Your Prediction? But The Season Just Started

A couple of weeks into the college football season, somebody at ESPN has written an article titled “Why Notre Dame is the Playoff Wildcard.”

Notre Dame is 2-0.

How is it legitimate to consider them – or anybody else who has won twice – anything other than a team that has gotten off to an encouraging start?

ESPN is not alone. Early this week, SI.com ran a story under this headline: “’Bama’s Henry, OSU’s Elliott in Heisman Lead.”

Have athletic departments across the land even cranked up their advertising efforts on behalf of Heisman Trophy candidates yet? Come on. We are two weeks into a long season bound to include upsets, injuries and all manner of rumored, inappropriate inducements to those casting Heisman ballots.

Then there’s this football-related header, also courtesy of SI.com: “Ranking the Fifteen Finest Teams in the NFL After Week #1.”

I wonder if the predictors don’t worry about whether they’ll be proven wrong since, by the time the results are in, everybody will have forgotten what they wrote.

After week No. 1? Before the leaves have started falling? Before the first head coach has received the dreaded vote of confidence, let alone been fired?

A big part of any sportswriter’s job is making predictions, but I’ll bet there are days when they feel especially silly doing it.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to put off the rating and ranking at least until the first, Gatorade-stained coach’s shirt is back from the cleaners?

Of course the answer is, “No!” Everybody inside the NFL bubble had the teams re-ranked 10 minutes after the Super Bowl ended. The college football folks fearlessly predicted the next national champion as soon as best high school seniors indicated where they’d play.

I wonder if the predictors don’t worry about whether they’ll be proven wrong since, by the time the results are in, everybody will have forgotten what they wrote.

But enough time spent on this foolishness. I’ve got to check on today’s ranking of the presidential candidates.