I Think You're Wrong...

...Random sports media guy.

The following statement, from Andy Benoit over at CBS Sports, regarding Brett Favre coverage shows just how much disconnect there is between the sports media and fans:

a.) You like it. Even if you’re part of the vocal majority that loves to groan about how much you don’t like it, deep down you really do like it. Or, in the very least, you like that you don’t like it. You like that you can pretend to be above it all. But you’re not. None of us are. That’s why we all watched with keen interest Sunday night.

I'd say that what these clowns fail to realize is that sports fans want to read about sports, and if that's all there is to read about, that's what we'll read. It doesn't mean we like it, or more importantly, that we lie about disliking it, which is what Benoit is suggesting. It's that there is no other choice. Sports media covers it because it's easy to cover and they enjoy that ease in their jobs because the other option hurts their fragile brains. There's a bounty of "information" and even more of a bounty of opinion. The pundits can all play off of each other and stir up fake controversy and whatnot. The same bullshit that applies to Favre applies to other media favorites like the Yankees, the Lakers, Lebron, etc... It's the same reason the media pines for football dynasties and claim everyone else does too. Too hard to cover football when it's hard to tell who's the best. Ultimately, it's like politics, religion or anything else where the media tries to tell people what they should think. They say to themselves, "If everybody in the room with me agrees, then everybody in the country must feel the same way, or there is something wrong with them." After all, look how smart we all are. Well, fuck your fucking Brett Favre stories. I really don't give a shit. Swear to God. I guess that makes me weird.

And as for why we all watched Sunday night? Maybe it was because it was the only game on. And maybe we like watching a big division rivalry. Sure it has a little bit to do with the whole Favre returning to Green Bay angle, but how much story is that at this point? It's the third or fourth time it's happened fo far. So what's the story? What's worth all the coverage and what does Benoit think compelled us to watch if not the fact that it's football and we all love it? It's probably not because we thought Favre might pull his dick out and show it to Aaron Rodgers. Probably. It's football. We're going to take what we can get. And that is, unfortunately, whatever the league and the writers will give us. Thank God for blogs. But not this one, because I just covered the media's coverage of Brett Favre, which is gay. Or is it meta? What the fuck is meta anyway?

And check out this gem, from later in Benoit's column:

8. Kudos to FOX studio analystsNormally I wouldn’t do this, but the FOX studio analysts deserve acknowledgement for their late shift Sunday. They didn’t have to stay any later than usual, but they did have to stick around and do a halftime show for the Cardinals-Seahawks game, even though that was the lone late window contest on FOX. That must have been rough. Think about it: only the states of Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and parts of Montana, Kansas, and tiny parts of Florida and Ohio, got that game. This means FOX’s big dogs spent an entire afternoon at work just so they could talk for two or three minutes about what amounted to a locally televised contest. How tempting must it have been for Curt, Terry, Howie, Michael and Jimmy to simply record a generic halftime report at the end of the early window games so that they could just head out and enjoy the rest of the NFL action from the comfort of their living or hotel room?

Oh, those poor bastards at Fox had to stick around for a bunch of worthless yocals and pretend to care about a game that didn't even feature Brett Favre? The horror! I hope Fox throws them and extra couple hundred grand for the hardship. Nobody cares about the Cardinals and the Seahawks. Not even their fans, who certainly care more about Brett Favre, the Cowboys or the Post Katrina Saints. Hopefully, they spent those few terrible moments talking about Kurt Warner on Dancing with the Stars. You know, something the whole nation can relate to.