The Sunshine Empire

I spent the weekend watching football and politics and I’ve come to understand something that I didn’t realize about the profession of journalism. I never really felt that there was any “bias” in the media. Of course everyone who is human carries their own biases in some way or another, but there has never been some left wing coordinated conspiracy as most conservatives gripe when the lose an election. But there are good journalists and bad ones, and most bad journalists become sports writers.

The writers of the sporting press are a lot continually trapped in the now. Every champion could be the greatest ever in their mind. Every game, no matter how early in the season is what will mark the course of the entire season. Baseball writers come just short of declaring any team that wins on opening day is on pace to win 162 games. But never has that been so apparent as with the college football season so far. Having been raised in Florida I was brought up around college football, attending my first of many games at the age of five. I have been a lifelong Florida Gators fan and graduated from the University of Florida, and even I was wary of the huge hype being given the Gators at the start of the season. Yet once the season started with a great game between Miami and FSU, the hype machine shifted further south in the state of Florida. Miami was suddenly back after it started the season in the ACC 3-0. Florida State was back after their impressive win in Provo against BYU. Florida meanwhile beats a huge rival in the SEC by 10 points and the graphic up on the screen at the start of the Florida Kentucky game was if they could bounce back from a ten point win. The sporting media constructed this wholly unreasonable idea that Tennessee would be beat by four touchdowns and then beat Florida about the head with it when they didn’t live up.

FSU and Miami were looking the part going into this weekend and ESPN was practically giving the Heisman Trophy to Jacory Harris and saying Miami would probably play in the championship game later this year. Virginia Tech and South Florida had something to say about this awarding of the two other Florida schools with “back” status. I guess Florida State can go back to being not back. As for the school Mark Schlabach called “vulnerable” ran their school record winning streak to 14 by stomping a conference foe on the road. Knowing ESPN they will probably go back to Oklahoma or someone being back.