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I listen to sports radio way too much. Yet, I can’t stop. It’s like having a drug problem that’s impossible to kick. I’m not sure how it started for me, but it has been going for 10 years and I am finally ready to break my addition.
Somehow sports radio has become mindless, useless, rubbish. It is locker room talk for those who wish they were (still) in a locker room. The thing is, sports radio creates a dangerous atmosphere. Like an addictive drug, it lures some poor listener into its grasp and feeds his or her mind an unhealthy diet of trivial news until the listener has become hooked. Once that happens, look out, because then sports radio has power over you and it will do what it does best: irritate, annoy, entertain and rile you up. It will send your mind into an alternative state and make you ponder such things like: Should the Yankees trade Alex Rodriquez? Will the Jets make the playoffs? Is Terrell Owens the Anti-Christ?
With modern technology so readily available, the aftermath has created a recent boom in the sports industry. Fans have become completely overdosed with competition and sports radio is a way for them to get their daily fix. But I see a problem here, folks. I think it is unnatural to obsess about sports or worship athletes. Players are not Gods, so they should not be treated like one. It is ok to enjoy the merits of Eli Manning on Sunday, but it’s another thing to call a radio station -- wait 20 minutes -- and dissect his performance come Monday. I understand that sports are a form of entertainment and escape, but once the clock has expired or the final out has been made -- that’s it! Game over! Regardless if your favorite team won or lost, once the game is over please go on with your life and for God’s sake don’t call up a radio station to talk about it!
Conversely, the hosts of sports radio are equally at fault for turning sports into a soap opera. Some in fact are quite despicable. I still can’t get out of my head the way Mike and the Mad Dog (WFAN in New York) completely ripped Cory Lidle in the wake of the Yankees losing to Detroit and just days before his tragic death. Mike and Mad Dog treated Lidle like trash, even though he had the guts to come on air and defend himself. In hindsight, I can’t help but wonder the impact sports radio, if any, had on Lidle’s fatal crash.
Although sports radio has gotten out of control, it isn’t all bad. So, I’ve come up with a solution. To the fans: Spend your time enjoying your life rather than worrying about someone else’s. To the radio stations: Stick to interviewing players/coaches/managers, etc; updating the status of an injured athlete; reporting on scores and broadcasting live sporting events.
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