Please excuse me, readers, but I'm taking the time to scratch the type of itch that comes when you use wet poison ivy as a new-school slip-n-slide. The penetrating red bubble that spreads across your arms and legs and pecks away at your tolerance level despite bathing in a ten gallon tub of maximum strength anti-itch cream. That kind of itch. The nasty one.

I've read countless columns, blogs, etc, from highly respected sports journalists in recent years, many of which had nothing to do with a game, team, player, or any particular sport itself. Many of these columns bashed competitors, ripped colleagues, and destined to embarrass one of their own in the sports media industry. At what point, I have to ask, has the profession of sports journalism lost its way? 

Newspapers, magazines, online sports sites, all of them are seeking for the big headline. That's what sells, and I understand that. But are we as sports journalists and sports information/entertainment providers that desperate to draw eyes and ears that we have to waste time, space, and words on issues and people that have zero relevance to the game itself? Is the industry as a whole so lacking in unique talent that even some of the most respected writers have to spend numerous columns reporting and commentating on the pitfalls of others throughout the profession? Since when did that become a story?

I ask because over the last three years, in particular, I have grown so tired of anticipating a column from one of my favorite writers (I'll leave names out of this), only to wake up and read 1,200 words about how a journalist for another publication doesn't know his sports or doesn't have a valid opinion or is so full of himself that his keyboard should meet a bulldozer and he should meet the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Really? Is this the type of material I want out of the men and women who are being paid a lot of money to provide us fans with reading material?

I'm a sports fan at heart. We are all sports fans at heart. Whether you are an actual sports journalist, an aspiring one, or just one of the wonderful bloggers here in the Fox community because you love bantering with other passionate fans, we all feel the need to watch and cover sports because of the love for it. We don't become so emotionally involved with sports so that we can spew our opinion of how our words are more meaningful than those of the guy sitting next to us in the press box.

When I flipped open my laptop this morning, I wanted to scour my favorite sports sites and read insightful and entertaining commentary on the Falcons and Cardinals, Peyton Manning's third MVP or whether LT is going to play, Utah's shellacking of Alabama, or LeBron's triple double Friday night. Heck, skeet shooting in Wheatland, Wyoming would have done. Is it a well-written, compelling story? Bring it on.

What I absolutely didn't want to read about as a sports fan this morning was columns from top, mainstream writers on the recent DUI charge connected to Charles Barkley. My "Things to do on this Saturday morning" list goes something like this:

Enjoy NFL Countdown with a good cup of coffee... Hit all my favorite sports sites and newspapers online... Walk the dog and stop every 50 feet to pick up a handful of Saturday's Surprise... Burn my hand on the stove while making an omelet... Slice my finger open while cutting a loaf of bread... Inadvertently drop my manliest chef's knife onto my foot, severing my fourth and fifth toes... Dig 0.78 inches into my jugular as my rusty razor slips during my morning shave... Read numerous columns about Sir Charles' arrest and my favorite writers telling me why another journalist doesn't deserve to ever see a pen and pad... Death.

There's the list, in exact order, from best to worst. I am so befuddled by why we think the opinion of a sports writer on anything other than sports is worthy of our reading time. It is okay to write a story about a former athlete, such as Michael Jordan. If Barkley was simply a retired athlete and then had this mishap, fire away, write me the columns about how he has disgraced basketball, the sport that he is viewed as one of the great ambassadors of. 

But, fact is, Barkley is not just a former player. He is now a member of the media. He is now a notable sports broadcaster who provides commentary (regardless of your personal opinion, it's still commentary) on one of the most viewed NBA shows on television. Sports broadcasters are public figures, sure, but they are not the story. I understand Stu Scott is a role model for many kids, but he is not the story. By writing columns and spending air time discussing and berating those who cover sports or who are not involved with the game whatsoever is meaningless. It sheds a poor light on the writers we have come to love and the profession of sports journalism as a whole loses credibility because now we are stepping outside the scope of the position.

Some newspaper columnists frown upon the new-age writers who have come through the Internet era and believe that they aren't respectable journalists simply because they didn't climb through the ranks of the printed word. If you ask me, the columnists who see their papers taking on water are simply jealous of the online boom and the talent that is found across the Web. They see their columns sinking more and more into irrelevancy because more eyes are shifting to computer screens across the world.

Sure, some people who have grown up with the Internet may always look to the World Wide Web as their first source of information. But newspapers wouldn't be closing if they had the talent to produce original and thoughtful material. There are plenty of people who would still subscribe to papers if they had a stable of writers who penned the best columns available. I am one of those people who has grown up with the Internet; I don't know what sports journalism was like before it. 

But I look forward to Mike Wilbon's column in the Washington Post as much as anything I read on the net. In my hometown of Los Angeles, I love flipping open the Los Angeles Times and reading Bill Shaikin's take on baseball, Bill Plaschke's wit, or Mark Heisler's views on basketball. When J.A. Adande was here, I loved his NBA columns. I'd be the first one to subscribe to a paper, even today, if they employed writers I enjoy. If the talent is there, newspapers will sell. Period.

But don't waste a column by telling me that Bill Simmons of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine isn't a sports journalist because he doesn't go inside the locker room and "report", that all he does is sit in his house with his buddies and make a joke out of everyone and everything. The people who hate Simmons are jealous that they didn't beat him to the punch. Say what you want about him, but Simmons didn't bite off the press clippings of the writers that came before him.

He is so successful because he brought a viewpoint and an angle to sports that was never seen before. He is a brilliant mind who couples innovation and thought to challenge the way we view sports. Is it his fault he does that with humor and wit and produces entertaining material? How about worry about making your columns as original and insightful and passionate? 

Don't tell me that Rick Reilly is overrated or that he isn't deserving of the praise and fortune he receives for his words on sports. Sports journalism is like any other profession; there are some good days and there are some bad days. Reilly writes some good columns and he writes some average columns, just like any other sportswriter. What separates him is that he produces great columns more times than not, and his viewpoints go deeper than who scored the most points. He ties sports with life and does it masterfully. Why is he despised by some? Because some can't be as clever as he is and most won't make the money that he makes.

Jay Mariotti was one of the most popular newspaper columnists before resigning from the Chicago Sun Times because he voiced a strong opinion that was widely perceived as extremely egotistical. Mariotti, by my unofficial count, is one of the most hated writers out there. I understand how he rubs people the wrong way, but I'm all right with it. Why? Because he is different, he puts thought into his ideas, and he lets his passion seep through his fingertips while writing. FOXSports.com's Jason Whitlock is another. He is original, insightful, and fervent -- the three qualities that make a journalist "good" in my opinion. Doesn't mean I agree with every opinion of Mariotti and Whitlock (or anybody), but they are quality sportswriters.

The point is that there is so much jealousy, hate, and malice throughout sports journalism that it takes away from what writers are paid to do -- write about sports. No fan wants to read what a sportswriter has to say about another sportswriter. Fans don't need writers to develop personal opinions. We are capable of that ourselves. Fans want writers to tell us a story or open our eyes to an angle of a game or a thought that we may or may not have realized before, and we want it done in a creative manner. That's what the job entails.

What someone makes or why they got a certain opportunity is not news. The fact that a member of the media had a public run-in with the law, albeit a famous member of the media, does not warrant a column. By doing this, we take the focus off of the players and the game and put it on those who are supposed to live in the shadows. It's not about us, fellas. It's about the game. It's about Mario Chalmers' three pointer in the Final Four, Jon Lester's no-hitter, the Lakers and Celtics renewed rivalry.

There are so many quality writers out there that the industry doesn't need to resort to this type of child's play. In fact, the overwhelming majority of sports journalists are great and do a wonderful job of bringing us the beauty of sports and competition. But we are still suspect to these types of articles, and that's a shame.

This is the first and last column I will ever write about matters that don't directly involve the events or participants of sports. Keep our eyes on the field and our words flowing, but direct the attention to those who matter. When in doubt, the ones who matter ain't sitting behind a laptop. This common trap to grab a cheap headline is ridiculous, distasteful, and it singlehandedly cripples the integrity and name of sports journalism.

You can reach Teddy Mitrosilis at tm4000@yahoo.com