Sport coverage or sport soap-opera?

Throughout the term, I have mentioned frequently that it appears American sports journalism is much less ‘fact-based’ than Irish sports journalism.  Specifically, coverage in the states is very speculative while coverage here is very cut and dry.  The analysis/coverage of Newcasle boss Alan Pardew head-butting an opposing player is a prime example of how drastically different the two nations are in terms of reporting.

            RTÉ reported this morning that Pardew will be fined for his actions, but not fired.  Those claims are based on direct quotes from the league manager and the Newcastle owner himself (RTÉ).  It doesn’t appear that there’s any huge controversy over the punishment; society has accepted the repercussions, and everyone is moving on.  I thought back to some similar incidences in the U.S. to see how our reaction compares, and found a situation that got handled much differently.

            A few years ago, an assistant coach for the New York Jets (an NFL team) intentionally tripped an opposing player as he was running up the sideline.  The player wasn’t anywhere near the play, so the trip was completely unnecessary.  I vividly remember that for about 2 weeks, ESPN was airing continuous coverage of the story, and analysts debated whether or not Sal Alosi (the coach) should be fired.  While he ended up getting fined by the NFL and disciplined by the Jets organization, the conversation about whether the penalties were enough continued for days.  American society didn’t simply accept that he made a mistake, apologized, and got penalized.  Instead, the coverage was very dramatic and blew the situation out of proportion.

Heck, the conversation about firing Alosi eventually even turned into talk about firing head coach Rex Ryan, since the act happened while he was in charge.  It was absolutely ludicrous.  That’s like impeaching the President of the United States because a congressman does something drastic.  Unfortunately, this is the way things are in America and it won’t change anytime soon.  ESPN generates too much revenue to cut back on their coverage. We as citizens need to try take a step back and accept things the way that they are. 

Situations like this often make me wonder ‘why’ we make sports coverage so dramatic.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it might be because of the amount of news that’s played everyday.  With SportsCenter being on TV 24/7, the reporters often seem to run of pressing news stories, but still have to fill the airtime.  Therefore, they find anything big that can be controversial, and overanalyze it as much as possible.  I am going to miss the Irish way of sports coverage when I return home.  I actually enjoy reading the newspaper and articles on RTÉ because I know I’m going to get necessary information rather than garbage.  I’m sorry to anyone who comes to America and gets overwhelmed by the way we report things.

Works Cited

A.P. "Jets coach who tripped Dolphins player suspended, fined." ESPN Online (2012).

"Alan Pardew's job safe despite headbutt." RTÉ Sports 28 February 2014.