Why can't it just be sports?

As I was watching the movie in class today regarding sports and politics, I was thinking about another aspect that affects every sport in our culture today... MEDIA.  When I want to check in on sports today, I do not go to ESPN or CBS Sports, I check Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for updates. With everything at our fingertips, moments get lost easily. In this blog, I am going to look at some of the ways media has changed sports, not for good!

The first impact I am going to look at would be the impact the media has on the NFL draft. Before social media and the instant information that we have become accustom to, the NFL draft was purely off of skill and what needs to team had. In today’s society, you have a media frenzy looking at every aspect of the players going in to the draft. Take Johnny Manziel for example; since the day he announced that he was entering the draft, the media has had a constant coverage on the player. This player has not won a national championship, or even set foot on a professional stage yet, but Nike is giving him contracts measuring to Payton Manning money. WHY? Because we as consumers are eating up everything that the media is covering about Johnny Manziel. It is to the point where half of the coverage is not even about football, whether it is reports he got kicked out of a college frat party or him sitting courtside at NBA games, to his pro day (finally actual football), you cannot go a day on Twitter or ESPN without hearing Johnny Manziel’s name. But what is the point? Over the past few years, the media has hyped up “big time” stars going into the NFL draft and they have all turned to flops. I think we should let the players’ performances speak for themselves and choose off of talent, not who has the most followers.

The next area I am going to look at is the harsh critics in media. Let’s look at the New York media circuit. Opening day 2014, Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy chose to miss opening day to be by his wife’s side while she was in labor with their newborn baby. Once this hit the New York media, it was a frenzy. New York sports talk radio host Mike Francesa calls Murphy’s paternity leave a “scam” and “gimmick”. He stated “One day I understand. And in the old days they didn’t do that. But one day, go see the baby born and come back. You’re a Major League Baseball player. You can hire a nurse to take care of the baby if your wife needs help.” To me this is SO wrong on many different levels. First, just because you have the resources to get a nurse, that doesn’t mean you should ignore your family. And who is this guy to criticize a professional baseball player for wanting to spend time with his new family. If this were before social media, we would not have heard this.

My point is, whether it is politics in sports or media ruining what is good about them, just let the professionals play and let the fans enjoy the game. Shut up and JUST LET THEM PLAY!