ESPN - What's on Your Mind?
Thursday, 20. April 2006, 21:02:29
You know I'm doing a little somethin' somethin' to keep up with the draft - though not my usual because I will out of the country during the draft. Anyway, I took a sneak peek over at the ESPN website to check out the latest flashplayer feature on potential Wide Receiver draft choices in the draft.
The feature is aesthetically pleasing, but oriented around showcasing body parts - which, aside from the obvious psycho-social connections to Slave Market valuations, are poor predictors of future performance.
Following the lead of Sports, Inc., ESPN decided to frame their analytic categories as:
1) Hands
2) Head
3) Legs
4) Hips
5) Forearm
They proceed, in some cases, to provide measurements of these various features. In any case, those numbers don't mean much in the real world. Catching a football in traffic amid head hunting cats looking to separate you from your livelihood is not a function of the size of your hands.
I suggest changing these classifications to tell folks what they really want to know!
Instead of Hands, talk to me about Concentration.
Instead of Head (hmm), talk to me about Awareness.
Instead of Legs, talk to me about Speed.
Instead of Hips, talk to me about Elusiveness.
Instead of Forearms, talk to me about Toughness.
These are the qualities that championship teams look for in Wide Receivers. When scouts predicate conversations on NUMBERS, they miss the QUALITIES that require a different type of quantification.
ESPN has to get off the plantation and start talking about what really matters in the game of football - after all, it's a stone's throw from talking about tremendous physical attributes to talking about "stables of wide receivers." Actually, it may be closer than that since I heard the Lions pass receivers referred to as such yesterday.
Language often reveals heartfelt sentiment and those who would defend the casual use of language at all times often have to defend their assumed right to insult their audience - even what that audience pays the bills.
The feature is aesthetically pleasing, but oriented around showcasing body parts - which, aside from the obvious psycho-social connections to Slave Market valuations, are poor predictors of future performance.
Following the lead of Sports, Inc., ESPN decided to frame their analytic categories as:
1) Hands
2) Head
3) Legs
4) Hips
5) Forearm
They proceed, in some cases, to provide measurements of these various features. In any case, those numbers don't mean much in the real world. Catching a football in traffic amid head hunting cats looking to separate you from your livelihood is not a function of the size of your hands.
I suggest changing these classifications to tell folks what they really want to know!
Instead of Hands, talk to me about Concentration.
Instead of Head (hmm), talk to me about Awareness.
Instead of Legs, talk to me about Speed.
Instead of Hips, talk to me about Elusiveness.
Instead of Forearms, talk to me about Toughness.
These are the qualities that championship teams look for in Wide Receivers. When scouts predicate conversations on NUMBERS, they miss the QUALITIES that require a different type of quantification.
ESPN has to get off the plantation and start talking about what really matters in the game of football - after all, it's a stone's throw from talking about tremendous physical attributes to talking about "stables of wide receivers." Actually, it may be closer than that since I heard the Lions pass receivers referred to as such yesterday.
Language often reveals heartfelt sentiment and those who would defend the casual use of language at all times often have to defend their assumed right to insult their audience - even what that audience pays the bills.
WIDGETIZE
How to use Quote function: