Column:
Attention should be earned on the field, not off
Published Sept. 25, 2009
Chad Ochhocinco could beat me up. I'm not really sure how much credit that statement awards him, but there's no doubt in my mind that my least favorite player of all time could absolutely dominate me if push came to shove.
I say this to convince myself that he (somehow) got to where he is today for a reason — his uncanny speed, inhuman hands and above-average strength, along with an immense amount of work along the way, I'm sure. Certainly not for his insatiable craving for media attention and gaudy "talk the talk" mentality for which he has become the poster child in the NFL.
Sadly, though, this saturation with flashy extras is quickly becoming the norm for the sport America made. Out-advertising your counterparts seems to hold just as high precedence as out-playing your opponent. Athletes aren't the only culprits, either. Team executives and owners also take part in this charade to an equal extent, if not even greater. I'm looking straight at you, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Sunday night was the regular season debut for the Cowboy's new $1.15 billion exclamation point on the mantra, "Everything is Bigger in Texas." Jones coped with the economy the only way he knows how — by giving his football team a new home in a big way and showing us his Cowboys Stadium on national television against the division rival New York Giants. Judging from the view from Columbia, via TV unfortunately, Jerry World is unlike anything I have ever seen. Incredible? Yes. Amazing? Yes. Even as far as breath taking? Yes. Necessary? No.
The new Cowboys Stadium replaces Texas Stadium, circa 1971 and full of memory and tradition. It is there where Cowboys played multiple Super Bowl seasons, truly becoming America's Team in the process. Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, whose names all adorned the original Ring of Honor (and now the duplicate), first tested their professional mettle there and made a home of the stadium with a hole in the roof.
Albeit a little old and a little worn (call me a traditionalist party pooper), but Texas Stadium looked fine to me. And that was the problem. It was just "fine."
If, God forbid, the Cowboys eventually do have a losing season, I would be greatly impressed if 105,000 fans still made their way to Arlington, Texas. For the sake of all the time, money and effort spent on this project, I hope they do. Home crowds help, but venues don't play football games. Cowboys Stadium will be fun, yes, but at what cost?
The sad truth is this is what the nature of the game has come to, a contest seemingly more focused on the absurd accumulation of hype instead of the fundamentals of the sport.
Don’t get me wrong; national recognition is important. Every team wants to be the first thing on your mind when you wake up Sunday morning, but for how they look on the field, not how they look on the jumbotron.
Here's to hoping this giant game of media H-O-R-S-E, this endless struggle to one-up the other side in terms of flashy pizzazz ends in Dallas. That, and Ochocinco has a phenomenal season garnering all the attention he needs with his antics on the field.
Because if he wants attention by asking me to fight, I'm in trouble.
