It’s a new year and with a new year comes the promise of change; a chance break bad habits; to do things better. Well, while we love to blame players, coaches and owners, we sports fans need to look in the mirror and admit that we need to make some changes as well. I propose the following resolutions to help us all become better sports fans in 2007.
Less Sport Radio. I’ll admit that this one is a personal pet peeve. I hate sports talk radio shows. There is not another segment of sports media that I find more annoying. Pompous hosts, who typically aren’t all that knowledgeable (yes, I’m talking to you Steven A. Smith and Michael Kay) use the airwaves to spout incoherent rants, recycle clichés and support their own agendas. It’s suppose to be a forum for fans to express ideas and opinions but usually if a caller’s opinion’s differ from the host’s they call him crazy and hang up. So please in the best interests of everyone, let’s stop calling and stop listening.
Think Before You Vote. The All-Star vote is one of the last pieces of power the sports fan has left, but frankly we as a group are doing a terrible job lately. All you have to do is look at this year’s Pro Bowl balloting where John #### and his whopping zero interceptions, zero sacks and 5 passes defended made it to Hawaii over Kerry Rhodes who has 5 interceptions, 4 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. This happens all the time in every major sport, then fans turn around and complain that the same players make it to the All-Star game every year. Well then we as a whole need to do a better job.
Try Something New. We all consider ourselves sports fans but are we really? How many of us have been to a minor league baseball game? Or checked out a basketball game at our local community college? Maybe you’ve never been to an Arena League game (which is actually pretty fun in person). We could all diversify our sports portfolios a bit.
Cut Down the Clichés. Not all teams that lose “just didn’t want to win” sometimes they just get out played. And not all athletes are “overpaid”; actually basic economics tells us that for the most part they all are compensated properly. Can we get rid of clichés completely? Of course not. But as a group lets make an effort to actually think before we speak.
Keep Things in Perspective. Sports fans speak in way too many absolutes. We crown players superstars in their first year. Or we call them busts after a few bad games early in their career. Some of it comes with being a fan, I understand that. This is not completely our fault. Sports media outlets love to proclaim a player, a team or even a league as reaching super star status or “in crisis”. A perfect example of this is Tony Romo. He was being compared to Brett Favre after his second NFL start. Now? Not so much. Let’s just take a little time before we proclaim the end of baseball as we know it or send Frank Gore to the Hall of Fame.
i was one of a very small group who DIDNT put reggie bush in the HOF before he was even drafted...turns out he had a pretty decent season, but the way people talked, he was going to rush for 2000 yards and win the SB for new orleans all by himself...he may not even be the best rookie on his own team, if it werent for marques colston getting hurt late in the year.
the cliches and catch phrases are getting old...but at the end of the day, i mean, quite frankly....ah, man i hate that guy.
i'm pretty much stretched to the limit in terms of my sports diversity. i dont go to any games, and dont plan to in the near future. something about giving hard earned money to guys who make millions, yet still claim they cant feed their families that just doesnt appeal to me.
the all-star/pro bowl voting will never change. its a popularity contest, and too many times people vote based on name recognition, or do it several times just to get their personal favorite player on the roster. the all star games are almost unwatchable for me. for the most part though, i'm satisfied when the leagues release their all-pro squads. either way, its not likely that i'll see many (if any) players from the wisconsin teams.
nobody is more annoying than collin cowherd on espn radio. if somebody calls and disputes his stand on something, and they actually make a solid point, he cuts them off. there's a lot of times when i could call and make a good point, but the odds of getting through, or them taking it seriously are slim and none, so i basically quit listening altogether.
Yes yes yes on everything. Except of course, the ban on the word "overpaid." Take the NBA for example. Guess what, if you're being paid a minimum of 250K for 9 months of watching basketball games from courtside seats, then you are.... OVERPAID.
If you get paid $10,000 to walk down a runway 12 times you are overpaid. If you get paid $100,000 to shoot a half-hour of television you are overpaid. If you get paid 100K a year to putz around in front of the computer, you are overpaid.
"If you get paid 100K a year to putz around in front of the computer, you are overpaid."
are you telling me i'm overpaid? does that mean i shouldnt ask for that 20K salary increase on monday? it's tough making ends meet on 100K salary and 30K year end bonus.
Cuz: Go for as much as you can. But yes, to get paid 6 figures to sit on your #### and do nothing means you are overpaid. Am I knocking it? No. I would like to be paid money to do nothing. But a #### is a ####.
Riss- i was just playin'. i wish i made that kind of money. i was taking a shot at business exec's who sit on their butts all day and farm out all the work to their assistants who make about 1/4 what he makes, get no credit and work twice as many hours.
i WISH i was overpaid. and i'd even own up to it if i was.
30 year old life long sports fan of the Knicks, Giants and Mets and since some of my best friends are Jets fans I root that they will end their years of inflicting heartbreak on their fans. I've worked in various roles for the NFL, NBA and AFL (gotta love Arena Football) which has given me a slightly jaded opinion of sports media.
Currently I look forward to watching Reggie Bush, Isiah Thomas getting fired and the Mets making a run at the World Series this fall. I'm absolutely tired of talking about Barry Bonds, T.O.,
Some of my favorite writers include: Paul Zimmerman, Len Pasquarli, William Rhoden, Peter Gammons, Bill Simmons, Peter King, Scoop Jackson, Marty Noble and a host of others that I'm forgetting.
