Mikey D

There is a sports story today about a guy from Nebraska who posted on a messageboard that two of Oklahoma's QBs had been busted on drug charges and were arrested. The story was picked up by two local television stations and ran. The story, however, was erroneous and fabricated, and the guy who posted it is getting a lot of heat, as well as the stations who ran it (and rightfully so).

Well the sports talk show hosts on ESPN Radio have had a field day with this story. The two television stations have been blasted. The guy who created the story has been blasted. And most surprisingly, each show I've listened to today has blasted people who post on messageboards. The messageboard community is getting ripped on as a whole. Scott Van Pelt even had a debate on who is a bigger dork, the fantasy football player or the person who posts on the messageboard.

The more I listened to, the angrier I got, and I actually turned off my sports talk radio. I never turn off sports talk radio. Today, however, I was really upset.

Let's start with the messageboard posters. Cowherd and Van Pelt ripped on them for having no life and being unproductive with their time. First off, you guys are sports talk show hosts. Now I am a sports fanatic in every sense of the word, but even I realize that in the grand scheme of life, you are not that important to society. You are there for my amusement, and that's it. I'd say much like a messageboard. To me, messageboards aren't places for people to get facts and stories, but rather to communicate and converse. Are some ridiculous? Yes, or course. Just as ridiculous as talking about A-Rod's divorce for an hour on the radio I'd say. But they aren't to be taken seriously. Do I agree that some people spend too much time on them? Sure (although time is relative)! Would I say they don't have a life? Emphatically no. I don't have the right to. And neither do these ESPN radio personalities. What do they know about having a life? What makes them all-knowing? They are paid to talk about sports. They are paid to talk about games. Games. And they are going to criticize ALL messageboard posters, not just the knuckleheads, by calling them losers?

Secondly, they don't know the first thing about messageboards. Some can be quite useful. As I expand my knowledge in the field of culinary arts, I find myself visiting messageboards frequently. Not sure how long and the best temperature to cook a meatloaf? A simple post on a messageboard on a recipe website, and I have five answers from people across the country giving me their opinion. Am I a loser for asking? Am I wasting my life? Now I understand they probably meant just those extreme few who make multiple postings throughout the day on sports messageboards and have to make fun of the other people who post and have to use crude language. But they didn't say that. And even if they did, they're wrong for saying it. Because even those extreme few, who can be assholes sometimes, have the right to say what they want in the medium they choose. Radio show hosts have the radio. I use my blog. Some people like messageboards. That's their outlet. So even though I might wish they'd stop posting, they're not losers for wanting their voice heard.

Moving on to fantasy football. I can admit I am a fantasy dork. I like it, what can I say? I am a dork because I spend way too much time looking at stats and following games. And I will allow anyone else who has played fantasy football to tell me so. I'm fine with that. But for Scott Van Pelt to sit on his radio show and tell people he's never played fantasy football in his life and then call the fantasy community a bunch of dorks and losers I cannot stand. It's downright ignorant, and I hate it. Don't knock something you have no understanding of and have no knowledge of. Just like messageboards. How can you rip a group of people who have a sincere interest in something without first knowing about that interest? How ignorant, uninformed, and shallow can you get?

So call the guy an idiot who posted the story about the two Oklahoma QBs being arrested. He was dumb for making up something so serious. And rip on the two television stations that reported the story as fact. They should never get their information from messageboards. But leave it at that. Don't call messageboard posters losers. Don't rip on fantasy sports. You are not given a mic and a radio show to do so. You are to comment on what you know about the world of sports, conduct insightful interviews, and spark fun sports conversation with your listeners. But remember, you are not an all-knowing human being. Everything you think is not always true. Even you, ESPN and your merry band of radio show hosts, are not perfect.

I'm officially boycotting sports talk for a week, which for those who know me will be hard. Although I suppose I won't be missing much. A-Rod's divorce, Favre's comeback, and the such. Who cares about that stuff?

Oh, right. Losers.

~Mikey D