As a member of society who has lost
significant interest in sports recently, I decided to start my day by picking
up the remote and hitting the on button. I chose to give ESPN another chance,
but was soon to be strongly disappointed. My goal was to be engaged by
highlights from the sports I used to love, but instead was presented with
analysts and reporters who could only talk about one thing: LeBron James.
I have
no qualms about King James being the top story today or any other day until he
makes his decision on which team will be paying for his services. However, to
have the majority of your program be fully dedicated to this is unbearable.
Some people, believe it or not, actually don’t particularly like basketball and
prefer to watch other sports. Baseball is in full swing as we enter the final
few months. Division races are heating up and ESPN is doing everything they can
to make sure we know about James and his pending decision. However, if you’ve
sat down and watched ESPN the last couple of days, you really haven’t learned
much of anything. Most of it is pure speculation and the so-called “experts”
basically give you a number of theories about what could happen or might be
happening behind closed doors regarding James and teams who may be interested.
If you
have been an avid ESPN viewer, you realize that this is an ongoing pattern.
There have been many examples of how television’s “Sports Leader” has latched
on to a specific topic or story and refused to let go for a lengthy period of
time. One that comes to mind is one that hopefully never comes up again. ESPN
was in love with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow as soon as he entered the
National Football League. Things only got worse when the New York Jets acquired
the great college quarterback. Let me repeat that. Great COLLEGE quarterback! We all know that his skills will never equal
success in the NFL, yet he was one of the top stories almost every day. During
his short tenure with the Jets, he was the most celebrated backup quarterback
in history. As a Jets fan, I usually like media coverage regarding my team.
However, this was difficult to take. I think I speak for anyone who feels the
same when I say that you can thank ESPN for several months of Tebow Mania.
As for
ESPN’s current obsession, part of me looks forward to the day that James is not
the top story. However, I know that something else will take over the sports
world and the highlights I want to see on “SportsCenter” will be far and few
between. I am not sure if my love for
sports will be there like in years past, but at one time, they were a very important
part of my life. As for ESPN, I will probably have to rely on other media
outlets to help me regain my former passion.
Shawn Marosek
