Quieting the Criticism

Wow, sports fans!  Have we really devolved to this point?  Are we all so hateful and disappointed in life that we constantly need to criticize college kids and call for people's jobs?  Is life that bad?  Are we that disconnected from reality?

I personally think it's a direct result of too much information.  We know the records, we see constant replays, we are all connected online...we know too much.  We all believe we have the answers.  Everyone is a head coach or general manager and they can do it better.  What would we do without ballaboy12 to tell everyone how it's done?  Clearly Arkansas needs to hire HogCall79 to right the ship.

Let me be the voice of reason; I can't do it better.  I wouldn't make better decisions than Dan Snyder.  I can't guarantee the right call on 3rd and 7 on the last drive of the game or in the 9th inning down two runs.  I can't run the football better than any Division-1 athlete.  I damn sure can't hit a baseball.  I would be hitting 43% on free throws if I played.  And you know what?  That's true for the majority of the critics.

I love sports, and I think I know a decent amount about athletics in general.  I offer opinions.  I can't out-coach Bill Belicheck.  I know that, and everyone else should too.  I can't say whether or not Tennessee would be better in the long run without Derek Dooley.  I don't know if Arkansas should hire Coach X or Coach Y.  I can look at the records, evaluate the numbers, and offer an opinion, but I'm not a bloody psychic.  I can look back at a call and say it was bad, but I can't conclusively say another play would have worked better because I can't account for all the variables.  I don't know what's going through an athlete's mind at a given moment, and so I try to avoid being too critical.

Here's my request to all the internet posters and sports junkies.  Just calm down.  Quit saying quarterback A is a headcase.  Quit saying running back B is a fumbling machine.  Quit demanding the coach pull a player and put in the fan favorite.  None of that useless commentary helps anything.  Athletes are NOT disconnected from the world.  They can and do read what fans have to say.  One bad comment doesn't hurt anything, but an avalanche of negativity can really affect a player.  So maybe we should all just SHUT UP with the criticism and stick to supporting the team.  I will continue the blog, but I will stick to poking fun at silly moments and analyzing numbers and statistics as opposed to personal attacks and criticisms.