Friday Fire: Do We Care Too Much About Sports?

Full disclosure, I got this from my sister who is torn up over the Yankees dropping yet another game to the hated Red Sox. Thinking about it last night at work and seeing many NBA fans down in the dumps on the numerous social networks after the Magic loss, the question must be asked: Do we care too much about sports? How does the media affect your view of sports (written and otherwise)? Until I became a writer, I watched games with the sound down and rather listened to music. Too much production? Talking heads, commercials, endorsements, bloggers, journalists, money hungry commissioners, spoiled athletes, crime, scrutiny, bad stories, not enough attention given to the good guys, what? Does the 24 hour news cycle pay too much attention to the here and now at history’s expense? What’s your opinion? Are sports a distraction to larger issues which truly affect our existence? Do they dumb us down and also exacerbate a way too competitive vibe early in our children? How does the money affect you? Are sports entertainment or athletics? Do you care about the money professional athletes make even though the dollars have no bearing on your personal life? How does race play a factor? Are enough Black writers documenting sports where the majority of players are in fact also Black (Example: Warren Moon the quarterback should be included in the best of all time short list)? How come we never ask the same questions of White writers covering sports where the majority of athletes are in fact also White (Would Black writers have as tough of a time breaking in to say covering golf as they do the NFL or even the NBA)? Why do fans have a sense of entitlement when patronizing their favorite team? Because you pay to watch sports should you be allowed to act like an ass? Boston fans were yelling “You take steroids!” as Alex Rodriguez was at bat. Interesting. Why do some fans hate players they never met? Is the steroids issue in baseball something the media cares about more? Do you think certain networks are complicit regarding steroids because of TV contracts in other sports? Why do we care so much? @Mizzzzo Send to Facebook