Affirmed
By Mitch Berg
Not that anyone needed the reminder, but there’s a reason Berg’s Fourth Law is called a law, and not a breezy suggestion.
It never fails
I heard the media hype last week – “the Wolves are gonna do it”. The chuckleheads on local sports media were actively saying they thought the Wolves would go all the way.
And maybe they could have. But not when the local media were thinking they could do it.
But Berg’s Fourth Law is as merciless as it is infallible:
A Minnesota sports team may be a contender until the moment the local media (and political class) actually believes they will be contenders. At that moment – be it spring training, late November in the NFL season, or week 72 of the NHL playoffs – the season will fall irredeemably apart.
So how did it go?
Some wags put it this way:
But that’s not accurate. The team had no more control over the tournament than the Earth has over the sunrise.
The media, on the other hand, are dealing with forces they clearly don’t understand.
And it’s all been here in black and white, all along.
May 29th, 2025 at 8:25 am
On our daily dog walk here in New Mexico last week we encountered a basketball fan who enthused over the Timberwolves prospects. My husband and I had to set her straight. We hadn’t known about Berg’s law but after living in MN for 67 years we knew the outcome from sheer experience. Our theory is difference from Mitch’s. It’s is that MN teams hate to win because then the other team feels bad about themselves and lowers their self esteem. Can’t have that. Mitch–our theories still don’t explain the ’87 and ’91 Twins.
May 29th, 2025 at 8:42 am
Suppose I was one of the shareholders of an entertainment company. Suppose our business model depended on sale of admission tickets, souvenirs and advertising revenue. Suppose our entertainment product was a competition – dancing with stars, surviving on an island, team sports – so most of our advertising revenue came from televised events in which viewers cheered for their favorite competitors. And suppose we structured the competition to end in one final winner-take-all championship tournament.
Obviously, we’d want the most popular competitors to make the playoffs and hopefully the finals, because that would bring us the most eyes-on-screen and that would enable us to price our advertising higher resulting in more income for the company and greater profit for shareholders. Maybe once in a great while we’d want an underdog to win an upset in a playoff (everybody loves rooting for the underdog) but the big game at the end is our biggest sales event meaning it must involve our most popular competitors.
Knowing all that, would you be astonished if the shareholders “managed” the competition to ensure the most profitable result?
Knowing all that, would you be astonished if competitors from small markets with small fan base – Minneapolis, say – were eliminated in the lower brackets of the tournament while competitors from larger markets with a larger fan base – Los Angeles, say – consistently made the finals?
I’m not saying “the fix is in” but if it were, would that truly be astonishing?
May 29th, 2025 at 8:47 am
I love the smell of moderation in the morning.
May 29th, 2025 at 7:31 pm
I watch little basketball until the play-offs and then just a few games. I actually was excited that the Wolves were in the post season and got a little caught up in watching as they showed some prowess. It was fun for a novice fan. I came to appreciate the team and their competition. As the series with OKC went along and they weren’t making the shots I realized that their season sadly was coming to a end. BUT I was entertained! We’ll see how they do next year with Taylor gone from the picture.
May 29th, 2025 at 11:47 pm
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May 30th, 2025 at 7:09 am
I think it’s odd to spend a post hammering the T-wolves, MN sports, the MN media (fish in a barrel), and MN sports fans when there’s a MN sports story showing true excellence. 14 shutout innings: Champlin Park just shut out the defending state champions (Rogers) in back-to-back games to win the Class 4A Section 5 Softball Championship.