It's occurring to me lately that sports is becoming much more about opinion than it is about reality. Sports radio and the internet fill the day with "banter" and "analysis" that's basically just noise. Opinions are taking over the sports world as we seem to put more emphasis on what people THINK will happen in a certain game than we put on the actual coverage of what ACTUALLY HAPPENS. What's worse, nobody seems to have an original thought anymore. You can go through an entire day of ESPN radio, Around the Horn, PTI and SportsCenter and hear the exact same three or four opinions over and over again. You'd think that with all of this time and all of these different perspectives from all over the country, we'd have an equally diverse array of opinions.... but we don't. It's been my goal on Overtime Live and in this blog (my main two outlets of "opinion" versus "news" in the KAKE stratosphere) to bring you a unique perspective. I try to bring you my own thoughts on things instead of just echoing what everyone else is saying. If what I think happens to be similar to what everyone else is saying, I'm not going to take the opposite side "just because".... but I will make every attempt to frame my perspective in an original way and I'll always give credence to how the other side views things.
Now, all of that being said, what do all of you think about this constant din of opinion in sports? Is it fun? Is it annoying? Should we all just shut up and tell you the score? Or should we all just keep yelling at each other until something intelligent comes out?
Hit me with your comments... in the meantime, here are some more of my OPINIONS!!!!!
Kelvin Sampson has to go... not because he's a horrible person or because everyone else says he should... or even because what he did was that bad (phone calls... please... FAR from the worst thing that happens in college hoops recruiting... read "Sole Influence" by Dan Wetzel and Don Yaeger for all the dirty details). Sampson has to go because the NCAA has set a standard for itself and that standard says, "when we tell you NOT to do something and you do it, you're in deep trouble." Nothing rubs The Association the wrong way more than directly disobeying a warning. When they put you on probation, it means the exact same thing that probation means in real life: you screwed up, don't do it again or you're gonna be in real trouble. People can speculate about Sampson's motivations while making and overseeing those phone calls (this is what's mainly led to the demonization of Kelvin Sampson in the national media for the past week... this idea that, "he just didn't care... what a jerk!!!!"). I personally think Sampson probably thought he could get away with it by having an assistant fall on the sword as so many head coaches do. But he disobeyed a direct order from the NCAA and the University that hired him by violating the terms of his probation, and that can't fly. Those of you who have read this blog before know I'm pretty cynical when it comes to the NCAA. It's big business... they know it, the coaches know it, the athletes know it and WE all know it. But if the NCAA wants to maintain even the slightest ILLUSION that they care about teaching the youth of America about right and wrong through intercollegiate athletics (as they so frequently claim to do) then they MUST come down on Sampson HARD. IU has to fire him, the NCAA has to ban him from coaching for two seasons and he should have MASSIVE recruiting restrictions imposed upon him when/if he returns.
I'm as impressed with the performance of Matt Braeuer as I've ever been with any athlete I've ever watched for one simple reason: he has EVERYTHING to lose. I know MB has been medically cleared and he's taking all the precautions he should, but we're talking about concussions here.... concussions are tricky business and playing any contact sport with a documented history of post-concussion syndrome is risky. Braeuer is essentially playing every game knowing that he could suffer one awkward landing and the lights could go out The fact that Matt can look at Muhammad Ali and then spend over a month educating himself on the dangers of multiple concussions and STILL go out there and play as hard as he is for a team that's going nowhere is truly amazing. He's not only playing, he's playing with Allen Iverson-type abandon. Braeuer is throwing himself into bigger players, drawing contact, trying to create 3-point plays in the lane, diving after loose balls... it's unreal. Braeuer is going to make a hell of a coach some day. The character that he's displaying is nothing short of heroic (heroic in the sports sense, that is).
I don't know how many of you follow the NBA, but I love it. I'm a Suns fan from my days living in Arizona and I loved the Shaq trade. They needed to get rid of Shawn Marion because he didn't want to be there anymore and in exchange they get cap space if Shaq leaves this off-season and they get a chance to compete in the West. They have options: the Suns can try Shaq out in their run 'n gun system and hope if works... if it doesn't, they can adjust and tweak to Shaq's strengths and see if that works... OR if Shaq is hurt and can't play they junk the whole idea and try to win with what they've got (which is still an awful lot). I like that trade a lot more than I like the Mavs picking up Jason Kidd. Dallas was playing well with Devin Harris and he's going to be a great point guard for many years. Now, Dallas had better hope that Kidd works out leading this team or they're in deep trouble because he's their only option now. However things shake down, I plan on being highly entertained by the NBA's stretch-run and the playoffs.
bpa
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