Love it or Hate it: Media Bias

What did I tell you all about lowering your standards in order to make smaller victories more exciting? Well, if you followed my advice, the Jags probably have you ecstatic right now, euphoric even. However, I have some beef to pick with the national talking heads and the four-letter network that covered the game. My question to them, “Why do you hate Jacksonville so?” and my question to the NFL at large, “Since when did two really strong defensive performances by two of the top defenses in the league equal a “trash” game (using the four-letter network’s descriptor of the game)?

To answer the first part, I have to believe that the hate exists towards Jacksonville because Jacksonville never follows the rules. In the eyes of many media pundits, Jacksonville never should have gotten the Jaguars in the first place, with cities like St. Louis, Baltimore and Charlotte higher on the lists of expected expansion winners. We were a city with the fourth smallest designated market area. We were a city located in a state that already had two other teams. The Jaguars have never followed the expert’s picks. From the miracle run in 1996 to the massive flop that was the 2008 season to the most recent upset win over the Ravens, the Jaguars have almost always departed from what the so called “experts” expect. Jacksonville also was lambasted in the national media for the 2004 Super Bowl. They didn’t complain about the stadium or the game, quite the opposite actually, however the talking heads could never get over the fact that Jacksonville’s laid back attitude lead to a lack of super exciting Miami or LA style parties that all of these psuedo-celebs could go to. Jacksonville will forever be remembered as being mocked by the talking heads as only have Waffle Houses (while we have them, they aren’t all we have). Since when did pregame festivities and celeb parties matter to a frickin’ football game? Sorry for channeling my inner Vic here, but football is about football, not parties and pacifying idiots who whine about entertainment that doesn’t involve the game.

To answer the second part, I tend to believe that within the past 15 years the implementation of rules to hinder defenses and promote offenses have killed the hopes for dominating defensive performances to be praised. The four letter network’s highlight real shows have ruined the fans’ understanding of the game. Fans expect big, missile launcher hits, rather than good form and execution. I guess this is me being old school and respecting an effective and well polished defensive performance. I don’t need to see The Eraser whiff on a tackle, but love to see Poz chase down a RB and make a good form tackle. I guess its just me.

So what do we do about this? Well, I personally am done with any non-sports broadcasting that the four-letter network produces. It’s no longer about sports, but about opinionated, self-proclaimed experts that are generally wrong. I’ll tune in when the four-letter network shows a sporting event, because their product for that is top-notch, however, the post-game shows are not for me. For the second part? Well, we as fans are going to have except that the NFL is changing to basketball on grass and there is little we can do to change it. Have faith though, the Jags seem to have a QB who can make all of the throws and are just a few players away from having a really effective offense. Ok, I’m sorry.

/rant off