jsantoliquito
06-09-2010, 07:02 PM
By Joseph Santoliquito
I’ll just come right out and admit it: I’m a hypocrite. I’m hypocrite for what I’m about to do, not for anything I’ve done, said publicly or written in the past. I’m about to do something I’ve sworn I’d never do publicly or write about, something I’ve emphatically railed against privately because I too am a member of “the club,” so to speak.
I’m about to bitch about the media, more specifically another member of the media, someone I’ve met, someone I admire and someone I think is at the pinnacle of the baseball food chain: Bob Costas, welcome to my little room.
I caught part of Costas’ broadcast of Stephen Strasburg’s debut and to put it succinctly, it was nauseating. How can someone as learned, professional, a true future Hall of Famer like Costas say one thing, and then say something completely different.
Costas was projecting Strasburg as an all-time great one second, and then it seemed the next he was cautioning the viewing audience that we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves in deeming Strasburg the next Sandy Koufax, or Juan Marichal, or Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Greg Maddux, Vida Blue, Roger Clemens or Tom Seaver—as Costas was doing.
“Now it needs to be said for sanity sake that there have been many so-so seasons, and so-so careers that had great debuts and there were great Hall of Famers that had lousy debuts,” Costas told the many millions watching Strasburg do his thing on the MLB network. “This is one baseball game. However, on the other hand, no one has ever looked at [Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher] Jeff Karstens and said I wonder if someday he’ll ever be in Cooperstown. There are some, perhaps getting ahead of themselves, that already consider it a foregone conclusion for Stephen Strasburg.”
Then a few innings later Costas is channeling Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove and Christy Mathewson when it came to Strasburg.
What?
It’s like a woman looking for her ideal man, saying “I like a man who’s tall, but short; thin, but wide; hairy, but bald.”
The theme of the evening was to keep Strasburg’s 14-strikeout performance in perspective, remembering it’s only one game, blah, blah, blah. Yet Costas kept bringing up how great Strasburg is and how great he could be. So what is it, Bob? Is Strasburg great, but a flameout? Is he tall, but short; is he bald, but hairy?
The shame of it is that it’s not just Costas who is guilty. I’ve seen members of the media go off countless times about racism, and discrimination, yet they had no friends who were African-American or of different cultures than they were. I’ve seen them act sanctimonious in front of the cameras, then act like complete jerks seconds after the camera’s red light went out. I’ve seen media bitch about how certain players act towards the fans—and then treat fans of their own columns and stories the same damned way.
And I’ve seen many local media complain and bitch in private and written publicly about other members of the media. In most cases, it comes from their own ignorance and jealousy, mostly because they got beat on a story and had to make some show of force to compensate for their laziness and stupidity by attacking in print so they can feel like the recess king.
Un-freakin’ believable!!
So here I am—busting chops on someone I like, I met, I admire. Someone who cautioned his viewing audience of not letting the hype machine take them over—yet he was the one riding the hype engine down the tracks. Give me some points for openly admitting it—I’m a hypocrite. It’s an ugly and evil club to belong to, but, I hate to say, most members of the sports media are proud, standing members. If only they would admit it.
Joseph Santoliquito is a national sportswriter who is based in the Philadelphia area. Contact him at jsantoliquito@phillysportspulse.com
I’ll just come right out and admit it: I’m a hypocrite. I’m hypocrite for what I’m about to do, not for anything I’ve done, said publicly or written in the past. I’m about to do something I’ve sworn I’d never do publicly or write about, something I’ve emphatically railed against privately because I too am a member of “the club,” so to speak.
I’m about to bitch about the media, more specifically another member of the media, someone I’ve met, someone I admire and someone I think is at the pinnacle of the baseball food chain: Bob Costas, welcome to my little room.
I caught part of Costas’ broadcast of Stephen Strasburg’s debut and to put it succinctly, it was nauseating. How can someone as learned, professional, a true future Hall of Famer like Costas say one thing, and then say something completely different.
Costas was projecting Strasburg as an all-time great one second, and then it seemed the next he was cautioning the viewing audience that we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves in deeming Strasburg the next Sandy Koufax, or Juan Marichal, or Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Greg Maddux, Vida Blue, Roger Clemens or Tom Seaver—as Costas was doing.
“Now it needs to be said for sanity sake that there have been many so-so seasons, and so-so careers that had great debuts and there were great Hall of Famers that had lousy debuts,” Costas told the many millions watching Strasburg do his thing on the MLB network. “This is one baseball game. However, on the other hand, no one has ever looked at [Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher] Jeff Karstens and said I wonder if someday he’ll ever be in Cooperstown. There are some, perhaps getting ahead of themselves, that already consider it a foregone conclusion for Stephen Strasburg.”
Then a few innings later Costas is channeling Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove and Christy Mathewson when it came to Strasburg.
What?
It’s like a woman looking for her ideal man, saying “I like a man who’s tall, but short; thin, but wide; hairy, but bald.”
The theme of the evening was to keep Strasburg’s 14-strikeout performance in perspective, remembering it’s only one game, blah, blah, blah. Yet Costas kept bringing up how great Strasburg is and how great he could be. So what is it, Bob? Is Strasburg great, but a flameout? Is he tall, but short; is he bald, but hairy?
The shame of it is that it’s not just Costas who is guilty. I’ve seen members of the media go off countless times about racism, and discrimination, yet they had no friends who were African-American or of different cultures than they were. I’ve seen them act sanctimonious in front of the cameras, then act like complete jerks seconds after the camera’s red light went out. I’ve seen media bitch about how certain players act towards the fans—and then treat fans of their own columns and stories the same damned way.
And I’ve seen many local media complain and bitch in private and written publicly about other members of the media. In most cases, it comes from their own ignorance and jealousy, mostly because they got beat on a story and had to make some show of force to compensate for their laziness and stupidity by attacking in print so they can feel like the recess king.
Un-freakin’ believable!!
So here I am—busting chops on someone I like, I met, I admire. Someone who cautioned his viewing audience of not letting the hype machine take them over—yet he was the one riding the hype engine down the tracks. Give me some points for openly admitting it—I’m a hypocrite. It’s an ugly and evil club to belong to, but, I hate to say, most members of the sports media are proud, standing members. If only they would admit it.
Joseph Santoliquito is a national sportswriter who is based in the Philadelphia area. Contact him at jsantoliquito@phillysportspulse.com