I post jokes about Cleveland sports. Not much more, not much less. I cover sports in my own weird way. I caption pictures in the same fashion as you would in a meme generator website. Some are funny, some are not. You guys usually will tell me which is which.
I don't take myself super seriously. While I consider myself a minor member of the sports media, I don't need a press pass to do what do. I'm not trying to change the world. I think I can entertain you without dealing out endless false information to try to get a major scoop, or regurgitating old stats. I cover sports. Covering sports really can be as simple as who scores more points.
There have been some moments that it hasn't been that simple. Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson were necessary diversions. I think many of us can agree we really don't need to pay to see scumbags like that have the perks of being a professional athlete. And the media did their part to ensure the league held individuals like that accountable.
But I'm not really going to sing the praises of the media here. It was simply a rare positive byproduct of sports coverage (particularly the NFL) moving so far outside the lines, that it finally ventured behind closed doors. Don 't forget that before Ray Rice the narratives for the NFL were simply Johnny Manziel's personal life, and Michael Sam's sex life. No football playing, but a tabloid inspired trash fest of garbage news.
I quit ESPN when Tim Tebow came into the NFL for this very reason. The only reason that I know that ESPN was obsessed about these issues is because nobody else seemed to have quit them. Every time I read my feed on Twitter somebody is complaining about what ESPN is covering, but they don't quit watching. So if nobody else quits watching I guess I can't expect this ever to change.
For this very reason I depend on our local reporters for Browns news. I've carried a bit of pity for many of these folks, because how fun has it been to cover this team? I remember when I started this, every joke was so negative. At the time what did I have to celebrate? Someone asked me what I was going to do if the Browns ever were good. I said, "simple, make fun of the other team." I think yesterday was a great example of my evolution. Apparently our jaded local boys were not ready to evolve.
During victory Monday, someone had the gall to stick a microphone in Brian Hoyer's face and try to drag some contract drama out of him. They succeeded, and managed to spin his answer into a narrative to him not signing with Cleveland unless Johnny Manziel is gone. Happy birthday Brian. Way to beat the Steelers. Have fun dealing with the media driven backlash this is about to cause.
The fact is that common sense would say that this sensitive contract situation will not be handled until this offseason. It is the smart way to go. We should wait a full season and see the body of work that Hoyer can put on the field. We should observe how hard Manziel works this season to improve his status and go from there. Not ruin the most joyous day in recent memory by falling into the negative, trashy media hole the rest of the world seems to have fallen in.
So once again the media stirs the pot, I get it when the going gets tough but this time completely baffles me. This fragile fan base that still has a portion that loves the winning, but can't be satisfied with the personnel we are winning with has a new soapbox to cry from. And frankly it pisses me off.
Does the joke guy need to step his game up? Because right now some of the media is better at telling jokes than me. The issue is that those guys don't realize they are telling them. Be careful guys, because too much more of this and the jokes will start falling on you...
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