by Paul Jordan
Taking a poll of sports fans is never a good thing.
For one, it is a lazy way for a blog, newspaper, television or radio station to do a story. That said, please feel free to throw that in my face the next time I run a poll.
And the second reason is that no matter how the poll turns out, the other side is going to use the results in a way that is not intended by the poll originator… like I will be doing with today’s story, for example.
If we really need a stone clad example of why polls are not good in the sports arena, one only needs to look back to the Orlando Sentinel’s 1996 poll as to whether Shaquille O’Neal was worth $115M over seven years. 91% of the people responding to the poll voted a resounding NO, and it snowballed from there as O’Neal’s NBA peers, in Orlando training for the Olympics razzed him about the poll and O’Neal skipped town to win four NBA titles, including three with the Lakers.
It took the Magic almost a good decade to recover from Shaq leaving and to this day, people blame that poll as the real reason Shaq left Orlando. The Shaq poll has become such a part of Orlando Magic lore that even Dwight Howard seemed to reference it when talking about his future in Orlando last year:
“My responsibility is to my family first, then the organization and then my city. I will never turn my back on this city as long as they don’t turn their back on me. I’ve always been down for this city. I’ve always represented Orlando, whatever it is,”
So regardless of how much it seems a lazy story to do, some sports polls do actually matter …. mmmmkay?
So now comes the news from Percy Allen and the great Northwest who reports that in a recent poll, 43.4% of the Huskie fans still wanted Terrence Jones while 13.6% felt that Washington should rescind their offer after May 19. And in case you were wondering, this was not a poll in which the majority of the fans still wanted Jones. According to the other options, most Husky fans do not care. Here are all the results from the poll:
- 43.4% said they want Jones still and would drive to watch him sign a LOI.
- 32.6% said that “If he signs, great. We still have Terrence Ross and a solid recruiting class
- 13.6% said to rescind the offer after May 19, move on, and save the scholarship for next season.
- 5.3% do not care
- 5.1% said they want him “only if he apologizes to coach Lorenzo Romar and UW fans for putting UW fans through weeks of anguish”
It’s a pretty apathetic poll for “U dub” fans and pretty telling. I thought about doing a poll but what’s the point. we know the BBN will gladly welcome Jones. We love Brandon Knight and he did not sign a LOI, so come on down Terrence. We will accept you without conditions.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans