Sports Analysts

Excuse the rant, but...

Is anyone else sick of the "sports media" being so short sighted and so quick to inject superlatives?

I just got done listening to a sports writer basically say that the Marlins had no shot to beat the Yankees. This happens virtually every time there is a national championship game/series. One team will be the favorite and there will be scores of people telling you that it is a virtual lock for them to win. And when the other team comes through with the win, they treat it like it's the biggest upset ever. Let's think about this folks: If a team makes it to the championship game or series, shouldn't that confirm the fact that they are a good team? At least good enough to not be a lock to lose? You don't get to that level by accident. Don't these people cover sports for a living? Don't they realize that the difference between #1 and #2 isn't usually that huge? And that anything can happen in sports? Didn't we all learn that lesson at an early age? Yes the Yankees are the favorites, but so were the Giants; and I believe so were the Cubs (except for in the series the Cubs actually won, in which case the Cubs were the underdog). To add to the list of teams left for dead, how about the national champion Ohio State football team, or the 2001-02 Patriots or the current World Series champions, the Angels. All these were just examples from the last 3 years! Let's face it...just cause a team is favored doesn't mean they are unstoppable and that the other team is a lost cause. Is a team that just disposed of Bonds' Giants and also beat a Cubs team with Wood and Prior pitching at home really not able to match up with a Yankees team that almost didn't make the World Series?

Switching gears, the analysts went on to discuss LeBron James. If you want to really be sick, listen to the media blabber on about this guy. After one game, many will declare that he is either a bust or a success. (Remember Yao Ming after his first game?...How about after his first month?) Never mind the fact that he's got about twenty years of playing ahead of him. Oh yeah I'm sure the Cavs are worried that he might not score 50 per night right off the bat.

Hey, I lose perspective at times just like the next guy, but this has become a trend in the sports media and the media in general. Is anyone else sick of it?