Posts Tagged "ESPN"
A new definition of “occupational hazards…”
It’s been a few days since HWSNBN has been outed as a steroid user by Sports Illustrated and he’s recently admitted to the claim to Peter Gammons. Adding to the fact that Miguel Tejada is scheduled to plead guilty to lying to Congress today what is a baseball fan to do?
I’m glad you asked. The question now isn’t why should fans care but SHOULD fans care. And the simple answer is: no.
We shouldn’t care that professional athletes cheated the system to find some kind of edge, whether performance enhancers actually do help you focus on hitting a baseball. Why shouldn’t we care? Simply put: it technically wasn’t illegal as according to the rules at the time. And we all know how annoying “technicalities” can be.
Obviously MLB didn’t care that its employees were cheating. Many knew, the Union HAD to have known since they fiercely opposed mandatory drug testing for years and what are unions for? To protect the interests of its members. And in the interests of its members, drug testing had to go lest their secret come out.
So if the heads of the company didn’t care, why should we?
Oh, you say the integrity of the sport is at risk? Since when? Since now? So it wasn’t at risk after the 1919 Black Sox scandal? Or the Pete Rose betting debacle? Or the blatant racism? Or the cocaine mess in the ‘80s? Or either of the two player strikes [1981 and 1994]? Or how about the cold shoulder Curt Flood received when challenging the reserve clause? Or what about the prolific reputations of certain drunkards, abusers, philanders, racists and so forth? They didn’t tarnish baseball’s integrity?
The truth is baseball’s integrity has been tarnished for many years already. The problem surrounding most of the disclosure is people’s unrealistic and misguided belief that baseball is pure. Nothing that is a business is pure and MLB is two things: 1] a business and 2] a game, but mainly a business. I will admit that had these allegations been revealed back before I started college, I would have been DEVASTED just like all the other fans. But now that I’ve studied the field and have worked in it, I see it for what it actually is, not the dream people are trying to sell and I am thankful for my insider’s knowledge. It’s way past time to peer behind the curtains folks.
As a fan it’s hard not to become personally and emotionally tied to your favorite team, the company banks on that because that’s how everyone in the business pays the bills. But that blind devotion always fails and then you’re stuck facing the reality of the situation and it’s never pretty. This is why people are upset and disappointed but they shouldn’t be [that includes you, Mr. President]. This is what happens when we place our full trust and hope on these men and make them to be demi-gods; nothing good ever comes from the realization that they’re but mere mortals like ourselves. Everything that is done in the dark eventually surfaces to the light.
Read More“No, you’re not supposed to hate him…”
I know I said that I would never talk about him ever again…I lied. I came across this article and I had to read it…to know why I “supposedly” hated he who shall not be named [HWSNBN]. Though I was pleasantly surprised to find such an even-keeled and overall positive article. It gave the “shame on you” finger to the fans.
HWSNBN’s performance, especially this season, has had an amazingly polarizing effect…not only between Yankees fans and the rest of the nation [because polls have shown that the rest of the world believe Yankees fans have been egregiously hard on the man] but also between Yankees fans themselves…the ones who love him and the ones who hate him.
I, myself, have divorced myself from the situation simply because I always get slammed by both sides when I’m happily in the middle, which so is not cool with me.
Anywho, Eric Neel, a SoCal resident [if I remember correctly] brought an interesting and qualitative perception to the fray. Don’t be mislead by the title; he’s not listing reasons to hate him, but listing the stupid reasons why people do hate him and highlighting the unfair treatment he’s been subjected to. He points out that it’s ridiculous that a player of HWSNBN’s calibur is constantly booed and heckled in his own ballpark. Think about it: on one hand you have a player who goes out and works hard and is an incredible player and he gets booed, where across the country you have a suspected and vilified steroids abuser getting cheered in his home ballpark. What’s wrong here? He can’t win in this game. No one will let him. The fans will push back harder with every step he takes. The New York media will push back with the fans. People on both sides will scream bloody murder and conspiracy no matter what happens. He will continue to try his best to make people like him and see that he’s not an evil little troll. He will go out and play the best ball he can. He will go out and try his best not to mess up [though his constant over-thinking is leading to some of his performance problems. If you watch closely, you can tell when he’s rushing a throw to first] but he’s doing so in response to the crazy, crazy fans. All of them. Including the ones who want him to succeed.
“As his troubles at the plate and in the field have mounted this summer, it has become codified, definitive, a constitutional quality at the root of his failings. He feels too much. He cares too much. He strikes out four times in a game — the pressure is getting to him. He throws another groundball away — he’s deep in his head.”
It’s been well noted that HWSNBN is a pleaser. He wants to do well. He needs people to like him. He takes the insults and the boos and the criticism to heart as much as he takes the praise and worship. But this is sports. This is baseball: you’re not supposed to have feelings. But he does. He cares. And that’s a big enough weakness to cripple anyone.
But the onus is ultimately on the fans and the media. The media, because they have nothing else on their hands, are ravenous and much bitchier than most Hollywood gossip columnist [have you noticed?]. Who cares what a man does on his free time outside the park? I don’t. People in New York live in this ridiculous bubble [and they make fun of us Californians. Puh-lease]. Since when did off-field behavior [especially positive ones like hanging out with his family] automatically becomes reason enough to hamper his on-field performance. I remember how everyone stuck up for Derek when his partying [which can effect your game] came under fire by Steinbrenner. Selective memory indeed.
But in a time when New York fans and media have routinely dissed San Francisco fans for supporting Bonds for all his crap, they sure have turned a blind eye to their own behaviors. Interesting, isn’t?
Though I have found that it’s hard to discuss this issue with people on both sides of the line. Its amazing how personal people have taken the whole “boo HWSNBN” thing. You say one thing and they’re up your ass, whether you agree with them or not. No one takes the time to actually listen to what the other person is saying. There are keywords in this debate that will turn the fan against you in a second regardless how impressive or interesting your argument actually is. Sometimes it makes me wonder if people are actually reading what is being said or just the title.
So read this: it’s only a game. Calm your asses down. Everyone needs to jump off his back. Columnists need to relax. Fans [both for and against] need to relax. And HWSNBN needs to relax. But it’s hard for diehard fans to not take things personally. That is the endearing, yet exhausting, quality of such people. They are what make sports so interesting. But they can be just as bullheaded as any person espousing their hard-held political beliefs.
And Eric Neel is a genius. I wish I wrote the article.
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