By Beaker

We often hear the question in the title being asked by journalists, pundits and fans alike. It comes whenever a team dominates another but still loses.

On Monday night, the Miami Dolphins held ball possession for a stunning 45 minutes while the Indianapolis Colts had it for just about 15 minutes. Expressed in percentages, that’s 75% of the time! But it was the Colts who prevailed 27-23.

The only other major sport that gauges ball possession is soccer. And soccer (and hockey for that matter) deals with the same sort of debate too. How many times have we seen a team dominate only to lose? Which raises all sorts of questions, if you win despite being dominated (described as ball possession and shots on goal here) does that make you lucky? Not necessarily. It could be a deliberate game plan; a calculating strategy. Or it could simply mean you’re more efficient; more opportunistic.

Soccer has the added subjective dimension of having certain fans speak of playing “beautifully.” It’s not uncommon for fans to apply the logic of “winning isn’t everything.” In some cases, it goes as far as believing a losing team that plays beautiful is more respected than one who wins “ugly” or what is termed “negatively.”

Alas, in the end, the measure of greatness is by how many trophies you have and this is determined by how many times you put the ball in the net. You don’t get marks for playing pretty. Pro sports are result driven. It may not be philosophically cool, but it’s a reality.

Who’s better? The team who has the ball 60% of the time shoots the ball at the net 15 and hits the target four times and scores once or the team with 40%, shoots the ball seven times, hits the target three times but scores twice?

I know what I’d choose.

Miami did everything they could except, well, win. Yet, some will say the “better” team lost.

They outplayed Indy in most categories except in the place where it counted most: the final score.

That doesn’t mean in some cases, the better team does indeed get the shaft I know I’ve been a victim of being both on a team that dominates and loses and is dominated but wins. I’ve lost to teams who, despite greatness, were a bunch of assholes. It is what it is. One thing I learned, rhetoric and excuses aside, is a loss is a loss is a loss and a win is a win is a win.

So yes, while Miami deserved a better fate for their efforts, they didn’t execute as well as Indianapolis. The Colts remained calm, cool and collected and did what they had to do to win.

And in the end, that’s all that matters in this dirty, rotten, evil world.

My next post: Do you play better when you’re angry?