Tanking: Some Thoughts on Everyone Pitching in to Give Up for some Draft Picks

I'm morbidly curious with tanking this year in the NBA, and also strangely the NFL. My favorite NFL team, sadly, is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nobody wins in the NFL without an elite QB these days, and this draft, a little similar to the NBA draft (Getting there a little later) has a few with that sort of potential. I say potential because predicting NFL superstar QB's if one remembers is a very tricky business. The likes of Tim Couch, Akili Smith, JaMarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, I could keep going but what's the fucking point, litter the likes of Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers, etc. Tom Brady was a 6th rounder, Russell Wilson a 3rd, Drew Brees an early 2nd, A-Rod was a very late first rounder, so who knows? I did like the opportunity to be the ones to make the mistake though with the first overall pick, in fact I was planning on it. Now, I have no idea. Marcus Mariota withdrew from the draft, Bridgewater has shown a few more cracks in his game than last year, and there isn't a true consensus franchise QB anymore. Will it really matter if they are 5th overall instead of 1st? What about round 2 and right down the line until round 7? That's certainly better than fighting hard, probably fighting showing great heart and nobility, only to miss the playoffs and draft later, is it? The NBA is actually still shameless about the practice. The Houston Rockets ruined it for future tankers by clearly mailing it in to get Hakeem (Then Akeem) Olajuwon with the first pick. Now there's a lottery, so tanking isn't supposed to be an issue, but it's a greater issue now more than ever. You need not just one, but two superstars to compete in this league, plus a slew of decent role players and big men to be in that upper echelon. Translation, the Bucks aren't even fucking close to being relevant. SO, jump aboard the RIGGIN' FOR WIGGINS sweepstakes and dump your higher priced veterans, clean up your cap, and pray you land one of these young stars and possibly another max deal star in free agency and that= Playoffs and long-term success. This is unquestionably shaping up to be one of the best drafts in NBA history as Wiggins, Randle, Parker, and Smart all seem like can't miss superstars in training and Exum in Austrailia apparently has the ability to hang, or exceed the aforementioned list. Is that the best, OR is it even the ONLY way for small time franchises in cities where superstars would loathe to live and play in (COUGH, MILWAUKEE, HACK, HACK, UTAH) to compete in the NBA? It's really sad that proud franchies like the Boston Celtics mortgage a playoff team, though certainly aging and EXTREMELY unlikely to win a title again this year, and mortgage it for money and draft picks to essentially hit the reset button like a pissed off young kid hitting reset on a Nintendo game after something doesn't go his way, though I never have done that and I'm not old enough to have either... There is absolutely no credit for playing hard to be mediocre. The NBA especially, where over half the league gets into the playoffs FYI, honor in trying to make the playoffs and give yourself "A Puncher's chance" or a "Chip and a chair" and attempt to make a run at a title. I feel the days of the Denver Nuggets over the Seattle Supersonics and the Golden State Warriors over the Dallas Mavericks (8 seeds over the 1 seeds) victories are almost certainly gone. Building a franchise over time with care, hard work, and developing talent seems dead. The Packers can certainly claim to do so (I'm also a Homer apparently), but the reality is without Aaron Rodgers were a fucking chum. I've always had an extremely negative view of tanking since I believe the first time I heard the term was in describing the worst ring of the bullseye in the "mental toughness" bullseye in a tennis video from the 80's during a rain day of tennis practice. It means you sulk, act like a bitch, and play like garbage. It's allowing people less talented to beat you. In the ultra competitive world of professional athletics isn't behavior like that utterly unacceptable? How can it be sanctioned, and essentially encouraged? How can GM be given the green light to destroy a team and throw out a bullshit product that nobody wants to see, including family and close friends of the players, just so you don't have to question the lack of effort of the players on the floor? I think it's not the ONLY way to go about assembling a championship team, but it's certainly the quickest and easiest. I guess .500 is the new .250 for winning percentage and that's all that matters. Parts of this are refreshing, like the days of overpaying for a player who simply isn't good enough for a max contract because they can't win a championship (HEY CARMELO ANTHONY) is going to be looked at under a microscope to a much greater extent. You can't afford to make mistakes like having a fringe star command $20 million/year for 6 years on your payroll. They better be a guy who wins games, or fills the seats. I just can't help be feel a little down about how openly tanking happens, but is discussed in the media, and the ultimate betrayal of an unnamed NBA GM writing an article in ESPN the magazine about it. It's almost glorified. As a fan you feel like it's a new tomorrow when you tank. Your most exciting moment of the season is watching ping-pong balls get drawn by a bunch of old white guys. Does that seem right? Somebody help me out with this one, I'm kind of lost on it.