Posted on 01/28/2015 5:29:35 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
Lance Armstrong is back in the news again. I learned this from my pastor, Dr. David Murray, and his blog yesterday. You’ll recall Armstrong won 7 Tour de France cycling titles while on steroids. He basically acknowledges that he’s sorry he got caught but would do it all again. Dr. Murray’s focus is on repentance, trying to apply it to our own lives which can be difficult in light of the fact that Armstrong isn’t a Christian. Lance Armstrong has always been an odd character. He was involved in a sport that no one in America cares about except the sports media who are aiming for a gig in France. His team was sponsored by the US Postal Service, which itself is odd. Why is the American post office advertising in France? We wonder why the post office is billions in the red, pension funding is part of it but so is idiotic advertising.
Last night Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon were blabbing about Armstrong on their ESPN show, PTI. Their conclusion was that because Armstrong used steroids and lied to the media about it, his sin was so great that it was unforgivable. It is obvious they believe that the sports media is God and they will forgive only at their pleasure. Even if we grant that Armstrong hasn’t really sought forgiveness because he said he would do the same thing all over again the question remains who made the sports media God? Lance Armstrong can live a thoroughly immoral life, divorcing his wife without cause, he can lie to anyone on his team or any sponsor. But lie to the sports media and that is absolutely unforgivable! The arrogance of the media isn’t always on display in the political media, they have the sense to try to hide it most of the time. To see what these people are really thinking, you have to go to the sports media which views itself as Lord over the sporting world.
Much like the Michael Sam coming out of the closet story and the “controversy” surrounding the Washington Redskins name, the steroid story is a creation of the sports media. For the most part, fans have never cared whether athletes are using steroids. Baseball attendance skyrocketed when Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were using steroids. Arguably McGuire and Sosa’s home run duel in 1998 saved baseball, which had been struggling after the 1994 strike canceled the World Series. Everyone knew those guys were on steroids, it didn’t change the fact that it took skill to hit home runs. No one particularly cared, except the sports media which made a big deal out of it. Athletes use all sorts of supplements and vitamins, the media doesn’t give a hoot about any of that. Steroid use, now that’s the end of the world!
The sports media considers themselves Lord over sports, the gatekeepers of a strange morality created by themselves. They certainly don’t represent fans, most of whom don’t care about steroid use so long as they’re being entertained. (professional sports is after all entertainment) Lance Armstrong is being singled out but not because he used steroids. Everyone in cycling was using steroids. The media has singled him out because he was a winner and because he commited the unforgivable sin of lying to the sports media. If there were American cycling fans, they wouldn’t particularly care about steroid use. Especially so when everyone else was using steroids. Make no mistake, the sports media is after Armstrong only because he lied to them. Their message is clear, if you lie to us we will destroy you. In the case of Armstrong, much like McGuire, Sosa and Bonds, the media did just that.
The sanctimonious self righteousness of the sports media is on full display daily at liberal ESPN. These guys create narratives and repeat them all day long, just like the mainstream political press. Fans exist only to be whipped into a frenzy over whatever outrage the media decides needs to be addressed. They decide concussions are a major problem in football, so they spend a year hammering football until something is “done” about it. Never mind that there are more concussions in soccer, that’s not part of the narrative. Much like the political media, the sports media believes it’s their job to push change whether change needs to happen or not. The sports media views themselves as Lord’s over sports. If they decide you’re a bad guy, you’re out until you grovel and get back in their good graces. The arrogance displayed last night on PTI was incredible. You don’t have to like Lance Armstrong, he seems like sort of a sleazy character. But to declare lying to the media an unforgivable sin shows for the world to see the unmitigated arrogance of the sports media. This is the sort of arrogance that Christians must reject out of hand. Who but God has the power to declare a sin unforgivable?
For instance, Wrigley field's upgrade is going to move the bullpens off the sidelines to some hidden cove like the rest of the major league parks. It was always nice to see the pitchers start throwing hard warm ups to indicate that they were going into the game - one of the more subtle atmospherics of watching a game there. Much easier to get a feel for the overall momentum of a game.
The problem with increasing offense to attract casual fans right now is that the games will get even longer. It’s already longer on average than it has ever been. What we are dealing with now is a combination of hitting approaches that induce record levels of strike outs and walks and drastic, informed defensive shifting, and the best bullpens in history.
The players playing now generally wanted to be Sosa and Bonds. The players that actually cut down on their swing with two strikes and spray the ball all over really stand out. Especially if they don’t strike out all the time and walk. They will be the valued players because they beat the modern shifts.
Freegards
The reason the NFL has changed officiating and rules to promote offense is because they are after the lowest common denominator of fan that doesn’t really care about the sport as long as it is exciting. To them, exciting = scoring. The NFL is the most popular US pro sport by miles and miles. Along with college football it is the darling of the media and supports whole industries apart from the actual game. It only got more popular after defense went out the window and fruity celebration dancing and chest pounding became routine. Looking around at the culture, it would be shocking if NFL wasn’t the most popular by miles.
Freegards
The NFL is no doubt king with college football coming in second. I wouldn’t say defense has been completely eliminated from football. If you go to places like Pittsburgh, defense still rules. Defense wins championships.
That’s true. But more scoring attracts huge numbers of casual fans, that’s a huge part of the reason why the NFL made those changes.
Freegards
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