Forget omens of biblical proportions and political hacks that misread polls, and the get-well gurus who mislead the general public either intentionally or by malfeasance, I’m concerned with the sports world in this rant.

While not quite homebound like L.B Jefferies, in Rear Window, I’ve been confined to watching some of the NFL, and listening to the radio after reading countless columns about the weekend’s games and the CFP game on Monday night. I’m neither mad nor surprised by how many of the experts have gotten so many games wrong. Sports happens and underdogs do win despite the odds against. I’m railing against the so called geniuses that focus on the betting side of the games. Nobody (except for maybe the folks that take their advice and lose money) call them out for their bad bets. It’s more about the hype and superlatives. Unless you’re dealing with first graders and kindergarteners on a daily basis, speaking in absolutes is fraught with danger. In the real world, you get called out for being wrong.

As has been pointed out several times, I get caught up in the Hot Stove League or what purports to be the hot stove. Even during the busier weeks of the offseason, writers get the stories (acquisitions) completely wrong. Again, the better (legit) writers have sources and can tap into them and report based on informed guesses. However, there are too many people without sources that float stories-unfortunately this misinformation trickles down to the betting world.

Thankfully, neither of the two professional teams in town are searching for a new manager (Yes, I follow the White Sox-even though I don’t root for them), but the most popular team in town, the Bears, are in the middle of an exhaustive search and rumors abound.

To make a point one often has to exaggerate or speak in superlatives. Otherwise, people might not pay attention. Or at least that’s the fear of some TV executives. Over the past couple of weeks, how many times have you heard about the various QB matchups being the best ever? Do any of these semi-final games have any bearing on the futures of the hot coordinators involved? To hear some in the media these last games are the first interview for their head coaching jobs. Some ten days ago, I likened the NFC Central division to the AL Central and where the two Chicago teams placed. With only 6 teams remaining in the race for the Super Bowl, the NFC Central is nowhere to be seen. How does that square with all of the division love? Does this reflect more poorly on the Bears?

As someone who doesn’t think a 12-team tournament was necessary to crown a national champion, both ND and OSU have proven they are pretty good claimants to the throne. Subjectively speaking, it’s pretty hard for me to pick a winner because both fan bases are pretty obnoxious. However, they’re not the only national powers that are objectively annoying. Throw in the folks from Michigan and Wisconsin as none of the four are particularly good winners or losers.

While I’ve never cared for Georgetown or Syracuse (who is no longer in the Big East), I’ve never found their fans to be loutish. Heading into the Final Four, I expected that one of the coaches would make the move to the NFL in the coming months. Now I’m not so sure even though I think ND’s Marcus Freeman would be a good choice.

For everyone’s sake, I hope the Bills-Ravens game lives up to the hype.