Do We Really Care?

The past few years I have noticed that sports networks dedicate a lot of time, perhaps too much, on stories that the public and most sports fans probably aren't interested in. One large network, ESPN (I believe it's now called the Favre/Tebow Network), is particularly guilty of this. Last summer, when quarterback Brett Favre was considering returning to the NFL to play for the Vikings, ESPN set up trucks, cameras and a news anchor in his front yard, which resembled a stakeout. From his lawn, they provided virtually 24-hour, up to the minute coverage of anything that Favre did. When Favre came out to mow his lawn, it became breaking news. Everytime he left his house, video came on the station. Every time he sneezed, all programming was interrupted to report on it (ok I may have made that last one up). My point is that as a sports fan, I don't tune in to see if Brett Favre is washing his car or ordering a pizza. I watch to see highlights and stories that are far more important and actually pertain to sports, not their private lives.
Another example of this is when Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson. ESPN spent more time talking about the couple's trip to Cabo than the Cowboys' upcoming playoff game. ESPN also spent 20 minutes yesterday talking about Tim Tebow's first workout for pro scouts. His workouts are important, but they dedicated the entire time to talking about trivial details, such as discussing and showing video of him taking snaps from directly under center, which he will have to do in the NFL, as opposed to in the shotgun formation which he did while at Florida. It is not a big deal, considering anyone with two hands can easily take a snap. Seeing as it's 3 months away from the draft, is that really important? No, it is not. When sports fans turn on ESPN, they want to see highlights and more pressing stories that have more importance. I'm not saying they need to completely cut out those other stories, but they don't need to dedicate an overwhelming amount of time to them either. Instead of telling me every move Favre is making, just let me know when he signs with someone. Rather than documenting everything Romo and Simpson did in Cabo, just mentioning that they were dating would suffice (if I cared about the Cowboys).

Heart concerns

Last Thursday, Southern Indiana basketball player Jeron Lewis collapsed during a game and later died. On Sunday morning, Chicago Bears defensive end Gaines Adams was admitted to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Both of these players died of heart complications. While these two men died just recently, there have been several cases of collegiate and professional atheletes dying from heart conditions. The heart has to work harder for someone with a larger-than-average body, such as basketball and football players, putting tremendous strain on it. These recent deaths lead me to wonder how these tragedies keep happening. How did Adams's fatally-oversized heart go unnoticed? If all athletes go through rigorous physical examinations, how do glaring health problems like heart issues go undetected? Wouldn't the heart be one of the most throughly-examined parts of the body? Before any high-level athlete steps on the field, they should have to perform mandatory heart screens to try to prevent these sort of sad stories from happening again.

Baseball Hall of Fame Voting

Last Wednesday, Andre Dawson was voted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame after being eligible for multiple years. Once a player retires, he has to wait five years to become eligible for induction. To gain admission, a player must receive votes from 75 percent of the sportswriters who are chosen to vote. A player is eligible for fifteen years after he retires. It took Dawson nine years (after he became eligible) to be voted in, even though his career statistics probably should have made him a Hall of Famer much sooner.
The issue I have with Hall of Fame voting is the voters' tendency not to vote in a player in his first year of eligibility, no matter how good they are. Some of the greatest players in the history of the game, including Babe Ruth and Joe Dimaggio, did not make it on their first try. This year, Roberto Alomar did not make it in his first year of eligibility, even though he is one of the top 5 second basemen of all time. The issue I have is why wait to put a player in? If they are deserving, why do voters make them wait 2, 3 or even 10 years? Once a player retires, his statistics aren't going to change. If he is voted in next year, then he was deserving to be voted in this year too.

Alex Chaet's Sports Blog

Welcome to my blog. I will be posting my opinion on current issues in sports at least once a week.