the.com/playoff hopes
the last statistic to die, usually in mid-March, usually loudly.
means a mathematical possibility of postseason qualification maintained purely by refusing to do the arithmetic.
from sports journalism's polite euphemism, born whenever a team's magic number turns negative but the tickets are already sold.
official deathdeclared via elimination graphic, not press release
survival tacticsay alive with an asterisk
fanbase stagedenial lasts longer than mathematics allows