FanNation

2 months ago :: 251 Views

Like any normal day, I got up, took a shower, got dressed, brushed my teeth, ate some breakfast, and turned on ESPN. It was, of course, SportsCenter that was on. I've never been a big fan of SportsCenter, as I feel they are either way too biased in their coverage of some teams (Yanks, Sox, Patriots, etc) and don't pay enough attention to some other teams (Everyone Else?).

Anyways, I turn on the TV, and of course one of the first stories to come on is about the A-Rod divorce and the allegations of him cheating on his wife...something we all already knew, but it's nice to have closure. This divorce has been incoming for at least a week, and yet A-Rod is on top of his game as of late. I'm happy as a Yankees fan, but...this is somehow even more disturbing to me, that a guy can cheat on his wife, get a divorce, and act like nothing has happened to him. You can call it "focus", but I call it "not caring".

Then I check out my computer. One of the top stories deals with how Lofa Tatupu, the Seahawks' LB and a rising young star in the NFL, was charged with a DUI after being caught driving drunk and going over 50 mph in a 35 mph zone and was twice as intoxicated as is legal. He was fined a pittance compared to his salary and spent a day in jail.

The next story I noticed was about how an ex-Vikings DE (Darrion Scott) who pleaded guilty to sticking a plastic bag over the head of his 2-year-old son.

Then, finally, I saw something else. Something better. Tony Gonzalez, the future Hall of Fame Tight End for the Kansas City Chiefs, saved a man from choking to death using the Heimlich maneuver in a restaraunt in California. According to a witness, “The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything...Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed."

It was then that Tony, sitting at the next table, saved this man from death by giving him the Heimlich and popping out a piece of meat that had been lodged in his throat.

Add on to this the fact that it was the man who had been saved, and not Tony, who came out with this. According to his family, Tony "had no intention of having the incident become public."

This is the news I want to hear. I don't want to hear about how a man almost suffocated his child, or about a messy divorce, or any of that stuff. I want to hear more about these types of situations, not necessarily where an athlete acts like a hero, but maybe when an athlete does a good thing. The bad is always scrutinized in people, while the good is often cast aside. The media knows that scandals sell, and I can appreciate that, but don't they know that good news sells as well?

The country is depressed enough as it is. Even beyond the realm of sports, we are years into a war that should only have taken months, the economy is starting to slide and we are in a recession, gas prices are astronomically higher than they were only a year ago...we need more brightness in the news, not less.

Then, there is the mundane. This morning, I was (luckily) able to learn from many news outlets that Brett Favre sent a text message to the Packers GM, Ted Thompson. Maybe next time they can tell us every time Brett Favre picks up a phone, let alone uses it. Heck, with enough work, we'll be able to know how many times Brett Favre takes a dump per day! This type of news is nearly as bad. If it's a slow news day? Fine. But it ISN'T. We are in the middle of the baseball season, the Olympics are approaching, the Tour de France has just begun...find something else!

Do I want the sports media to report only on game recaps and good sports news? No. Just because something bad has happened doesn't mean it should be ignored. But play equal, and be fair. Don't put in bad news only for the sake of shock and sales. Don't put in the mundane stuff that only the most diehard sports fan will read. Give us some good stuff, the type of stuff we know is out there.

Today was a rarity. But it doesn't have to be.

Comments (13)

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Agreed Lifer. There is more to athletes than who they are dating/divoricing/marrying or what they are doing illegally.

rstowe - The NMI Emperor | 07/08/08, 11:01 AM

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I couldn't agree more. This is one of the better blogs that I have read for a while. Like rstowe said, just because these people are athletes it doesn't mean we need to know this type of stuff. The media portrays stuff like A-Rod and his "affairs" or "post-marital" or whatever you want to call it more than something that actually could be considered important, such as the saving of a life by Gonzales.

0x NBA/NFL Champion | 07/08/08, 11:11 AM

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Good rant Lifer. I think you speak for a lot of us.

I was watching TV with my wife last night - Inside Edition or some other gossip show like that. Imagine my embarrassment when I had to admit to her that I knew the story about the A-Rod/Madonna crap. And most days, (like this past week) I only get news from SPORTS websites during the day. Its a shame.

Thugmeister | 07/08/08, 11:30 AM

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Great blog, LIFER. I agree with what you're saying 100%. We need less focus on the bad, and more on the good. Tony Gonzalez isn't the only one that does good deeds. Many happened to go unnoticed by the media.

On the flip side, that thing about the NFL player suffocating his son is just unbelievable. I can't even fathom why anyone would even think of doing something like that.

G.O.A.T. | 07/08/08, 11:57 AM

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RIGHT ON, LIFER!!!

Cheezhead | 07/08/08, 12:39 PM

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What GOAT said!

Cheezhead | 07/08/08, 12:39 PM

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Good blog. I had some similiar thougts on my blog. We need positive stories and positive role models for the kids. It gets harder and harder each year to find them.

drj0514 | 07/08/08, 12:40 PM

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Great job Lifer.Society is in turmoil,especially in the sporting world,where it sticks out more than anything.What's sad is that many NFL players are making others look like thugs and bad people when there are truely some great people such as Gonzalez?What are we coming to?I want to hear more of that and how Nomar saved that one guy a few years back,and how a tennis player(don't remember who) saved someone as well.It's quite embarrasing to be a fan of certain teams.To be a Bengals fan and all the crap they do after the fans have already endured 2 decades of pain and suffering from bad teams.It was embarrasing for some to be Trail Blazer fans I bet when they where called the "Jail Blazers," things are getting ridiculous,and makes me wonder why the bad stff has to be publisized more than the good things.

(Cincy) RIP Don Haskins | 07/08/08, 01:33 PM

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???The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything...Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed."

Tony said that himself.

Gu3 is The New Joe Cool | 07/08/08, 01:33 PM

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