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By the mid '90's, "Al Gore's invention" was starting to invade every home with a PC but there's no way AOL and Prodigy were going to cut it with 10 minute JPEG downloads. So then came Ethernet, DSL and broadband connections. There was no stopping bus 2525 now; any answer to any question was literally at our fingertips. If information is power, then gods we have all become.
But was that enough? Of course not, now that we have it fast, we also need it mobile. We can't be chained to some desk with a big overheated brick of a PC tower, we've got mundane places to go, people to annoy, what good is all that information if you can't take it with you. So fine then, here's a laptop, problem solved. But wait, it's kind of cumbersome. Ok, make it smaller, here's a netbook. Oh cool, but it's kind of weak, what else you got?
Hmmmm, ok what about a smartphone?
Checkmate! And while you're at it, throw in a camera, music, video games, GPS, and the ability to talk to people without ever having to actually talk to people. Ahhh, now we are happy!
Except for when any of those things go on the fritz for even a microsecond. (See the great Louis CK's bit on technology) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grxL5umOE6g&feature=related
And while you're at it, I want to be able to watch and listen to anything I want anytime and anyplace. I can't be fumbling around with CD's and DVD's all day long, requiring a very unsettling trip off the couch. Connect all that Internet power to my television and stereo too.
Still, it seems like there's an unnecessary step complicating our lives. Hitting that button has to go. How long until I can just wi-fi my brain? I want to know kung fu, Keanu style.
Don't get me wrong here; I'm not at all an adversary toward the progress of technology. I'm a rabid consumer of everything with a version number. What is slowly turning me into the old man on the porch screaming at the kids to get off his lawn is the effect this is having on our memory as a whole. Perhaps it's the megaton of low radiation we all take a bath in everyday from our "little helpers," but our long-term outlook on subjects has been eradicated, especially in the world of professional sports.
Ah, the point emerges! Yes the target of all this ranting is just how ignorant and reactionary the sports world has become. And if you thought it took way too much build up to get here, then yes, you are part of the problem.
The narrative in sports seems to not only change by the day but by the hour as well, now that newspapers have been virtually replaced by blogs and podcasts, a slumping player can be ripped a new orifice in the afternoon and then heralded as the savior that same night.
Most disturbing is the turncoat treatment of even the most established stars. Show the slightest chink in the armor; fans and media immediately send Bill Paxton to scream "game over man" through a megaphone at your retirement ceremony.
-Albert Pujols starts out 2012 in a slump . . . it's the beginning of the end?
-Derek Jeter has one bad year in 2010 . . . time to find a new shortstop?
-Andrew Bynum strings together a few great regular season games . . . he's better than Dwight Howard?
-The Green Bay Packers win a Super Bowl in 2010, go 15-1 in 2011 but lose in the playoffs . . . fans want Mike McCarthy fired?
-Dwayne Wade has one bad playoff game . . . he and LeBron can't play together?
That last one really made me shake my 802.11a/b/g/n/ soaked head. As a Knicks fan I begrudgingly watch Miami Heat games like a Nascar hater watching a race with the sole hope of seeing a glorious fireball of a wreck. But even my empire state of mind can't help but notice that 95% of the time it seems like LeBron and Wade are sharing some kind of Cyberdyne Industries wireless network link where each knows what the other is going to do before their brains even fire the synapse. But just hours after the Heat lose to the Pacers in game 3 and Wade only scores 5 points in his worst playoff performance of his career, Mike Greenberg adamantly states on a nationally syndicated ESPN radio show, that Wade and LeBron don't really fit together.
Huh? Because of one game?
Have we all become the character "Ten-Second Tom" from the film 50 First Dates? Should Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately" replace the national anthem before all sporting events? Are we really beginning to talk about Taylor Swift in the same breath with The Beatles and Michael Jackson?
Uh, never mind that last one, that's a whole other article.
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5 comments:
Very well thought out piece here koko.
10 seconds becomes more like 8 with a particular hobby of mine.
Ehhh it's all Obama's fault though!
You cant beat pocket iphone chess , its like crack while on pot ya know
I hope no one forgets im the back2back lombardi champ........nahh you cant forget that !
Yes....Great points Koko.
It is quite amazing how "Spoiled" we are in today's society. Sometimes while traveling I have slow wi-fi in my hotel room....and I start swearing and throwing things around like I just got fired or something.
Also, it is absolutely amazing to me how idiotic people are in airports.....whaaaaat....I have to take my shoes off?????????? That is incredulous for me to waste my precious time for others security..........what an a-hole you are for even suggesting that!!!
Oh...and on to your point.
First off......No REAL Packer Fan ever called for McCarthy's head after last season.....I assume you knew that and were just Big Fishin it.
However, A lot of that other hyper talk is for some valid reasons.............but most of it is mainly due to how "Synced" up Society is.
People Have and Will Always Complain about people in Power or In Power Positions.
You Give Pujols a $250 Million dollar contract and of course people will be upset with him if he doesn't perform.
Jeter is below is usual standards and of course Yanks fans and others in the media will discuss it.
With so many options....radio, TV, Internet, 24 HR newscycles we have to discuss something.
But...it all comes back to the point "Heavy is the Head that wears the Crown"
President Obama is the worst president and our Country is falling apart because of him.....George Bush Ruined our Country.......President Clinton ruined our country...........anyone in power will alwasy receive criticism.......just like the way we always complain about how horribly put together this website is.....and How Bad Koko's articles are.......I always have to tell Juan that Koko tries his best.....we shouldn't know him for the way it looks.......but of course Juan alwasy complains about Koko the Web Director of the Dojo.
At leat you try sometimes Koko
I'm not against criticism. Of course Pujols' bad start should attract some conversation and criticism. Same goes for a bad decision from a coach or praise for a player who's career is about to reach the next level.
My point is how the analysis has become so finite. It's not just a slump, it's the beginning of a downward spiral. It's not just a bad decision, he should be fired. It's not that he's had a good month, he's the best center in the game.
That kind of snap decision making has become way too prevalent in sports.
As for George W Bush, that my friend is not a "snap" decision. He gave us 8 long years of evidence and a Mt. Everest of fallout to back up the claim of worst president ever.
See You...do the same thing.
But.....it's not just the media...it's the way it is in the real world. If you don't produce...your Fired!
The most important thing about Sports is that it's all about rythym, momentum, and Consistency.
The moment a coach loses his players.....he usually gets fired. Power to the People or the Players I guess. How many Coaches in the NBA can last more than 3 or 4 years nowadays. It is not unusual for a Coach to be "Coach of the Year" one year.......and be fired the Next!
There is so much money in professional sports...that if you don't produce your Gone! That is why the NFL is THE MOST Popular sport in the game. Teams aren't beholden to players that stop producing when they get paid.
Why do you think players keep playing thru injuries and concussions and are now paying the price. They know that if they sit out....they will get Wally Pipped.
Baseball and NBA have guaranteed contracts which kill the sports. Players get Big contracts and then don't produce and a team is stuck with them.
GW Bush was not the worst president ever......if you go by results our country has struggled the most under Obama.........not that I am blaming him....just saying.
When you make a point, try at least to cite the example.
See what? How did I do the same thing? And what same thing are you referring to?
And again, you seem to be incapable of staying on or even acknowledging the point. My point was the mass snap-judgement opinions of media and fans that have become increasingly short fused as we become more and more dependent on technology.
Actual production of athletes and coaches is a whole other discussion. And last time I checked the MLB is not a dying league or in trouble in any way, it's setting record revenue year after year.
The only thing that upsets me more than irresponsible snap judgments is a belligerent spit in the face of the irrefutable truth.
Keith, to say Bush wasn't the worst president . . . ok, fine we can debate whether he's the absolute worst or just one of the worst, but then to say the country has suffered the most it ever has under Obama, is to be completely and utterly lost in the realm we like to call reality, resulting in a collapse of credibility in any forthcoming opinions you may have.
The "results" as you say, are not Obamas. If you do not like his methods or disagree with how to fix the country from the biggest economic mess that he was left, then that's one thing. But do not assign this mess to him any way. Yes, it's his job to fix it. And I wish he was much more forceful with a lot of his policies instead of compromising. But he also doesn't get credit for all of the disasters his policies have averted. It's very hard to prove a negative. But if your being completely honest, the guy has done a lot of good for this country and saved it from going over the edge in his first few months in office.
You know, just saying.
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