To Say I Don't Care is Putting It Mildly

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I'm bradley and it's my job to keep you from being the sucker at the table. 

It's no secret I love sports. So it's also no secret I hate those idiotic in-game interviews with coaches and players. 

All I can figure is, some time ago, some focus group featuring dorks and nerds came to the conclusion that they all really love getting inside information from the players and coaches in real time - so why couldn't they get more of that while they were watching the game? Well, the dorks and nerds who run professional sports said, 'hey, we can do that."

So they started with good looking babes running up and down the sidelines, trying to get details and interviews. After a while every one of them started to look like an underage kid trying to talk his way past the bouncer and into a bar for last call. The questions were all the same, the answers stock answers. It all sounded so rehearsed.

Still, fan feedback must be mostly supportive because it's gotten so amazingly intrusive that, now  on hockey telecasts, you  actually have someone on the ice, in between the benches, doing color and reporting on the game - although I have to admit, that's pretty cool at times. Not always. 

Now you can't watch a sporting event of any kind without a sideline reporter sticking a microphone in a player, coach's or water boy's face to ask them about why they're losing, winning or what they think of their team's effort. Everyone looks uncomfortable and there is really nothing you can say that adds to your enjoyment of the game. 

Which brings me to this - I WOULD care if the questions actually got honest answers and responses. But the questions AND answers are straight out of broadcasting 101 - because most athletes and coaches are a lot like politicians these days - most have never met a camera or microphone they didn't like.

All this adds nothing to the overall experience and does nothing to make the game better. It gives me no more insight than if I were a jock sniffer hanging out around the parking lot waiting for a glimpse of my favorite player and asking them if I could have their  sweaty undershirt as a keepsake.

But what if the filters were off and the players and coaches told us what they really feel? THAT would be something that would add to the game. Picture this scenario -

REPORTER:  Coach, you're down 10 at half to a team that has less talent than you. What adjustments will you make in the second half?

COACH:  Well, we're going to try to get the offense to stop screwing up. I mean, our line sucks, the running backs look like they have diarrhea and our quarterback couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat in the ocean..

THAT would have me tuning in every single game. Admit it - you would too. For once, you'd hear the truth because it's exactly what you may have seen with your own eyes. It would add a brand new dimension to watching the game.

So if we're going to put geeky guys in bad fitting jackets and hot babes with microphones on the sidelines, whether it's any of the four major sports, that would give us a reason to listen.  Can you image Erin Andrews grabbing a coach on his way to the locker room and asking them, 'what do you have to do in the second half to win the game?', then having them look her dead in the eye and say, "Well,  I think we just have to score more points than they do".

Ahhh, that would be just beautiful. It'll never happen of course - but a man can dream, can't he.

I'm bradley, and it's my job to keep you from being the sucker at the table.