Are sports journalists ruining sports?

[The Madcap]

I think of Selena Roberts, and Gregg Doyle, and an other asshole that makes up dumb shit because they think it sells, or take these two recent stories?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=6197050

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14788982/tressel-suspended-two-games-for-violating-ncaa-rules

I'm starting to think we should make reporters hold a real job for ten years before they are allowed to go snooping around into everyone else's business.

[jgray]

Take out the first reference to "sports" and change the second to "life" and you'd also be right.

As you can probably tell, I hold all journalists in very low regard.

[EDDIE MONEY LINE]

in the profession only a few steps above prostitution

[iceminers26]

"I'm trying to help you young guys in this profession you have choosen, which is one or two steps above prostitution" Bobby Knight"

[VegasRandy]

Journalism is unskilled labor.

[ChileCheese]

You can argue the merits of what they do.... But what does 1 persons thoughts on sports have to do with what goes on in the field, stadium or rink?
If anything, the more people who write about, or discuss sport, are just engaging more people in the topic and possibly introducing a new member to the audience each day. That in itself can only fuel sports.

[ChileCheese]

Journalism is unskilled labor.

Yea and its only responsible for helping fuel democracy and all those rights you swear by from 1776. Purely unskilled. You speak the Truth bro.

[VegasRandy]

Yea and its only responsible for helping fuel democracy and all those rights you swear by from 1776. Purely unskilled. You speak the Truth bro.

You're lost because you want to be lost. It's the american soldier that is responsible for our freedom.

[doublej95]

Thanks to the start of 24 hour news, sports and the news is not what it use to be about. It's more about the Network and trying to get the dirt on some player, star or politician before the other network digs it up. It is a cut throat business where the reporters and networks are only out for themselves.

[pokernut9999]

ESPN ruined sports

[ChileCheese]

You're lost because you want to be lost. It's the american soldier that is responsible for our freedom.

Freedom and Democracy are not part and parcel.
That being said, America soldiers have nothing to do with your foundation.
Furthermore, American soldiers have never done anything to ensure the safety of America, aside from coming to WW2, a few years later than everyone. American soldiers are tools of imperialism making sure the empire stands strong until the dollar collapses one day after your treasury has been robbed.

[Muggy]

Yeah, sometimes I think they are because they make such a big deal out of it and inflate these players' egos to the point where they ruin themselves and then ruin watching sports for me by running their mouth.

[VegasRandy]

Freedom and Democracy are not part and parcel. That being said, America soldiers have nothing to do with your foundation. Furthermore, American soldiers have never done anything to ensure the safety of America, aside from coming to WW2, a few years later than everyone. American soldiers are tools of imperialism making sure the empire stands strong until the dollar collapses one day after your treasury has been robbed.

Yep, you're in the weeds.

[fishmonger]

I was a Marine for years and if your not spreading the americanism, then your a commy. You a commy Cheese?

[The Madcap]

Take out the first reference to "sports" and change the second to "life" and you'd also be right.

As you can probably tell, I hold all journalists in very low regard.

INDEED, good sir.

[The Madcap]

ESPN ruined sports

Totally agree. I wrote an essay about this in college. Got an A+

[The Madcap]

You can argue the merits of what they do.... But what does 1 persons thoughts on sports have to do with what goes on in the field, stadium or rink?
If anything, the more people who write about, or discuss sport, are just engaging more people in the topic and possibly introducing a new member to the audience each day. That in itself can only fuel sports.

On the one hand, you recognize how journalists can affect military operations, and yet on the other, you seem to have no concept of how they damage sports.

You should read double J's post.

When reporters champion things like the "little guy" concept, it expands the field in the NCAA Tournament from 64-68, and who knows how many more in the years to come. It means they endlessly prostitute the little guy to the point Boise State gets title contender talk even though they couldn't even beat Nevada, who lost to frickin Hawaii.

It means guys like Tiger Woods can't screw up in life and have a chance to repair his marriage before everybody in the entire damned world knows about it and there's no chance. It means players can't laugh or joke or cry without some ass-sniffing writer blogging about it, and having it completely taken out of context by the next day so that we judge these people on things we've never even actually heard or seen. It means guys like Brett Favre are made to look like ten times the indecisive assholes they actually are because some writer refuses to let him make a tough personal decision in private.

None of this shit fuels sports. If fuels gossip. And I and every other true sports fan watch sports to get away from gossip. I don't need to hear every little comment Carmelo makes about the possibility of switching teams. I don't need to read about every locker-room dust-up between a QB and his o-line, or a coach and his point guard. I don't need to hear about the juvenile spat of a baseball manager and his former closer. I don't need to be updated every two days about an 18 year old's goddamned toe injury. Let a kid have a private life. All I need is to know before tip-off if he's playing so I know how to play the spread. And you don't have to hound the brother to get that.

We don't need this shit. It's making us as stupid and annoying as our girlfriends and wives when they read US Weekly.

[dynamite140]

their pretty bad for sure.

[ChileCheese]

On the one hand, you recognize how journalists can affect military operations, and yet on the other, you seem to have no concept of how they damage sports.

You should read double J's post.

When reporters champion things like the "little guy" concept, it expands the field in the NCAA Tournament from 64-68, and who knows how many more in the years to come. It means they endlessly prostitute the little guy to the point Boise State gets title contender talk even though they couldn't even beat Nevada, who lost to frickin Hawaii.

It means guys like Tiger Woods can't screw up in life and have a chance to repair his marriage before everybody in the entire damned world knows about it and there's no chance. It means players can't laugh or joke or cry without some ass-sniffing writer blogging about it, and having it completely taken out of context by the next day so that we judge these people on things we've never even actually heard or seen. It means guys like Brett Favre are made to look like ten times the indecisive assholes they actually are because some writer refuses to let him make a tough personal decision in private.

None of this shit fuels sports. If fuels gossip. And I and every other true sports fan watch sports to get away from gossip. I don't need to hear every little comment Carmelo makes about the possibility of switching teams. I don't need to read about every locker-room dust-up between a QB and his o-line, or a coach and his point guard. I don't need to hear about the juvenile spat of a baseball manager and his former closer. I don't need to be updated every two days about an 18 year old's goddamned toe injury. Let a kid have a private life. All I need is to know before tip-off if he's playing so I know how to play the spread. And you don't have to hound the brother to get that.

We don't need this shit. It's making us as stupid and annoying as our girlfriends and wives when they read US Weekly.

You should know actual journalists protected Tiger Woods for years. Just as they did for Joe D and the like for years. The people who exploited Tiger were the new wave of celebrity gossip sites which do not have any actual journalists.
As a whole, everything you are complaining about is seemingly derived from the chicken and egg argument. You seem to think sports writers drive the narrative. Wrong. Just like people who complain about shitty movies or TV. People write and produce what the public want, end of story.
And to say that this shit they write is making YOU stupid, is your problem, not mine. There are a lot of very talented writers out there.... I choose to not watch reality TV. I choose not to watch Twilight movies. Doesnt mean I dont respect and love watching The Godfather or Inception.

[The Madcap]

Y People write and produce what the public want, end of story.

That right honcho? That's how ESPN makes all their decisions? I guess that's why they started letting women into the broadcast booth to call the play by play of college football games. Right? Because it's not like part of the whole damned reason men spend all day Saturday watching football is to get away from the shrill sound of a woman's voice right? And certainly all us men who watch football were fully supportive and begging the producers at ESPN to put a woman who'd never played a down of football in her entire damn life in the position of narrating one of the big moments of a historic football rivalry. Yes, that's what the public wanted.

Look, ESPN decides their content just like a lot companies, with focus groups and viewer feedback. But here's the problem with that: most viewers are normal people who are too fukking busy to do something lame like attend a focus group or write in a viewer suggestion. Which means these companies often add things to their programming for the morons who don't know what the fuk they are talking about. For instance, when watching football old school people like me find the yellow first-down line in football annoying, but we can at least understand the concept. What type of fukking moron needs a line to designate the line of scrimmage? The type of moron that attends focus groups and gives viewer feedback. The type of moron who doesn't care about sports for sports sake, but because he/she likes the social aspect of being a sports fan. And these are the assholes concerned with Tiger Woods' marital affairs. Sports fans don't give a shit. And when we do, we don't need to see it on the fuking ticker on ESPN while trying to watch a damned ball game.

Your comment should have read, "what idiots get, idiots want." Because at least that would be true.

[No coincidences]

Thanks to the start of 24 hour news, sports and the news is not what it use to be about. It's more about the Network and trying to get the dirt on some player, star or politician before the other network digs it up. It is a cut throat business where the reporters and networks are only out for themselves.

This. Everyone's busy trying to scoop each other, at the price of both accuracy and substance. That, plus they're trying to figure out how to fill so much unnecessary air time.

[slacker00]

It's the fragmentation of culture due to technology. We don't have to sit around the TV set at 6pm every night to get the news of the day anymore. We don't have to pick up the daily newspaper like in the olden days. We just google or subscribe to whatever myriad of news servers. The central authority of news distribution is dying. In some ways, this is a good thing due to effeciency of competition and availability to a wider array of information, but it's bad because of the emergence of a lot more garbage.

I guess the answer is to increase a wider "consciousness" in terms of public understanding of information. The only reason that so much garbage information exists is because there is a market for it, people buy it. If people didn't buy into garbage there would be less incentive to create garbage. With a increased awareness, intelligence, understanding of reality, reason, responsibility across the general population there would be much less trash floating around. Easier said than done.