Here’s how far things have gotten out of control: I’m a graduate of the University of Illinois, and one of the few sports I still avidly root for is their basketball team. This past week, the prognosticators decided that the Illinois basketball team is a bubble team in the NCAA tournament in March 2024 (meaning they might qualify for the tournament or they might not). That’s how far things have gotten out of control when it comes to the prognosticating society in which we live.
I’ve ranted on this subject multiple times, but this “year in advance” opinion about what the basketball team might do relative to the NCAA tourney is too much. Rather than reporting and showing facts and figures and telling a story about something that happened, our so-called newscasters (actually opinioncasters) decide to tell us something that’s about to happen. Who the heck knows how they come to these predictions? They never have to defend their research or how they came to their conclusions, so they can say whatever they want. The incredible thing to me is how much stock so many people seem to put into what the talking heads have to say.
This predictive analysis so heavily infects our lives that most probably are unaware how much we’re affected daily by these personal statements. From stocks, to sports, to politics, to the environment, to the economy, we are told over and over and over about how things are going to turn out. So, we should worry or place bets or find shelter or not vote or build a cabin in the woods to deal with the whatever it is that the people on TV are ramming down our throats.
My older brother has a thing about how stupid it is that before the NFL season even starts, a full prediction is given by various people who cover pro football. They pick the winners of each division and literally go through the playoffs, determining each game and the Super Bowl winner. How silly is that? That league is so competitive that most games are 50-50, particularly the first half of the season. You don’t even know which teams are above average until nine games have been played. Then you have the injuries, which no one can predict, that devastate a front-runner or make a quarterback ineffective because his two most reliable receivers are out for the season. But, they still predict in August what will happen the following February.
The stock market and economy and interest rates and the housing market receive similar treatment from the so-called experts, as we’re told the ups and downs and where things are headed depending on the whim of the day. It’s babble. White noise. They have nothing of true news value to discuss so they argue back and forth on trivialities to keep viewers interested.
Just this past week, every single announcer I listened to when the NBA decided who would win the lottery and get the top draft pick this June, WHICH WILL BE VICTOR WEMBAMYAMA FROM FRANCE BY THE WAY, said that he will be the BIGGEST GAME CHANGER IN THE NBA SINCE LEBRON JAMES. Okay, we’ll take your word for it, just like Chet Holmgren, Zion Williamson, Greg Oden, Yao Ming and others were supposed to change the NBA landscape before injuries changed their lives.
Here's the thing: life changes. Events occur. Things we can’t predict actually occur that change the world or who wins a game or the price of gasoline. We can’t factor in everything. Data can only take you so far. And opinions are just opinions. Some people may be more informed than others or have greater experience, but remember they are trying to influence you, not inform you. Take it for what it’s worth.
I’ve ranted on this subject multiple times, but this “year in advance” opinion about what the basketball team might do relative to the NCAA tourney is too much. Rather than reporting and showing facts and figures and telling a story about something that happened, our so-called newscasters (actually opinioncasters) decide to tell us something that’s about to happen. Who the heck knows how they come to these predictions? They never have to defend their research or how they came to their conclusions, so they can say whatever they want. The incredible thing to me is how much stock so many people seem to put into what the talking heads have to say.
This predictive analysis so heavily infects our lives that most probably are unaware how much we’re affected daily by these personal statements. From stocks, to sports, to politics, to the environment, to the economy, we are told over and over and over about how things are going to turn out. So, we should worry or place bets or find shelter or not vote or build a cabin in the woods to deal with the whatever it is that the people on TV are ramming down our throats.
My older brother has a thing about how stupid it is that before the NFL season even starts, a full prediction is given by various people who cover pro football. They pick the winners of each division and literally go through the playoffs, determining each game and the Super Bowl winner. How silly is that? That league is so competitive that most games are 50-50, particularly the first half of the season. You don’t even know which teams are above average until nine games have been played. Then you have the injuries, which no one can predict, that devastate a front-runner or make a quarterback ineffective because his two most reliable receivers are out for the season. But, they still predict in August what will happen the following February.
The stock market and economy and interest rates and the housing market receive similar treatment from the so-called experts, as we’re told the ups and downs and where things are headed depending on the whim of the day. It’s babble. White noise. They have nothing of true news value to discuss so they argue back and forth on trivialities to keep viewers interested.
Just this past week, every single announcer I listened to when the NBA decided who would win the lottery and get the top draft pick this June, WHICH WILL BE VICTOR WEMBAMYAMA FROM FRANCE BY THE WAY, said that he will be the BIGGEST GAME CHANGER IN THE NBA SINCE LEBRON JAMES. Okay, we’ll take your word for it, just like Chet Holmgren, Zion Williamson, Greg Oden, Yao Ming and others were supposed to change the NBA landscape before injuries changed their lives.
Here's the thing: life changes. Events occur. Things we can’t predict actually occur that change the world or who wins a game or the price of gasoline. We can’t factor in everything. Data can only take you so far. And opinions are just opinions. Some people may be more informed than others or have greater experience, but remember they are trying to influence you, not inform you. Take it for what it’s worth.