I am a die-hard Seattle Seahawks fan. So much so that this year I flew out to Seattle on a Friday, watched them play (and subsequently lose to the Atlanta Falcons) and fly back.
Sadly, they are now 2-6 halfway through the season with pretty much zero chance of reaching the playoffs. I’ll be the first to admit to you that they stink. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to know that a team playing with that kind of win/loss record is not Super Bowl caliber. Unfortunately though, I’ve been noticing a trend a late with some sports reporters who don’t seem to feel the same way when it comes to other teams around the league. It was tolerable years ago but has since gotten much worse.
Want to know if bias exists in the news media? Look no further than the so-called “reporters” of major news organizations on the NFL where only one simple rule seems to exist:
The Dallas Cowboys are good no matter how bad they are playing or what their record indicates.
Here is a team that gets so much media attention because they are called “America’s Team”, a quote coined in 1978 by an NFL Films editor. The fact is, the Cowboys could lose every game one year and be the laughing stock of the entire league but still find itself having three prime time games the following year along with a Thanksgiving Day game at home. What’s wrong with this picture?
I watched my Seahawks play the Cowboys this past weekend. The game was tied at halftime 6-6. Both teams equally bad but all the announcers seemed to keep focusing on was the Cowboys. What they needed to do, how they should make adjustments, the great play of their running back. Quite hardly a peep about the “other” team. Sure enough, when the Cowboys managed to win the game the announcers seemed to have already punched the golden ticket to the Super Bowl for them.
But what’s even more appalling than the Cowboys of late is the media circus surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles. Here is a team who brought in a bunch of talent in recent years to a bruhaha of attention. Visions of championships filled every news article about them. A rehabilitated quarterback (himself a convicted felon) was going to lead them to the promised land. That was until they started losing.
The team with the Super Bowl or bust mentality had lost four games in a row and reporters, rightfully so, lambasted them on their horrific playing. Some even calling for the coach to be fired. Then the Eagles man handled the Dallas Cowboys last week, brought their record to 3-5 and now suddenly the past four losses were instantly forgiven by this same press in favor of one game where they put it all together.
I took a quick peek at who CNN considers it’s “Fine Fifteen”. The top 15 teams it considers to be the best out of 32. They ranked the Eagles (with a LOSING record) at #11. Ahead of teams having much better years (and better records) than they do.
Last night, the team with the losing record played in prime time against the Chicago Bears (with a winning record) and looked as bad as ever. Of course, the Bears were ranked worse than the Eagles on the “Fine Fifteen” list. Go figure.
You could call it sour grapes on my part because my team isn’t even on the radar and that’s ok if you feel that way.
The truth is I’m just tired of seeing the SAME teams getting all the attention no matter what.
go.Jimmy.go 
It’s a business and the NFL caters to the market. Cowboys gear sells all over the U. S. That’s why they always talk up “America’s Team.” As an Eagles fan, it sickens me also! You will notice that individual players will always be on their radar as well, whether they are on a good team or not just because of their superstar status (think Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss). At the moment, this is the case with a number of players on the Cowboys’ and Eagles’ rosters. So we are going to hear about those guys, wherever they play.
It’s definitely not sour grapes. It’s just the reality of the NFL peddling their product. Their so-called reporters are more like promoters.
I agree Mr. Weaver. i’m just so tired of it. When you have announcers covering the game and they’re being biased towards the Cowboys something is wrong. The Seahawks had quite a few inactive players but not a peep from the Fox crew. First thing they talked about was the Cowboys inactive players. Enough already.