Champions Are Decided Only When One Plays The Game.

A couple of announcements were made recently that I thought right interesting ... one to do with football and the other with business, but both raising questions about the accuracy and relevance of polling and other so-called experts that predict the future.

First, football. A poll of the so-called experts says Oklahoma is going to be the national champion this year, edging out Ohio State which will be Number two. Auburn is going to win the SEC West, and will win over the SEC East champion, Georgia. So, the question is: why play the games, and the answer is simple: the games count; the predictions don't count, no matter how expert the predictors might be.

And second, business. After months of predictions by pollsters and experts that the economy was terrible and going to get worse, now there are a bunch of reports about how strong the economy actually became in the second quarter, and usually the media
will add that the economic good news is a "surprise." The reason the strong economy in the second quarter was a surprise to the media people was because all the Democrats, and some economists (primarily the ones the media folks quote) have been saying the economy was lousy and, Under Bush, was going to get worse. So, those "experts" who had been reporting and predicting that the economy was sliding down, when it actually was already turning around and headed up, were surprised.

It seems to me football and business have a lot in common: you don't win or lose by what the so-called experts predict, and you certainly don't win or lose by polling the public. You only win or lose when you play the game, and I'll guarantee you there are going to be a bunch of surprises along the way this fall.

This is Gordon Sawyer, and may the wind always be at your back.