What the Bobby Petrino Scandal Taught Me About 'Sports News'

A few weeks ago, I took my family on a driving trip to Florida.  The car ride was about 20 hours long, spread over two days, and during that time, I listened to a lot of music and news on the radio.  And one thing became absolutely clear after this 20-hour odyssey: Bobby Petrino has changed my car's radio station presets, and given me an all-new disdain for what people today call "news."

During my trip, the big news story was the scandal surrounding Bobby Petrino, the (now former) head football coach at Arkansas.  To summarize: After a motorcycle accident, Petrino was discovered to be cheating on his wife with a 20-something college grad, whom he had just hired to represent the Arkansas football team in a public relations capacity.  Petrino had been driving his mistress around town on his motorcycle, had the accident, tried to cover it up, and was subsequently discovered (and eventually, thankfully, fired).

The Story that Wouldn't Go Away

You literally couldn't escape the Petrino spectacle, if you were listening to the radio.  It was in the rotation on regular news stations like CNBC and MSNBC, though a tragic Navy plane crash cut down on the coverage. 

On the sports channels, however, the coverage was fever pitch.  Constant, near-frantic coverage of every aspect of the "situation" -- across four different sports channels.  News summary of the story.  Analysis of the police accident reports.  Opinions from virtually every direction, from alumni, to self-proclaimed "college sports experts," to radio hosts, to eyewitnesses.  Predictions about the impact to recruiting, rivalries, revenue.  Nearly endless discussion of "the relationship" and who the young woman was.

All.  Day.  Long.

Now, perhaps you're wondering: why did YOU listen, then, Keith?

Great question. 

I originally wanted to hear about baseball.  Specifically, Spring Training and projections about the upcoming season.  Yeah, I'm a nerd, but that's why I listened -- for a while.  I had hoped that I could wait it out for 10-15 minutes and then hear some baseball news.  It was springtime, the teams were in Spring Training camps, I had 20 hours to kill, so I held out.

But after while, hearing the same stories over and over again, I gave up and resorted to checking the channels occasionally during the balance of my 20-hour drive. 

The near-hysteria over this scandal never, not once, let up. 

Poking Holes in the Stereotypes 

I found myself wondering why sports radio channels -- with a target audience that's assuredly male and "sports oriented" -- would be blaring this drama virtually around the clock.  And the only conclusion I can come to is this: because the target audience (men) wants this kind of "news."  After all, if it weren't driving ratings, it wouldn't get much, if any, coverage.

And that got me thinking about stereotypes.  Women often get stereotyped as reading gossip magazines and websites.  But is there really any difference between women reading relationship details about Seal and Heidi Klum's divorce and men hearing about how a college football coach was sleeping with an engaged-to-someone-else 25-year-old? 

After hearing about Bobby Petrino on-and-off for two straight days, I'm convinced that those stereotypes are simply a convenient and popular fiction.  I suspect men like gossip and scandal every bit as much as women do, if not more.  Over that 20 hours, I didn't hear a single female caller -- or even a female radio personality -- commenting or discussing the Bobby Petrino scandal.  Men were reveling in the details of "their relationship" with every bit as much enthusiasm as they would a popular sports story.  It quickly became almost laughable hearing well-known sports pundits attempting to provide their theories about "the depth of their relationship" and whether Petrino showed enough chivalry to his mistress after the accident.

In short, this was not news... it was gossip, pure and simple, packaged and presented as sports news.  Not to be outdone, they would occasionally break in with minor additional details (i.e., "NEWS JUST IN... Petrino gave her a $20,000 car!!!) as "breaking news," providing the ongoing exclamation points and fuel to keep the story fresh over the course of two days.

Pulling Back

Thanks to Bobby Petrino, I've reduced the time I spend listening to radio news, especially sports news.  On the return trip home a week later, I barely listened at all to the news channels, preferring to check headlines and sports scores on my iPhone at rest stops.  I've already reduced my television viewing to probably less than five hours per month, and can't recall the last time I've watched a television news program.  I rarely if ever purchase a newspaper.  I almost exclusively rely on the internet for news, regularly viewing a variety of left, right, and centrist web sites for news and information.

Why?

Not to escape the scandals, or the spin, or the hyperbole, that's for sure.  It's there too (in abundance).  But at least I can control the content, reading news and opinions that are well written and researched, and comparing conflicting points of view.  I'm no longer satisfied with one source of information, nor am I comfortable with someone's "interpretation" of events without having the opportunity to consider other viewpoints.

Perhaps that's the new burden -- the new responsibility -- of the Information Age.  It's up to us, individuals, to arrive at conclusions based on aggregating and synthesizing multiple sources of information, instead of relying on only one source, one world view, one channel.  It's more work than ever to be informed, to find facts, to develop personal opinions and beliefs.  But the effort is worth it.

It's ironic that, while the Bobby Petrino story was showing the sports world what it means to be a personal disgrace, it was showing me that choosing better sources of news and information is an absolute necessity.

Thank goodness there's plenty of music channels on satellite radio.

Until next time... :)

Keith's blog, Counterpoint, deals with humor, parenting, and current events.  Counterpoint can be found at http://counterpoint22.wordpress.com/.