'What if' question all about sports

"What if" conjures up a lot of imaginary possibilities in the world of sports and the two words spring forth alibis, excuses and false reasons why superior sports teams suffer loses.
On the other hand, media critics sometimes say "what if" you do this or that, it will demoralize whatever the status is of your sports program and make it worse.
If I've got your attention let's first review the Cleveland Indians.
"What if" Ken Lofton, Richie Sexson, Roberto and Sandy Alomar, Manny Ramirez, Brian Giles, Carlos Baerga, David Justice; pitchers Bartolo Colon, Dave Burba, Jose Mesa and other discarded Indians were still Tribesmen; would they lead their league?
From a once power-packed hitting lineup to a cream-puff batting order, the once fearful Indians may not have enough oomph to earn a spot in the 2002 playoffs.
What if the players strike in August, fans who aren't Major Baseball League aficionados won't be discouraged, because they think many of the players already earning millions of dollars aren't worth it.
And just think, the lackluster Indians won't have to complete the season on an embarrassing note.
What if Buckeyes
Ohio State University's football team lost to South Carolina 31-28 on Jan. 1. "What if" the Buckeyes' coach, Jim Tressel, hadn't called the pass play that was intercepted that led to the Gamecocks' victory. What if he would have played it conservative, sending the contest into overtime in the Outback Bowl?
"What if" the Gamecocks had played the fourth quarter the way they did the first three, would they have won 42-0 and sent the Buckeyes out back somewhere to hide until this coming season?
What if OSU could have eliminated the first three quarters, would it have won 21-3?
Buckeye quarterback Steve Bellisari was contained by coach Lou Holtz's Gamecock defense for three quarters connecting on just 8-of-19 passes for 118 yards.
So what if his fourth quarter statistics were impressive (13-of-16 for 202 yards and three TDs), he still threw the interception that tarnished the Outback comeback.
On Jan. 28, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl bid came to an abrupt halt.
The media and Steelers fans thought that Pittsburgh was on cruise control heading into the semifinal clash with New England, but the underdog Patriots prevailed 24-17.
Pittsburgh fans said "What if" running back Jerome Bettis, idled by a groin injury Dec. 9, could have played at full strength, would that have made a difference?
I doubt it. New England coach Bill Belichick cleverly devised a defense that stuffed the supposedly superior Pittsburgh ground attack to a meager 58 yards on 22 attempts and Bettis managed just 9 yards on eight carries.
What if Stewart
And what if quarterback Kordell Stewart would have been more effective during the contest? He wasn't. Pittsburgh's quarter scores were nothing in the first period, three in the second, 14 in the third and zero in the fourth and the Steelers' signal caller was intercepted three times.
Just to prove that the Patriots were the real McCoy, they held off a heavily favored St. Louis team from repeating as Super Bowl champs, when New England Adam Vinatieri's 45-yard field with 27 seconds remaining gave the Patriots the title, 20-17.
"What if" Texas Tech hadn't hired Bobby Knight as their men's basketball coach.
Criticized as a cantankerous, mean-spirited old man by the media, the former coach of Indiana University took an underachieving team which was 9-19 in 2000-01 and led the Red Raiders into the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Oh yes, just to add a little humor. "What if" the dog hadn't stopped to scratch would it have caught the rabbit? Maybe.
XMark Miller is a sports reporter for The Vindicator. Write to him at miller@vindy.com.