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Call from the Bullpen by David Maull

The Bullpen | Sports Front Page

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Debunking Sports Myths
From the Nov. 5, 1998 TV Times

It's time for a sports reality check:

Myth: The new Bowl Championship Series will give us a true national college football champion by matching the Nos. 1- and 2-ranked teams in the title game.

Reality: There will never be a true national champion until there's a playoff system. The rankings that determine the nation's top two teams are still subjective and open to debate.

Myth: Mike Piazza will make more money per year under his new contract with the Mets than he could have made with the Dodgers.

Reality: The seven-year, $91 million deal he signed with the Mets amounts to $13 million a year. The six-year, $84 million offer he rejected from the Dodgers was worth $14 million a year.

Myth: Bernie Williams will re-sign with the Yankees because they won the World Series and nothing in baseball is more prestigious than playing center field in Yankee Stadium.

Reality: Williams, who has filed for free agency, will leave New York for the team that offers him the most money. The reason: agent Scott Boros.

Myth: Winter will be pretty boring if the NBA lockout causes the cancellation of all or most of the season.

Reality: College basketball is twice as exciting and fans don't have to worry about work stoppages, players leaving via free agency and teams fleeing cities for new arenas in other towns.

Myth: Jeff Gordon is a young punk who has bought his success on the NASCAR circuit.

Reality: Gordon is the most skilled driver on the track and rarely finishes out of the top five. Money can't buy the ability to go from fifth to first in the final 10 laps of a road course race.

Myth: The Minnesota Vikings are the best team in the NFL because of Chris Carter, Randy Moss, Jake Reed, Robert Smith and Randall Cunningham.

Reality: The Denver Broncos are the best team in the NFL because of Terrell Davis, John Elway, Shannon Sharpe, Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey.

Myth: Changing quarterbacks will help the Washington Redskins break out of their doldrums in 1998. Reality: Nothing can help the Redskins in 1998.

Myth: With a couple of victories, the Philadelphia Eagles can crawl back into contention in the pathetic NFC East.

Reality: The Eagles won't contend this year, next year or in 2000. After that, who knows?

Myth: Doug Flutie never got a real chance in his first go-round in the NFL and is now showing us what a great quarterback he is.

Reality: Flutie got a chance with two teams, New England and Chicago, in his first go-round and didn't produce. As the season progresses, he will show us what a mediocre quarterback he is.

Myth: Now that he's undergone psychiatric tests and counseling, Mike Tyson is fit to resume his boxing career.

Reality: Tyson still has an anger-management problem and it's only a matter of time before it resurfaces, either in or out of the ring.

Myth: The NBA will fall apart when Michael Jordan retires.

Reality: The NBA won't fall apart, but it's not likely to flourish when left to the current crop of spoiled brat players.

Myth: Notre Dame has been successful in football because God wants it that way.

Reality: God has more important things to worry about than the outcome of a college football game.

Myth: Middletown is the best high school football team in Delaware.

Reality: This is no myth. There's not a team in the state that can beat the Cavaliers. For proof, one must look no further than a 56-7 victory over Delmar and a 42-7 thrashing of Salesianum.

Myth: Indian River has no chance of making the Division II state playoffs.

Reality: Three victories over Division I opponents would keep the Indians in the running for an at-large berth, even if they don't win the Henlopen South title.