Rather lose in the playoffs or Super Bowl?

[y*so*blu]

Super Bowl. I'd be very proud of my team if they could just manage to get there.

[JAF-N72EX]

16 hours ago, lancerman said:

It’s sports. The entire point is to push yourself and your team as far as you can. It goes against the entire concept of athletics to say you’d rather lose early because of the fear you might not achieve everything. Some of you should be ashamed of yourselves. 

The competitive aspect don't exist with some fans (for some reason), only the desire to win.  

[Soko]

17 hours ago, lancerman said:

It’s sports. The entire point is to push yourself and your team as far as you can. It goes against the entire concept of athletics to say you’d rather lose early because of the fear you might not achieve everything. Some of you should be ashamed of yourselves. 

Except in this case, it’s not “the fear you might not achieve everything”. The discussion is lose in the playoffs vs lose in the SB. It’ the guarantee that you’ll lose, so it’s not really a competition in this situation. 

For plenty of people, they’d rather fail than not try at all. And that’s fine and well, it’s how I’d approach most tasks too. But not everyone feels that way and in this scenario it has nothing to do with being competitive because a guaranteed loss isn’t a competition.

[JAF-N72EX]

1 hour ago, Yin-Yang said:

Except in this case, it’s not “the fear you might not achieve everything”. The discussion is lose in the playoffs vs lose in the SB. It’ the guarantee that you’ll lose, so it’s not really a competition in this situation. 

For plenty of people, they’d rather fail than not try at all. And that’s fine and well, it’s how I’d approach most tasks too. But not everyone feels that way and in this scenario it has nothing to do with being competitive because a guaranteed loss isn’t a competition.

 There is no guaranteed loss though. For fans maybe but not from a professional athlete's point of view there isn't. Remember, they don't look at the game in the same way as you and I do as fans. This is their job and something that they have dedicated their lives too and gave up alot just to be a part of.

As an athlete you go hard every time and you have to have the mentality and belief in yourself that you're the best player on the field and no one else can beat you. Those are the things that got them to be professionals in the first place.

As a competitor you have your eyes set on the golden prize (SB trophy). The same prize that they have dreamed about since childhood before the dedication and sacrifices had even began.

They don't just concede to the competition in one game all because of who they might play against in the next round or game. No matter how good they may look. No. As a competitor, you step your game up and prove to the world that you belong. That's the mentality. The same mentality that leads to upsets each and every year in football. You think the Giants do the impossible and defeat the "unbeatable" 18-0 Patriots in 2008 without this kind of mentality?!   

I get what you're saying here and I agree in general (if we're talking principals in life anyhow). But your looking at things from a fans perspective and not from a professional's point of view. Which I'm pretty sure is what lancerman was alluding too. As was I. 

The bottom line, there is a clear distinction between how fans are going to view this sort of topic and how most professional athletes look at it.

Some fans are naturally going to think with their hearts based on their favorite teams' history and quickly align that with their answer to the OP. Whereas, a professional athletes answer will never change and some fans will consider this aspect and look at it in the same fashion.  

[Soko]

6 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said:

 There is no guaranteed loss though. 

The poll question is literally “which [would] you rather lose in?”

Meaning, no matter which way you answer, you’re still losing. That’s not competitive nor is it a competition. All the talk about getting there so you have a shot at winning or whatever is 100% moot because - in this scenario - you’re still guaranteed to lose. 

So no, you don’t “have your eyes on the prize” or look for an upset ala the 07’ Giants, because within this question, it’s not possible to win.  

[lancerman]

7 hours ago, Yin-Yang said:

Except in this case, it’s not “the fear you might not achieve everything”. The discussion is lose in the playoffs vs lose in the SB. It’ the guarantee that you’ll lose, so it’s not really a competition in this situation. 

For plenty of people, they’d rather fail than not try at all. And that’s fine and well, it’s how I’d approach most tasks too. But not everyone feels that way and in this scenario it has nothing to do with being competitive because a guaranteed loss isn’t a competition.

And that goes against the spirit of sports and competition. Oh I’m going to lose anyways so I should achieve less to spare a heartbreak. There’s no excuse for that. Those are the same people that don’t push themselves because they might fail. It’s god awful mentality. 

[Soko]

14 minutes ago, lancerman said:

And that goes against the spirit of sports and competition. Oh I’m going to lose anyways so I should achieve less to spare a heartbreak. There’s no excuse for that. Those are the same people that don’t push themselves because they might fail. It’s god awful mentality. 

The “spirit of sports and competition” probably would promote actual competition, though. This isn’t that. 

And it’s not “might fail”. It’s will fail. I love football and I loved to play. Want to know why I don’t quit my job and dedicate my life to getting into football shape so I could try out for a team? Because I know that no matter how hard I try, I won’t succeed. For some, the prize/destination/goal matters more than the journey.

[ShupacTakur]

1 hour ago, lancerman said:

And that goes against the spirit of sports and competition. Oh I’m going to lose anyways so I should achieve less to spare a heartbreak. There’s no excuse for that. Those are the same people that don’t push themselves because they might fail. It’s god awful mentality. 

You're taking this way too personally lol. As a fan, I would rather see my team lose in the playoffs than a super bowl because of the build-up and letdown associated with it. As a player, I would rather get to the super bowl, because it would be a personal accomplishment that I would carry for life, win or lose. 

I am merely a spectating fan, so I voted playoffs. 

[lancerman]

I’m not taking it personally. It’s a loser mentality. “I would rather get 4th or 5th place than come in 2nd and lose that close to winning”.

No any competitor should want to go as high as they can. Would you rather get a silver medal and be part of history or not place because it would be hard knowing you were that close to the gold. 

[ShupacTakur]

6 minutes ago, lancerman said:

I’m not taking it personally. It’s a loser mentality. “I would rather get 4th or 5th place than come in 2nd and lose that close to winning”.

No any competitor should want to go as high as they can. Would you rather get a silver medal and be part of history or not place because it would be hard knowing you were that close to the gold. 

You are, quite literally, taking it personally. I'm not. That's the difference. 

[Shanedorf]

1 hour ago, ShupacTakur said:

You are, quite literally, taking it personally. I'm not. That's the difference. 

Well, he's had a lot of experience losing Super Bowls, so maybe after 5 Title game losses it gets more personal.

[Heimdallr]

Do you want to win more games, or less?

Stupid question.

[PARROTHEAD]

1 hour ago, lancerman said:

I’m not taking it personally. It’s a loser mentality. “I would rather get 4th or 5th place than come in 2nd and lose that close to winning”.

No any competitor should want to go as high as they can. Would you rather get a silver medal and be part of history or not place because it would be hard knowing you were that close to the gold. 

 

Well the Axis came in 2nd place to the Allies.  And Hitler shot himself over that 2nd place finish. Thats how bad 2nd place is.

 

[Shanedorf]

8 minutes ago, Heimdallr said:

Do you want to win more games, or less?

 

So you're saying that you'd prefer it if the vikes were now 0-5 in Super Bowls instead of just 0-4 ?

I'm guessing your fan base might feel differently, but its only a guess

[Heimdallr]

Just now, Shanedorf said:

So you're saying that you'd prefer it if the vikes were now 0-5 in Super Bowls instead of just 0-4 ?

I'm guessing your fan base might feel differently, but its only a guess

Do you want to win a 5th NFC title, or not?