Yes, we have a new pope. Pope Bob I.
Huh? What? His name is Francis, you say.
Not that pope. Not the one that was anointed by the College of Cardinals to lead the Roman Catholic Church. That was the big news this week.
However, lost in the noise, as it should be, was Adam Collyer of sports blog conglomerate SB Nation’s Black Shoes Diary subsidiary anointing Bob Costas as pope of the Church of Sports Opinion.
“It’s time for Bob Costas to stand up and be counted.” —Adam Collyer, Black Shoes Diary
Verily, on Tuesday this turkey stated with some incredulity that Costas has changed his stand on Penn State, which was made clear in an interview with Kevin Slater of KQQZ in St. Louis last week. Indeed, we are seeing others in the sports media softening or even reversing their stances on the Penn State debacle. However, this notion of “when Costas speaks, people listen” is pure hogwash.
Opinionated people react to public figures pretty uniformly. If the public figure voices an opinion similar to theirs, they place the public figure’s utterances in their catalog of corroborative vacuosity, just to add weight to their meaningless opinions. If the public figure espouses an opposite opinion, they immediately declare him a Commie liberal asshole or a conservative troglodyte asshole, depending on their own political orientation, or in the case of sports opinions, merely proclaim him an incompetent, self-important asshole.
Because they’re stubborn and opinionated, they are not swayed. Pope Francis himself could appear in their South Side sports bar and issue a papal proclamation, but these people would not be moved. They’re opinionated, they’re stubborn, and they don’t listen to anyone who presents even a slightly contrasting opinion. These are the type of people who get into fights about sports. Maybe if you don’t want to listen to their words, you’ll listen to their fists. They hang their hat on obscure facts that they think elevate them to sports guruhood. “If Connie Mack hadn’t pissed him off, Home Run Baker would have been better than Babe Ruth!” Yeah, well, who’s listening?
When Collyer says Bob Costas matters, I have to wonder which brand of legal Colorado reefer he’s been smoking.
Bob Costas matters. His words and opinions matter. In early-December, in the wake of the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide, Costas unexpectedly spoke for a minute and a half on the merits of gun control, and engendered a strong reaction from the conservative political community.
Simply put, Bob Costas has been the voice of American sports for a generation. That’s why his public comments about the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal have been significant.
The voice of American sports for a generation? OMG. WTF?
Let’s beatify him now. Sainthood is right around the corner.
Yeah, when Costas spoke about gun control, every NRA member heard about it and pounced. You know, like the guys in that South Side sports bar. Costas has a differing opinion; therefore, he is an incompetent Commie liberal asshole. That summarizes the strong reaction he engendered from the so-called conservative political community, whatever the hell that is. (I suppose that’s the group Obama accused of clinging to its guns and religion.) So, do you think Costas swayed any of the NRA crowd?
Hell, no!
Let me ask you this. When Costas originally spoke about Penn State way back when the Sandusky scandal was breaking, did he sway you? Did you say, “Hey! This guy’s Bob Costas! Hell, he must know what he’s talking about! I’ll just stop believing in the righteousness of Penn State and listen to him. Because he’s Bob Costas!”
No, he didn’t change your mind about anything.
So why does Collyer think that if Bob Costas speaks up, anyone of the opposing viewpoint will prick up his ears and suddenly examine his own viewpoint? Screw dat — it ain’t gonna happen.
“It’s time for Bob Costas to stand up and be counted.”
So says Adam Collyer. LMAO. I guess there’s nothing to write about until spring practice starts Monday.
Painting Costas as the Che Guevara of a cultural revolution that will suddenly transform the sports world into a docile group of Penn State supporters singing Kumbaya around the campfire is sheer folly. It’s wishful thinking. Bob Costas ain’t going to suddenly become our spiritual leader and save all of our asses. Jesus Christ, he ain’t.
He ain’t even Pope Francis.
In summation, this turkey disputes the notion that when Bob Costas speaks, people listen. They might react, but they sure as hell don’t listen. There are none so blind as those who will not see, and Costas ain’t no Seeing Eye dog, either. In any case, don’t hang your expectations on Costas for exoneration of Penn State in the court of public sports opinionation.
I’m treading on dangerous ground here, because AS likes Bob Costas. But she’s highly intelligent, so she listens to me more.
BigAl says
The BSD contributors are members of the Millennial generation and, as such, probably care too much about the opinions of others as part of their drive to stay “connected.”
They’re also a little naive about how the world really works. I think they believe that a change in public opinion will lead to a reduction in the NCAA sanctions.
But as you point out, nothing – not Costas, not even new facts proving that the 4 stooges didn’t deliberately “cover up” Sandusky’s crimes – will change the opinions of the general public. So, f** k the general public and the horse they rode in on.
The only opinion that matters now is that of the judge who presides over Corbett’s lawsuit. And, if the lawsuit survives to discovery, the opinions of the 25 asshats who are members of the NCAA Executive Committee.
The Nittany Turkey says
The only Pope I know of in the sports media is Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald. He’s highly respected, he’s covered every Super Bowl, and he’s a humble man. But he’s a pope in name only.
Anyhow, sports commentators are more scorned than respected. Their opinions are, as the old generalization goes, like assholes: everybody has one and they all stink.
As you stated, Al, the damn judge who rules on standing for the Corbett lawsuit won’t base her decision on Costas’ opinion. So in the final analysis, Costas’ opinion is as good as mine, yours, and even Adam Collyer’s.
Collyer did get one thing right in his article. BSD is arguably the foremost Penn State sports blog with 20,000 average visits a day — and still, no one is swayed by opinions expressed there. What he doesn’t understand is that BSD is a microcosm. Scale things up a few orders of magnitude and you have Costas’ sphere of influence. Bigger stage, but there, too, no one is swayed by his pseudo-intellectual rambling.
We need fewer starstruck sports reporters like Collyer and more cynical commentators like me. LOL
—TNT
Artificially Sweetened says
I do like Bob Costas, because he can talk about a tennis match or baseball game and make it interesting for non-fans like me by telling a story about its significance. He is entertaining, knowledgeable, and articulate, like my Turkey. His opinions on gun control and PSU in particular aren’t going to sway anyone who already holds passionate opinions on the subjects. He may have the power to highlight the capriciousness of the NCAA if he chooses. I don’t know how involved he gets with college sports in general.
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m sure that when Costas reads your comment, he’ll be flattered by your comparison of him to this turkey.
And yeah, someone in the sports media needs to take a long, hard look at the inner workings of the NCAA. It would be a feather in Costas’ cap if it were he who did it.
—TNT