I'm down with analogies but this one doesn't fly. If a football game is a battle, winning the Super Bowl is winning the war. Battles only matter in the context of the larger war, and if a battle doesn't contribue to winning a war, it is meaningless.
Winning the Super Bowl should be the ultimate, and ultimately the
only, priority for a football team. People say that stats are for losers, but in reality, regular season wins and losses are also for losers. The only thing that matters is getting to the Super Bowl and winning it.
The above is undeniable. And the conclusion is inevitable. Winning these "battles", the games at the end of this ruined season, is not helping us win the war. In fact it's hurting us. The things that will help us win the Super Bowl are not victories right now but a new coaching staff and a stellar 2011 draft. Anything, and I do mean anything, that isn't helping us achieve those two things, which includes winning this final game, is either doing nothing or hurting us. Boosting our record and lowering our draft position is at this point hurting our chances of winning the Super Bowl in the near future.
War is not a time for emotions. It's a time for facing reality, cold determination and out-maneuvering your enemy. The oft-repeated maxim of "I will never root for my team to lose" is an emotional, irrational statement when compared with the realities of the football world. Of course that is fine, everyone is entitled to be whatever kind of fan they want to be. Not everyone takes football deathly seriously, and not everyone is comfortable comparing football to warfare. But for those who are inclined to make that comparison, the fact is that a blind desire to win every game no matter what is counter-productive to the only goal that matters.
Put it this way: Wanting to win this game is emotional. Wanting to lose it is strategic. Would you rather have a general that is emotional or strategic?
Personally, I'm hoping the Texans lose this Sunday, but it's not because I think football is war. I just realize that it will be to the long-term benefit of the team. I also want us to sit knicked up players and see what we have in Leinart, Dickerson, Graham, Sharpton, and some others. I know I take football less seriously than some people (my brother, for example), but I'm no better or worse of a fan than people who insist on rooting for the team in every single game. I have perfectly good reasons for my position and it has absolutely nothing to do with being a fair-weather fan or a bandwagoner. If I, or any of the others of us who want the Texans to lose this week, were fair-weather fans, we'd be long gone from this place, looking for a Patriots message board to post on.