The Fallacy Factor Report
Welcome back to the Fallacy Factor, the weekly column where we look at the "conventional wisdom" of the sports world and watch it get posterized by reality. This week, we learned that benches are overrated, field trips are traumatizing, and Netflix is done with "chilling."
Here are the biggest sports fallacies from the past week.
Fallacy #1: "You Need a Deep Bench to Beat a Top-5 Team"
The Reality: You actually just need Christian Anderson and a lot of adrenaline.
The Breakdown: Texas Tech was down 17 points to No. 3 Duke at Madison Square Garden. They had players injured. They had players fouled out. Conventional wisdom says you fold the tent and get ready for the bus ride. Instead, Texas Tech did not make a single substitution for the final 11 minutes of the game.
They played five guys until their lungs burned, and they won. The idea that you need "depth" is a lie. Apparently, you just need five guys who refuse to lose and a Duke team that forgets how to score when Cameron Boozer isn't touching the ball.
Fallacy #2: "Field Trip Games are Educational and Fun for Kids"
The Reality: They are instructional seminars on domination.
The Breakdown: LSU hosted thousands of school kids for an 11 a.m. tipoff against Morgan State. Usually, you want a nice, competitive game to keep the kids engaged. Instead, Kim Mulkey’s squad won 91-33.
They held Morgan State to five field goals in 39 minutes. The only lesson those kids learned is that life is unfair, and the LSU defense is mean. If that was a field trip, it was a field trip to a crime scene.
Fallacy #3: "Burglars Do Their Research"
The Reality: If they did, they wouldn't rob an NFL Offensive Lineman.
The Breakdown: Thieves broke into WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu’s LA home this week. While stealing handbags is terrible, the thieves unknowingly walked into a house owned by Hroniss Grasu, a 300-pound former NFL center.
The fallacy here is that criminals are masterminds. A mastermind does not break into the home of a man whose professional job description was "move other large men against their will." They are lucky he wasn't home, or the police report would have looked very different.
Fallacy #4: "Streaming Services are for Relaxing"
The Reality: Netflix is hiring people to stress us out.
The Breakdown: We used to think of Netflix as the place for "Netflix and Chill." Then they hired ESPN’s Elle Duncan to host a live event where Alex Honnold climbs a 1,667-foot skyscraper without ropes.
That is not "chilling." That is sweating through your shirt while Elle Duncan makes puns about gravity. The fallacy that streaming is a passive activity is dead; Netflix is now in the business of high-altitude anxiety.
Anthony’s Take: The biggest truth of the week? Winning ugly (like Syracuse giving up 52 points in a half but still winning) is better than losing pretty. See you next week.
