As humans, we’re all going to make errors. That’s inevitable. Some errors are barely noticeable while others are glaring. Some errors, meanwhile, can be described as confusing or funny. Of course, others can be confusing and funny simultaneously, which is how we can best describe what happened with CBS Sports Network analyst Robert Turbin on Saturday.
Turbin and play-by-play man Rich Waltz were on the call for Saturday’s game between SMU and Nevada. Before the game, Turbin talked excitedly about how different the college football landscape is this year, due to conference realignment and the College Football Playoff expansion.
“Rich, I don’t know if I’ve ever been more fired up for a college football season,” he said. “All the changes. All the newness in college football.”
Everyone has their theories about what college football will look like with these changes but until we see them, we won’t really know. There’s good reason to be fired up. So far, so good. Turbin’s next line, though, didn’t completely track.
“It feels like there’s no parity,” he said.
That was an odd thing to say. Again, we don’t know everything that’s going to happen so we can’t say for sure what these changes will do for the parity of college football. But just by expanding the postseason from four teams to 12, there will be more parity going forward than ever before. There certainly can’t be less. Perhaps Turbin’s next line would clear things up.
“Anybody can win it this season.”
“It feels like there’s no parity. Anybody can win it this season.” pic.twitter.com/Ya2paAeuCP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 25, 2024
Interesting.
A quick gander at Merriam-Webster.com shows parity defined as, “The quality or state of being equal or equivalent.”
That would certainly back up Turbin’s theory that “Anyone can win this season.” Unfortunately, the idea that any team can win is the exact opposite of “It feels like there’s no parity.”
While assuming is often a dangerous game, we’re going to play it and assume that he meant either “It feels like there’s more parity” or simply “It feels like there’s parity.” That’s the easiest conclusion to draw and the one that makes the most sense.
And if that’s not true, we have to ask one other question. Was Turbin’s take on parity — a parody?
[Merriam-Webster.com, Photo Credit: CBS Sports Network]
