From: lor@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (edward.lor)
Subject: Re: AFC TEAMS STINK
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 05:04:52 GMT

In article <26596@optima.cs.arizona.edu> curtis@optima.UUCP (Curtis E. Dyreson) writes:
>> So this lemma has nothing to do with the claim "NFC champs > AFC champs".
>Course it don't.  See above.
OK, this is settled. Now start the new thread.

>No, just one team per year.  One superior team per year.  
That's only your opinion. My opinion happens to be more than that in
some years, 86 Redskins, 87 49ers, 88 Vikings, 89 Giants, 90 49ers ....  
Again, they happened to be NFC teams.

>SuperBowl evidence says nothing about how the 2nd place NFC teams would 
>fare against the AFC champ.  
But since there is no actual matchup, we have to make educated guesses.
Records and the victory margin against the eventual champs would be
good indicators. Case in point, pick the favorites of the following games:

1986 Redskins (12-4) vs 1986 Broncos (11-5), Pasadena
1987 49ers (13-2) vs 1987 Broncos (10-4-1), San Diego
1989 Rams (11-5) vs 1989 Broncos (11-5), New Orleans.
1989 Giants (12-4) vs 1989 Broncos (11-5), New Orleans.

>Which is how this thread was started.  Some yahoo posting
>about how the superior teams (note plural) were in the NFC because the AFC 
>always gets blown out in the Super Bowl.  It's obvious from such evidence that 
>a single superior team happens to be from the NFC each year, but how one 
>gets to teams (plural) each year remains a mystery.
But since the matchup between NFC playoff losers vs AFC champs is hypothetical, 
it's up to personal opinions. It's ONLY your opinion that there exist ONLY 
ONE superior teams in the NFC each year. Maybe our high regard to other
NFC teams is a mystery to you.

>The magnitude of the SuperBowl blowout could, it's possible, indicate that 
>the 2nd place NFC team would also beat-up the AFC champ (and so on down 
>the line), but only if the 2nd place NFC team proved itself to be on a par 
>with the one superior team, the NFC champ.  But, one can't even argue that, 
>because the NFC champ also got blown out by the one superior team.  
That's your faulted logic. Because again, you equate a 27-point blowout on the 
road to a 45-point blowout at a neutral site. Not all blowouts are equal.

>So then you have to split hairs over who got blown-out the worst.  
>Ranking teams by magnitude of blow-out seems a specious line of 
>reasoning at best.
That by itself, is again a specious line of reasoning at best. Why do
you totally discount the home field advantage?

>Now, if you'd like to argue with some other evidence (e.g., like Sports 
>Illustrated did), then perhaps a persuasive case can be made.  Personally
>I'd group the Broncos, Bills and Browns (maybe) together with the 
>`49ers, Redskins, Giants, and Bears (maybe) as the elite teams in 
>the league over the past 8 years.  
But again, that's impossible. You agree that the NFC champs, as a group,
are better the AFC champs as a group. Then how can you group them together?

>But, silly me, to make such a 
>grouping, I'd look at the entire season, not just the SuperBowl.
But the Super Bowl is your only true test against outsiders,
otherwise your season is only (mostly) confined to competition 
within your conference, sort of like Oklahoma/Nebraska's dominance 
in the Big Eight, or Michigan/Ohio St's dominance in the Big Ten. 
On Jan. 1st, they are totally exposed.

>And among this grouping you've got a 4/3 ratio of NFC to AFC teams.  
>That can hardly be considered dominance.  
Only if you put the AFC teams among the fearsome foursome in terms
of success, which I don't agree.

>(Here's your chance to 
>group the teams differently, maybe you'd like to throw in the Saints,
>Rams, Vikings, and Eagles? and take out the Bills and Broncos?).
I'll probably put these 2nd tier NFC teams along with the AFC champs.

-- 
                                          Edward Lor
                                          lor@cbnewsk.att.com
                                          
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro