The Most Annoying/Overplayed Current Sports Stories

Well, the "BIG NEWS" dropped yesterday.  No, the economy has not been saved.  No, World War III has not began.  And of course, Al Qaeda has not turned into a fun-loving philanthropic organization.  Nope, something much more earth-shattering and extraordinary broke on Monday, December 4, 2012.  That's right, Kate Middleton and Prince William are expecting a child.  According to every media outlet on the planet, this is of utmost importance.  I am thrilled for the happy couple but the constant media coverage (that will certainly continue for the next 9-12 months) is unnecessary.  Especially for something that is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things regarding true world news.

In honor of this latest display of media drivel, I have decided to put together a list (in no particular order) of the most current annoying and largely pointless sports stories that, in most cases, are replayed ad nauseam.  Enjoy.

1.) NEW YORK JETS/REX RYAN/TIM TEBOW/MARK SANCHEZ

Ah yes, the for-letter-network's (ESPN) favorite team.  The New York Jets.  It all started when they traded, for reasons that really made zero football sense, for Tim Tebow.  It was on from there.  We got the works: Rex Ryan guaranteeing Super Bowls while charting his weight loss, constant coverage of training camp in which ESPN felt it was necessary to show a Fabio-like montage of Tebow running shirtless, and now the inevitable QB controversy in which the highly overrated Sanchez has crumbled (shocker) and Tebow has been passed over for the 3rd stringer.  It's a circus.

Here's a newsflash: Sanchez is a bad QB, Tebow is not an NFL QB in any capacity, and the New York Jets are a bad football team.  Bad football teams should not headline SportCenter every single day.  Enough.  Cover good football teams please.

2.) MANTI TE'O

Manti Te'o is a great football player who not only led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a #1 ranking and a chance to play for a national title, but he overcame the personal tragedies of losing both his grandmother and girlfriend.  I commend him, it's a great story, and it's touching.  I get it.  But I think by now it has been well documented and a little overplayed.  As good of a player as he is, the Irish have 10 other players on that vaunted defense and some offensive players that had a big hand in the success.  However, it has been all Te'o, all day.  It was getting stale back in October.  Time for some new material.

3.) THE NBA

I could, and have, written an entire piece as to why I think the NBA is a terrible league.  I am not going to do that here.  I am also not suggesting that there should be no coverage because that would be silly.  However, besides the highlights, ESPN has to have constant discussion, "analysis," TMZ-like coverage of the off-the-court shenanigans (Dwight Howard, Kobe firing coaches, etc.) so on and so forth. 

All of that is for not.  Why?  Because, I hate to ruin the surprise, but the Miami Heat will beat whichever of the three possible teams make it out of the Western Conference in the finals.  That's how David Stern has constructed this league.  Therefore,  the regular season (especially for our lovable junior varsity Pistons) and majority of the playoffs is meaningless.  No analysis, dissecting of the other filler teams, or heated discussions are needed.  Sorry, it's a farce.  But hey, they wear really cool glasses without lenses!! 

A little less of the NBA spoon-feeding would do a lot of good.

4.) LEBRON "KING" JAMES

This feeds off of #3 on the list.

I understand the NBA is built around its stars.  One could argue that it is built to ensure their biggest star (LeBron James) wins.  I digress.  However, the media (ESPN the main culprit once again) has made it a point to cover every single thing "King" James does.  We get the luxury of knowing whether he he had Cocoa Puffs or Fruit Loops for breakfast, how many bowel movements he had in a day, what his stance is on world hunger, etc. before we even see once of his highlights of the previous night.  Add in the infamous (and completely unnecessary) "Decision" and the little dance party he and his Miami Heat teammates had before they even had their first practice and you get OVERKILL.

Here's the truth his fans refuse to acknowledge: He flipped the bird to his hometown team to conspire with other stars to sign as free agents with the same team (Heat) to finally get a title because he was afraid to build a team of his own.  He's no Jordan.  Sorry.  Maybe when he wins "not one...not two...not three..not four..." he can earn the "King" moniker and all the air time.  Until then, can we scale back on the LeBron media gluttony?  Please and thank you.

5.) THE NHL LOCKOUT

Now, this may not be getting as much mainstream coverage as everything else (or none on ESPN since they don't acknowledge the NHL) but Twitter peeps, fellow bloggers, and, though it is their job, the hockey writers can stop writing the same exact thing day in and day out about the NHL lockout.  No progress, the season is doomed, now there's optimism, the NHL is dying, the quotes of the rhetoric and finger-pointing from the owners and NHLPA, Bettman sucks, Fehr is the problem blah blah blah.  Enough.

I am saying this as a big fan of hockey: I don't care.  Until there is something substantial to report such as the season is cancelled or a new CBA has been agreed upon go away.  We've heard all the opinions.  We know all of the pressing issues.  We know the two sides are idiots.  No need to recycle everyone else's stories.  Besides, the NHL is killing itself and doesn't deserve the attention or the satisfaction.

6.) CALLING FOR JIM SCHWARTZ AND/OR MARTIN MAYHEW TO BE FIRED

As we know, things are back to normal in Detroit and the Lions are a terrible football team again.  Yippee.  This has incited discussions on the local radio and talks amongst the media and fans that coach Jim Schwartz and/or GM Martin Mayhew should be fired.  Whether or not they should be is inconsequential because it ain't happenin' folks.  Save your breath and your ink.  As long as William Clay Ford, the same man who kept Wayne Fontes and Matt Millen around for so many years, owns the team we won't see the quick hook for either of these men.  There is a good chance we're stuck with the both of them for at least another 3-5 years so might as well get used to it as well as the "Same Ol' Lions."

I am sure there are other stories that annoy many of you that I have forgotten.  Those were just the ones that were top of mind.

With that I say enjoy the sports equivalents to the Royal Family nonsense the likes of ESPN will continue to subject us all to.  Maybe it's time we all start reading more books and watching less TV.