"After a razor-thin last-second loss chalked up to key injuries, fumbles, and missed opportunities, and a hotly disputed call in overtime, a generous impulse prompted a tearful star quarterback to accept the blame for letting his team down. Of course, he hadn't. Professional football is too random, too full of surprises, and too prone to shocks for any one player to shoulder culpability. Even the shape of the ball, an "oblate spheroid" in geometrical terms, guarantees either a favorable or costly bounce, increasing randomness."
"Strategies that favor parity in recruiting promising players mean that, practically, any one team can lose on any given Sunday. (Or Saturday in this last case.) This parity further increases the suspense and anticipation that fans experience, making it hard to turn away from televised contests. That is the one sure-fire victory in the business of professional football. The head coach is at the front of the business end on the field and in team meetings."
A razor-thin, last-second loss tied to injuries, fumbles, missed opportunities, and a disputed overtime call prompted a star quarterback to accept blame he did not solely deserve. Professional football contains high randomness, amplified by the oblate spheroid shape of the ball and parity-driven recruiting that allows any team to lose on any given day. Parity heightens suspense and viewer engagement, which benefits the business of televised football. Conventional owner and management reactions to disappointing defeats focus on firing head coaches, even when coaches are well-liked, nationally respected, and have amassed far more wins than losses.
Read at Psychology Today
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