Day 162

I found a penny during my daily jog around the apartment complex.




While I was jogging, I was listening to some bad sports talk radio, and the host was discussing how Lance Armstrong is not an athlete, because he doesn't have to show hand/eye coordination. This guy even said that because of this, NASCAR drivers are more athletic than Lance Armstrong.

I totally disagree with the host, but it shows a bad trend with the way that sports is now covered. I love shows like PTI (and to a lesser extent) and Around the Horn, but they cause sportswriters to make everything into a debate. While sport does lend itself to great debates, there are some topics where a debate is not necessary.

Take the recent incident with Kenny Rogers (Pitcher for the Texas Rangers), where he shoved a cameraman to the ground before a game. You had people like Michael Wilbon on PTI saying things like, “I totally disagree with Rogers pushing the cameraman. I believe that this is no way for a MLB player to act.”

Does anybody really agree that assaulting someone is the RIGHT way to act? No.
But yet, we have talking heads taking sides on Rogers assaulting a cameraman. Did Wilbon think that if he didn’t make his views clear, we would think he was pro assault?

So, in this culture, media members are required to take “sides”, even on issues that are pretty cut and dry. Well, of course there is going to be somebody who goes against the grain, just to be different and get some attention. And I think that is where this particular host comes in.

Seriously, you can think many things of Lance Armstrong, but if you don’t believe he is an athlete, then your neurons are not firing correctly. In the rest of the world, most people look at the Tour de France as one of the hardest athletic contests. Just because we don’t value the sport here in the States, doesn’t mean Lance is any less talented or athletic. The host should have stayed with his other topic: Is ESPN starting to get so big that they are providing lackluster sports coverage?

Total for the Day - $0.01
Total for the Race - $36.46