Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

 

My son asked me who I thought was going to win the Super Bowl and I said, “The New York Giants … three years from now.”

I couldn’t care less who wins the Super Bowl and the only reason I’ll be watching the game is to see if New England coach Bill Belichick will crack a smile even after – as I suspect – the Patriots win the game.

Come on, that guy looks like he is having no fun at all.

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Dan Patrick of ESPN ought to ashamed of himself … but, then again, he is no different than the hordes of other sports reporters assigned to hype the bejesus out of the Super Bowl.

Only minutes after the New England Patriots stepped off their plane in Jacksonville, Florida, were asking players about something Philadelphia wide receiver Freddie Mitchell said on an ESPN segment with Patrick.

Patrick asked Mitchell, “Do you know the names of the Patriots cornerbacks?”

Mitchell said, no – he didn’t. But he did know their numbers (which he recited) and, at the end, said of No. 37 (Rodney Harrison), “Watch out – I’ve got something for you.”

The Patriots were incensed. Why, I can’t say. But for some reason Harrison thinks what Mitchell said is just about the worst sign of disrespect any wide receiver could make towards a cornerback and his fellow players.

Anyway, it was Dan Patrick’s fault. This kind of stuff is always a reporter’s fault.

How did Patrick expect Mitchell to answer that question (“yes, Dan, I do and they are a bunch of fine fellows over there.”)? Mitchell is known for saying some outrageous things and Patrick expected something outrageous and, most likely, disrespectful.

And now ESPN could harp on it for three or four days.

This is typical of these national reporters hunting for something – anything – to write in their columns. They corner Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings after practice and they start joking around about his recent fine for his gesture towards some fans and practically goad him into saying, “Next time I’ll probably flash my …”

The reporters practically begged Moss to say something outrageous and when he did, they start babbling in their columns about what a loose cannon and what a bad guy Moss is.

This kind of thing happens all the time and, frankly, I’m getting sick and tired of it. That’s why – especially if the New York Giants are not playing – I won’t read a single newspaper story about the Super Bowl and will quickly tune to another radio station once some sports anchor on WFAN or ESPN radio starts analyzing the prospects for the game.

Just play the game already.

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I have another beef with ESPN and I thought I would never say this.

There have been columnists – Phil Mushnick, who seems to hate sports, might have been one of those – who have decried the fact that the only basketball highlights ESPN will show on its Sportscenter program are dunks.

Now, it’s not quite true, of course, but it’s getting pretty close. If it’s not a half court shot at the buzzer it’s an alley oop and a dunk that gets the highlight. There are times when the Top 10 Plays segment that runs most mornings is almost entirely dunks.

As I get older, I guess my eyes are opening a little wider. I’m starting to realize that the way ESPN (and, for that matter, other sports programs) package and present sports like basketball are, in the long run, detrimental.

How many times in a youth basketball game (or even middle school and high school) do you see a young player try and pull off a hop-step on a drive to the basket? At the YMCA in Waterbury, there was a boy on my son’s team who almost exclusively went to the hop-step and almost never pulled it off.

I knew when and if he ever gets tall enough, all he is going to try and do is dunk the ball.

Fundamentals are being lost in all of our sports because all ESPN and other sports programs care to highlight on their shows are the flashy, wild plays and pretty soon all of our young athletes are going to figure that’s the only way to play.

Or am I being an old fuddy-duddy?