What counts doesn't

Tonight I watched the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Washington Nationals in a great 1-0 game that went down to the wire. But it illuminated one of the major gripes that I have with professional sports. I've worked for LVC Sports Information before so I know what kind of stats are kept for every sport possible (well any sport that LVC plays), and I realized pretty quickly, and my bosses agreed for the most part, that the stats don't mean squat. Sure they're kept for a reason but its the wrong ones.

Cole Hamels, the number one pitcher for the Fightin' Phils, pitched a gem of an outing. He went seven innings without giving up a run and sending 11 batters back to the dugout after three strikes. His work was the main reason that the Phils won that game. However, he got a no decision for the contest. To me, and I'm sure many others, that just is not right.

The man worked his butt off and threw a great game with so much pressure on him. In a 0-0 game a pitcher cannot make one mistake. Hamels was blowing smoke passed these chump on the Nats, and he doesn't even get a stat for it. Sure he gets the 11 Ks but a guy can pitch 11 Ks and still lose the game 6-0. Stats deserve to be kept, but they also deserve to hold weight.

Another Philadelphia example of how big stats a great player does not make is the future captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, Mike Richards. His yomen-like play and his work ethic make him invaluable to the orange and the black but they don't earn him any room on the score sheet half the time. Sure he scores some goals and gets a bunch of assists, but no one keeps stats on "great defensive plays made by an offensive player" or "hustle plays that resulted in a scoring chance or the halting of a scoring chance for the opposite team". This is probably because they would be abbreviated GDPMBAOP and HPTRIASCOTHOASCFTOP which would not fit on most score sheets. Long acronym jokes aside, what really counts in sports is so often looked over for the big plays.

Home runs mean so much more than big catches at the wall that save a game. Goals mean more than blocked passes during penalty kill situations. TD catches mean more than sacrificing yourself to block for a crucial first down. Sorry, but I don't watch enough basketball to come up with a good one for that sport. Maybe dunks mean more than saving a ball from going out of bounds by throwing it off the ankles of your opponent?

Anyway, my point is that stats and even awards have just gotten to the point where they mean so much more than the small plays that make the game so exciting and thrilling to watch. MVP has become a means of rewarding players that make the most money and get the most stats. I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that Sidney Crosby will get the Conn Smythe when it more obviously belongs to a guy like Brenden Morrow who put his team on his back. Crosby played well, yeah sure, but w/o Malkin, Gonchar, and Staal he'd be nothing and the team would not be in the finals. Baseball is different, they get it right more often than not. But their stats like wins, losses, saves and no decisions just don't make sense to me.

We need to start making sports about the aspects, players and plays that make them great, again. I'm not blaming ESPN, I'm not blaming salaries and sponsorships and corporations. I'm not really blaming anyone. All I'm saying is that we need to keep our eyes off the stats and keep them on the game.