Supposed experts clogging up sports

Very few saw the Global Financial Crisis coming, but after the event, many said they did. The banks and the brokers knew that if they kept saying the same thing over and over again and used the same (and often meaningless) terms, most people would think that they knew what they were talking about and what they were saying was true. It is a universal human failing to stop thinking when there is the opportunity to leave it to the experts. But when the “puffery” becomes horribly predictable, coaches and players seem to swallow the same empty jargon … not only in what coaches say, but also in the way palyers play! ‘Damo’ was spot on when saying: “If logic and argument were better practised we might have better arguments”. To this I would add that if coaches were more adventurous and less risk-averse, players would respond with more creative and meaningful play. Just like the ‘on-message’ bankers, there seem to be more and more experts coaching and controlling sport that just keep doing the same things over and over again, are not willing to take (necessary) risks, but still expect different (winning) outcomes. A lot of experts get it right by accident because this is exactly what one would expect to happen in all situations where outcomes are unknown. But it is misleading to claim credit for predicting an outcome that has occurred merely by chance, which is the case in many plays and match results. The trick in any contest is to turn the odds in your favour by tempting the human failings of your opposition. This is particularly relevant when the pressure is mounting and the outcome is final. This is also the time when we know that human responses will not always be as rational as they might be in more usual circumstances. Yes ‘sixo clock’, we should always have the privilege and freedom to speak out, but let’s stop clogging up everybody’s mind and getting “carried away by exaggeration and over-emphasis” (… thanks ‘Simon’) George Shirling Author of “EXPLODING SPORTS MYTHS”

Indeed the brain is a suspect creature; too much expert information? Such confusion and mystery to disguise the basic fact that the present private media is mostly to enhance power and wealth, mainly represented by the advertisers, boards and owners who litter the media with detail, symptom and trivia that disguise the essential causes/issues. Unfortunately the public media is mostly run by privately linked managers who fall far short of bridging the credibility gap: The huge deceit of the private media; advertised based incomplete, inaccurate and contrived information that is presented as universal. As true for sport as it is for economics, especially if you live in NZ.

Probably right Damo, a one coffee effort. So I went and read the Gittins article. McFarlane's point is there is a lot of noise on the economy out there, particularly in Oz as it turns out. Not sure though that it applies to sport though. As this forum attests, the more noise the better! cheers.

I thought this article was insightful and a good reminder not to get to carried away by exaggeration and over-emphasis in the sports section of the news. Having said that, I think people should approach the sports section of the paper as a different genre to say, the front page. Like I read the comics section different to the finance, or like I read historical narrative different to how I read poetry, we should probably approach the sports section with a different set of expectations to other sections of the news. Granted (and worryingly), the economy commentary in the news can be doubtful, the sports section is really all about being over-dramatic. Every little factor plays a most significant part in the build-up of the overall story. This can be fun. But perhaps it’s good to balance this with journalists who we know will just tell it like it is – although unfortunately, many of them may be struggling for a job these days!

Sixa I think you may have slipped off point. Like you I love the discussion, analysis and argument . It is part of the game for me. And it's great to have a forum to express oneself. But the point above was that it is the economy or the game itself that has the only relevant eloquence. Small events like a Cooper pass or a JoC kick lead to tournament predictions which are an error of logic- ie mistaking the general for the specific. If logic and argument were better practiced we might have better arguments. In any event I love going on about the game(s), logically or not.

But surely George the ability, some call it wisdom, to filter out the piffle, to seek out the cold hard facts and make serious judgement based solely on those is what separates the adults from the livestock. Finding advisors with the same attributes (such as Ross Gittins) simplifies the process. On the other hand a rollicking good discussion can be fun as this forum provides frequently. Ian Macfarlane's call to limit the information process is counter to most of what we believe. We have a history of freeing up everyone's voice and do not need our so-called betters telling us we are just a rabble, unable to ascertain the truth without his superior guidance. Been there done that, told you to f**k off last time. On a serious note, the brain is definitely a suspect creature. It has emotions, blind spots, pattern-making misjudgement abilities which are hardwired. All we need is to inform ourselves of these flaws. What we don't need is some modern day plutocrat guiding his intellectually damaged children through the desert.