Until football starts this fall, I am boycotting SportsCenter. I have the hardest time with the fact that all this time I have been pissed at Steve Czaben for his harsh criticizm of ESPN.....he has seen the light well before me....
Now that I see the light, I am equally irritated with ESPN. I have agreed over time that guys like Berman, Scott, Mayne, and others are washed up, but I have always LOVED SportsCenter and other sports segments on the network.
This new segment however, has change my mind althogether. Let me start by saying I cannot stand the state of our nation's media, and its continued focus on pop culture....read my blog....you'll see this quickly. Pop culture blows...and the media keeps shooting the Barry Bonds juices right through the veins of this monster.
WHO'S NOW?? Are they serious with this garbage? This is the worst time of the year for sports, I know....baseball All-Star Break, three days with no major events, no NBA, no NFL, and still half a season of MLB games before we really know who plays in October (hold on Brew Crew, hold on). Golf majors are limited, a few weeks out yet, an no Tiger (he's changing diapers, or napkins as Nick Price would say). I get this...I know it's tough to plan a whole show with little to cover....but this new shit is garbage....absolute trash.
You'd think these guys in CT could hire some of the overhyped Ivy Leaguer's to creatively spin new cool sports 'stuff' (my Ivy League venacular)....but no, we get stuck with comparing pop culture hysteria with on field genius. How fun....let's get together and compare who's cooler Danica Patrick or Reggie Bush?? After a few drinks this may end up funny (Danica's Bush anyone??) but at the end of the day it's ridiculous. They both wear diamond earings, both may well appeal to the opposite sex, but one wins and helps his team, and the other is simply a poster child to help save open car racing....
SportsCenter really took a dive here in my opinion....this is junk TV....if you wanted to see this kind of crap you can watch E!...they do a pop culture review ever 31 minutes and tell you who wears panties and who doesn't, when the Beckam's got off the airplane in LA, what color Tiger's daughter's shit was today, etc. When we watch SportsCenter we want to see SPORTS, HIGHLIGHTS, 'expert' analysis...etc (FYI: I don't care how many pairs of panties dropped when Harold Reynold's was still employed by the network, I haven't watched Baseball Tonight since he left, he was the best guy going, in any sport on the team).
Who's Now? I cannot get over it.....and I cannot see how it can ever be cool. Not only is it fundamentally wrong (imagine kids, teens, etc....more bling, more money, more tropies = much more cool) but it makes zero sense. How many of us care about the public image between two superstars? Sure, you have exceptions (Bonds/Balco, Jeremy Shockey (poor tact), Marlins owner (Ishiro comments, what a dooshbag too), etc....) but at the end of the day we want to see what these folks do best....even I want to see Bonds crack HR's (even though I know he's really 100 or so behind the greatest HR hitter ever). He's an asshole...yes, a cheater, yes, but the guy can hit a baseball as well as anyone since the game began....never been denied.
Can I compare him to Tom Brady?? Sure:
Barry: head grew three fold after steroids, Serra High, will hold major records in his sport, never won a ring, and never will, is getting older by the minute, acts like an ass, has three kids (maybe more somewhere), committed perjury to a grand jury, owes MLB and its fans an apology, is one of the greatest baseball players ever.
Tommy: head grew too, but figuratively, Serra High, has two kids, two differnet mommas (maybe more somewhere), still young, needs to borrow steroids from Bonds to throw ball farther than 8th graders, has 3 rings, but won't win more, will be remembered for clutch play in big games (and tuck rule that stole ring #1).
Who wins...?? Not sure but I know two guys that could hack it out if they wanted to. The point here is that ESPN needs help and fast. If they are going to lean on pop culture to fill a show...they lost me as a viewer, and I am sure there are others that feel the same. Hopefully there are enough of us to force a change....
Hey...I'm Justin. I'm a husband, devoted father, and I often have too much to say. Maybe if I write more, I will talk less? Maybe not. Either way, I hope you read, enjoy and share your thoughts. Family, funny, sports, and anything outside is exciting to me and I hope to share as much as I can. Be well, work hard, laugh often, and make good decisions!
