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Commentary
NFL Needs to Bag Its Playoff System
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With training camps opening up we feel it is time for the NFL to institute a drastic change in how it determines its champions. It is time for the NFL to get rid of its unfair single elimination playoff system. In its place they should determine the champion with a poll of sports writers. The writers would rank teams from one to thirty and then the votes would be aggregated to determine a champion. To confirm the results an independent poll of coaches should also be done.
For even further verification, a computer or two or three could be used to create a complex algorithm to evaluate the teams based on game performance. We would even be agreeable to a system that aggregated the various polls into one grand poll to determine the winner.
This should be done weekly so as to track the progress of the polling and the teams.
The current system allows for no margin of error. One bad game and a team can find itself watching the rest of the way. However, a polling system in which the voters can evaluate at team's performance over the entire season would be a better reflection of which the superior team in the league is.
Also, the current system allows for too much uncertainty and debate, allowing people to wonder whether the best team actually won the championship or was one of the teams left behind due to one bad game.
Some argue that it is this aspect that makes the playoff system so appealing. But a true champion should leave no doubters; it should not be a debatable point.
The only reasonable solution to this is the dual system of polls proposed here. It is a radical yet necessary step to bring some integrity and intelligence back into the NFL. At a minimum, the two teams that meet in the Super Bowl should be determined via this method.
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©2000 Copyright David Oliver, All Rights Reserved
DISCLAIMER: These stories are not true. No really. It's all just a joke, you know for fun.
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