The Media Circus

For a random blog like JSF to call someone under-appreciated or to say that a player is someone who is “the best you’ve never heard of” is simply an observation of how a player is perceived by the media and conversely the fans.

When someone at ESPN—the entity more responsible for shaping perceptions that any other in sports—calls someone under-appreciated it typically means that they are the ones who have been doing the under-appreciating.

Call it a sports Catch-22.

Such is the case with San Diego Padres first basemen, Adrian Gonzalez.  The gold glove winner in 2008, Gonzalez is on pace for his third consecutive season of 30 HR and 100 RBI and yet the mainstream media has seemingly been slow to pick up on his considerable talent.

But never fear, ESPN has caught on and, because they’re just now coming around, they’ll go ahead and assume that you’re a few steps behind them.  Just as SportsCenter’s Josh Elliot:

“Perhaps the very best player in the game you’ve never heard of.”

Or maybe Baseball Tonight’s Tim Kurkjian who a few weeks ago wrote:

“He won the National League Gold Glove at first last season to go with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs. Yet he is doing what he’s doing this year and is still not a household name. That’s due in part to the fact that he plays for a struggling team in a small market. I just don’t think he gets his due, but I have little doubt that will change soon enough.”

Nothing screams irony more than the hosts of probably the two most influential shows on the sport of baseball—Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter—shows that have an abnormally large role in creating perceptions around a player such as Adrian Gonzalez, pointing out the skewed perception of Adrian Gonzalez.

Except perhaps when they chalk up said skewed perception to the fact that he plays for a team that they don’t choose to talk about very often on Baseball Tonight and Sportscenter.

Next thing they’re going to tell us is that Brett Favre is “overhyped”. ###MORE###

Crap that actually came from somebody’s mouth

“I get worried when a guy keeps on hitting home runs” - Al Hrabosky, FSN Midwest

After Cardinals rookie Colby Rasmus had a spurt of home runs, Al expressed his concern over a player doing the single most valuable thing that he can do on a baseball diamond.  Can’t have him doing too much of that.
___

“It’s odd that Albert Pujols knocks out “I”.  He is anything but “I”, he is “we”. – Al Hrabosky speaking of this

Don’t look at us, we have to hear him almost every night.

“And Joe, remember the leading lady – Johnny Damon.” – Tim McCarver after a game tying ninth inning home run with Damon aboard.

Even though he really had no idea that what he said was funny, we were thoroughly amused when Tim McCarver called Johnny Damon a girl.

“I believe his play has spoken for him and it says ‘I’m not good enough to be a starter in the National Football League.” - Mark Schlereth, on Vince Young

“He won the rookie of the year based on his dynamic athleticism, not on his ability to play quarterback. Matt Ryan won it based on his football acumen, his ability to play quarterback, his ability to execute at that position.” - Schlereth

Nothing wrong with these opinions, it’s just a welcome re-acquaintance when the Big Savvy Mark Schlereth comes back to television and brings with him his anti-acronym and diverse vocabulary.

By the way, the Big Savvy’s son Daniel made his Major League debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks this past weekend. Keep tabs on his stats here, and marvel at his hair belo...

Schlereth’s humility and modesty hasn’t allowed him to hype his son publicly, but Media Circus bookmakers have 2:1 odds that Daniel is one of the “best pitching rookies in the National League of Major League Baseball”.

Media Rant - It’s time for Michael Rosenberg to grow up: by Patrick Imig

After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost the Eastern Conference Finals in six games, LeBron James left the floor without congratulating his Orlando counterparts. The handshake snub was plenty of ammunition for the cog of hypocrisy, otherwise known as the national media, to tear down the same person it had previously built up.

Michael Rosenberg is one such individual...

Can somebody please tell LeBron James that “King” is not an official title?

James and his Cleveland Cavaliers just lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals, and really, that should have been the low point of his week. It was not. LeBron followed up by refusing to shake hands with the Magic, storming out of Amway Arena in Orlando without answering reporters’ questions and then defending himself when he was finally cornered Sunday.

Gotta love the use of the words “storming” and “cornered” to make the impact of this story a little more severe. And since this “story” isn’t that big of a deal, Michael is compelled to draw analogies between shaking hands with your opponents after a loss and working at a manufacturing plant.

“(Shaking hands) is hard. Not as hard as, say, putting in 12-hour days at a manufacturing plant, and certainly not as hard as getting laid off from the aforementioned manufacturing plant, but it’s hard."

See the parallels? Me neither.

But LeBron should feel ashamed for not shaking hands and commending the Magic. You know why? Michael Jordan did it!

”I think Isiah did a heck of a job leading his team,” Jordan said in June 1990 after he lost to his least favorite team (the Pistons) and one of his least favorite players (Isiah Thomas) in the Eastern Conference finals. ”He initiated things and that’s what he needed to do.”

Sure there is no reference to Jordan shaking hands with the Pistons, that’s besides the point. The point is that MJ is not a jerk like LeBron. Neither is Magic Johnson.

“You hear so much talk about him as an individual player,” Magic said in 1991, after Jordan’s Bulls beat his Lakers, “but he’s proved everyone wrong with this championship.”

Michael (Rosenberg) doesn’t want you to know this, but he’s not sure if Magic Johnson shook Michael Jordan’s hand 18 years ago—and if he does know for sure, he should relay that truth so we can aptly judge this extreme case of sore-loserdom.

For his part, Rosenberg wants to point out his objectivity...

“Look, I’m the same guy who wrote last month that LeBron is clearly the best player of his generation, that nobody else comes close and that he has a chance to be the best player ever. And he did absolutely nothing in this series to make me think otherwise.”

The media giveth...

“By walking off the floor and refusing to shake hands or answer questions, LeBron just gave his critics fuel. It is counterproductive.”

and the media taketh away.

Guess what Michael, your apparent concern for LeBron falls on deaf ears considering you are both journalist and critic. It’s only counterproductive TO YOU and people who feel the same way! I might be mistaken, but I’m guessing LeBron James could give a crap what the critics think.

It’s only one slip-up. And yes, LeBron’s reaction to the reaction has been sub-par, but let’s not assume he’s become the devil. He’s still the same guy he was in 2007 after the Cavs got swept out of the NBA Finals by the Spurs—the same guy who commended them as the better team. You say so yourself in your column...

That was the LeBron I like. That was the guy who seems to combine everything you would want in an NBA star: athleticism, intelligence, skill, class, unselfishness …

This latest disappearing act makes me worry that the best player in the NBA is falling into the same trap as other star athletes. In sports, being in love with yourself means never having to say you’re sorry.

… z z z z z z z z z z z z …

… z z z z z z z z z z z z …

These guys are just silly clowns

Since Michael Rosenberg fired the first mainstream missile in this media war on handshake snubbery, the folks at Yahoo! and SI wanted to jump in on the fray. You can check out Phil Taylor’s SI piece right here. Some of the most mind-numbing comments from the article …

“Not only would (shaking hands) have saved him the smattering of grief he’s been getting from the media and fans the last few days, it just would have also been the right thing to do.”

Phil Taylor wishes LeBron would have shook hands so that Phil Taylor wouldn’t be criticizing him. Phil Taylor, everyone. Phil Taylor.
___

“The more interesting question is, Why did LeBron do it? How could a player who has really never been guilty of even the slightest public misstep in his behavior make such an obvious blunder?”

Probably because he was angry at the time and acted selfishly, Phil. The fact that this is the worst thing LeBron has ever done means we should probably take a step back and put things in perspective.
___

“By not uttering a word, he was speaking volumes to Cavs management … It might have seemed like James had finally made a little mistake, but don’t be fooled. He knew exactly where he was going.”

Phil Taylor can read minds. He also wants you to believe that LeBron James purposely skipped out on congratulating the Magic to speak indirectly to the Cavaliers. Phil Taylor, everyone.

If you feel the need, you can also check out Adrian Wojnarowski’s column on Yahoo! Sports.

PS: We have yet to get reactions from the three writers noted above about LaDainian Tomlinson and Tom Brady. Tom Brady walked off the field without congratulating the Giants after a Super Bowl loss and LT did the same to Brady and the Patriots a year earlier in the playoffs. As we all know, those two guys have been 100% bad people since the incidents. Bad.

Albert Pujols = Kick Ass Anxiety Therapist

While the media is busy piling on LeBron, baseball’s shining star—Albert Pujols—continues to convince the media that he more than just a baseball player...

“Talking about Khalil Greene, note that a couple of people have told me that he’s getting some help from Albert.  Albert is trying to mentor him a little bit through this heavy patch of his playing days” – Jay Randolph

“Well no better guy to do it than Albert.” – Ricky Horton

We certainly couldn’t think of anyone better to help Khalil Greene with his social anxiety disorder (that has since landing him on the DL) than Albert Pujols.

Maybe if LeBron wants some counseling on how to handle his anger management after losing a series, Dr. Pujols will have some time this winter.

The Media Circus is written by Josh Bacott and Patrick Imig. They heard Pujols has a Prozac vending machine at his restaurant. Email them at [e-mail].

---

Subscribe (for free!!) to our weekly sports podcast, deemed "incredible" by two out of three of our moms.

© JoeSportsFan.com, 2009. | Permalink | Tweet This