Politics Adulterate the Sports Genre

If the ability to step back in time actually existed, I know the first person would I need to find.  In fact, it is a group of people—those who held positions in Congress in the late 1790s. 

My address to the Congressional body would be succinct.  I would definitely note the fact that their decision was made because the harvest would like to be in, but I would also note that their responsibilities weren't limited to those who were alive in their political terms.  They should be looking to the future.

Specifically, that elections were held in the busiest time of the year in the 20th and 21st century.

Major League Baseball playoffs, college football, professional football, and I may even move out of my comfort zone and include the NHL.

Priorities, people.  Priorities. 

I like politics and the discussions and the debates that come with this season.  Like most conscientious Americans, what happens in our state capitals and Washington is of great importance to me.  But there is a time when you have to say...

Enough is enough.  There is a time and place for everything.

Perhaps you can identify with me.  When the fall season rolls in, my Saturdays are blacklisted to weddings and even family get-togethers.  The phone isn't turned off on Saturday, but you better be a football fan if you happen to dial my number. 

Priorities.  It's football season, for goodness sake.

Golfing runs a close second to football in the fall because the weather off the coast of South Carolina is perfect for a day on the links.  Yet when I decide to test my skills against the almighty golfing gods, I find myself inundated with political advertisements while driving to my local courses.

These signs litter the landscape, but thankfully the local government has decreed that these eyesores have to be removed within a few hours of the general election. 

Now I find myself dealing with another public nuisance.  Not only do political ads and viewpoints litter my everyday life, they've even ventured into the most sacred of all seasons: the fall sports season.

Ah, but I've always found a respite.  No matter what may be happening around the world, one could always find solace by submerging oneself into sports stories.

Let's face it.  You can only watch FSN Final Score twice, maybe three times if you missed something, and you have to move onto another source.

Unfortunately, now those other sources are also littered with the same political jargon we deal with outside of our sports passions. 

I'm not referring to the ads. I'm referring to the hosts, the stations, the shows whose on-air talent feel the need to express their viewpoints on the political scene without any sports context.

I completely understood, although I was reticent about the actions, when Senator Mitchell started his investigation into steroid abuse in Major League Baseball.  These discussions were apropos for the sports entertainment networks. 

As an avid sports forum reader and a "recruiting junkie," I cringed when I began to notice questions surface about how the escalating gas prices may affect some kids' abilities to look at different schools around the NCAA.  Then again, this was a discussion that has bearing on where athletes decide to attend college.

Step back in time with me, only for a minute.  Do you remember getting up and watching the "Big Show" with Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann?  That was classic television, and I found myself disappointed when the duo broke up.

In more recent days, I welcomed the return of Dan Patrick to the radio airwaves in the afternoons.  After all, instead of being inundated with all the political talk of the day, I could find a little oasis tuning in to sports talk radio.

The announcement that Olbermann would begin joining Patrick in the afternoons was welcomed when I considered who much fun it was "back in the day."

That excitement was quickly queered when Olbermann felt it was his duty to delve off into political discussion when there was a plethora of different sports topics to discuss.

Scratch the Dan Patrick show.

NBC recently reunited Patrick and Olbermann on their NFL broadcasting team.  Again, with hope, I looked forward to seeing the reunion.  But within a minute of reviewing highlights, Olbermann felt it his civic duty to make an analogy between the political events of the day and the National Football League.

Scratch NBC's Football Night in America.

When Mike Tirico's show debuted over a year ago, once again I found a sports talk show I could listen to while removing myself from the political discussions.  But just this past week, Tirico started his show discussing the bailout Congress has been voting on.

The true definition of bailout as it stands today?  Scratch the Tirico and Van Pelt show.

On those notes, a quick suggestion for those at ESPN.  The acronym stands for "Entertainment Sports Programming Network," not "Entertainment Sports Political Network."

Sports message forums are flooded with members voicing their opinions and views in avatars and signatures—yet one more of my "hiding places" that has been adulterated by the political scene today.

I've exercised my right, albeit not a constitutional right, to turn off those shows which can't remain on topic, that can't separate the difference between sports programming and the discussions that go with them and political debate.

Time and time again we've seen players and coaches alienate their fan base.  Now it's moved beyond the playing field and moved into the Eden we all enjoy.

A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

There's a time and a place for everything.

As it appears, it's only a dream for me to think I'll ever have the utopia I once enjoyed.