Let’s Go Polling

Posted by Keith Haney on February 04, 2008

I’m addicted to polls. This week is Super Tuesday and 20 states, including Utah will be voting in their primaries. I’m extremely interested in the race to the White House and watch daily to see who is in the lead on both the democrat and republican sides of the aisle. But presidential polls aren’t what I’m addicted to. Instead, I can’t get enough of these ridiculous power ranking polls that every sports website, magazine and newspaper now run. Like Lindsey Lohan to a vodka tonic, I just can’t stay away from them. All of these polls are my drug.

Let me step back if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Follow this link at your own peril. Look at polls like this once and you’ll never be able to avoid them again. These things are everywhere. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the Salt Lake Tribune each have their own just to name a few. Every week they chart the ups and downs of teams and rank them accordingly from first to worst. What I can’t figure out is why we need these things? Don’t the ACTUAL STANDINGS tell us who the king of the hill is and who is stinking up the league? As we’ve learned with the presidential polls, it’s the votes that count, not what some pundit says.

The Jazz have been up and down in these polls all season. I’ve seen them ranked as high as 5th and as low as 16th on various sites. What does that mean though? I started to wonder what these really told me. My conclusion was – nothing. After much thought, I finally figured out the two reasons these polls are so popular.

First, they fill fan’s need for instant gratification and validation. I’m more optimistic about the Jazz who will probably be ranked around 7th in most polls this coming week even though they only have the 9th best record in the league. My current favorite poll is John Hollinger’s Power Rankings. It’s updated daily and based on statistical analysis rather than subjective decisions. Right now, the Jazz stand at 2nd place. WOW! Computers don’t lie right? My Jazz are the second best team in the league? Take that New Orleans, San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix. Of course, should the computer eventually decide the Jazz should be ranked 9th while say the SI poll put’s the Jazz 5th, I will quickly switch allegiances to Sports Illustrated.

Second, these polls create debate and interest amongst fans which always makes me laugh. Everyone’s a critic these days and everyone can have a voice thanks to the internet. I love seeing pundits defend and shift their rankings from week to week. It’s pretty pointless though. It’s the games that end up deciding the ultimate champion, not someone’s subjective rankings. Thank heavens these polls don’t decide who gets the O’Brien Trophy each year. Imagine a system where polls actually determined the champion. Imagine running the NBA like college football uses the BCS?

Ultimately, these power rankings tells us nothing. On Tuesday, nobody will care what today’s polls say about the presidential races. At the end of the NBA season nobody will care that the Hornets were once ranked #1 in early February by Mr. Stein of ESPN. So, I’m trying to ween myself off of these polls, but I doubt I will be successful. Each week, I’ll keep tabs on where the Jazz rank on some 10 different websites. Like a late night taco run, I’ll regret it the next day but inevitably go back and do it again.

4 Comments

Pudge on February 04, 2008 said:

A few years ago, the Jazz held both the top and bottom spots in Stein’s Power Rankings in the same season. If that doesn’t tell you that these rankings are strictly for fun, then I don’t know what will.

RRR on February 05, 2008 said:

I was going to put one of those up in the living room awhile back.

Oh wait.

Wrong spelling.

Carry on.

Tittle on February 05, 2008 said:

Mmmmmm…..tacos

sterling | bizlift blog on February 09, 2008 said:

Without rankings, what else can fans obsess over between games? Stats and graphs make me drool.

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