Did the Networks do enough to cover the horrific Los Angeles fires? Do voices exaggerate too much?

Empathy For Victims of the L.A. Fires Was Largely Non-Existent During TV Coverage of The Wild Card Games, Even Though Two L.A. Teams Were Playing, Until The Final Game On Monday Night Football

**********

Too Often Sports Announcers Turn Molehills Into Mountains While Ignoring The Ugly And Uncaring Side Of Sports

**********

Over the years, I’ve criticized cable news political broadcasts for a number of reasons — only presenting “headline” type reporting, but never the details that are found in the reporting by respected major print outlets; never correcting mistakes in their reporting (okay, hardly ever, they do so when they are being sued); having guest contributors who line-up with the station’s political stances and program hosts pretending they are “breaking news,” when in reality the great majority of their reports are based on stories that have been published by print outlets.

If I had to select one word that defines cable news political reporting it would be “exaggeration.”

In many ways, sports play-by-play commentators and their analysts are brothers and sisters to the cable news political reporters. They tout unproven rookies as the next coming of Babe Ruth or Joe Montana, hardly ever correct their mistakes, and make plays that occur regularly during every game seem like a once-in-a-generation happening.

If I had to select one word that defines TV sports play-by-play announcing it would be “exaggeration.”

But if I was limited to one phrase that shows the similarity between political cable reporting and sports reporting it would be “making mountains out of molehills.” What sports announcers often say is similar to what we used to call in the Army “mouthwash.” That term was used when we were given assignments with no importance, but was ordered just to keep us busy.

A case can be made that the non-stop use of statistics by sports broadcasters is their “mouthwash.” Does it really matter that a baseball player hit more home runs in one month than any other player in the team’s history? It shouldn’t, because the game has changed dramatically over the years; Medical advances and a longer season make comparisons between today’s athletes and those of the past meaningless. Except to the voices, promoters of sports events and sports fanatics. Much of sports broadcasters’ commentary should be dismissed by viewers as a commercial for the game. Nothing more.

If piled upon each other, examples of sports commentators making mountains out of molehills, while ignoring the sordid aspects of their sports, would be higher that the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains.

I thought of how the moguls that control the N.F.L., like the robber barons of the past, saw nothing wrong of their behavior, in this case making two Los Angeles teams play without even postponing their games for one day, while the city they represented burned.

When I tuned on the first round of the N.F.L. playoffs on Saturday and Sunday, the mention of the fires by the play-by-players and analyst commentators were destroying Los Angeles. It was hardly mentioned, if at all, even though the fires were hardly recognized. Sports stories, as well as human tragedy one, because two N.F.L  teams from Los Angles, the Chargers and Rams had games scheduled.

(Before the games began, the N.F.L. expressed its sympathy and asked spectators to stand for a moment of silence. But once the game began it was all football talk.)

I was surprised and disappointed that the broadcasts didn’t contain reports of how the L.A. players felt while their families might have been in danger as the fires spiraled out of control. I wasn’t surprised how the announcers described the action on the field as if it was business as usual and the most important happening of the moment, while people in L.A. lost everything.

Unlike the producers of the weekend games, those at ESPN/ABC, and commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, all got it right. They gave a significant amount of time to the tragedy that L.A. is experiencing during the Los Angles Rams-Minnesota Viking game in Arizona.

The final one of the wild card round on the Monday Night Football telecast. The telecast included interviews with L.A. players, present and former, who expressed their feelings about the fires that are devastating the city they represent. The empathy shown to the victims of the fires was for me a welcome disagreement to a long-held belief of some sports reporters that if it doesn’t happen on the playing field it’s not a sports story.

The lack of expressed compassion by the commentators during the weekend telecasts for residents of L.A. and for L.A. team players, while their homes might be burning and their families might be in danger, it reminded me of something that I heard on the radio many years ago

After the final out of the game in which the St. Louis Cardinals eliminated the then Brooklyn Dodgers from advancing to the World Series, a disappointed Brooklyn fan threw a glass bottle into the stands. It  struck someone in the head, which caused Dodger announcer Red Barber to say, I paraphrase: “Baseball is just a game. The Dodgers will have another chance next season. That bottle could kill the person. Fans should keep things in perspective.”

All sports announcers (and fans) should remember what Barber said, many things years ago. There are more important things than who wins or loses a sports event. Football announcers should also remember what the legendary coach Lombardi said about his famous quote, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”

“I wish to hell I’d never said the damned thing,” he once told a reporter. “I meant the effort… I meant having a goal… I sure as hell didn’t mean for people to crush human values and morality.”

If only the moguls that run the sports business would keep that in mind.