Top 5 Things That Need to Get Out of Sports

The Pro Bowl. Has there ever been a game that was talked about so much that meant so little? Whenever people talk about the Pro Bowl, the talk is rarely ever about the game itself. More often than not, talk of the Pro Bowl usually ends up in a debate. Should the NFL have the Pro Bowl or not? Should it be in Hawaii or Miami? Should it be held the week before the Super Bowl or the week after? And it seems that this year, the debate has been whether or not there should even be a Pro Bowl at all. Personally, I would like to see the NFL dump the Pro Bowl. Not because I hate the game. (I’m indifferent toward the game.) I would like to see the NFL get rid of the Pro Bowl because maybe that move would open the door for the removal of many other things that we need to get rid of in sports. What things? Here is my list of the top five things that need to be stopped in sports.

5. Halftime Interviews

The coaches don’t want to stop and talk. The players don’t want to stop and talk. And most importantly, the fans don’t want to stop in listen. Why do networks feel necessary to grab hold of a coach in the middle of the game and ask the same boring, pointless questions? Explaining to a reporter what went wrong in the first half is not the number one priority on a coaches mind as they walk to the locker room. And worse than holding a coach hostage for questioning is a reporter asking a dozen questions to a player who is gasping for breath and can barely talk. Well…we….looked….good…the ….first….half……Let the player rest for a few minutes before asking a stupid question or better yet, let’s just stop the halftime interviews all together.

4. Overrated Chant

OVERRATED!! (clap!clap!clap!clap!clap!) OVERRATED!!! (clap!clap!clap!clap!clap!) It’s a chant heard throughout stadiums and arenas every year. Whenever an underdog team beats a high ranking team at home, the fans are sure to let the whole world know that they just beat a team….that wasn’t very good. Do fans know what overrated means? Do they realize they are disrespecting their team more than the opponents? I don’t want to beat a team that was worse than I thought. I want to beat the best team. And if the team we beat isn’t really as good as they were supposed to I definitely am going to keep my mouth shut about it. I don’t want to tell the world they were overrated. I want everyone to think we just beat the number one, almighty, all time greatest squad in the world!!

3. Handshakes after free throws

A free throw. A wide open, unguarded shot from fifteen feet away. It’s a simple shot. Or at least it should be for professional basketball players. It’s a shot that a pro player should make with regularity. Then why do they give each other a fist pound or handshake after they miss? It happens dozens of times a game. A player goes to the line, bends his legs, takes the shot, misses it and….here comes all his teammates. I know, I know a lot of you are saying that they are just offering support and encouragement. I‘m not buying that. That’s fine in high school and college sports. But this isn’t CYO. It’s PRO basketball. As a professional basketball player you are supposed to make free throws!! That’s their job!! So if they miss wide open, unguarded shot, they should not be saying “It’s ok. You got this.” They should be saying “you’re getting paid $20 million!! Make a free throw!!!

2. BCS vs Playoff Talk

The BCS is what we got in college football. Lets deal with it. Why does every discussion about college football have to include a emotional monologue about how horrible and idiotic the BCS is? Aren’t there more relevant stories in college football we can talk about? And all this talk has made its way to Washington D.C. where the government is now inching closer to getting involved in settling the BCS debate. Please, Congress, listen to me. I can think of about forty million other things that you should be concerned about before this. Fix the problems in the country before you start working on the BCS.

1. The Gatorade Bath

How did it get so out of control? Once upon a time, the Gatorade bath was spontaneous and exciting. Seeing the players dousing their coach meant that it was a big game and a big victory (championship, Super Bowl, etc) and it was a moment the player and coach could laugh, smile and enjoy victory. Now it seems if a team takes a lead early in the 3 rd quarter, there are at least two guys sliding over to get a seat by the cooler. These guys now get to be the guys who look like fools as they whiff on getting the coach soaked with Gatorade, but do a great job of knocking him unconscious with the cooler. Great job guys!! It was once such a great moment in sports, but like the others, is something that we can now get rid of in sports.

David Hyland
DFN Sports Staff Sports Writer

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