Storyline: Just accept what sports broadcasters and writers have to say? Don’t! Disagree. Debate. Argue. Stretch the boundaries of what you normally consider to be true, especially about your favorite teams and players. Make it all part of your game as fan. Written by Nicholas Morris, Atlanta, GA
As a current freshman in college, I have been assigned with a task: “Take an article, study it, write in it’s form.”
That got me thinking: What kind of online article do I enjoy reading? Do I enjoy humor? Do I enjoy articles that stick to the statistics and don’t vary from the social norm?
No. Personally I find myself gravitating towards the most opinionated pieces, the pieces where you can cut bias with a knife. I don’t enjoy articles for the arguments they attempt to make, but for the arguments I silently have with the author. Isn’t that what makes sports great?
Everyone has an opinion. Everyone can argue. With that said, the argument is muzzled when you take the words off the page and put them on the teleprompter. Watching sports news on television dampens the impact of words being said; it takes away from your personal opinions; and it begins to create new opinions for you, at no fault of your own.
Courtesy: thedeepend.comic.blogspot.com
ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports Network, and other resources for televised sporting news are fantastic outlets. They bring you the news, fast and easy–no thought required, either. However, you’re expected to agree with everything they say. Where is the argument that makes sports so real, so personal? Why do these major networks continue to thrive when all they truly do is attempt to pass-off general information to the public?
That’s not sports, in my opinion. Sports aren’t friendly discussions about what happened in last night’s game. Sports are heated debates about why John Hart is a psychological wizard. Why Ronaldo is better than Messi. If Georgia Tech is going to beat Georgia again this year (Spoiler Alert: They are). And if you were to watch a sports network on TV, and the anchors begin to tell you about the Braves, all you’ll walk away with is this: the Braves are the worst team in baseball and they traded away the majority of players on last year’s 40-man roster.
They would tell you about Ronaldo and Messi’s goals or assist totals, but not about their intangibles. They would display the records for each side. Never do they develop their own personal opinions and create debate–like the great sports writers do. Is everything the networks tell you correct and (relatively) unbiased? Absolutely. That’s not a strike at their credibility or professionalism; it’s a wake-up call of sorts.
I would like to advise all sports fans to take the time to READ (yes. that terrifying four-letter word) sporting news. Go to Grantland and Bleacher Report and FanSided. Read pieces about your favorite teams. Do you agree with what the writer has to say? Fantastic! Do you think he’s the biggest idiot in the world? Even better.
And I have one more piece of advice: Don’t just go to learn one writer’s opinion and, then, make it your own (as if you had just heard it on television). Disagree. Argue. Stretch the boundaries of what you normally consider, especially when watching your favorite teams and players.
When you find an article that interests you, immediately consider your own opinion on the topic. Be prepared to have those thoughts and preferences tested. Debate the writers as you read.
You may just discover that sports aren’t “just a game.”
