Billy Bullocks
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more stuff I put together at work today out of boredom..
After years of being off everyone’s radar, Dallas is back in prime time, hated by all but the faithful. But isn’t this what we signed up for when we brought in TO? The most loathed franchise in the NFL, the most disliked player, it’s a match made in heaven. This is the guy that everyone would love to have you believe ruined two separate franchises. Nevermind a flurry of injuries, piss-poor cap management, and bizarre coaching decisions of course. They really want us to believe that this guy is so malignant, he would need less than 2 preseason games to ruin a team on the cusp of something special. After barraging us with TO all the time since the injury he suffered during the Eagles run to the Super Bowl two seasons ago, speculating on his return, and then praising him for coming back so quickly to play, and play well, in the Super Bowl, ESPN has done a complete 180. The same player who was so tough, who fought back against improbable odds is now supposed to be faking a hamstring injury? What’s worse, they expect us to buy this.
A few days ago the ESPN afternoon marathon of programming, usually a repetition of the same topics presented in a different format every 30 minutes, seemed concentrate solely on TO. Let us remember that there has been absolutely no mention of Steve Smith, you know, the Carolina Panthers’ WR, who is considered by many as the best in the game, and his absence from practice. Besides mentioning how many practices TO has missed, I was still waiting to hear if anybody had anything factual to report on the matter. After all, with this much time and energy dedicated to a topic that in all honesty is a non issue, is it not enough that as fans, as paying customers of many of these “news” providers, we demand a bit of professionalism. If I wanted speculation about TO I would call Miss Cleo. But I guess those are the repercussions of a society that seems to appreciate infotainment over actual facts.
Speculation seems to lead to Blogging. Now I am aware that you can call what I am writing here a Blog, but let us remember, I am not a journalist. I do not have a reputation to uphold. People do not rely on me to provide information to them, to have some sort of inside scoop. It is surprising how many writers just seem to throw a load of crap against a wall and hope some of it will eventually stick. How many times can you be wrong and then defend yourself with the old “well I was just speculating” angle? What’s worse, speculation is starting to become accepted as fact. One blogger takes the “scoop” from another as evidence and corroboration of the non sense they are posting. ESPN, which is supposed to be the industry standard has been guilty of this. I guess they aren’t lying when they say things are rumored, but shouldn’t there at least be some responisibilty, some basic fact checking?
After years of being off everyone’s radar, Dallas is back in prime time, hated by all but the faithful. But isn’t this what we signed up for when we brought in TO? The most loathed franchise in the NFL, the most disliked player, it’s a match made in heaven. This is the guy that everyone would love to have you believe ruined two separate franchises. Nevermind a flurry of injuries, piss-poor cap management, and bizarre coaching decisions of course. They really want us to believe that this guy is so malignant, he would need less than 2 preseason games to ruin a team on the cusp of something special. After barraging us with TO all the time since the injury he suffered during the Eagles run to the Super Bowl two seasons ago, speculating on his return, and then praising him for coming back so quickly to play, and play well, in the Super Bowl, ESPN has done a complete 180. The same player who was so tough, who fought back against improbable odds is now supposed to be faking a hamstring injury? What’s worse, they expect us to buy this.
A few days ago the ESPN afternoon marathon of programming, usually a repetition of the same topics presented in a different format every 30 minutes, seemed concentrate solely on TO. Let us remember that there has been absolutely no mention of Steve Smith, you know, the Carolina Panthers’ WR, who is considered by many as the best in the game, and his absence from practice. Besides mentioning how many practices TO has missed, I was still waiting to hear if anybody had anything factual to report on the matter. After all, with this much time and energy dedicated to a topic that in all honesty is a non issue, is it not enough that as fans, as paying customers of many of these “news” providers, we demand a bit of professionalism. If I wanted speculation about TO I would call Miss Cleo. But I guess those are the repercussions of a society that seems to appreciate infotainment over actual facts.
Speculation seems to lead to Blogging. Now I am aware that you can call what I am writing here a Blog, but let us remember, I am not a journalist. I do not have a reputation to uphold. People do not rely on me to provide information to them, to have some sort of inside scoop. It is surprising how many writers just seem to throw a load of crap against a wall and hope some of it will eventually stick. How many times can you be wrong and then defend yourself with the old “well I was just speculating” angle? What’s worse, speculation is starting to become accepted as fact. One blogger takes the “scoop” from another as evidence and corroboration of the non sense they are posting. ESPN, which is supposed to be the industry standard has been guilty of this. I guess they aren’t lying when they say things are rumored, but shouldn’t there at least be some responisibilty, some basic fact checking?