Read the arguments from Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan about which league they believe had the best 2009.
Another year, another dominant performance by the NFL. One of the world’s best businesses (even the bad teams make money), it is easy to see why the NFL always captures so many eyeballs nationally (and internationally, if we are counting those games played in Wembley Stadium, London).
The NFL is one of those rare parts of society and life that equally appeals to the brainy and brawny folks. Complex week 15 playoff scenarios, the off-the-field news stories, the draft scenarios per team, and the in-game strategy are all examples of aspects of the NFL that appeal to brainy people (like, say, for example… sports geeks…). “People hit hard, fall down” is an example of why the NFL appeals to brawny folks (uh, not sports geeks).
The NFL has an amazing ability to be in the news – and create positives out of potentially negative news situations. Consider the case of former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth. He struck and killed a pedestrian while driving intoxicated – a terrible tragedy with the ability to cast a large shadow of negativity over the league. Instead, the NFL’s punishment of Stallworth turns out to be more effective and harsh than the penal system. And, out of the this incident is berthed the official “NFL Conduct Policy” – a legacy of active commission Roger Goodell. The NFL is the first league to put a stake in the ground and muddy the lines between personal and professional lives. If the penal system fails to punish, the NFL will not. Tough.
The NFL is also about brand… about creating and protecting an image. While the Stallworth situation conveyed toughness, the idea of toughness was born and now thrives in the locker rooms of every NFL team. For example, remember all of the hubbub about concussions in the NFL, and how some serious changes were on the way to being made to make the game safer, and force players to sit out extra time to avoid long-term damage? Yea, that noble imperative lasted a week, and now it’s “toughness as usual” in the NFL. No league demonstrates – or values – its tough brand more than the NFL (paying attention, NHL???).
One more example of PR prowess… there is a terrible fight going on between the owners and the players association right now… even to the point that there is legitimate talk of a work stoppage before the 2011 season. But, how much of that story do we find in the mainstream media? A couple of random mentions, at best. The one story I found to support my argument is dated in March.
The NFL had the best 2009 of any league because it has the ability to dominate any sports news cycle any time it wants. From future hall of famers making playing or not playing choices to Tom Brady’s return after a devastating injury to the Saints fast start to the season, to the Colts near perfection, etc., “The League” dominates the news. The NFL is a television ratings draw, an ad space seller for sports websites, and the recipient of more ink in newspapers and online than any other league – no matter what time of year. The NFL has the uncanny knack of making relative non-stories into major stories. For example, it seems only in the NFL are teams achieving (see the Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, and New Orleans Saints) as much of a story as teams not achieving (see the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants, and Carolina Panthers). Heck, Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden was RUMORED to return to coaching and it was a major story that helped him capture a long-term deal with ESPN. Being in an NFL story is neither bad news nor good news – but it is always news.
Whether evaluating business, brand, public relations, or fan enthusiasm, no league demonstrates more of each than the NFL, making it the best league of 2009.
Read the debate intro and the arguments from Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer about the NFL potentially insisting players stay out an entire game after a head injury.
Here is an obvious, but important statement: NFL players have a job where they get hit a lot. Sometimes those hits happen in the head. Because of the enduring physical risk NFL players undertake to play football, in part, they receive salaries that many deem excessive. But, this is a job for only a certain time in a person’s life. It is not wrong and selfish for a player to remove themselves from a game because of trouble shaking a concussion. And if the NFL’s embedded locker room culture dictates masking head injuries, the NFL must step up its treatment of injuries that have long-term impact on a person’s post-football career. Loyal Homer is correct – the NFL must protect its players, and one game is not a major sacrifice.
The NFL currently has a retirement plan. That retirement plan has been attacked by 25 different federal lawsuits within the past 10 years. The content of those majority of the lawsuits has involved (you guessed it) disability determinations. In other words, a lot of smart people think the NFL does not do a good enough job taking care of its players when their careers are over, and including a mandatory extra one game out of the lineup for a player who suffers a head injury on the field of play is not just good policy. It simply makes sense.
The lawsuit examples indicate that the NFL already does not do enough to protect the long-term health of its players, though it does profit from their health in the near term. The NFL is – because of the way the game is played and the culture that is permitted within the league – obligated to take care of its players because so many long-term health issues result from playing the game hard.
It is hard to question a player like Hines Ward. Ward is a champion – two times over, to be exact – so he knows what it takes to win. He knows the effort and sacrifice required to attain success at the highest level. When he told NBC, “It’s tough… you don’t want to jeopardize your future. It’s a tossup. You either play and jeopardize your future, or you sit out and worry about the big picture.” The players are conflicted, so the NFL must intervene on behalf of a player’s long-term health. If a player makes his own decision to hold himself out of the lineup he is perceived as weak. However, if he plays and suffers a substantial injury because of the existing one he denied, he is permanently weak. The NFL can and should mediate.
From a business investment stand point it is worth a team’s while to lose a player for a single game over the course of the player’s contract when compared against the possibility of losing the player to injury for their entire career.
Whether it is the competitive nature of the player, as Loyal Homer points out, or the general culture that exists within the league, a person playing with a head injury is a risky thing to do. For fans it is easy to view the players as just that – players. They are business assets with a certain job to do. They are not allowed to make errors, and they are not allowed to succumb to injuries that are unseen by the eye. Fans are wrong in this view, and, strangely, agents are correct. A player’s agent must see a player as a person, with long-term plans, family (or families if you’re Travis Henry), other business interests, etc. Fans sometimes forget that players are people, and this concussion rule is a healthy reminder.
A fight from owners and some league insiders on this issue makes no sense. Why? If a team is unable to go one week without a certain player, then the owner, GM, and coaching staff is not doing a good enough job. The roster may lack depth, the coach is not using players well enough, or the owner has hired the wrong people in key positions. The Colts, in Bleacher Fan’s example, should have a better quarterback playing behind Manning. Fighting over greater protection for players who suffer injuries that science has not fully grasped yet makes no sense.
Bleacher Fan made some interesting points. However, the degree of injury – and the level of scientific understanding about a given injury – is extremely important. Bleacher Fan is also right about the difference between being hurt and being injured. However, head injuries need a different classification. The league must evolve to protect.
Bleacher Fan also mentions that a player’s perception of an injury (life-threatening versus non-life-threatening) impacts a team’s culture. I agree. But when the NFL imposes greater protections for injured players – even though the non-doctor teammates are unable to identify the appearance of an injury – it is changing the perception of the injury. Head injuries are not to be taken lightly anymore. By imposing this “extra day off” rule the NFL is forcing the perception of head injuries to change and shifting the league’s culture. That’s a good thing. While this potential rule is not designed to protect all players from all injuries, it is a positive precedent for the long-term health and viability of the NFL and its human employees.
Read the arguments from Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer about if staying out an entire game after a head injury is an excessive by the NFL.
How tough are you? How much physical abuse can you take? How willing are you to lay it all on the line for a goal and your teammates?
The answers are very, a lot, and completely. All of those questions are important in the NFL, and players must get each answer correct. No exceptions.
Head injuries, however, complicate that cultural mandate. Head injuries are treated the same in NFL locker rooms as any other injury. The league’s treatment of concussions has been well documented, and now the NFL is changing how it deals with them. Sports Illustrated writer Peter King and Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer are both reporting that the NFL – as soon as next week – will announce new guidelines for how severe head injuries and concussions will be treated. If a player shows that he has lost his bearings after a blow to the head, or suffers any memory loss or amnesia, that player will not be allowed back onto the field for the remainder of that game. Fair enough.
However, like most sticky issues in politics and sports, one constituency believes the NFL is going too far, another believes that the NFL has not gone far enough in protecting its players.
In a league where toughness rules, any player who suffers a head injury during a game is not allowed to reenter the game. A growing contingent believes that the NFL is not going far enough, and that a player should be kept out an additional game after receiving a head injury, no exceptions. This currently unofficial, de facto one game “ban” has already been evident in Arizona with Kurt Warner and Pittsburgh with Ben “I like to stop cars with my face” Roethlisberger. On cue, Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward inferred to the media that Big Ben could have played – if he were tougher.
If not for The Sports Debates, it is hard to imagine this issue getting resolved! Fortunately we are here to answer the following: Should the NFL include a mandatory one-game ban for a player who suffers a head injury on the field?
Loyal Homer argues in favor of expanding the removal of a player who receives a head injury from the remainder of the game where the injury occurs to include the following game as well. Bleacher Fan will argue the “ban” is extreme and not something the league should be allowed to control.
Is this potential rule change and extension fair? Does it signal a culture change in the NFL from a predominantly toughness-centered league to something weaker? Would players whose careers seemingly ended too soon due to head injuries – Al Toon, Harry Carson and Wayne Chrebet, for a few examples – have been prolonged with better post-injury care?
While this debate is bigger than just how the NFL treats players with concussions, let’s stay focused on that for this topic.
There is no doubting the talent of the Los Angeles Lakers team. Barring an epic meltdown by most players on the team, including Kobe Bryant, the Lakers will certainly be competing in the postseason. It is also more than likely that the Lakers will be one of the top teams out of the Western Conference, if not THE number one team. The Lakers will win a lot of games this year and should play deep into the postseason.
The question to answer is whether or not the Lakers are likely to become repeat champions this season. Winning a lot of games and playing deep into the postseason is not enough when a team is the reigning champs. Because the Lakers’ core players are all still playing in Los Angeles many will expect them to win it again.
Do not count me among those with championship expectations, though. After considering the many points raised by Sports Geek and Loyal Homer in each argument, I am awarding this verdict to Sports Geek!
The very easy target to point at as a potential source of problems for the Lakers this season is the addition of hothead Ron Artest. Sure, Artest brings question marks into the organization, and he will not be the first difficult player that Jackson has ever had to deal with, either. I do not expect Artest to be the reason for the Lakers’ inability to repeat as NBA champions. Do not forget that Lakers head coach Phil Jackson was successful in winning not just one, but THREE NBA Championships in Chicago after the Bulls brought highly controversial Dennis Rodman into the organization. Rodman, who had already developed a very negative reputation before arriving in the Windy City, had no problems in adjusting to working with Jackson and the rest of the Bulls en route to their second three-peat of the 1990s.
No, I believe that the real problem for the Lakers this year will be complacency. As Sports Geek identified, it can be hard to motivate a head coach who has already won more NBA rings than anyone before him. He had doubts as to whether or not he would coach this season – let alone future seasons – and there has even been the possibility that Jackson would not travel with the team, instead only coaching for the home games.
I do not doubt Jackson’s heart, or his accomplishments. The man is the greatest head coach of my lifetime, and may be the greatest of all time. For Jackson, though, his focus is less on building a program that will successfully make many championship runs over the next five to ten years, and is instead to approach his job on a year-by-year basis. To me, that means he has already checked out and is just waiting for a reason to retire.
Think back to the Pittsburgh Steelers as Bill Cowher approached the end of his coaching career in the NFL. For the five years between 2004 and 2008 the Pittsburgh Steelers have the best record in the AFC North Division every year except one, which came during the 2006 season. Outside of that year, the Steelers have reached the playoffs every season and have won two Super Bowls. Why the sudden (and brief) lack of success in 2006? It was because head coach Bill Cowher had checked out of the game. Cowher, who hungrily chased a Super Bowl victory for many years, had finally earned his ring in 2005. Coming into 2006, Cowher had accomplished his goal and decided that 2006 would be his last season as head coach. The combination of knowing that he would be leaving at the end of the season, along with the lack of fire to chase an elusive Super Bowl Championship, translated into apathy in his approach to the game. That apathy was reflected by the players, and the team went on to a lackluster 8-8 record, finishing a full five games behind the division champion Baltimore Ravens.
Once Cowher retired and was replaced by new head coach Mike Tomlin, the fire was immediately re-ignited in Pittsburgh and the team immediately returned to their impressive, winning ways. The players were all the same, the strategy was the same, the only thing missing in 2006 was the passionate drive of an ambitious leader.
In much the same manner, Phil Jackson has nothing left to prove in his career. He is simply riding the train until his exit arrives, and I expect that sense to be felt and reciprocated by the players on the court for the Lakers. The players will still win a lot of games, but the pressure and drive to succeed just does not seem to be present any more.
In comparison, there are several dangerous teams in the league who still do possess that hunger. Teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Orlando Magic have made key additions in hopes of winning a championship. Despite Loyal Homer’s insistence that these maneuvers will not be enough, the Lakers have not made the same improvements to keep pace.
The Lakers were not runaway champions last season. There were several teams that posed a serious threat to the Lakers in 2008, and each of those teams has made marked improvements this offseason. In the clutch, when all the chips are down, it will be the complacency of the Lakers and head coach Phil Jackson that ultimately costs them a repeat title.
Read Sports Geek and Loyal Homer’s arguments about which preseason playoff contenders in the NFL have already blown their chance at the postseason.
Expectations are a funny thing. In school, one student’s C-plus could be perceived as a greater accomplishment than another student’s A-minus. What is the difference? Expectations.
Similarly, a 4-12 finish for the Detroit Lions could be perceived as a wild success, while a 4-12 finish for the New England Patriots would be abysmal failure.
Realistically, some teams did not have a chance to compete for the postseason, even before the season began. Sure, there will always be surprises like the Denver Broncos, a team that has begun the season at 4-0 despite the expectations they would likely not be in the running for a playoff spot this season. For every surprise, though, there is another disappointment.
One such team that has disappointed this year is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
If not for the fortunate blessing of a coin toss going their way in overtime during week one against the Tennessee Titans, it is entirely possible that the Steelers would have been sitting a 1-3 right now. Although they did win that coin toss (along with the game against the Titans), and are actually the owners of a 2-2 record, the Steelers still lost their chance to compete for the postseason. That is right, I said it!
I am not arguing that the Steelers are the worst team in football (look to the St. Louis Rams for that dubious honor right now). The Steelers are talented as a football team, and will win games (even against some “good” teams). But do not let last night’s 38-28 victory over the San Diego Chargers fool you, the Steelers are not the same team they were last season.
The biggest challenge facing the Steelers, who were the best team in the NFL LAST season, is that they are now chasing the Baltimore Ravens – a team that may be the best team in football THIS season. After losing to the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers fell two games behind the Ravens who jumped to an impressive 3-0 start on the season before giving one game back to Pittsburgh with a loss against the New England Patriots yesterday.
The Steelers were fortunate to pick up a game on the Ravens yesterday, but do not look for this to happen often. The Ravens have been playing very impressive football behind second-year quarterback Joe Flacco, and are the new favorites to win the AFC North Division in 2009. The Steelers catching the Ravens is difficult with a schedule that includes the Broncos, the Minnesota Vikings – who are at 3-0 behind the arm of Brett Favre – and the 2-1 Green Bay Packers. Not to mention a second game against the very Bengals that already beat Pittsburgh once this year. Then there is the two games against the Ravens, still.
Speaking of the Bengals, did you notice that they are also at 3-1 right now, and one game ahead of Pittsburgh as well? Although I am not ready to buy into the hype of Cincinnati yet (especially after witnessing a CLOSE escape in Cleveland with a victory yesterday against the Browns), the fact remains that Pittsburgh will also have to catch the Bengals to hang onto hope of playing football in January.
Let’s face it, the season is already a quarter of the way finished and the Steelers are in third place in the AFC North, trailing a team that has already beaten them once and another team which is viewed by many as the best team in the league.
I am sorry to tell the fans of the Black and Gold this: It looks like the “Steel Curtain” may be closing on Pittsburgh early this year.
Read Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan’s arguments for which NFL teams they believe have already squandered a chance at postseason glory, just four weeks into the 2009 regular season.
In order for a team to fumble its chances for the postseason – especially this early in the 2009 season – it must have started the season with some shot to actually make the playoffs. In others words, the Cleveland Browns do not really qualify for participation in this debate (lucky for them). This debate is about teams that actually had a shot and have already squandered their chance at the postseason.
Since the lousy usual suspects will not be included, there are just a handful of teams that should have played good football and earned a spot in the playoffs this season. For me, no team has already blown its opportunity at postseason glory quite as spectacularly as the Carolina Panthers.
How appropriate that the Carolina Panthers spent week four of the NFL season at home on a bye week. You know, “bye” as in good “bye” to the team’s postseason chances this season, despite the fact that the calendar still reads early October.
The Panthers are showing all of the signs of a team destined to miss the NFL playoffs after a preseason of hype and high expectations. Exhibit A – the win-loss record. The Panthers completed their preseason slate with a record of 0-4. Fans speculated the team was struggling in the preseason because of the quality teams the Panthers faced, losing at the New York Giants, at Miami, then at home against Baltimore and defending Super Bowl champions Pittsburgh. Tough losses, but it was preseason and not the end of the world.
The thing about losing all of the preseason games is that it creates a culture of losing throughout a team. The Panthers saw that losing culture in full force in week one as the team hosted Philadelphia, and were destroyed 38-10. The Panthers followed up that surprising loss with a trip to Atlanta to face a Falcons team with many weapons. The Panthers lost that game, too, and then traveled to Dallas and lost on Monday night, scoring a mere seven points.
While the offense has struggled, the normally excellent defense that is the hallmark of Panther teams has struggled as well. For some perspective on the poor play of the defense, consider that the Panthers have given up more points than EVERY team in the NFC, except the St. Louis Rams.
That Panthers have only outpaced the offensive prowess of two other teams in the NFL – the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Rams. Not the company a team wants to keep in the stat column this season.
So, the offense is bad and the defense is bad. All of the badness will make it difficult to come back and compete in a division that is tough. The Panthers have already lost to one division opponent – the Atlanta Falcons – and will have a challenge to beat them when the two teams play again. The New Orleans Saints lead the division and promise to continue giving Carolina’s defense fits. The Panthers even trail the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in tiebreakers, placing the presumed impressive Panthers squarely in the basement of the NFC South.
The team is also suffering from the slow decline of established veteran leadership and infighting – and the two issues are related. Quarterback Jake Delhomme has slowly changed into a leader with diminishing skills. In the opening game of the season the quarterback threw a whopping four interceptions before getting the hook from the head coach. He has now thrown seven interceptions in three games. His teammates are apparently frustrated. Star wide receiver Steve Smith, showing an uncanny ability for how to use the media, called in to a local sports talk show in Charlotte to announce that he “never liked” Delhomme as a quarterback. When the quarterback and star receiver are not getting along… well, that is not exactly a foundation for a winning team.
On top of all of these obvious issues, the team is now losing faith in its head coach, John Fox. If the coach’s seat was warming up on September 13 – before the season actually started – then it must be on fire now.
The simple fact is that all signs point to a continued collapse from the Panthers. The team does not appear to have the guts and leadership to pull itself up by the bootstraps and compete in the division and fight for a spot in the playoffs. After all of the preseason and training camp belief that the Carolina Panthers were a team destined for an appearance in the postseason, they are now the team most notorious for blowing their shot early in the season.
Many NFL teams have important players. However, only a few teams in the NFL would be devastated if they lost their most important player. The writers at The Sports Debates believe there are three teams – and three players – who, more than any other team, would be significantly less effective if the player went down to injury. Bleacher Fan will argue the player a team that least afford to lose is safety Ed Reed (Baltimore Ravens) while Loyal Homer will argue the player is quarterback Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts).
If there was ever an NFL quarterback who knew how to win without winning pretty, it is Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben debuted in the NFL in 2004, and won two offensive rookie of the year awards. Since then the awards have dried up, sans the one selection to the Pro Bowl in 2007. He just is not a big time stat producer like some of his fellow quarterbacks in the NFL – Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Instead, Big Ben is a winner. Now entering his sixth season of professional football, Roethlisberger has two Super Bowl rings. Roethlisberger is the league’s most important player.
Ben Roethlisberger has some skills at quarterback, for sure. But, what he has that most lack is guts and instinct. He has a knack for staying in the pocket and taking the big hits to deliver a pass. He will also stick his neck out in order to gain an extra yard or two on a play (or stop a car). He has an uncanny ability to use his feet to create extra time in the pocket while his receivers get open.
Then there is the ability to lead, measured in the NFL by wins and losses. Roethlisberger has an outstanding all-time regular season record as a starter of 51-20. Against the elite teams in the NFL (we’ll define them as follows: Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers) he has a respectable regular season record of 15-9. Against his division, the AFC North, he has an all-time record of a whopping 22-4. The supposed biggest rivalry on the Steelers yearly calendar, the Cleveland Browns, have never defeated the Steelers in a game Roethlisberger has played in. He has been so dominant in the battle of the steel cities that the Browns are not even considered a rival anymore (at least they are not considered a rival to the Steelers).
Since Roethlisberger entered the league in 2004 the Steelers compiled a record of 56-24. That means that when Roethlisberger starts at quarterback the Steelers have a winning percentage of 72 percent. Basically, they win three of every four games they play when Big Ben starts under center. Without him the Steelers winning percentage is 56 percent. It is the same defense, the same receivers, the same offensive line, the same running backs – but about a quarter fewer wins. Those stats say something about Roethlisberger’s value.
I cannot make a good argument for Roethlisberger being the most important player to a team in the NFL without talking about his playoff performance. He is lifetime 8-2 in the playoffs – having defeated both NFC teams he has ever faced in the playoffs. He has led three playoff comebacks for victories as well.
We must also talk clutch. Of the 59 career win Roethlisberger has piled up as a starter in the NFL, he has led his team from behind in 19 of them. Eight of those wins happened when he led a scoring drive that ended with less than 43 seconds on the clock (that does not include his two overtime wins). That includes the 2008 Super Bowl when he led a scoring drive that notched the go ahead touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals with just 35 ticks left on the clock.
Roethlisberger wins in the regular season, he wins in the playoffs, and he wins by leading when it matters most, as the seconds tick down. In those clutch, last second drives of the game here are the statistics that Roethlisberger has compiled: completes 74 percent of his passes for 737 yards and six touchdowns. That completion percentage is something to behold.
Roethlisberger’s ability to physically do things in the pocket (and out of the pocket), plus trust his unmatched instincts, separates him from the other quarterbacks in the league. He does not have the Brady’s style or Manning’s extreme smarts. He has his guts, his intuition – and his Super Bowl rings. The Pittsburgh Steelers would not be as dominant year in year out without Roethlisberger. If the Steelers lose him, they lose their identity – and their place in the standings.
The code of the journalist is to report the story, not become the story. Someone forgot to tell ESPN. It’s important that ESPN learn, too, because they’re hype-machine and in depth coverage is coming to a local market near you.
Last week was a tough week for the World Wide Leader in sports. First, sideline reporter Erin Andrews is illegally taped in a secret recording through a drill hole in a hotel room wall (a despicable act against Andrews, who is a very talented reporter). While that hoopla was just beginning to spiral out of control, ESPN issued a quiet “do not report” alert on the story that Ben Roethlisberger – two time Super Bowl champion quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers – is being sued in civil court and being accused of rape. These are very, very serious allegations involving the most recent Super Bowl winning QB, how can ESPN simply refuse to report the story? Well, they delayed reporting it under the guise that no criminal complaints were filed (uh, is that supposed to be an excuse?).
I mention these other stories to add some context to today’s debate topic. ESPN, for better or worse, is setting the bar on sports reporting in the United States, and there’s no one else even close. For over 25 years ESPN has been the go to authority on all national sports. Now they are expanding their national sports reporting dominance to specific markets. First it was Chicago, where ESPN launched a website specially dedicated to all Chicago sports. They recently announced an expansion of the project that will now include New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
You may be thinking that even though ESPN WANTS to be relevant in a local marketing like Chicago, they simply do not have the ability to draw the eyeballs that advertisers covet. Wrong. Current local Chicago sports coverage is unwise to dismiss ESPN as a casual threat, especially when considering in June of this year ESPN’s Chicago sports site became the number one more visited sports site in Chicago with 590,000 unique site visits versus The Chicago Tribune’s dedicated Chicago sports site which attracted only 455,000 unique site visits.
Interestingly, because ESPN does not have highly developed reporter assets on the pavement in these local markets, they are, like their hard news counterpart CNN, relying in part on locals to furnish the stories. George W. Bodenheimer, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks and President of ESPN and ABC sports told The New York Times that costs are “minimal” and “the initiative is perfect for exploring [locals covering the news].”
It may seem from the writing of this debate intro that my mind is already made up. However, it’s not. ESPN has found a way to absolve themselves from some of the major (rather questionable) reporting decisions it makes on a day to day basis on the national level and inform its reporting with new technologies like social networks and Twitter. It’s low cost and, like a wild blackberry bush, will provide content that is impossible to control. Since ESPN’s new ombudsman has yet to begin work, the trusty writers at The Sports Debates will tackle the topic.
Today’s debate topic is: Will ESPN’s local market reporting be a viable source for local sports reporting?
Bleacher Fan will argue that ESPN will provides excellent local market coverage and fans stand a lot to gain while Loyal Homer will argue that ESPN will not provide good local coverage and the fans will lose.
Dust off your reporting shoes, writers – what happens when the World Wide Leaders invades your town?
Lately, two of the biggest stories involving NFL wide receivers during off-season are the statuses of Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall and free agent Plaxico Burress.
Let’s recap shall we?
Marshall didn’t come into the league with as much fanfare as Burress. Marshall’s ability on the football field is also not as well-known to the casual fan as Burress’ is (fantasy football players aren’t casual fans); but, he has had an outstanding start to his career.
Drafted out of Central Florida in 2006 by the Denver Broncos, Marshall has quickly become one of the league’s best wide receivers. He has 226 catches for 2,899 yards in three years, including 206 catches for 2,580 the past two seasons. He’s been on my fantasy football team the past two years, and, obviously, he has been a big part of it.
That is all one the field. Very impressive! But off the field, he has some baggage, to say the least.
He was indirectly involved in the fatal shooting of Darrent Williams in 2007. He has been arrested numerous times for various alcohol related incidents and also domestic disturbances. He has also recently requested a trade.
Plaxico Burress came into the league with a lot more fanfare after an outstanding career at Michigan State. After being a solid player for five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Burress went on to greener pastures with the New York Giants. His time in New York has been highlighted by a game-winning touchdown reception in Super Bowl XLII.
He, too, has some baggage. He held out from training camp due to being unhappy with his contract situation before the 2008 season. This ruffled some feathers with his former organization, the New York Giants. He was suspended for one game for violating team rules in 2008. This was the second time in his career he had been suspending for breaking team rules. He has been fined numerous times. And then, of course, there is the accidental shooting incident at a New York nightclub. This incident caused him to be suspended from the team for conduct detrimental to the team. He has since been released from the Giants and is trying to catch on with another team.
The question posed is which one of these talented players I would take. The answer is NEITHER.
Neither player is worth the major headaches that would be caused. As a loyal fan of my teams, I truly care about winning. But, I want chemistry in my clubhouse, and chemistry is not what you would have if either of these players is on a team. There are just too many distractions. The questions from the media would all be about Burress or Marshall… and that’s not what a TEAM needs.
Are they super talented? Absolutely! No one is questioning that. But I strongly believe Brandon Marshall and Plaxico Burress would bring more harm to my team than good!
Thanks but no thanks! But, feel free to give Al Davis a call!
Posted by Sports Geek 
