This is evident in the exorbitant cost for commercial time during the Super Bowl (an American institution), in the celebrity status of QB's like Tom Brady and Tony Romo, and most recently in the often-ludicrous coverage of this years NFL draft.
I should preface that I am fickle towards sport media because it often marginalizes "small-market" teams like the ones I follow (Toronto-based teams or in the case of the NFL, the Buffalo Bills).
Members of the media always note that free agents do not want to play in Toronto or Buffalo because its cold, or poor, or in Canada.
Yet General Managers never say "I could not sign so-and-so because he doesn't want to live in an igloo". Players want to play where they are given the chance to win, or the most money and NOT in that order.
Additionally, the media pretend that they have some mythical wisdom that professional sports teams lack. Why would a reporter who watches a lot of basketball be more informed then the 20 year scout who played the game and is experienced in identifying mechanics?
The 2010 NFL Draft draws throngs of media mouthpieces, making it an a-typical example of how sports reporters are often jaded and overly critical of small market teams.
For instance, during the NFL draft I found numerous instances where the media criticized the Buffalo Bills draft picks for reasons that they A) could not support B) Made no sense or C) Came from Mel Kiper Jr.
Case #1 - Chavous and Davis the NFL Networks version of John McCain and Sarah Palin.
NFL Network Bills Draft Analysis
This video had former pro-bowl DB Cory Chavous debating the Bills draft picks with Charles Davis, a college analyst who played some cornerback at Tennessee.
Davis gave the Bills a C+ draft grade. He backs up his analysis with quotes like,
"Here is why I have them at C+. I love [C.J.] Spiller at the top."
"They got Ed Wang who I love."
"I love this guy [referring to Levi Brown the Bills 7th round selection]."
"I really like that guy [Marcus Easily]."
Davis must not remember how the grading scale works, because I know mom and dad wouldn't show that much love if their kid brought home a C+ average.
His criticisms of the Bills picks are that they,
1) reached on their second round selection, although it did address a need
2) Ed Wang might not pan out as a right tackle (The bills see him as a left tackle anyway)
3) that Levi Brown's arm may not be strong enough to brave the arctic temperament of Buffalo
4) they only addressed their need at tackle once.
Chavous gave the Bills an A average.
He thinks Spiller is the most explosive player in the draft and that the rest of the Bills picks addressed the teams needs, depth and lack of talent.
Then Chavous says something interesting, “I don’t look at a teams draft by the way the fans respond, they don’t even know the guys.”
Chavous' comment draws attention to the media's tendency to write towards the fans, feeding ignorance.
Charles Davis downgrades the Bills draft because many of the selections were from small school teams, so few fans have heard of them. He says he loves the majority of the picks, and yet he views the teams draft as well below average...something's not right there.
Case #2 The Myth of Mel Kiper Jr.
Who is Mel Kiper Jr.? More important is the question, why is this greasy man giving me information and spittle at an irregularly fast pace as if he has some shard of knowledge?
So a quick wiki check brought about this story.
In 1994 Kiper Jr. criticized the then-Baltimore Colts for not selecting Trent Dilfer in the first round. He labelled Dilfer a "franchise QB" (if your not laughing all ready...).
Bill Tobin, who was the Colts' director of football operations responded to the criticism by saying, "Who in the hell is Mel Kiper, anyway? To my knowledge, he's never put on a jockstrap, he's never been a player, and all of a sudden he's an expert. He's never been a scout. He's never been an administrator. Mel has no more credibility to do what he's doing than my neighbor. And my neighbor is a postman who doesn't even have season tickets."
Sadly Kiper Jr. is, along with Todd McShay ESPN's foremost NFL draft expert.
In my opinion, Kiper is also responsible for the media's craze regarding Jimmy Clausen's "tumultuous" draft day fall. McShay and Kiper have been debating Clausen's worth throughout the draft process, with Kiper saying he was a sure 1st round talent (rating him the 4th best prospect in the draft), and McShay arguing that Clausen is probably a second round pick (rating him in the 30's).
Kiper was wrong. Teams in need of QB talent (Cleveland and Buffalo) passed on Clausen twice. Simply this means that Kiper had no clue what he was talking about, the NFL did not value Clausen like he did.
Kiper like Davis gave the Bills a C+ draft grade.
My prescient view is that Kiper's C+ opinion means future success for the Bills. And that members of the media with bloated heads of false worth will realize that the opinion of teams and not lisping wacko's is what us fans would like to hear.
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