The Media in Sports

One thing that has been getting out of control is the media in sports today. It amazes me when I see a radio station or TV station take something an athlete says, twist it around, and make it their own quote or story. This seems to happen quite often and personally, it’s getting ridiculous. Now since I’m from Pittsburgh, I am going to use another Pittsburgh example to try and get my point across. A few years ago a scrub safety named Anthony Smith for the Steelers was being interviewed in the locker room the week the Steelers played the Patriots and was quoted saying he "Guarantees we will beat the Patriots." Whoa, did he really just say that? Well, not exactly. Here is a quote of what he really said, "We're going to win," Smith said. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win. As long as we come out and do what we got to do. Both sides of the ball are rolling, and if our special teams come through for us, we've got a good chance to win."

Now look at that statement. Yes he does say the words guarantee, but did anyone else read the sentences after? "As long as we come out and do what we got to go." To me, I do not think this is a big deal. He didn’t directly guarantee anything, but since the Patriots were undefeated so far that year, it was headline news. Every station blew it way out of proportion. As a result, Tom Brady got mad and on the first play of the game, he challenged Smith and beat him with a long bomb for a touchdown. It was pretty intense at the time and everyone in Pittsburgh was calling for his head.

Either way, I’m over that, what the point I’m trying to make is that the media plays a huge role in sports and a part of that roll is being taken too far. When Tiger Woods was in the news for his scandal all you saw on every channel was Tiger. When Lindsey Vonn was injured before the Olympics everyone was freaking out about it. That’s all you saw or heard or read was about Lindsey. Yes she is a great athlete, and somehow after a horrible accident (That was my view of her injury because of the media), she comes out and wins a few medals, including a gold! All you heard about was Lindsey during and for a while after they were over. The media chooses to show us these things. Fewer coverage of womens sports, but when Lindsey comes, she gets attention for a few weeks, then shes gone, everyone has forgotten when she is now. Is that fair? You tell me.

Call me crazy, but I refuse to watch Sports Center now especially with the Big Ben and Santonio Holmes cases going on. I can’t even bare to watch it because I’m sick of hearing about it. There is an increasing role in the social media today. If you aren’t careful, you will get in trouble for your Twitter or Facebook. If I were a pro athlete, i'd stay away from the media as much as I could, it’s not safe anymore.

Here’s a few links I read to get the idea: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3142456

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Role-of-Media-in-Sport&id=1012018