Now we're getting somewhere.

"The Division Series between the Angels and the Red Sox ended, appropriately enough, with Jason Bay, who had toiled in obscurity as a Pirate, scoring on a base hit by Jed Lowrie, a rookie who'd been called up after only 40 games in Triple-A.

These men were strangers to playoff baseball. But then, so what?

The time has come to expose the great ruse of October: postseason experience.

Who needs it?"

Most sportswriters are lazy, shortsighted, and unimaginative. They use meaningless criteria like "playoff experience" because it is easier than thinking.

"I don't care what the sabermetric geeks do with their calculators; the heroically clutch athlete — the one who elevates his game under pressure — is the foundation of all sportswriting."

Right.

"Clutch" is probably the only lazy cliche more hackneyed than "playoff experience."


Kriegel brings up an interesting observation, however.

The "heroically clutch athlete" probably is the foundation of all sportswriting. I agree. All lazy, shortsighted, and unimaginative sportswriting.

Not the foundation of sports success.

Not the foundation of enjoyable sports viewing.

Just the foundation for hack writers looking for a storyline.