The Anti-Olympic Spirit: Ideas and Phrases That Don't Belong In Sports

(Disclaimer: this article is not directed specifically at Bleacher Report. In fact, BR is one the best sites at avoiding these subjects).

With the 2008 Summer Olympics one week away, it's time to celebrate all that is good in sports: athletics that break through obstacles and achieve greatness for themselves and their countries.

But since the Olympics haven't started yet, there's still time to rant about (I mean begin a respectful discourse on) some of the subjects/points of  that appear often in sports media. Some of these are specific to a few sports, while others apply to almost all sports.

•  "_______ is not a real sport/league/team/etc."

The above blank can be filled with the debatable (poker, chess) to the ridiculous (baseball, bike racing). It should be ok to say "Even though they are ranked in the 1-A AP poll, App State is not a real (1-A) team," because this is true, App. State, although 1-A-caliber, is not in division 1-A.

The worst aspect of this is after an article about the WNBA, Arena League, even the Tour De France, someone usually says, "who cares?" I realize that in some cases, ESPN blatently pumps up an event because, well, it's "coming soon to ESPN2." But if rhythmic gymnastics is an Olympic sport, and some people watch it as an athletic event, then the winners will be reported, whether or not it has a fanbase of millions.

• "Real athletes play _______."

On American sites, the missing word is usually "football." But, for example, the BBC article on the Giants-Fins game in London generated responses such as " American football players wear pads" (rugby fans) or "american football players get to rest on the sideline half the time" (soccer fans). Conversely, many people seem to view soccer as being a sport of diving prima donnas, while another large group view see it as the beautiful game.

Sports that don't have huge athletic requirements (ex. golf) usually make up for it in finesse. Everyone has their preference, throughout history, it seems like there is always at least one "finesse" sport and one "manly" sport that are popular at once. It used to be that baseball was the national pastime. (And originally, baseball was almost exclusively a finesse sport, especially in the Dead Ball Era). But boxing was incredibly popular as well.

Today "skill" sports (NASCAR, golf, etc.) are still very popular, and co-exist with more violent sports like football. Both can be enjoyed.

• Injecting Race/Gender into too many sports stories

Of course, there's no doubt that race is still an issue in America. Everyone knows that. But it seems like most of the discussions on PacMan, Marshawn Lynch, etc. end up all about race, and not about the irresponsibility of athletes in general.  For me, the reason why black athletes seem to get more media coverage for their crimes is that in many cases, they are higher-profile athletes than their white counterparts who commit crimes. I addition, black players make up a large percentage of leagues such as the NBA.

Michael Vick was a headliner in the sports section not because he is black, but because he was the Falcons franchise. Conversely, Josh Hamilton is a big story not because he's a white former drug-addict, but because he is tearing it up on the field.  If Ricky Williams is on pace to break the rushing record in week 10, he will be the talk of the league.

One of the best aspects of is that it brings people together to root for a team, and by talking too much about race when it's not the main issue in most cases, that aspect is minimized.

• Reporting on athlete's personal lives

Jeter, A-Rod, or Tom Brady are dating who? Unless it effects them at the plate or on the field (or they're creating their own future AAU league like Shawn Kemp), who cares?

• Using sports to re-fight the Civil War

Saying that the SEC is superior to the Pac-10 is actually ok with me. Without a playoff system to determine what is really the best conference, team, etc., it will always be fun to debate and discuss the merits of certain teams.

But in many cases, sports rivalries start because different cities / sections of the country wanted a friendlier way to settle their differences.This doesn't mean that fans from OSU and Florida should all buy each other drinks, but insulting the Midwest or south when discussing football shows that the discussion wasn't really about sports to begin with.

I understand that sectional sports rivalries are deepened by history, etc., but fans should at least be treated with respect. Attack the play of the other team, not the fans/cities themselves.

• "East Coast Bias"
  

An extension of this is the "East Coast Bias." Just like "liberal media"/"right-wing media," it's completely counterproductive, and almost impossible to prove. Boston and New York are both on the East coast. USC gets plenty of media coverage, as do the major teams in all the top media markets. As long as they're good (or really bad).

So many college football teams were in and out of the spotlight last season. This didn't show bias, it showed parity. The one team that usually receives too much attention is Notre Dame, which gets to stay out of a conference and still gets a TV deal.

But even ND deserved their attention last year, because they underacheived so badly, and have a marquee head coach who boasted that he would dominate the NCAA.

As for ESPN's seeming fixation on the Patriots, they're a good team, and they're controversial, what's not to like from a media perspective?

• Politicizing Sports

At best, politics in sports is as ridiculous as Obama (almost) advertising on a race car. At worst it's the Munich Olympics.

Politics in sports is Arlen Spector trying to wasting tax dollars and Congress' time on Spygate. It's China cutting off free Internet access to Olympic reporters for fear they might report on other issues. (Note: They recently allowed it again, for now at least).

It's land owners using tree-sitters and the Oak Foundation as proxies to disrupt the construction of the privately-funded Cal Athletic Center. Politics makes French labs test Lance Armstrong dozens of times more than French or other European riders. It's Obama buying ad-time during the Olympics.

Politics turns soccer matches into riots, and allows Hitler to start the torch rally to try and advance the cause of Nazism.

As everyone knows, the Greeks started the concept of the Olympiad as a refuge from war and politics. These Olympics are already one of the politicized Games since Moscow 1980. Just because politics has an arena, doesn't mean it mixes well with sports.