Talking Heads

I love sports. I especially love watching baseball and football in person, but I also enjoy watching these sports on TV. Many years ago I would watch every moment of sports I could. I would read the sports page in the newspaper first and believe me, I would read every last detail. I would follow every player in every game of my favorite teams. I could quote win/loss records, team and individual stats and I would get so emotionally involved with these teams that it would ruin my day when they played poorly or lost. As I've gotten older, my love for sports has not waned. I still enjoy a good game and I still want my teams to win. However, I have also learned to put sports where they belong, which is very low on my list of priorities. I no longer read the sports page from cover to cover. I no longer emotionally invest myself in every aspect of my favorite teams. I still root for them and I want them to win, but I no longer let it mess up my day when they don't. I take sports for what they really are... a momentary diversion (i.e. entertainment). Professional athletes make gazillions of dollars and when their team loses, they are upset, but they quickly get over it. I know these guys hop into their fancy, expensive cars and head out to a high class night-spot, over-priced restaurant or an opulent home. I came to realize if the players on the field don't care about losing, then neither should I.

Another thing about sports that has started to bug me are the so called experts who analyze every aspect of the players and games. There are hours and hours of television and radio broadcasts devoted to breaking down every moment of every game. I love sports, but sheesh, talk about overkill. I have gotten to the point where I mute the television when I watch a game on TV. These talking heads spend a lot of time saying a whole bunch of nothing and I can barely stand to listen to them.

Here's what I mean:

"Well, Joe. The Bengals didn't play very well in the first half. They are losing again."

"That's right, Steve. If they don't turn it around, they will lose their third game in a row. What do they need to do?"

"Well Andy Dalton needs to throw more touchdown passes and the Bengals need to score more points than the other team if they want to avoid another loss."

"I totally agree. The other team has more points right now and if the Bengals don't fix something at halftime, they are going to lose this important game."

Here's another:

"Well, Marty. The Reds are losing to the Cardinals again today. What are your thoughts about the game?"

"Jeff it's pretty simple. The Cardinals are hitting the ball all over the park and the Reds couldn't hit the broad side of a barn".

"What about the pitching, Marty?"

"Once again, Jeff, it's a pretty easy analysis. The Reds are serving up home runs like mom's Sunday dinner and the Cardinal pitchers are throwing strikeouts at an alarming rate".

"So, Marty... in your expert opinion, who wins this game?"

"Jeff, I've been around this game a long time. The team that scores the most runs and pitches the best will win today".

"I agree, Marty."