All that matters in any sport is “Who won?” and “What was the score?” Everything else is meaningless. But newspapers have whole sections devoted to sports. Radio and television have sports-talk shows before and after games in which the reporters ask the players questions with such obvious answers.
Many years ago, I heard Toronto Maple Leaf Captain Matts Sundin interviewed after the Leafs had lost another game. It was the latest in a series of losses. The reporter asked Sundin what the Leafs needed to do to win more games. Sundin replied, “For us to win more games, we have to score more goals.”
Really? That is the secret to winning hockey games? Scoring more goals?
I thought of Sundin’s words when I heard some sports expert interviewed recently during the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors. The expert said, “The Raptors can win the championship if they keep up their defense, and score more points.”
Perhaps this expert studied at the same School of Sports as Matts Sundin.
And then there are the “How-does-it-feel?” questions reporters ask players after a game.
“How does it feel to have won the championship?”
One day a player may answer, “Terrible, just terrible! I was hoping that we would lose the game, but we were unlucky and won.”
I repeat, “Who won?” and “What was the score?” are the only questions that matter.
