Media Circus

Today is Friday, so here comes a fictional fragment from my mind.

These days are much different than when I started to play. In those days, the reporters talked about the game, not about the drama. Now, as a member of the media, I knew that we're looking for the story behind the story. It isn't enough to write that a pitcher had a bad day. There has to be a reason. Is he hurt? Is he having family problems? Is it the manager's fault? Is he too secure with that nice new contract with all of the guaranteed money? It can never be as simple as he made a few bad pitches and got burned. And as a journalist, I had to be there to ask the questions. I had to know why even if somewhere in my mind I knew that it was just a bad day. Drama sells papers, not pat answers about feeling a little bit off that day or about the excellent effort from the opposing team. Even if the pat answers are the truth, people want more. And as long as the public wanted more, the media had to dig.
Photo by Valeriana Solaris on Flickr

1990 is Old School

It was very funny today when I opened up my Facebook and saw a group that was dedicated to people who grew up in the 90s. The particular item that caught my eye was the Chicago Bulls being the best team ever. However, I thought that tonight I would add a few more important events that happened in the 90s that I feel are just as important.
• The home run gains new meaning as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa duke it out in 1998 in order to best Roger Maris' almost 40-year-old record.
• Michael Jordan retired twice.
• Magic Johnson and Larry Bird both retire only once though.
• Steroids begin to become some sort of plague; at least they're finally recognized as a problem somewhat.
• Tiger Woods emerges as golf's new phenom.
• Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman make the Cowboys one of the most exciting teams in the NFL.
• Christian Laettner nails an amazing buzzer beater for the Blue Devils as they triumphed over Kentucky.
• The Dream Team is created.
• Major League Baseball survived the strike.
• Most importantly, I was born.
I hope you all enjoyed this brief trip down memory lane. If you have a favorite sports moment from the 90s, please feel free to add your comment or e-mail me, and I'll post them as comments anyway. Sometimes, you just get that feeling of nostalgia and have to let it out.
Photo by sling@flickr