ATTENTION FOOTBALL (BUT ANY) SPORTSCASTERS: STOP BEING BIASED AND WISHY WASHY

Okay, so I know that this article isn't going to amount to much in terms of stopping the incessant annoying ways of football sportscasters (i.e. ESPN, Jim Nantz and his crew at CBS, and don't even get me started on the Fox pre and post-game show). However, I just want to share (and rant) my frustrations and turn offs about watching football.

Now, if you are a fan of the Patriots, Cowboys, or Giants fan, you probably disagree with me on what I am about to write. I'd like to point out that you are a fan (or bandwagon fan) of the most popular teams and these sportscasters are obviously fans as well, by portraying all of these teams in nothing but good light. However, if you are a fan like me, of a team that is constantly being put down (and it can be with good reason) or tossed aside for Brady/Favre updates that are unimportant and purely fanatical, then you might agree with my frustrations.

You already know that I am a Buffalo Bills fan (and yes, I still am one even after the tragedy from last night). And if you watched last night's Monday Night Football game, you will know what I am specifically talking about. Let me first start out with the pre-game predictions and banter. Obviously it wasn't stupid to choose the Patriots as the winning team, as they did win last night. But to say that the Buffalo Bills have no shot in winning and that the only reason people are watching is to see how well Brady performs? I didn't take any broadcasting courses during my stay at either undergraduate or graduate institutions, but aren't these sportscasters supposed to be somewhat neutral? (And forget about Fox in all forms of news casting on this one, because we all know how one-sided they can be.) I know there are less Bills fans in the world but that one hurt. And I loved how well the Bill's performed until the f*ckup that occurred with McKelvin in the fourth quarter with a little over 5 minutes left. I wanted the Bills to win, not only because I am a fan, but to shut up all of the sportscasters who were drooling over Brady's return. Even Boomer on ESPN chose the Patriots, and he's from Buffalo.

And it's not even just the pre-game talk but also what has been mentioned in the media about the Bills overall. Our society is one where we take in information as heard without really even thinking twice about whether it's true or not. So when the Bills actually do get any airtime, which is seldom, most of it is negative. Everyone was negative about the firing of the offensive coach who was replaced by Van Pelt. I heard some talk about how the Cowboys won and one reason for this was because T.O. wasn't there to annoy everyone and how he will be a hindrance on the Bills. Obviously Buffalo gets no love from anyone in the media industry, even after buying into a big name player.

Okay, so moving on to the actual game last night. I didn't really have a problem with any of the announcers beforehand, but the wishy washy: "Oh we're Patriots fans... wow Buffalo is doing well? Well, we're rooting for them now and how great they are... oh the Patriots are coming back? Well we had confidence in Tom Brady all along..." it gets really old really fast. I do have to say that these announcers did a MUCH better job than Jim Nantz and Phil Sims when they announced the season opener of the Bills and Patriots back in 2006. Last night's game consisted of positive feedback for both teams, and although it was a surprise on the Bill's end, they did deserve every compliment they received. After all of the heckling about the no huddle offense and how T.O. hates it and the whole team is in shambles, blah blah blah, Buffalo performed like a real professional football team and until the forth quarter fumble, I was damn proud to be a Bills fan. Back in 2006, Nantz and Simms started out talking about how spectacular Brady was in everything he did, even though he was sacked and threw at least one interception (if you don't believe me, go back and check). When the Bills were winning that game early on, Nantz and Simms were saying how the first game of the season doesn't really count and how this is a warm up, yadda yadda: basically saying that if the Bills win it's not a real game anyway. But of course the Bills ended in their usual heartbreak fashion, though the game was not as close as last night's, and then Nance and Simms were saying how magnificent Brady was and how winning this first game was a great accomplishment because it set the tone for the rest of the year. I don't care if you used to play for the Patriots (which I just learned last night that Nantz did), that is sh*tty sportscasting. What I want from you is to tell me what is going on, even though I can figure it out myself. Don't tell me how much you want to hit the sack with Tom Brady. Don't tell me how wonderful Coach Bellichik is for knowing how to cheat well. I want to hear about the game and, sure you can go over the really good plays from both teams, or even the really crappy ones. You can go over penalties because I want to see who got clubbed in the head and who plays dirty. You can even give your predictions, but I don't want a love fest for the other team.

Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if I was a fan of an always winning team. Maybe there should be specific Bills sportscasters that actually are biased for the Bills instead of against. And until the Bills get back to the days of four consecutive Super Bowls, they will probably never get the respect of all the sportscasters. But wouldn't it be nice if they could be a little more neutral and stop sucking up to certain people.

That and I just have to mention how I LOVED that the refs called a penalty on the Patriots for infringing on "The Brady rule." Bet you didn't think that was going to happen, huh?

Jaclyn Kahn