Winning rivalry games, is it a skill?

[ProfessorBen]

Hire Derek Jeter for clutch, imo.

[vhawk01]

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I've posted this before but I will say it again. I had a friend who used to play for OSU(2002-2004). He said that there was a portion of practice each week dedicated to Michigan. They would either watch UM film or practice against the scout team mimicking UM personnel. It didn't matter if OSU was facing Penn State in week 9 or Akron in week 1, they were still preparing for Michigan.

You can debate if this is skill or not, but it is definitely a different strategy. I never asked if they did it for any other team but I doubt they do.

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So the question is does this correlate with winning, losing or nothing?

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Just as a thought experiment I think this would correlate with winning. Assuming that OSU and Michigan are roughly equally skilled, which they usually are, the better prepared team and staff would be more likely to win the game than not. I know there are a lot of variables unaccounted for but being better prepared than your opponent can only increase the likelihood of success.

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I probably agree with you but I could throw about twenty sports cliches and metaphors and conventional wisdom at you that would directly contradict it. They will be too tight, they will be too amped up, they need to be loose, blah blah blah. This is why you gotta look out for narrative fallacy. Yeah, your story sounds great if you are trying to come up with a reason to get to the conclusion you want, and you might even be right but I could come up with just as convincing a story to come to a different conclusion.

[vhawk01]

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John Cooper was the worst big game coach in the history of college football. And it's not even close. He lost many Michigan and bowl games that he should have won. The 1993 game where Ohio State came in undefeated and lost 28-0 was one of the worst performances of all time. The Biakabatuka game in 1995 wasn't much better. Losing to Air Force in the bowl game. This is just off the top of my head, I've probably blocked out the rest as a defense mechanism.

I'm not sure Carr has lost any to Tressel that he should have won.

Edit: Just realized I didn't answer the question. Answer: yes, because if someone can be horribly bad at it, it must be a skill.

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You realize someone has to be horribly bad at it right? Just like someone has to be pretty good at it. They cant all be exactly as expected.

[Semtex]

I think if anything certain coaches will prepare more to exploit the other coach's tendencies. Maybe throw in some metagame but this is all stuff they should be doing anyway, so no I don't think there is a special skill.

[ADLinden]

Jim Tressel devotes a part of every practice to the Michigan Game.

[vhawk01]

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Jim Tressel devotes a part of every practice to the Michigan Game.

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Plus he wears a really smart sweater. Which is more skillful, you be the judge.

[Dudd]

Sweatervest, ldo.

[Victor]

if "more skill" relates to the question of "are some coaches better than others at gameplanning and motivating their players for one specific game?" then i certainly believe skill is involved.