Media- The X Factor

Does the media have any influence in the outcome of games?  If your answer is no...I needed to stop myself from reaching through the computer screen and slapping you.  The answer, of course, is yes.  The media makes very little money by covering the game.  They want to know everything else, and it's the teams who know how to handle the media who do the best. 

Take the NFL playoffs for example.  Now keep in mind you can use what the media is saying and pump yourself up or allow it to consume you.  Two examples of this: 1)  The Cowboys- before the game against the Giants all you heard about was the  "CABO TRIP".   Who knows how many times the players (not just Romo) had to answer the same questions.  So instead of being able to focus on the opposing team, they had Double D's and Mexico on their minds.  2) The Patriots- A few days before the game against the chargers they got bombarded with questions about Moss.  Moss did what anyone in the cowboys should have done, addressed the situation and said to talk to him later.  Now these are two very recent examples, but you always hear about the things players and coaches do outside the field. 

What happens when the media can't find anything the players are doing wrong?  Then they start going after the weaknesses of the players.  Do you like people telling you your too skinny, fat, tall, short, old, young  ect.?  No, right?  But this is exactly what the media does.  If a player is injured or questionable, the media scrutinizes every aspect of said injury and how it will affect their play.  Yes these athletes are professionals, but they are also human.  If they hear something enough times they begin to believe it themselves and it affects their game play, for better or worse.

Humberto

Comments

[miza]

most of the media are bunch of parasites. they almost ruin the games for me. i am barely recovering from the lakers breaking up a few years ago, and i blame the media for that.

[me]

I know, I've had this discussion with rigo before. On if the Lakers made the right decision on staying with Kobe, rigo made the comment that they didn't have to make that decision. It was simply comments made by both parties and then the media took over, blew it up and forced the decision to be made.

[me]

When the patriots beat the chargers the first thing out of Rodney Harrisons' mouth was "not bad for a bunch of old guys". The whole week, before the moss incident that's all you were hearing. How the chargers had a legitimate shot against the patriots because they were to old. This time around you aren't hearing that although the argument could easily be made. This time all we're hearing about is the boot on brady's foot. This is so stupid, it's freaking tom brady, say what you want bout the guy but he's nails.

[soulman]

Right now, the Lakers should be on their way to their 6th straight title with Shaq and Kobe. Right now we would all be praising Kobe, everyone in the media and public for stepping up as Shaq's age catches up with his ability. We would also be praising Shaq for his efforts to tutor future Laker star and heir to the Laker big man throne Andrew Bynum. I blame Kobe, Jerry Buss and Jim Gray, he's Kobe's Ahmad Rashad.

[Rodrigo]

And it looks like the media is about to destroy the Lakers again. Me and the Soulman were talking about this just a few hours ago at the gym. It makes me crazy that the Lakers were being lauded for what journalists like Mark Stein of espn.com called "the Lakers' enviable depth", but as soon as Bynum got hurt everyone said they were in huge trouble. That's all you hear now. The result? Kobe is taking too many shots in order to prove he is LA's Top Dog, and ignoring the excellent team play that got the Lake Show off to such a good start. Thanks again, Media, you jerk.

[JBrad]

Yeah, it's the media's fault. Yawn...

[me]

Something just hit me, am I now considered part of the media? Or do we have to wait until you give us those press passes?

[Rodrigo]

I know intimate details of Bill Clinton's genitals. So yeah, I think the media loses focus every now and then.

[JBrad]

As a card carrying member of the "media" (actually I am a journalist), I say you are only affected by the media if you let yourself be. My advice: Ignore the talking heads and you will be fine. And yes, you are a member of the "new media." Welcome to the dark side!

[Mario Renteria, Sports Editor]

This subject is really starting to become lame. Every year I run into somebody saying the same thing ... the media this, the media that. It really is lame. First off, the Shaq-Kobe incident, was their own doing. Shaq would have left on his own, wether media made a big deal about it or not. Kobe was the one that wanted to prove to everyone that he could play without Shaq and still win championships. It was Kobe's ego that ruined that potential dynasty. In fact, they used the media to air their dirty laundry, further damaging their relationship. Wasn't it Phil Jackson that wrote in a book "Kobe is uncoachable?" It sure was, NOT the media. You think media "takes over and blows things up," then maybe athletes should keep their mouths shut. Wasn't it Kobe who went on a radio show before the season and said he wanted to be traded? It sure was. Was media suppose to ignore a super-star athlete asking to be traded? I don't think so. As far as the media losing focus now and then, yes sometimes they do. But you also have to ask yourself, what are you reading, listening too or watching? There are plenty of media sources out there that stick to facts, and there's plenty that stick to gossip. Now, let me ask you this, would you prefer today's media that digs for information, wether it be helpful to us or not, or a media that doesn't dig at all? Frankly, I prefer a media that keeps digging. The media's purspose is to be a watchdog. They will tell you about politicans, celebrities and professional athletes that are doing illegal things, giving you vital information about their character and actions. Do you want someone idolizing someone like Kobe Bryant? If you want your kid to be egotistical, greedy, adulterer, then go for it. Or how about a steroid-using liar like Barry Bonds? You know where you got that information, from the media. Media does a lot more good than bad, you just have to take both as they come.

[me]

If I had a son I would've loved for him to grow up to be like Kobe or Bonds, but because I have a daughter the best I can hope for is Marion Jones.

[Rodrigo]

Those are good points, Renteria. I agree that the media should be a watchdog, but for well over a hundred years (dating back to yellow journalism) the media has too often focused on unimportant-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things- sensatiionalism. I'm frutrated by the lack of valid fact finding. For the record, I like the job the IV Press does.

[me]

For the record, I like the job some of the journalist do at the I.V. Press.

[JBrad]

Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail, but we do try. Journalists do have an important job, but it's not with sports (and I am a former sports writer at two newspapers). We are watchdogs, and I fear for the day when newspapers go away. If you think there is corruption now, just wait.

[me]

I guess my beef is more with the gossip writers then with real journalists. But this is a sports blog, so the media I'm talking about is pertaining to the sports world.

[JBrad]

In general, I agree that there is too much opinion tossed casualy about, and sportscasters insert way too much of their own personalities into their jobs. I blame SportsCenter.

[me]

I don't blame sportscenter per say. There are plenty of other programs on ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN "El OCHO" (doesn't exist but watch dodgeball, it's hilarious) that don't do anything else but tell you about the other things players and coaches are doing or saying. There are side stories that are very intersting, for instance this steriods issue that I believe the public should know about. There is one program in particular on ESPN that I do think is fascinating, E:60, they go deeper into sports and show you different things about players lives, things they had to do, problems they've had, told by the players themselves. All this extra stuff I think only benefits the fantasy sports people, maybe that's why they do it. Who knows.

[me]

By the way, I think Chris Berman is the stupidest sports analyst (if you can call him that) of all time.

[Rodrigo]

ESPN -- including its flagship program Sportscenter -- have been the like poison to good sports journalism. Thanks to ESPN, guys like me don't think soccer, or any sport outside "the big three", is a real sport.

E:60 is ESPN's attempt to be what Sports Illustrated used to be: excellent, broad, thoughtful (and thereby entertaining) sports journalism. (The format on that show is lame though. I think they need to rethink that.)

[soulman]

I don't hate many people. I think Hate is a strong word. But I hate Chris Berman. His schtick is so tired and stupid.
I personally like to watch FSNPTWHD or whatever it's called for SoCal sports news.

[soulman]

I get all my info from TMZ.com and the National Enquirer.

[me]

Solid sources

[Mario Renteria, Sports Editor]

ESPN has some great programing and some crapy ones too, like Rome is Burning ... he's just a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid man. And actually, it's "The Ocho" and it has great programing too. The squirrel water-ski championships and the men-lynch-their-bellies-with-sticks championships were great to watch.

[soulman]

As a former "Clone" I take offense to the Jim Rome comments. Granted i've been "clean" for the past 5 years but only because I can't get a radio signal in my office. I love Jim Rome, like he say's his show is an acquired taste.

[me]

Where's Eric?