goddell has seen to that.
Silver Medal: Mike Golic, ESPN, for "The Arizona Cardinals' accumulation is not rattling good."
"Mike & Mike in the Morning" is digit of the meliorate sports shows in America. Mike polyglot haw be the second-most foppish and lustrous patron on the expose these life in some genre, meet behindhand the incomparable emancipationist Keilor of "The Prairie Home Companion."
But Greenberg's grunting sidekick, Mike Golic, is ostensibly a lowercase likewise laboring intake dish alcoholic with Tobasco sauce to sapiently undergo his person matter.
On a time "Mike and Mike's Two-A-Days," the show's period preseason advertisement of every 32 NFL teams, Golic was in the impact of mockingly concealing the Arizona Cardinals when he stated, somewhat in passing, that the Arizona accumulation is ostensibly beneath cipher way into 2012.
This demonstrates that not exclusive did Golic not check some mettlesome flick of the Cards in 2011, but that he belike hasn't modify feature some mettlesome recaps of the team's 7-1 separate to modify the season.
Defensive coordinator Ray Horton's Steelers-West accumulation carried the Cardinals finished the latter half of the assemblage after struggling finished individual primeval games. The ornament of Arizona's wins in Dec reminded me of metropolis during the Donovan McNabb years— kickoff, obtain punt, punt, obtain punt, punt, obtain punt, enter on a bounteous play, get by a earth goal.
The Bidwill Birds' choler is understandably a beneath cipher unit. The accumulation is understandably above average.
But Golic, belike opened at a stat artefact that compounded every 16 games, but recalled that Arizona is a small-market aggroup that didn't attain the playoffs in 2011, and that Larry interpreter plays panoramic earpiece there.
So in the two-and-a-half transactions he spent intellection critically most Arizona this offseason, he over that the accumulation staleness be a weakness.
Hooray for Tobasco.
Bronze Medal: Max Manasevit, Bleacher Report, for "Notre Dame is a Dark-Horse BCS Title Contender"
Foremost, I staleness provide assign where assign is due, and not meet because Max is my Bleacher Report brother-in-arms.
It is new to feature an article where a aggroup that doesn't endeavor in Alabama, Louisiana or Oklahoma is touted as a earnest domestic title contender. The Fighting Goidelic are understandably reinforced feat into 2012, and it would be large to wager an autarkical edifice converse for the BCS title.
However, judgement the Goidelic that broad is premature. Manasevit points to the season-opening get over Navy as evidence, but the Midshipmen are ease struggling to build after losing Ricky Dobbs to a battlewagon in the Pacific. Any hierarchical aggroup would be probable to expiration discover Navy at this point.
The communicator is dropping beast to still added front-runner fallacy: Notre Dame fever.
No turn of tradition, life or activity could attain up for the fact that at this juncture, as Tim Tebow fresh spinous out, kickers in the SEC separate to separate faster than skill-position players at schools same Notre Dame.
The Goidelic haw substantially manoeuver finished their arduous schedule with a success achievement in 2012, but the intent that they could vantage soured an victorious season, then scramble Nick Saban's NFL-lite mercenaries at Muskogean is a lowercase likewise farfetched.
The Geek hopes that you enjoyed this speech edition of the Front-Runner Awards. Come backwards incoming weekday for more balloon-popping observations, as we indorse underdogs farther and wide.
Follow the Gridiron Geek on Twitter at @thegridirongeek.
Read more metropolis Cowboys programme on BleacherReport.com
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