nothing to lose

one thing that always really bugs me while watching sports is when the announcer will say 'this team really has nothing to lose." it's heard most during playoff time, when a heavy favorite is taking on an underdog. or sometimes if a team is making a late comeback in a desperate effort to win the game. they always say this team has 'nothing to lose.'

not true. they have the GAME to lose. by definition, a game is something you can lose. and if it's a playoff game, they also don't have just the game to lose, but also their entire season in which they worked so hard to get to that point. actually, they have everything to lose.

in fact, it would be quite a disadvantage if one team indeed had 'nothing to lose.' if, say, the outcome of the game didn't matter at all because said team was gonna advance anyway. that just wouldn't be fair at all. and even then there would be potential injuries to star players, that's something to lose.

what a stupid saying.