I can't be held responsible for the things I say or write...

1.30.2008

Sports Media Overkill

I'm getting pretty tired of the typical sports writer. I'm also getting pretty tired of the typical sports fan.

Let me just state that I will be one of the happiest people in America if the Giants win this weekend...I love the team and I've always been a fan and supporter of Eli. I grew up watching Giant football, meaning pound the ball on the ground with Joe Morris, Otis Anderson and Rodney Hampton. I know the feelings of winning the super bowl (wide right wide right) and the feelings of losing that game...well, I guess I should say I know them as a fan. But until these past two weeks, I never quite understood the media frenzy that is the two week build up before the big game.

I'm aware that common stories get written about over and over again and beaten to death. I wasn't aware that every sportswriter comes out of the woodwork to declare themselves as experts on the teams in the Super Bowl. Just look at what the positive coverage of the Giants is causing. People actually believe that the Giants can win this game. If the Giants win this game, it is the biggest upset in Super Bowl history. At no point has any team stopped the Patriots this season when they had to...not only that, the Patriots have never really had to throw that touchdown on 4th down to save the perfect season. They just beat you down. You might get them to punt 2 times a game but you will not get that in the 4th quarter. Maybe it happened in the Ravens game, but thanks to all the phantom penalties on 4th down (and some legit ones) the Patriots did what they do and make the team pay.

Everyone makes a big deal that the Giants were up 12 points in the second half and lost...they almost had the game won. Teams who only score 12 points in a half lose games. It doesn't make any sense that the Giants would hold the Patriots down for the entire half. Then you have the stories about how the Giants only lost by 3...but no reference to the fact that the giants were down 10 with close to a minute to go. All of these facts are just thrown aside.

Let me say again, that I am a Giants fan and am rooting whole-heartedly for them in the Super Bowl. The last few sentences were probably considered kind of negative to some but I consider them realistic. The Giants are a 10-6 team who played mostly teams under .500 all season long. Tampa was not that great of a team, Dallas was (but faltering late) and no one can say anything bad about what the Giants did in Green Bay (except for Senor Pickles). The Giants are hot. They've won 10 in a row on the road (a record). They've been called the new America's team by some. Fanfare is high. Attention is all around...but people seem to forget something:

THEY'RE PLAYING THE BEST TEAM OF ALL TIME

Joe Namath predicted the Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts back in Super Bowl I (Yes, it was Super Bowl I. The first two were called "Championship Games"). He became a legend when he followed through on that prediction. To the best of my knowledge, no one gave him any chance to actually follow through on that prediction. The only difference now should be the Eli has not made such a dumb statement...but people are calling for the upset.

It would be great. It would be nice to hold something over the Massholes who have recently had a lot to brag about over NY. It'd also be nice because my team would have won the Super Bowl, thus justifying the purchase of a 42" Plasma I just bought to watch the game.

But I have to be realistic...and so should the sports media and fans. SportsNation (espn.com's interactive voting page) has the Patriots at less than 60% of the total votes of those predicting they win. That's just ludicrous. The people voting in that much mass for the Giants must be reading all of these stories about how the Giants are just the right team to bring down the Patriots and how Tom Brady's ankle really is hurt. Come on people. You have to realize that the people writing these stories are the people that have looked past the Giants all year when they had a chance to write about them, the same people that thought the Giants would be 4-12 this season, the same people that criticized them all season long...and now they're writing these feel good stories about the opportunity and the likelihood of victory this Sunday.

As a Giants fan, it makes me sick for one sole reason: These are likely the same people to write the "I told you so" stories when the Giants lose. The same people who just write whatever they are told to write or they can put together by a deadline. They are just filling a void with some bullshit that apparently people are buying into.

So for you, sportswriter, stop. cease and desist.

And for you typical sports fan, stop believing the hype. A Giants victory this Sunday would be a miracle for millions to witness. People should be rooting for the Giants, even if you hate NY. There is no reason to root for the Patriots unless you are a Patriots fan. Who roots for a team like that over an underdog like the Giants? It's like if people root for the Yankees when they play against the Marlins or Padres in the World Series. Unless you are a fan of them, can you really, honestly not put your hatred aside for the underdog and root against the top dog?

Basically, all of my feelings stem from outside of the last two weeks of the Giants being stroked by every sportswriter out there. It's pretty much the same reason I'm thrown off by you, average sports fan.

It's all about the perception. If it's written a certain way, that's the way it will be read by the vast majority. That's a large reason I stay away from politics...why bother when you know you can't trust what's being written.

SO, why care that baseball players have used steroids when you watch, read and love football? Steroids in baseball has been in the news the past 5 years at least and people have been up in arms and outraged by the players that would do such a terrible thing. Dragged in front of congress, media surrounding them, story after story about how they have soiled the national pastime, something the game may never recover from, think of the children, and on and on. Please. Motherfuck you if you feel any of this...and motherfuck you if you were a baseball fan but are outraged by the results of the BALCO investigation or the Mitchell Report. If you have a problem with Clemens or Bonds, I'll give you a little more leniency because they should just come out and admit it and take it on the chin like a fuck up, because that's what they did. They fucked up.

But you know who doesn't have to deal with any of the scrutiny? Who doesn't have story after story written about their abuse? Who doesn't have to deal with Congressional subpoenas, espn.com headlines and the fate of American children:

Football players.

My tie in didn't really work all that well, but I'm only adding this so that people will know I've crying about it. It doesn't really get mentioned all that much and it needs to be out there.

NFL Runner-up for defensive player of the year last year: Shawn Merriman...who spent 4 games on suspension thanks to steroids. His teammate, Luis Castillo failed a steroid test at the NFL combine. Rodney Harrison, New England's hard hitting, loud mouthed safety with game changing plays week in week out...suspended 4 games for HGH. These are not just your everyday players in the NFL. These are anchors of Super Bowl teams and championship game teams. Castillo made headlines for saying if he ever failed another steroid test that he would give his entire signing bonus back if he failed another test...he said he took them to recover for the NFL combine.

To me, it sounds like if you feel compelled to take an illegal substance to get ready to play in a paid football league, then that might send a pretty bad message to the kids...instead, we praise him for stepping up and admitting it. Do we do that with everyone who admits when they've cheated or lied or done other things wrong? I'm pretty sure that's not the way the world works....but that is how it is reported in this case, so we forget.

Shawn Merriman fails a steroids test after putting up insanely dominant numbers, seemingly directed related to his steroid use...Pro Bowl, congratulations.

Rodney Harrison makes big play after big play and we praise him for his game changing abilities and his hard hitting...but we don't care that he has recently come off a 4 game suspension for a failed HGH test. The dude missed the first 4 games of this season because of the failed test and all we heard about was "how good will the Patriots be when they get Rodney Harrison back."....back from where assholes?

We read these stories about football players who carry their team, are inspirations to communities, who are all this and all that, but we hear not shit about their steroid abuse.

In contrast, we see these fading stars who are past their primes and we find out that they are guilty in one way or another of cheating through chemicals....and then we read all about. We read about Miguel Tejada's impending case before the justice department for lying during an investigation. No one has heard from Mark McGuire or Rafael Palmiero since they were so coldly dismissed as talented ball players. When we hear the name McGuire, we think of steroids and hall of fame snub. When we hear about Palmiero, we remember the Congressional hearing where he said he never used steroids only to later fail a test and be black balled. We don't hear about the feel good story of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire saving baseball with their home run chase...presumably because it was all brought on by steroids....so why do we hear about the talent of Merriman, Harrison and Castillo? Why the contrast?

So as more and more people further down the road fail these tests and as baseball players and personnel are dragged in front of Congress while NFL players take in all the Pro Bowl festivities, remember that I'm saying this now and hopefully keep some sort of memory in the back of your mind about the reporting of these similar entities in entirely different ways...

And root for the Giants.

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