Monday, November 07, 2005
Welcome to SportsTirade
What makes SportsTirade different from ESPN columnists or whoever in the mainstream media?
Well, for one thing, I don't bet on games. Not that all those guys do, but I'm about sports for sports' sake, and I think gambling is boring. I want to also say that it's stupid, but I know that a lot of intelligence goes into gambling. So I do respect the gambling industry -- it is what it is. But it just doesn't interest me... sorry.
For another thing, I wear my team affiliations on my sleeve. Unlike the talking heads of corporate sports radio and TV, I don't pretend to not root for anyone. I'm more like your local paper's columnist who obviously is a fan of the local team, except for unlike those guys, I will not limit my scope to just that team. I regularly watch SportsCenter and whatever else, and I will feel free to sound off on whatever the topic du jour is, without hesitation. But you'll always know basically where I'm coming from, because I won't pretend to be unbiased while having an obvious tacit bias. If anything, I'll be striving to be very candid about my biases and (except in the case of hated rivals) be willing to give the benefit of the doubt where it is deserved.
Another thing that makes SportsTirade different is that here at SportsTirade, we celebrate November as the best sports month in America. Why? Because November is when there are no more baseball highlights cluttering up SportsCenter EVERY STUPID DAY. You know, if baseball just kept to itself, had its own SportsCenter, had its own channel, or at the very least, had its own day of the week, then I would be fine. I would be okay! But no, baseball has to invade every day, has to have more games than everybody else, and these games have to be longer and more boring than any other sport. What was considered the "best" baseball game of the 2005 post-season, for example, was a 5+ hour yawner between Houston and somebody. The World Series the past two years has been a z-fest. So at SportsTirade, we celebrate November because THERE IS NO MORE BASEBALL!
Here at SportsTirade, you will never have to read a post about baseball, and rarely about the NFL. Here we focus on the three decent sports that still remain: College Football, College and NBA Basketball, and International Soccer (mainly just the World Cup). I won't talk about hockey, golf, tennis, swimming or anything else. That said, I do occasionally watch these other sports, even lacrosse, and maybe the occasional NCAA Women's Volleyball or Softball game. But you can come here reliably for interesting discussion of College Football (both real life and computer game) as well as, to a lesser extent, basketball, and even less, soccer and NFL.
Lastly, SportsTirade is different because unlike the corporate guys, I'm not under any rules about what I can say and how I can say it. So I'll freely vent my spleen about the things in college football and the rest of the sporting world that most aggrivate me and drive me insane. Oh yes, I will not hold back conspiracy theory allegations or lambasting bad ref calls. I will not be afraid to insult large groups of people, like Texas A&M fans.
Hope you all enjoy it.
JSG
Well, for one thing, I don't bet on games. Not that all those guys do, but I'm about sports for sports' sake, and I think gambling is boring. I want to also say that it's stupid, but I know that a lot of intelligence goes into gambling. So I do respect the gambling industry -- it is what it is. But it just doesn't interest me... sorry.
For another thing, I wear my team affiliations on my sleeve. Unlike the talking heads of corporate sports radio and TV, I don't pretend to not root for anyone. I'm more like your local paper's columnist who obviously is a fan of the local team, except for unlike those guys, I will not limit my scope to just that team. I regularly watch SportsCenter and whatever else, and I will feel free to sound off on whatever the topic du jour is, without hesitation. But you'll always know basically where I'm coming from, because I won't pretend to be unbiased while having an obvious tacit bias. If anything, I'll be striving to be very candid about my biases and (except in the case of hated rivals) be willing to give the benefit of the doubt where it is deserved.
Another thing that makes SportsTirade different is that here at SportsTirade, we celebrate November as the best sports month in America. Why? Because November is when there are no more baseball highlights cluttering up SportsCenter EVERY STUPID DAY. You know, if baseball just kept to itself, had its own SportsCenter, had its own channel, or at the very least, had its own day of the week, then I would be fine. I would be okay! But no, baseball has to invade every day, has to have more games than everybody else, and these games have to be longer and more boring than any other sport. What was considered the "best" baseball game of the 2005 post-season, for example, was a 5+ hour yawner between Houston and somebody. The World Series the past two years has been a z-fest. So at SportsTirade, we celebrate November because THERE IS NO MORE BASEBALL!
Here at SportsTirade, you will never have to read a post about baseball, and rarely about the NFL. Here we focus on the three decent sports that still remain: College Football, College and NBA Basketball, and International Soccer (mainly just the World Cup). I won't talk about hockey, golf, tennis, swimming or anything else. That said, I do occasionally watch these other sports, even lacrosse, and maybe the occasional NCAA Women's Volleyball or Softball game. But you can come here reliably for interesting discussion of College Football (both real life and computer game) as well as, to a lesser extent, basketball, and even less, soccer and NFL.
Lastly, SportsTirade is different because unlike the corporate guys, I'm not under any rules about what I can say and how I can say it. So I'll freely vent my spleen about the things in college football and the rest of the sporting world that most aggrivate me and drive me insane. Oh yes, I will not hold back conspiracy theory allegations or lambasting bad ref calls. I will not be afraid to insult large groups of people, like Texas A&M fans.
Hope you all enjoy it.
JSG
# posted by J. S. Gilbert @ 9:10 PM 
