An Aside

I have always found sports commentary in broadcast journalism to be extremely frustrating. At the beginning of a game, Quarterback A is the knight in shining armor who has yet to tarnish the golden image of his team. Then, by halftime, Quarterback B has risen from the ashes like a phoenix and proven that Quarterback A is all style and no passion. But at the end of the game, when Quarterback A’s team wins, Quarterback B just didn’t bring enough to the table to outshine Quarterback A’s Hail Mary’s and trick plays. Quarterback B has lived out the rise and fall of his career in one game. Quarterback A is still infallible… except for the hour in the middle of the game when the announcers decided that they would take a hiatus from the bandwagon.

As an avid sports fan and lover of broadcast journalism, I find the fickle banter of analysts and color commentators to be irritating because the men in suits fail to hold players accountable in the long run. I know they can’t necessarily help it, as they have to address every play at a time and match their verbiage to the flow of the game. However, if I hear one more time that a certain wide receiver “IS BACK!!!!” because of a great touchdown that came five minutes after one of the most embarrassing fumbles of his career, I’m going to start sending hate mail.