it's great being quarterback, except...

for the way their stats are kept. Here's what I mean: say a quarterback is 9 for 20 in pass completions for a given game. Horrors! - they've completed less than 50% of their passes. But wait... let's say that the receivers misplayed or dropped 6 perfectly catchable balls. If that's the case, then it's mentioned as an additional statistic but never like the two stats are actually related. Well, if those passes were caught then wouldn't the quarterback have been 15 for 20? And had a 75% completion rate?

Then there are the passing plays when nothing is developing properly down the field and the best play actually is to just throw the ball away, out of bounds or something like that. Yet, it's just noted as another incompletion. And when the stats are read the next day, and discussed, and commented upon, no further examination needed - the quarterback's level of play is all there in the numbers. Or not.

At least in baseball (known for their stats, by the way), there is a distinction made between earned runs and unearned runs, for example. Although the stats are often misleading there as well: a pitcher can have a low ERA, but still have a win-loss record that doesn't reflect it because of a lack of run support. Still, that just takes a little more attention to the numbers - it still doesn't bother me as much as much as the misleading simplicity applied to the stats of a quarterback.

And while I'm thinking of it, when a quarterback is having a bad slump, what are the easiest, most convenient game highlights to show? Why it's when they're being sacked, of course! Being sacked makes them look bad, but it's not necessarily directly related to their performance. Perhaps they are hanging on to the ball too long instead of throwing to open receivers and thus getting sacked, but it could just as easily be due to other reasons: missed blocks, poorly run routes, whatever. But why not just show the poor sap getting sacked?

Come to think of it, maybe it's not so great being quarterback!

But it is great being Big Man on Campus.