I don't really discuss religion or politics with my friends or family. Who you pray to or vote for is your own personal choice. I certainly wouldn't do it here either.
The religion I want to discuss today is the love we all have for sports. Which has taken a big hit lately, hasn't it? Just a quick recap of some of the stories we have been dealing with the last 12 months or so.
- Penn State hides the fact one of their former employees is using University facilities to hurt children.
- Major League Baseball stars Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens are pretty much black balled from the Hall of Fame because they used PED's to extend their careers and perform at high levels that made many people (including them and MLB) a lot of money.
- It seems every high profile college football coach takes an NFL interview or links their name to other college openings so they can make more money or extend the contract at the place they are at. I like to call this practice the "Les Miles". The last obvious attempt at a "Les Miles" was Brian Kelly's interview with the Philadelphia Eagles. Chip Kelly did a reverse Les Miles yesterday as he decided to go back to Oregon only to change his mind when the Eagles sharpened their pencil. I actually applaud the Eagles for this move because I hadn't heard of any of the coaches the NFL has been hiring lately. The Bears hired a CFL head coach (and former Detroit Lions assistant) for goodness sakes.
- Lance Armstrong beats cancer, takes PED's to win a bike race in France (and has been denying he did it for 12+ years) 7 times that nobody in the US really watched or cared about before he won it. During that time he raises nearly 1/2 a Billion Dollars for cancer research from his Livestrong charity.
- Now the Manti Te'o story of his girlfriend dying was a complete hoax. Let's be clear here, whether Manti was a victim of a hoax or he and a friend put this entire thing together to get Heisman votes. It's sick, very sick. I personally believe that Manti had to have known something along the way but I guess we will learn more as the facts continue to come out.
What's next? Is LeBron James a robot? Is Michael Phelps part fish? Is Alabama really the next NFL franchise?
When is this going to stop? Do we know too much? Should we not be looking behind the curtain?
Is sports becoming professional wrestling?
It just seems too much and that ESPN News and CNN are on a collision course to becoming the same thing. I listen to sports radio and many radio hosts wonder out loud why there is so much interest in New York Jets backup QB who looks like he is throwing with the wrong hand? The above bullets points are why, because good stories in sports are becoming harder and harder to find and when we do find them, we find out it's just a big façade.
5 comments:
I agree that’s what happens when we place sports, politics or anything else first in our lives except the one who created us. I love sports, it entertains and relaxes me, but I don’t “live, more nor have my being” with sports. Keeping things in perspective we know that we all have weakness and so do our sports heroes and even they disappoint us.
The media is as much to blame as anyone. They delve into all these athletes lives and can't wait to create a media darling so they can pump up stories and ratings. Te'o is not totally innocent nor guilty. This story became the perfect storm for he and the media. All should be chastised for this dupe, and you can throw Notre Dame into the mix also. When Swarbrick stated tearing up at last nights presser I about choked. Notre Dame's attempt at damage control was disgraceful to say the least. Dragging an institutions reputation into the dregs without full knowledge is horrible. I'm not a ND fan but this is a mess no one can recover from. Notre Dame's attempt to stand by their man was arrogant and shows how stupid intelligent people can act at times. rather than just telling the truth ND stooped to the same levels of Te'o, Tuiossosopo, and every media source that wanted to report how tragic this situation was. Put a microphone into the face of people during a stressful time and get a reaction that is not thought out. The media does not care about the truth. They want the reaction so they can create more headlines or more air time. Five minutes if checking could have provided ND and the media enough information to know this was a hoax. Then treat it as such. Everyone involved in this situation got exactly what they deserved. Egg on the face. Live and learn I suppose.
The media is as much to blame as anyone. They delve into all these athletes lives and can't wait to create a media darling so they can pump up stories and ratings. Te'o is not totally innocent nor guilty. This story became the perfect storm for he and the media. All should be chastised for this dupe, and you can throw Notre Dame into the mix also. When Swarbrick stated tearing up at last nights presser I about choked. Notre Dame's attempt at damage control was disgraceful to say the least. Dragging an institutions reputation into the dregs without full knowledge is horrible. I'm not a ND fan but this is a mess no one can recover from. Notre Dame's attempt to stand by their man was arrogant and shows how stupid intelligent people can act at times. rather than just telling the truth ND stooped to the same levels of Te'o, Tuiossosopo, and every media source that wanted to report how tragic this situation was. Put a microphone into the face of people during a stressful time and get a reaction that is not thought out. The media does not care about the truth. They want the reaction so they can create more headlines or more air time. Five minutes if checking could have provided ND and the media enough information to know this was a hoax. Then treat it as such. Everyone involved in this situation got exactly what they deserved. Egg on the face. Live and learn I suppose.
I myself have boycotted most sporting events because of the insane prices charged & the people playing them are way overpayed.. guess that's why I like college football, but even the coaches are getting out of touch & so are the ticket prices. I beleive the end of entertainment is nearing & prices have to return to normal -- I can't afford $20 for popcorn and coke at the movies, but that's what it's coming too...they'll charge for parking next! P.S. What's going on with the UM blog sites, seems they've all been abandoned...pls check the links on your page & remove the stale ones.
Love the site Bob -- hate ND & Te'o fakers; they knew it was a lie all along, but never denied it. Go Blue!!!
How about Jordan Kovacs for a good one Bob?
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