Is 'clutch hitting' overrated?

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

I watched television highlights of 10 'great' football catches. While they all were spectacular circus catches, several of them involved the reciever making a mistake at the start (bobble, misjudgment, etc) which required the spectacular recovery. If the reciever had performed the play properly, the catch would have not been spectacular and not made the list. In fact, with many of catches, if the receiver had performed the play properly, he would have gained more yards. As such, I didn't understand how they could be considered great catches-- they were deficient, if amusing to watch. If the receivers had bobbled or misjudged the ball like that frequently they would have been cut before the regular season started.

While there is no question a ninth inning home run is important, I would suggest that, not unlike the perception of the football catches, fans and sportswriters place undue signifiance on final inning clutch hitting and last second touchdowns. I would suggest that the oversignificance is due to the emotional drama of the final event and is, thus, partially irrational. Most watch a sporting event as they watch a television drama or movie.