Sports Depression

It should come as no surprise that my first dedicated blog post is about sports. Ever since my mom taught me how to read a box score in the newspaper when I was 6 years old, I have been addicted to everything and anything about sports: the statistics, the smells, the debates, the famous plays, along with all the other pointless minutiae that single-handedly provides people like Vin Scully and Dick Enberg with the most amazing jobs on earth.

As a kid, I grew up in the sports heydays of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Jerry Rice, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds (when his waist looked like my waist, not when his bicep looked like my waist), and, of course, my hometown hero, Tony Gwynn. Sports were my life. I watched them, played them, and day-dreamed about them.

Sports were THE constant. I knew when I turned on the TV, I'd see Jordan and Pippen on the Bulls battling Stockton & Malone on the Jazz. I knew Junior Seau would be lighting up both the fans and the opposing quarterback at Qualcomm Stadium. I knew it was "Primetime" any time Deion Sanders set foot on the field. And I knew that regardless of how bad the Padres were, Tony would be back the next season.

I have one simple question - what the hell happened?

Sports has become a new type of TV drama. The "industry" (and who the hell started calling sports an industry?) is consumed by arrests, public tirades, drug charges, petty name-calling, domestic abuse, and players demanding more money. Sports teams have become revolving-door carousels for all players, the media has inundated us with meaningless crap-ola that we shouldn't even CARE about (and yet we do), and worst of all...no player EVER stays on the same team. Jordan finished with the Wizards. Malone a Laker. And Seau just recently began his 476th stint with the Patriots...

To illustrate my point, take a look at the TOP 7 Headlines of the day on ESPN.com:

-Limbaugh fires back; is Faulk next in Rams bid?
-Report: Players ask Redskins to back Zorn
-Pitino: Players won't lose game time over arrest
-Pujols in no hurry to talk extension with Cards
-Cavs treating flu-ridden LeBron for H1N1 virus
-Rodgers refuses to rip Packers' porous O-line
-Jones-Drew rebukes Jags play-calling

No scores. No awards. Not even a bloody trade rumor. It's about pompous jackasses (Limbaugh), power-hungry (not to mention COMPLETELY politically-incorrect) ownership (Redskins) cheating coaches (Pitino), whiny players (Jones-Drew), and unloyal players (Pujols). And just because Lebron James is a "high-profile" athlete, we now consider it huge news that he is being treated for Swine Flu? How many people in the world are getting that treatment without a single word being said (actually, he probably gets private Swine Flu vaccinations that aren't available to the general public, but that's besides the point)?

As for Rodgers...he actually did something GOOD by not ripping how HORRENDOUS his offensive line was in their Monday night loss to Minnesota (which I can say, after having watched, the fact that Rodgers left the game on his own two feet and with all of his teeth is a physiological miracle). But what does the headline say? That he is "refusing" to rip his team? As if that's a bad thing? The media is almost encouraging that he SHOULD be ripping them a new one! Drives me bonkers.

Sports are no longer constant. They are a made-for-TV soap opera, with people who confuse their surnames for their jersey numbers (SEE: Chad Ochocinco) and people who can't decide if they should un-retire for the 9th time to play for their arch-rival (SEE: Brett Favre, Roger Clemens). This stuff makes me sick.

I still love sports. I always will. But not like the 80's and 90's...

But, hey, at least I've still got Tony.