Tag: ESPN

College sports waits on the choice Notre Dame makes, but why?

Since the summer of 2021, the world of college athletics has been flipped on its head, and the end game is anybody’s guess. It was last summer when name, image and likeness (NIL) became a thing, and the athletic students (oops…I sarcastically mean student athletes) couldn’t wait to finally cash in. The transfer portal, like NIL, became a point of contention for coaches and athletic directors alike, but it would be fair to question if it’s because the power has been taken out of their hands due to the new age of player empowerment. By the way, Texas and Oklahoma announced intentions to move from the Big 12 to the SEC in due time, making an already-dominant conference even stronger. The Big Ten, in an attempt to keep up, is adding USC and UCLA (out of all teams) from the Pac-12 soon, and the rest of the teams from that conference are apparently up for grabs. With the NCAA becoming increasingly obsolete as a governing body with each passing day, everyone is waiting to see what happens next, and the chess piece being watched the most is Notre Dame. Excuse me if I missed something, but I’m not understanding why the Fighting Irish are looked at as a needle-mover.

With the last sentence, this isn’t me trying to deny what Notre Dame has been in the historical sense. There is a lot of prestige that comes with the brand, and the fact they are an independent entity adds to it. What the program is at this current time is overhyped and outdated if we are to look at football, which is the sport driving all of the realignment. The Fighting Irish haven’t won a national championship since 1988, and any time they come close to breaking through, they got smashed by a squad with superior talent. The truth might hurt Notre Dame fans, but the golden dome has been gradually tarnished over the three decades that has followed their last claim to glory. While football is the premier sport leading to changes, it’s not a secret the money train is what everyone is following. We’re far removed from the early-90s, and just like the elite programs in football, the money trail has left the Fighting Irish behind.

Back in the day, Notre Dame was the team everyone wanted to watch. They were actually good in football, and because of the independent label, NBC thought enough of them to have a contract in place to air their home games in 1991. At that time, network television was the only way to catch games on Saturdays. ABC would have the occasional nationally televised game, but in most cases, it was regional programming. CBS had a period where they weren’t even broadcasting college football, and ESPN (ABC’s cable sister) was still relatively young in the broadcasting game. All of that combined to make the Fighting Irish beyond marketable. The millions of dollars also stayed with the university because of the aforementioned independence. If Notre Dame was in a conference, all of the money from the contract with NBC would have to be equally distributed through all of the teams within the league. So back then, this deal was a ground-breaker, and it’s also why the Fighting Irish would continue to stay independent in football, while joining the ACC in all other sports.

Fast forward to current times, and things are drastically different. Streaming services are everywhere we turn, making college football games as accessible as ever. Just about every conference has some sort of a network that brings in boatloads of money, hand over fist, and the notoriety that came with being independent is almost all gone. By being an ACC member in all sports except football, it’s not like Notre Dame is not aware of this. The school is just trying to have all of the spoils they can get, but not being a winner on the football field is also a major problem. The Fighting Irish, in this regard, are no different from Texas, USC and Miami (“The U”), schools who are trying to live off of their history, but are struggling to capture the magic from back then. Mix all of this up, and Notre Dame is not the power player many in the media world and Fighting Irish fan base seem to think.

With that said, Notre Dame watch continues for most, and it will be a huge story when a decision about their independent football status is made, but why that is baffles me. If recent history is a clue, then it’s the ACC the Fighting Irish might join. Geographically (and perhaps for more sustainability) the Big Ten could look more appealing. Independency is always an option as well, but again, we’re not living in 1991. If you ask me, Notre Dame is yesterday’s news, and Lou Holtz isn’t coming through to save Touchdown Jesus anytime soon. The elite football and money train has left the station. The choices are either the Fighting Irish catch up, or continue to fall further into irrelevancy. Where does this domino fall? The world waits, while I sleep.

Bothersome trends that need to change in sports media

Over the years, a lot has transpired within the world of media. Depending on who is asked, the changes are looked at as a positive or negative, but either way, there’s no denying the foundation of journalism has been left for questioning from all directions. The days of being accurate have been replaced by the race to get the story out first, and this transformation in particular has led to lots of sloppy reporting at the least. With the evolution of social media, maybe this was something that couldn’t have been avoided, but people in the business aren’t helping the matter either. Combine the people with all of the aforementioned issues, and it equals a mess where items such as distrust, flip-flopping and the appetite for click bait have become normalized, especially in sports media. Another result from the monstrosity are garbage trends that have also become commonplace, and people can directly affect these for the positive. They just choose not to, and viewers (and/or listeners) don’t have to look any further than the discussions about the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics.

One of these trends are to put the spotlight on the losing players and teams when results come in. Let’s look at the Monday morning quarterbacking after Game 1 this past Thursday night. It’s a fact the Warriors entered the fourth quarter up by 12, then ended the game losing by the same margin. As expected, the conversation started with accessing what Golden State did wrong, totally ignoring what the Celtics did right to turn things around. After all, it was Boston who scored 40 points in the fourth quarter by hitting practically every shot they threw up. It was also the Celtics who were able to lock the Warriors up defensively, holding them to 16 points in the final 12 minutes to win the game 120-108. One more thing, the trio of Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Derrick White combined to hit 15 three-pointers in the game. Considering Golden State forced a terrible shooting night from Jayson Tatum in the process, an argument can be made in favor of the Dubs getting everything they were looking for on defense. Tip the cap to Smart, Horford and White for stepping up and knocking down shots. With society, the focus seems to stay on the negative and the topics where the most drama is apparent. It’s time to start giving credit where it’s due, and Boston deserves all of it in this case.

Before the series started, I checked a good amount of the websites and networks (including ESPN, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and FOX Sports) to see who the “experts” had winning the series. The majority (so did I) had the Warriors winning in six or seven games. Fast forward to the result of Game 1, and it was predictable to hear the hot take artists and media members who picked Golden State start to go back on their original views. One would have thought the Celtics won the series in a one-and-done scenario, and Steph Curry lost his chance to build on his legacy based off this game. As funny (and deplorable) as it was to hear people panic due to fear of being wrong on their predictions, it couldn’t beat the sense of calm after the Warriors won Game 2 107-88 Sunday night. Order was restored come Monday morning, and so was the mass-entrance back on the bandwagon. I will never understand why people media members and fans alike make these predictions when they know they’re scrambling the minute things don’t go as planned. Unless there’s an injury to a crucial player, there’s no reason to panic. Ride with the pick until proven right or wrong, and please don’t start making excuses if and when those picks go down the drain.

Because most of the sports media apparently forgets the NBA playoff format is composed of best-of-seven series, one result is enough to bring up the wide range of convenience arguments. What I mean is if said media personality is proven right, they don’t want to hear excuses from the people who was on the losing side. Let them be the ones on the short end, and they’re using those same excuses to justify why. The low-hanging fruit of officiating (among other items) is what catches the wrath of the scorned loser in most cases, but it’s amazing how these arguments go away when they’re proven right. Breaking news…nobody is going to get everything right. Unless your name is God or Goddess, perfection isn’t in anyone’s future, and it’s okay to admit when things don’t work in your favor. Instead, we have an epidemic of excuse-making and pride getting in the way, and it’s beyond sad.

Notice the title mentions all of the above as trends, which means they’re not definite. Nothing has to become permanent because people have the choice to make it better or worse. Things in sports media (and life in general) are the way they are because the men and women in the industry allow it, and the discussion about the NBA Finals underline where these issues lay. While social media can be looked at as a cesspool of negativity at times, it is good for calling out those in the profession on their BS. Even with that, the change from the thirst for drama, flip-flopping and convenience arguments have to happen from within. Until that happens, there’s no reason to believe these trends wouldn’t continue.