SoonerNomad
12/19/2012, 03:54 PM
I was thinking about this the other day. The Dallas Cowboys, NY Giants and Washington Redskins are all tied for the NFC East with identical 8-6 records. All three control their playoff destiny. However, not all is the same. The Giants are playing like crap and Dallas is continuing almost two full decades of painful to watch mediocrity. But in our nation's capital the outlook is much different, the Redskins are having their greatest year since Gibbs left the first time and the fans are as excited as a teenager on his first date. How can 8-6 be perceived so differently?
This difference in perspective is also at work in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma is 10-2, Texas A&M is 10-2. Both teams lost two hard-fought games at home, albeit to top 10 teams, both teams won games when their defense gave up close to half a hundred (or more) to good but not great teams and both teams fell a little short of their conference goals. But despite the similarities these teams are not the same. A&M is celebrating like it's "1999" (or more accurately, 1998), while the Sooners are wondering what the hell happened and how does it get fixed.
It's all about perception.
This difference in perspective is also at work in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma is 10-2, Texas A&M is 10-2. Both teams lost two hard-fought games at home, albeit to top 10 teams, both teams won games when their defense gave up close to half a hundred (or more) to good but not great teams and both teams fell a little short of their conference goals. But despite the similarities these teams are not the same. A&M is celebrating like it's "1999" (or more accurately, 1998), while the Sooners are wondering what the hell happened and how does it get fixed.
It's all about perception.