Back When I Was A Kid....

As someone in their early 20's I can hardly recall "The Good Old Days" or "The Old School". I do, however, remember the early 1990's. I remember it as a time when sports were pure, at least more so than they are today. It was a time when the only things that mattered were wins and losses. The day after a big game you could open a newspaper (for those of you younger folks a newspaper is an ancient method used for acquiring information about the world and read about the key plays which decided the game. Today, however, you are more likely to read about the player who yelled at his coach for not giving him the ball enough or the player who got arrested at the strip club after the game. It may not be until halfway through the sports section until you find out what the score of the game was! This type of information just doesn't sell.

Which brings me to my next point. I understand that sports is a business and business' are out to make money, but wouldn't it be nice to do stories on things that actually pertain to the games being played on the field? Most television, newspaper and magazine companies are far more likely to cover off the field issues than breaking down a teams defensive scheme or something of the like. There have been more segments dedicated to off field topics such as Terrell Owens doing sit ups in his drive way than I can count on both hands and feet! For about a month I thought "SportsCenter" had changed its name to "The Bromance of Donovan McNabb and Terell Owens." Believe it or not, there was once a time when ESPN employed more news anchors than legal analysts. It was a magical time long ago before players named Tank, Pacman and Cinco, before referee scandals and before Mitchell reports.

It seems that these media outlets choose an issue that they are going to turn into a big story and henceforth discuss for a few weeks until another "newsworthy" story appears for them to beat into the ground for the subsequent few weeks. Again, I get it. It's a business and people, for whatever reason, seem to enjoy hearing about what touchdown celebrations were performed that weekend and whether or not Jose Canseco is either the biggest snitch in the history of pro sports or the biggest liar. Some of us, however, enjoy sports. You know, the game part.

I still hold out hope that one day, like a bad cold, this will all just go away. I won't, however, hold my breath.