Less than 100 days to go, and I've never been happier to not be paying attention to sports. I still miss watching sports, but The Offseason has shown me that watching and paying attention are two very different things. When my year is up, I will have to make a decision about watching sports, but you can count on me to budget my actual attention elsewhere.
You don't need an amateur blog to tell you that there is a lot going on in the world right now. Still, it seems like there are some major things happening that could determine what the next couple of decades will look and feel like. Many of these things are in the headlines. Climate change is manifesting in more and more concrete ways, offering up tornados in CT and MA on consecutive days (I was in each state at the time, btw). The lives of refugee children who have come to America are being debated, putting them at even more risk. And, there is a major piece of legislation that could change the Internet in very profound ways which few people seem to be showing much interest in.
Despite all these huge problems which are directly relevant to our day to day lives, and a whole host of others that could easily have huge effects on the world in the long term (Gaza, Ukraine, etc.), the Boston media are obsessed with one story above all else - some asinine comments that a daytime radio host made about a sportscaster on ESPN. Think about that for a second. Does any part of that sentence involve someone scoring a touchdown? Or hitting a home run? Does it even have to do with something tangentially involved with sports, like a coaching move, or a free agent signing? Clearly not. This is a person who makes their living off the attention we pay to sports talking about another person who does the same thing. Now the story is about them! How is that possibly worth a modicum of your valuable attention?
I will concede that the controversy in question is steeped in misogyny and slander and the consequences of one's actions, but honestly, this is a conversation that belongs in an HR office. Not on the air, and certainly not on the front page of the Globe. Right now, there is a headline on boston.com that asks when a responsible male sports media voice will come forward. I would offer this advice to the author and any concerned readers; don't hold your breath. I used to be a devout listener of sports radio. Morning, noon, and night I had it on, fearful of missing a good argument or of being the last to find out about a big trade. At a certain point, I let it all go, and I can't tell you how much it improved my enjoyment of sports. I was finally free from having to worry about all the gnashing of teeth around a pitcher imploding or a missed shot. A win was a win and a loss was a loss. Truly, as long as I kept "you can't win ’em all" on my mind, I was covered.
Maybe I should have learned this lesson right then and there, but it took me until now to realize that sports really isn't worth the attention it sometimes costs. It should be about the games, and the plays, not about the announcers, or even the contracts. Even back before The Offseason, the surest way to get me to leave a sports discussion was to start bringing up contracts and trades. It's secondary filler. It's spam. The games are where it's at. And that ought to be enough.
I'm excited to see the Patriots play again soon. I'm excited to watch a Lakers Celtics game. I'm hopeful that the World Series goes to Halloween so I can catch a baseball game before next season, but if it doesn't, I'll be fine. But I envy you all. You have a choice right now. You can take your attention and budget and spend it as you wish. You can try and have an impact on the world around you, or you can look to sports media for lessons on morality. It's entirely up to you.
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