"For the most part, it sucks to be a sports fan. It's a one-way street. Tickets cost too much. Jerseys cost too much. Executives and owners screw up our teams. Players let us down again and again. Just this week, the top sports stories were the shocking revelations from the Bonds/steroids scandal, the NFL labor agreement, and Kirby Puckett's untimely death (as well as the obligatory number of "Just remember, he was a bad guy after he played!" stories). It's a culture where bottomfeeders like Jose Canseco never seem to go away, where entire TV shows are built around sportswriters screaming at one another, where an abject failure of a human being like Bill Romanowski can crack the New York Times Bestseller list. Everything is out of whack. Even in the NBA, an egocentric gunner like Kobe Bryant receives 10 times as much attention as the great Tim Duncan, who's currently limping around on one leg because that's what champions do. I don't know what's happened to sports. I really don't."But we love 'em anyway, don't we? Posted by Stephen Silver at March 10, 2006 05:46 PM
In my case, No, I don't still love them. I always swore I wouldn't be the kind of old fart that talked about how great the old days were, BUT... . I used to love the NBA, but everytime I watch it these days it just depresses the hell out of me. Major League Baseball? The idea that your favorite player might play for your worst enemy next year is so contrary to the sports environment of my youth, I have a hard time looking past it. The Winter Olympics? Lord have mercy, what a load of subjective judging, sob story coverage, and overhyped disappointments. There is no emphasis on character in athletics today, either in the focus of the sports, or the coverage. Even an idle pleasure like sports has a need of character. Not in every case--there will always be exceptions who excel in spite of their personal failings. But do we need to be subjected to an entire sports culture seemingly inhabited by little, little people?
Posted by: DBrooks at March 10, 2006 08:29 PM