re: The "X all time record over Y bodes well for X" argument is dumb.

Well, it does factor into the game. If a team has a huge winning record over another, the players think that maybe there is something about that team. The fans will fret and complain about how that team just "always gets the luck, the plays, the refs, etc. and we just do not stand a chance" and the players start to believe that.

It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.