Mark Sanchez, New York Jets Are Overhyped Match Made in Media Heaven

It’s rather curious that the No. 5 overall pick is already getting much more coverage than the draft’s top selection.

It would seem that a team which failed to win a single game last season and drafted the top-rated quarterback in the draft would be the best story.

The Detroit Lions have been looking for a quality pick, any decent pick at all, for who knows how long, and have virtually an entirely new front office. They got that in Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Conventional wisdom might suggest that Detroit’s story would be headlining all sports shows, national print publications, and web sites.

Instead, the national sports media is showing the same bias it has been accused of for years.

Instead of Detroit being in the spotlight, it is the New York Jets and former USC quarterback, Mark Sanchez. Now before comments and emails begin flooding this way, the previous statement likely tells the story: New York, USC.

But why is a quarterback who has barely started for one full season, didn’t graduate from college, and really hasn’t proven nearly as much on the field as Stafford more deserving of air time?

If anything, a team with a history of losing that would make even the Chicago Cubs feel good about themselves should be getting pumped up.

The difference and reason is really quite simple. However unfair it might be, it’s simple.

New York and Southern California have such a common, sexy appeal to the coastal press corps that the fit couldn’t have been better if the quarterback was drafted by his hometown team.

Imagine if it were the Jets who had gone 0-16 last season and selected with the No. 1 overall pick, Stafford. The story would have been genuinely covered as the top story coming out of the draft.

It’s also somewhat difficult to believe that Sanchez would be getting the same amount of coverage if he had been picked by the Lions. Then the likely story line would be about how Detroit made another mistake, and Stafford and the Jets met at the corner of Destiny and Dynasty while waiting for the Super Bowl bus to arrive.

Where are the inspirational and motivational stories of Michael Oher (OT, Mississippi) or Aaron Curry (OLB, Wake Forest)? Those are the stories worth telling. Those are the stories that truly make sports worthwhile.

Posted in Football, Sports