View topic - How is Arizona the Underdogs?

[No l Gravity l Profile]

Jesus I can't stand it. NFL Network, ESPN, Fox Sports, you name it. All of them have just been covering the Cardinals 24/7. All I hear is Warner potentially making the HOF, Fitzgerald being the best WR in the league, and how nobody gave Arizona a chance to make it here. I haven't heard anything at all about the Steelers other than we have the 'number 1 defense' and then they move on back to the Cards. This coverage is driving me crazy.

[El Nino Profile]

they're the cinderella team that no one expected to get past the 1st round of the playoffs, 9-7 in the weakest division in football, looked like total crap closing the regular season including a blowout loss to new england.

the fact they made it this far i knew would stir up a lot of media attention for them. i don't mind though, like i said in another thread, the steelers tend to play better when they dont get any media hype

if anything, all this media exposure is putting more pressure on the cards, which i don't mind at all

[thesteelhammer Profile]

every cinderella has her midnight.

[SteelerPower Profile]

this should piss off Pittsburgh and make them play twice as great in the SB.

[El Nino Profile]

judging by how much the media is hyping the cardinals, you would think they were actually the favorites to win

[darthsteel Profile]

its called selling a team to the public that no one has an interest in or thinks can win.
the steelers have a built in national fanbase that draws tv viewers, the cards have zero, which means the nfl has to hype them to hype the game.

[McLovin Profile]

Jesus I can't stand it. NFL Network, ESPN, Fox Sports, you name it. All of them have just been covering the Cardinals 24/7. All I hear is Warner potentially making the HOF, Fitzgerald being the best WR in the league, and how nobody gave Arizona a chance to make it here. I haven't heard anything at all about the Steelers other than we have the 'number 1 defense' and then they move on back to the Cards. This coverage is driving me crazy.

The coverage that is "driving you crazy" just goes to show that Tomlin is doing his job as a head coach and not giving the media anything worth talking about. Ward can only say so many times that he's going to play. What would you have the media cover about the Steelers? ESPN has shown the Steeler Legendary LB segment as many times as they've shown Larry the ballboy segment. Hell even NFL network has two Playbook shows. One for the Cards one for the Steelers. They picked the Steelers to win what the hell else do you want? The real media frenzy doesn't start until this week. If the media continues playing up the underdog Cards as you claim, Tomlin and the Steelers can focus on practice and game planning and all the things they need to accomplish to win the game.

[Mrsteve Profile]

Arizona is a novelty; they are the "Disco Duck" of Super Bowl teams. They might win the game, because the NFL no longer makes any sense whatsoever. But they are a decidedly mediocre team that the league and its partners somehow have to build into something impressive.

As I said in another thread, if they somehow win, they immediately become the worst Super Bowl winner of all time.

[oldschoolhunkie Profile]

The line only reflects betting. It does not mean who is favored to win by anyone other than bettors.. money comes in and the line shifts with it. who cares?

[58Lambert Profile]

I personally don't mind all the attention going to Arizona. All this does is put all the pressure on them and allow us to quietly prepare to beat them down on Sunday. I hope Warner stocked up on some ice bags!!!

[JumboHeadYouks Profile]

Arizona has no chance to win this game. Everyone who isn't a Steeler fan will be rooting for AZ...Too bad the Steelers will have a Sea of Black and Gold and an infinitely superior team playing the BIG game this Sunday. Some of these NEW AZ fans work with me...they were all talking shit...5 of them...When it came down to making bet, they all pussed out.. I even gave this one dipshit 7.5. The Steelers will abuse AZ.. You can take that to the Bank. And all these fucking morons saying AZ can and will win are all too chickenshit to put their money on it...They and the media are all trying to convince themselves that the Steelers will NOT be crowned the best team ever Sunday..it doesn't fucking matter what they want..The Steelers and Mr.Rooney get #6 Sunday..in DOMINATING fashion.

[BenStiller Profile]

1. The betting line--like any market--is simply a reflection of the collective knowledge of millions of people as to a certain outcome (and therefore should be the most accurate guess of the most likely outcome). However, any time a team as popular as the Steelers or Cowboys play a relatively unpopular team I suspect it gets a little out of whack in the direction of the popular team because a certain segment of fans of each team tend to bet on their own teams out of emotion rather than based on their knowledge (and the Steelers and Cowboys are a much larger fan base than the opponent). So, the Steelers are probably a slightly larger favorite on the line than they should be in reality, but probably only by a point or two.

2. Media coverage of sports over the last, I dunno, 15 to 20 years or so has followed the same trend as that of "serious" news to an increasing degree--i.e., the tendency to look for the most sensationalistic story line possible in order to heighten the drama. As if the game itself isn't entertainment enough. Nothing heightens the drama more than the underdog nobody gives a chance to which ends up winning it all--the Rocky Balboa drama. In any event I take these stories for what they are--the media's attempt to insert added drama into an event--and try to take them with a grain of salt.