My Fond Sports Memories and a Bullshit Sports Media

For as long I can remember I have been passionate about sports. From the first time my father signed me up for pee-wee soccer I had a competitive drive for winning and annihilating the competition. Even though I had to be the worst soccer player to ever breath is beside the point, I learned a great deal about teamwork. From there I played pee-wee basketball, baseball, and football eventually developing into a pretty decent athlete. Track and Field was my first love in High School, specializing in the long jump where I was one of the best long jumpers in the city. Now that Thursday afternoon track meets are a distant 14 year memory, I still have a love for sports that is only surpassed by my love for my mother, hip hop, and loose women.

Now, I play basketball on a regular basis, even practicing new moves as if I am preparing to try out for a team or something. It's pretty sad shit now that I think about it. From reading the sports section of the paper, watching Sportscenter religiously and browsing sports sites online I have become well versed in most sports. Hell, I can even have a halfway decent conversation about Hockey. But something has become apparent to me over the past 10 years; our sports media is incompetent and racist. Let me explain:

Full Disclosure: I am a Lakers Fan. First we have Kobe Bryant. The sports media has been on a two year campaign to drag this guy’s name through the mud. People say, "But he deserves it, he was accused of rape and he broke up the Lakers." I respect that, but lets break it down. Michael Jordan was not only a cheater, he was hit with palimony suits, and his gambling addiction probably had his father killed (my theory). Still, Michael is beloved. If your problem with Kobe is his legal problems, then I quickly point you to Ray Lewis who was accused of killing two guys. Still, Lewis is one of the NFL's poster-boys. If your problem with Kobe is that he is a "jerk", then I bring up an incident where Michael Jordan viciously beat up John Paxson during one of their practices. I seriously believe, in my heart of hearts, that Kobe is villanized simply because he had sex with a white woman. Right or wrong, I think that if Kobe's accuser was black he wouldn't be under the same scrutiny. It's 2005 but there are still many people who don't like to see a black man with a white woman and the media has gone out of their way to publicly castrate him. The problem, similar to the media myth that John Kerry was a "flip-flopper", is that the sports media proceeded in duping many black folks into hating Kobe in the process. Lastly on the subject of Kobe, I hate when I hear people say "Kobe had a squeaky clean image and he turned out to be something different." I ask, when in the world did this nation become a bunch of whining fucking 5 year olds? Newsflash fuckers: The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus don’t exist either. Lebron James seems to be a very well rounded young man…but if it came out that he had a weed addiction and starred in a porno it wouldn't surprise me. It wouldn’t surprise me because I am a adult who understands that someones "public image" just might be bullshit.

Randy Moss is another example. When he walked off the field during the last seconds of a game that was totally inexcusable. The media coverage that followed was belligerent and wildly idiotic. When he mock "mooned" the crowd you had announcers acting like he had just murdered somebody. There was this one ESPN anchor that was so "outraged" that he refused to say Randy Moss' name. He has had off field problems, but so have about 50% of the NFL. Moss will be traded to the Oakland Raiders, apparently because the Vikings had it with his "behavior". This might be good for Moss, to play for an owner that has a long history of having functioning testicles, something that the sports media and other NFL owners tend to lack.

Barry Bonds' coverage also annoys me to death. I am kind of torn on whether he actually took steroids. But one thing is true, as long as the league doesn't have a positive Steroid test from Bonds, all the speculations and "black clouds" surrounding Bonds'legacy is irrelevant. I don’t care if they produce a picture with Barry Bonds juggling steroids in front of the Balco Labratories; it doesn’t mean shit if you don’t have a positive test. My specific problem with the Sports Media concerning Bonds is when people suggest that an asterisk be put beside Bonds' name because of the steroids speculation. Not only is this ridiculous from the jump because of the speculation but may I suggest that they put an "asterisk" beside every championship and record before 1946 because there weren't any black players in the league? How can those accomplishments be legitimate if they didn't compete with black talent?

Terrel Owens and the Super Bowl come to mind, simply because I have noticed that sports announcers play the "adjective game" whenever they get the chance. When Owens rehabbed his ankle and expressed how he desperately wanted to come back and help his team in the Super Bowl announcers called him "selfish" and "arrogant". That infuriates me, because I remember when Bret Farve came back from an injury faster than he should have to help his team, announcers praised Farve and being "brave" and a "true warrior". What in the fuck did I miss here??

Lastly, let me take this time to bash black sports reporters. There are definitely qualified and exceptional black sports reporters out there so excuse me for the generalization. But for all you weak willed, hand trembling variety of black sports reporters that may read my blog, the next few sentences are directed at you. I feel that many of you are similar to black police officers that I have encountered in my lifetime. At first glance a person would think that you would at least be fair to someone that looks like you. But simply because you don't want to be thought of as giving preferential treatment to a black person you go out of your way to mistreat and disrespect. That is what the black sportscaster does. Concerning Kobe, Owens, Moss and Bonds the ones screaming the loudest tend to be the black sports reporter. I miss the days when sports was so simple and I didn't how how incompetent the media was. Ignorance sure is bliss.