Sport News Reporters and TV Hosts

I realize I may be the exception, but ESPN spokesmen and woman, along with other sport TV hosts are comical. Does it not seem slightly humorous that sports reporters and talk show hosts become incredibly emotional over sports? Theoretically, sports are played with the goal of fun and physical health in mind. Why would anyone get emotionally disturbed about people trying to have fun while participating in healthy competitions? The sport's analyst and TV reporter often appears heated, emphatic or even melodramatic about a sport team because they want to hype up the American viewer. They simply focus on the personalities and squeeze emotion and importance out of the most insignificant details. When the caring American sports fans turns on ESPN to watch their favorite team play or to hear their team’s game recap, ESPN’s profit increases (aka brilliant marketing strategy).

When I turned on ESPN two nights ago and heard four men in business suits debating passionately as to who should have won between LSU and Arkansas, I laughed. They were dressed in the type of clothes a court lawyer, or important businessman wears, just to talk about what millions of people converse about every day; sports. Any person who has a passion for a team could easily go on ESPN, start banging on the table and crying over the injustice suffered by their team, and at the end of the day probably receive a salary raise. Sport networks want people to care about sports by having their reporters be emotional and super enthusiastic, which then converts more people into sports fans, and helps pay their salary.

How can these TV sport spokespeople be taken seriously? I would argue that they cannot, which makes this a humorous situation. Seeing a man or woman so adamant about why a certain team will win the Super Bowl, or talking about other trivial sport matters, I find laughable. Due to their intensity and emotion, I often find these entertainer sportscasters more interesting than the game. Let the sportscasters roll out on the field and show us their prowess. That would be the best laugh of all.

Working Out: Can Stretching Really be Funny?

Since this is a blog about sports, it is necessary to investigate the preparation required of serious athletes to perform at their full potential. Along with eating and drinking healthily, stretching their muscles properly before and after a workout is crucial. The athlete stretches with the hope of quick muscle recovery and prevention of injuries. Here is a picture of Shaquille O'Neal, having his hamstring and lower back stretched out by a rather petite athletic trainer.

Why are you laughing? Could it be because Shaq’s leg is as tall as the man, and his thigh is as thick as the waist of the trainer? One might describe this picture as comical, if not ridiculous. The juxtaposition of tall and short, and large and small makes one laugh because of the extreme differences. Shaq, the great basketball star of 7’1,” weighing around 325 pounds, has a trainer who is at most 5’4” and 130 pounds. This anomaly often occurs in sports, when the professional player is incredibly stronger, larger, or taller than the trainer or assistant. One might also note that Shaq’s shoe is dramatically larger (and probably weighs more) than the trainer’s head.

Americans find comical anything that seems out of place. In this picture, the small trainer does not seem to fit in with the basketball court with the characteristically large basketball players. The strain and concentration the trainer is putting into just holding up Shaq’s leg is hilarious. It is not the fact that the trainer is trying so hard to keep the leg upright, but rather the idea that he must exert so much force just to keep the leg upright. Americans are not laughing with the small man, but are laughing at him. Why such cruelty? Americans appreciate and admire those people who possess unusual talents or physical abilities (such as being tall and good at basketball), and pass by those with normal abilities and physical characteristics, simply because the majority of people are that way. Americans enjoy the contrast between the exceptionally gifted or talented, and the normal, or seemingly inferior person.

Photo Shopped!

Photo Shopped!

Did I really just include a picture that has clearly been visually modified, and has subtitles to it? Well, I did, and here are my reasons: (1) All the time people play with how we perceive different pictures, especially in our world where computer technology makes it so easy to artificially adapt a scene. (2) These “digitally modified” pictures often cause us to laugh. (3) What is added or modified to the picture usually accurately reflects hidden ideas or beliefs.

The jacked, varying in height male Americans standing in a line are what one calls rowers. And yes, they do get to walk around all day in spandex looking like a boss. The woman to the right is one of Beijing’s 2008 Olympic ceremonial women who helped give out medals to competitors. First, let us look at the pictures composition – where people are standing, and their size. Presumably, the rowers are randomly arranged in order from tallest to shortest, or strongest to weakest depending on how you view it. The tall Chinese woman stands close to the men, as if she wants to be compared to the jacked rowers. One might argue that she is as large as two of the three men, and on top of her size, she is relatively attractive.

Similarly, after closely observing the picture, one must look at its subtitles. Webster’s Dictionary defines “polyandry” as “where a woman has more than one husband.” Thus, the phrase “Olympic Polyandry” refers to the possibility that this single Chinese woman could marry the three rowers, and produce children with incredible Olympic genes. These genes might include height, muscularity, and good looks. The final subtitle in smaller letters says, “And China takes another gold.” While this statement can have numerous connotations, it primarily connotes the fact that China won many gold medals in the 2008 Olympics, and, arguably makes a critical statement on how China is “breeding” their children to become super-humans. Just as the Chinese took many gold’s, this Chinese woman hopes to take many Olympic husbands, demonstrating true “Olympic Polyandry.”

The woman is clearly well above her sex’s average height. She dwarfs the petite man, and is slightly taller than the middleman. She becomes an oddity in the eye of the beholder, as though something extraordinary must have happened to make her so exceptionally tall. The fact that all the men’s heads are turned attentively towards her, proves that she is important and unusual enough for the men to gaze upon her inquisitively. Americans want to laugh at anyone who challenges the U.S. in any way. This woman challenges Americans by being so immensely tall, while at the same time beautiful. Despite the rower’s attempts to look jacked, this single Chinese woman dwarfs the majority of them, and looks beautiful while doing so.

America’s Sport Fans

For professional sport teams to exist there must be fans, or people willing to pay often outrageous amounts of money for a ticket to see the competition. Why do Americans go to professional sport games when (in almost every instance) one can get a better view of all the action by watching television? I think it has to do with the idea of one being in the presence of a truly talented and influential person. Everyone wants to say they were at the Yankee stadium when Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th homerun. Americans love being apart of history, and having a good story to tell to friends and family. If one watch’s on TV the homerun hit by Alex Rodriguez, thousands of people have seen the exact same homerun via television, but if one is actually at the game, the number of people who had that same experience is drastically reduced.

What does all this have to do with sport humor? Well, I first had to rationalize why people attend professional sport games before I can analyze this young sport's fan holding an obnoxious sign above his head. In bold words the sign reads The Guy Behind Me Can’t See, and just bellow the sign one sees the boy’s grinning face, staring right at the photographer. If one is paying to see a professional game, the last thing needed is a person, much less poster obstructing his view. This picture is humorous because it creates irony. Why does the poster have to say it is obstructing the view of the spectator when this is so obvious?

This picture gives us some insight into a hidden truth about many Americans; they consider their own enjoyment first, before the enjoyment of others. This boy is having fun at someone else's expense. Perhaps he has been the victim of not being able to see due to someone else's sign. Now, through humor or the irony of the situation, he has his moment in the lights. Someone might suggest that everyone all over the world makes sure they are having fun before the fun of others. Americans are on a different level. We love to take control of any and all situations. If a room is too cold, we will just turn up the heat. If a boy is holding an irritating sign blocking our view of a playing field, we can do nothing. Not being able to correct a situation is what annoys Americans the most. Americans love to be in control.

A Sport Joke

When a person thinks of humor, what is the first thing that comes to their mind? Jokes. Jokes make the world more joyous and interesting because they can show hidden truths about different subjects, while at the same time lightening up one’s mood. Many jokes are said in a half-joking, half-serious manner. This leads us to another question, what makes a joke funny? What makes a joke especially funny is if the person reading it can in someway relate it to an experience he had at some point in his life. I find sport jokes particularly humorous because they (in a blunt and truthful way) make a seemingly serious and intense subject entertaining. Here is an example of a sports joke.

A senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh, 'I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes.'

To fully understand this joke, one must be fairly knowledgeable about sport recruitment, basketball, and life as a college student. Not always, but most of the time, recruits for serious college sports teams tend to have weaker grades and test scores than other students. Why? Well, for a player to be recruited, that player must be exceptional at his or her sport. In other words, a recruit must have practiced and spent an exorbitant amount of time playing the sport. Thus, one often gives up the time to study.

Basketball is an extremely time intensive sport that requires much practice and discipline for one to succeed, especially in college. So when this quote says, “ I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes,’” one finds this humorous because that player has probably spent the majority of his or her time playing basketball. This statement is ironic because no person can graduate “on time” if there is not a specific date on which to graduate. This seemingly contradictory statement might allude to the intelligence of the player, just because of his or her illogical thought pattern. Americans love to joke about sports and find any fault they can with athletes who are so good at what they do, because they are seemingly untouchably good. Making a joke of a talented athlete brings that athlete slightly down from their revered, at times immortalized status. Americans do not like to feel as though they are inferior to anyone.

Catching a Baseball: See photo entry below

I know you have been waiting in great anticipation for this moment. Get ready for Americas favorite pastime. Americans sitting around eating doughnuts? No! Baseball, or at least being a fan (i.e. watching TV). Baseball is one of those sports were the player does not have to be in good shape. He just needs to be powerful enough (big enough), and have good hand-to-eye (video gaming) skills. So basically what I am saying is a friend of a friend of mine who plays video games all the time and swings a bat a lot could potentially become a famous baseball player. But, there is one area a friend of a friend of mine would fail at on baseball because he does not take steroids. Baseball players must take steroids to make up for all the working out they don’t do!

What makes this picture funny? Well, usually the circled section of a picture is a good place to start! The man throwing his hands up, sticking his tongue out, closing his eyes, and looking ridiculously similar to a monkey is humorous. This man has put on his “defensive pose” just because a New York Yankee’s baseball player is trying to catch a ball that he probably won’t catch. Everyone who is not in the immediate vicinity of the ball or baseball player observes the proceedings nonchalantly. People who are not involved in a frightening experience see no reason not to make fun of those who are. How can people be so insensitive? Perhaps it is because our culture is so accustomed to making fun of those who scared, as shown in television and magazines. The second reason why this picture might be seen as humorous is the centralized position of No. 20’s buttocks. Any person would be in such an awkward position if they were trying to catch a ball by leaning over a railing. Americans have a fascination with “potty humor,” or anything that is deemed rude to talk about in polite society. What is more abnormal and undignified then to see a picture of a man’s buttocks?