# Making it to the finals, and losing **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 10, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988 "2016-06-10T01:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/21 "2016-06-14T12:31:46Z")
This reminds me of a long running debate I had with a friend of mine who was a Chargers’ fan back in the early 00’s (I assume he’s still a Chargers fan, we just have lost touch over the last ten years.) Marty Schottenheimer is practically much a real-life example of your Genie. He took the Browns, Chiefs and Chargers from basement dwellers to high-powered contenders (although Marty liked to lose in AFC Championship games rather than Super Bowls.) It’s aggravating to see a team to well and then lose in the playoffs, but it’s nowhere near as bad as watching a team just waste a season. I’d take this deal for either the Browns or the Indians (I presume someone else has already been made this deal with your genie for the Cavs.) The Indians are less desperate for the magical boost, but I liked watching baseball a lot more in the mid-90’s than I have watching them scrub out in Wild Card playoff races over the past 15 years. As for the Browns, it’d be nice to watch a playoff game where I have a rooting interest beyond “whoever’s playing the Steelers/Ravens.” ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/22 "2016-06-14T15:06:09Z")
I think I made that deal last year, but I don’t remember for sure. Go Panthers! ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/23 "2016-06-14T15:33:00Z")
Winning: good Losing: not so good ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/24 "2016-06-14T16:45:03Z")
I’m a Kansas City Royals fan, and I was a very satisfied fan after the 2014 World Series ended. Of course I’m happier now that they won the next year, but I turned off the TV in October 2014 thinking that if we never get here again, it was an awesome ride and I was glad to be there for it. So I vote yes. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/25 "2016-06-14T18:44:47Z")
My San Jose SHARKS just made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, 25 years. I wanted to see the guys I’ve been following for a decade or more raise the Cup,but is was not too be. I’ll still take the finals loss. Getting there was a hot, and the two games in the finals series we won were two of the best games I’ve ever watched. Hockey had a loooong season, so it’s a tough road back. Hopefully we can get there. A 7-game series gives even the losing side a chance to have a bright moment or two. Like being swept,though, there is nothing remotely good about losing the Super Bowl. My 49ers recently lost a Super Bowl for the first time and fuck, that’s an awful memory. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/26 "2016-06-14T20:27:57Z")
Well this certainly explains the 1999 Super Bowl. I think I’d pass, the Falcons have been also-rans forever, no point getting my hopes up again. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/27 "2016-06-14T21:06:31Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > My favorite national soccer team has never come close to qualifying for a FIFA World Cup. I’d be ecstatic to see them make it all the way to a World Cup final, even if they lost. I wonder if the genie has the ability to say “wait a minute”? Otherwise, imagine the craziness for the rest of the world: “I’m from Suriname, I would love to see my team in the World Cup finals.” “My alma mater Indiana in the College Football Playoffs? Sign me up!” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/28 "2016-06-14T21:52:07Z")
I don’t think I’ve heard anyone ask the magic genie “What am I trading away?” For all I know, my team will, against all odds, run the table and take the championship, so what I’m being offered is a huge step down. Don’t foreclose a future to be second-best. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/29 "2016-06-14T23:10:42Z")
Yes. The Dodgers getting to the World Series means the Giants **don’t** , and the deal is worth it for that alone. Then toss in the fact that they don’t fluke their way in - they have the talent to get there and hopefully will still have most of it next year. It’s the Dodgers - I’m used to being disappointed in the post-season. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/30 "2016-06-14T23:26:00Z")
Whimsical, my ass. The little bastard didn’t say anything about erasing my memory. So I went and made the same deal four years in a row. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/31 "2016-06-14T23:28:02Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > I wonder if the genie has the ability to say “wait a minute”? Otherwise, imagine the craziness for the rest of the world: > > “I’m from Suriname, I would love to see my team in the World Cup finals.” > > “My alma mater Indiana in the College Football Playoffs? Sign me up!” This whole hypothetical only really makes sense in the context of leagues such as NFL/MLB/NFL/NHL with a regular season, then playoffs, then championship game/series. Let’s not try to figure out how it would apply to the world cup, or golf, or anything of that sort. > [@gnoitall](#): > > I don’t think I’ve heard anyone ask the magic genie “What am I trading away?” > > For all I know, my team will, against all odds, run the table and take the championship, so what I’m being offered is a huge step down. > > Don’t foreclose a future to be second-best. That’s basically intended to be the meat of the question. You are absolutely giving up any chance of being super bowl champs, or world series champs, etc. But you are guaranteeing being NFC champs, or American League champs, or what have you. Is giving up all hope for the first worth it to lock in the second? And, based on this thread, it seems to depend on the team. > [@silenus](#): > > Then toss in the fact that they don’t fluke their way in - they have the talent to get there and hopefully will still have most of it next year. Nope, already addressed. Your team of players will perform at a near-championship level for the remainder of the regular season, through the playoffs, and into the championship itself, and then just fall short (as happens to half the teams that ever make it to the finals). At the conclusion of that, the magic spell will cease. Granted, psychological effects of “we know we’re good enough to perform at an elite level” might continue to have some impact, and you might get some benefits like free agents being more willing to be traded to a team which has demonstrated the ability to win, but the actual magical betterification won’t continue into the next season. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/32 "2016-06-15T00:31:14Z")
By “talent” I mean the players. If they can do it once, they can do it again. But the main reason I take the deal is still because it means the Giants **lose.** ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/33 "2016-06-15T03:42:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Whimsical, my ass. The little bastard didn’t say anything about erasing my memory. So I went and made the same deal four years in a row. BILLS FAN! > [@HubZilla](#): > > I wonder if the genie has the ability to say “wait a minute”? Otherwise, imagine the craziness for the rest of the world: > > “I’m from Suriname, I would love to see my team in the World Cup finals.” > > “My alma mater Indiana in the College Football Playoffs? Sign me up!” Yeah, I sense that the OP is referring to teams already in the league, or already in a tournament - i.e., a country like Costa Rica. (My favorite national soccer team was ranked 191st in the world not too long ago.) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/34 "2016-06-15T16:19:03Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > (Technicality: if your team is currently terrible, he will magically make them good enough to legitimately get to the finals, and they will continue to play at that level in the finals, but come up short… so if they are total cellar-dwellers, they won’t somehow just fluke their way to the finals, then return to their actual non-magically-enhanced form and then get utterly clobbered. Assume for purposes of this hypothetical that the Genie is not going to fuck with you by guaranteeing that the loss in the finals is maximally brutal, or anything of that sort, although of course it might turn out that way.) Lakers fan here. We’re not expecting much these next few years. Sure, we’ve got nice young pieces, but they are not yet playing up to their potential. If this genie means to make them good enough to be contenders, I’d go for it. That means they won’t just be good this year, but they’ll be good the following years too. Plus, a Finals showing means that we have valuable pieces to trade, so yeah, I’d do this ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/35 "2016-06-15T17:50:49Z")
> [@GunnarFranz](#): > > As a spoiled Boston sports fan, no way do I take that deal. I’d much rather not make the playoffs, invest my emotions (and probably money,) in a team, just for them to lose in the end. I agree with you. 1986 (Buckner and getting the Bears in the Super Bowl) sucked big time. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/36 "2016-06-15T21:41:30Z")
Everyone but one team ends their season with a loss it doesn’t matter when that loss occurs. I wouldn’t take a deal I’d rather have a shot on ending on a win then getting to the championship and getting beat. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/37 "2016-06-15T23:29:02Z")
Depends on when you ask me that. I’m a Cubs fan, and going into, say, the 2011 season I’d say hell yeah I’ll take that deal. Coming into this season, no chance. ---
**Author:** ![andrewrandhawa7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@andrewrandhawa7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewrandhawa7)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988/38 "2016-06-16T00:16:15Z")
As a Golden State Warrior’s fan, there is so much line in this game 6! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-it-to-the-finals-and-losing/756988.md?page=1)