shelby
09-16-2009, 01:50 PM
An original by Lawesome in response to the McKelvin incident. Enjoy!
Let's be clear, the person or persons responsible for defacing Leodis McKelvin's lawn are sick, sad, and disgusting people. Obviously, they have lost all perspective on the relative place of pro sports in the world. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, this has been a hallmark of Buffalo for 50 years, and it speaks to a much larger issue.
Buffalonians, myself very much included, hold an unusually special place for the Bills and Sabres in our hearts. We have been at the heart of some of the most tremendous moments in both of these sports, such as wide right, the comeback game, and no goal, but we keep plugging away, and we come back for more. We hunger for these teams and, let us be very honest, they are a key portion of the city, and in many cases, our own personal identity.
Unfortunately, this hunger makes us prime targets for the sports talk and sports media markets. Sports talk and its off-shoot, the message board environment, have certainly held a great place in the growth of professional sports. The ability to talk and discuss our teams, and the ability to reach not only nationwide, but worldwide, to fans, has transformed the NFL and all pro sports into international phenomena.
With this growth has come the influence of profit, and along with that, a competition to gain market share. This cut-throat aspect, especially in the world of talk radio, has spawned an ever-growing aspect of one-upsmanship that has destroyed all semblance of credibility of the journalistic aspect of sports talk. Instead of true discussion, it is so much a professional wrestling match with the discussion guided a certain way as a means to an end.
A prime example of this pro wrestling mentality is the WGR afternoon show, and the despicable whiner line. The station obviously has a vested interest in being as critical of the Bills and the organization at every turn. Schoop and the Bulldog spare no effort in deriding the Bills' every move, to the point of ignoring any possible alternative opinion or perspective. The Howard Simon morning show is marginally better. What takes it over the top is "whiner line." This segment is not about opinion, it is about who can say the most originally outrageous and ill thought out statement about the ineptness of whatever sports team is playing that day. It is a cruel, foolish exposition of fringe personalities shouting at the world.
more.... (http://www.billszone.com/mtlog/archives/2009/09/16/sport_talk_mentality_stealing_buffalos_sports_soul.php)
Let's be clear, the person or persons responsible for defacing Leodis McKelvin's lawn are sick, sad, and disgusting people. Obviously, they have lost all perspective on the relative place of pro sports in the world. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, this has been a hallmark of Buffalo for 50 years, and it speaks to a much larger issue.
Buffalonians, myself very much included, hold an unusually special place for the Bills and Sabres in our hearts. We have been at the heart of some of the most tremendous moments in both of these sports, such as wide right, the comeback game, and no goal, but we keep plugging away, and we come back for more. We hunger for these teams and, let us be very honest, they are a key portion of the city, and in many cases, our own personal identity.
Unfortunately, this hunger makes us prime targets for the sports talk and sports media markets. Sports talk and its off-shoot, the message board environment, have certainly held a great place in the growth of professional sports. The ability to talk and discuss our teams, and the ability to reach not only nationwide, but worldwide, to fans, has transformed the NFL and all pro sports into international phenomena.
With this growth has come the influence of profit, and along with that, a competition to gain market share. This cut-throat aspect, especially in the world of talk radio, has spawned an ever-growing aspect of one-upsmanship that has destroyed all semblance of credibility of the journalistic aspect of sports talk. Instead of true discussion, it is so much a professional wrestling match with the discussion guided a certain way as a means to an end.
A prime example of this pro wrestling mentality is the WGR afternoon show, and the despicable whiner line. The station obviously has a vested interest in being as critical of the Bills and the organization at every turn. Schoop and the Bulldog spare no effort in deriding the Bills' every move, to the point of ignoring any possible alternative opinion or perspective. The Howard Simon morning show is marginally better. What takes it over the top is "whiner line." This segment is not about opinion, it is about who can say the most originally outrageous and ill thought out statement about the ineptness of whatever sports team is playing that day. It is a cruel, foolish exposition of fringe personalities shouting at the world.
more.... (http://www.billszone.com/mtlog/archives/2009/09/16/sport_talk_mentality_stealing_buffalos_sports_soul.php)