Some Sports "News" Just Doesn't Matter

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is tune my TV to ESPNEWS. Since I'm usually in a rush in the mornings, I feel the need to get as caught-up in the world of sports as I possibly can in the limited amount of time I have, and ESPNEWS is the best network with which to do it.

The expanded Bottom-Line they have gives me everything I need to know. Except for, you know, when it gives me things that I don't need to know.

No, I'm not referring to my Bostonian heritage here and claiming that I don't need to know that the Yankees are on the verge of heading back to the World Series. I'm not referring to not wanting to know about Marc Savard's foot injury that has further set back my beloved Boston Bruins.

I'm referring to the kind of stuff that shouldn't be news.

Check this one out: Apparently Manny Ramirez missed the end of the Philadelphia Phillies' comeback win in Game 4 of the NLCS. The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger was in the shower at the time. Manager Joe Torre has said that Ramirez often hits the showers early when he is pulled for a defensive replacement because his team has a lead late in the game.

My question is, why do we care?

So Manny wasn't there to watch. Big deal. It would be a different situation entirely if he had chosen to leave the game by his own volition in order to beat the stadium traffic or something. But that's not what happened.

Everybody knows that Manny does his own thing—especially Bostonians, who put up with it (with various reactions) for the better part of eight years. "It's just Manny being Manny," we said. Hell, when the Red Sox were down 3-1 in the 2007 ALCS, Manny shrugged it off, and the team didn't lose a game for the rest of the playoffs.

But the fact of the matter is, when we give sports superstars a lot of attention for doing things like that, it only adds to the problem. Don't like Manny being Manny? Get over it. He is who he is, and he's going to do what he needs to do. And when Manny is happy, he's one of the best players in baseball.

This "news" should have come as a surprise to no one, and that's why, as far as I'm concerned, it's irrelevant. How about, instead of criticizing the team's star player, who had been removed from the game by the manager, for not watching his team collapse, you criticize the nine guys on the baseball diamond, who only needed one out, but failed to get it?

Here's another one that baffles me: Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the leader of a team that went from NFL title contender to cellar dweller this season, donned a Peyton Manning jersey at a charity event in Nashville. When he introduced former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, he removed his formal attire to show the jersey, and quipped, "I just wanted to feel like a winner."

Fisher apologized on his weekly radio show in Nashville, but commented that, "If you're offended over the nature of that type of thing, then I think you need to rethink things."

And you know what? He's absolutely right. This should not be news. This is not Don Imus calling a women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed hoes." This is one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NFL who, while mired in an abysmal season, decided to be a good sport and have a little fun at his own expense.

It's a joke, people. Lighten up. There's really no reason to blow it up and make it news—just like there's no reason to care about Manny Ramirez's showering habits. You don't need to obsess over stupid things like these because you need something on which to vent your frustrations. That's why these things are reported in the first place.

How about, instead of finding scapegoats, we actually look at the mistakes made within the game itself? Or, by making these stupid little anecdotes into front-page news, have we forgotten that sport is, in the end, just a game?