Headline Swings and MissesVillanova Wildcats slip by the DePaul Blue Demons 75-67 Wednesday night in first-round Big East action
Being a Chicago suburb-native (Arlington Heights) I had to respond to a headline I saw on my favorite sports website: ESPN.com. The headline reads, "Reynolds sparks first-round Villanova rout of DePaul," describing a game that was decided by a mere eight points. Now, I have used the term rout plenty of times in descriptions of sporting events, but never when a team hits clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the game.
The ESPN Associated Press even used the lead "Scottie Reynolds hit free throw after free throw down the stretch, showing the poise of a postseason-tested veteran." If that is how you lead a story then there is no way the game was a rout. Having played basketball since I was around six years-old, I have been on both sides of a rout. This game was not a rout and is a slap in the face to the DePaul players who gave their all in hopes of increasing their chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament. (DePaul now is a huge bubble team at 18-13 overall and 9-7 within the Big East.)
Looking into the term rout, dictionary.com defines it as, "any overwhelming defeat." Furthermore, overwhelming means, "so great as to render resistance or opposition useless." Dictionary.com even gives the example, "a rout of the home team by the state champions."
Applying these definitions and breaking down the game between Villanova and DePaul, shows that this game was not even in the same realm as a rout.
Instead, it was a competitive and extremely entertaining contest. Villanova led by only two at half, 28-26. Their largest lead was only 11 points, 39-28 thanks to an 11-2 run to start the second half. However, the Blue Demons chipped away throughout the second half and pulled within three points on three separate occasions. In the last five minutes, DePaul found themselves only down five, 57-52 with 4:48 remaining and then only down four, 59-55 with 2:57 left. The ESPN article highlighted all of these aspects of the game; however, for some reason the word rout was used.In my knowledge of sports, which I considered vast, the term rout should only apply to games that are decided by at least 15 points. DePaul lost by eight points, they didn't even lose by double-digits.
Usually this type of error wouldn't bother me so much, except the fact that it was the first-round of the Big East tournament in which both squads, especially DePaul needed a W. If I was a player on the Blue Demons I would be extremely upset upon seeing the headline for this article. If the Wildcats don't shoot 33 of 38 from the charity stripe this game could have gone either way. The headline should read, "Reynolds' clutch free-throws help Villanova hold of DePaul in first-round of Big East tourney."
DePaul knew what was on the line and played their butts off. There is no reason to state they were routed because it is a blatant lie.
1 comment:
NOVA fan here. You make a very point. The game wasn't a rout. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time including when we were up by 11. I thought your team played with alot of poise and class, something missing in some other recent BE contests.
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