I Am An Asshole
Posted by
tgirsch
That’s really all I can think after my reaction to last night’s ESPN coverage of the Cardinals-Brewers game. Look, I understand that it’s a tragedy to lose a friend and teammate, and I understand that this is bound to affect people for some time in different ways. But it seemed as if the commentators, both in the booth and in the studio, had pre-written scripts for every possible outcome, all of which had the death of Josh Hancock as not only the focal point, but the reason for each result. As it was, the Cardinals got their asses handed to them, and this was because they were “distracted” by the loss of Hancock (not because the Brewers played well, or because Suppan pitched extremely well). All of the “mental mistakes” made by the Cardinals were blamed on Hancock’s death, as if they never would have screwed up if not for the death of a middle reliever. Meanwhile, Hancock’s replacement, just called up from AAA, pitched a scoreless inning, and this both “a fitting tribute” to Hancock (which I can understand) and motivated by Hancock’s death (which I can’t).
Had the Cardinals won the game instead of lost it, the story line would have been all about how the team “rallied around” the death of Hancock and were “inspired” by it. Again, I understand that his death was going to be a story line, but to cover the game as though it’s all about the death of the player, and secondarily about the Cardinals team, and not at all about the team they’re playing against, does a disservice to the sport, the teams involved, and them memory of the deceased.
Some may call me an asshole for this stance. I’ve pre-emptively done that in my title for you.
UPDATE: To his credit, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has dismissed Hancock’s death as an excuse for his team’s poor play, noting that they were playing poorly even before that happened.
I’m with you on this one. Why is it they look at things this way in sports/entertainment, etc.
Do the people in the office blame the sudden death of a co-worker with a drop in production or an increase in production? What about the factory workers?
To me, this makes a joke of the whole thing which is really quite sad. The guy died. Life sucks sometimes. It will have an impact for days and weeks to come and will affect different players differently. Some will be motivated to improve, some will be focused on their mortality and some it won’t affect in any meaningful way at all. Does this mean that the entire season rests on this one player? Win or lose it will be his glory or his fault?
The guy died tragically. Let him rest in peace.
Comment 5/1/2007
While you may be right the comentators probably had a though out scenario involving Hancock’s death. But the way i see it, there’s one of two ways you can react to a tragic event as such. You ever buck up, play the game and go win one for the “giper” or you are not completely focused on the game and still in somewhat of a state of shock that a friend and teammate just died and will not be putting on the same uniform and warming up with you as he had for the past year. That shit gets to you, so no matter what, his death had a great impact on the game played last night. There is no denying that.
Comment 5/1/2007
Scott:
So what the other team did was totally unimportant? I mean, it’s not like they’re playing against a team that currently has the best record in the majors, or anything…
Comment 5/1/2007