I would like to posit the theory that you can tell the quality
of a collegiate basketball team by the quality of its media guide.
Stanford has a stellar media guide out this season, which has
propelled the Cardinal to a 12-5 overall record, and a 3-2 Pac-10
mark that is ahead of expectations. Conversely, the Bruins, who
face the Cardinal tonight, languish at 4-9 overall and 2-3 in
conference play ““ a record largely due to the Bruins’
pathetic media guide ““ a tome emblazoned with the silly image
of Jason Kapono and his silly hair, and Ray Young (16.7 three-point
field goal percentage). The Stanford media guide offers so much
interesting information about Cardinal basketball that it fills my
soul with incomparable happiness to read each player’s
biography, devouring every morsel of information with which the
Stanford Athletic Department has decided to grace the world. The
best part of the media guide are the files on the players and
coaches, because they allow the reader to learn the most
fascinating things about Stanford basketball. For example,
assistant coach Russell Turner keeps African and South American
aquarium fish and his favorite food is raspberries. Who would have
known? Some highlights: “¢bull;Sophomore forward Josh
Childress’ prized possessions are his hair and shoes.
“¢bull;One of freshman guard Dan Grunfeld’s hobbies is
“collecting stuff.” “¢bull;Freshman forward Matt
Haryasz’s favorite musical group is Creed. “¢bull;Senior
guard Julius Barnes feels that the best thing about Stanford is
“the intelligent people you run into on a daily basis.”
If Barnes could run into himself, he wouldn’t think Stanford
had a lot of intelligent people into which to run. When asked to
name his favorite actor, Barnes named Denzel Washington, Samuel L.
Jackson and Mel Gibson. Dude, you named three actors, not one.
Another gem from the Barnes file: he feels that his most prized
possession is “life itself.” Julius, life isn’t
really a possession. An example of a possession would be a baseball
glove. A coffee table is also a possession. Ңbull;Ӣbull;Ӣbull;
My column last week, “Viewers suffer as inane sports
journalism reaches a low,” caused quite a stir on the UCLA
campus. You would think I had written about the coaching genius of
Steve Lavin, given the amount of hate mail I received. Apparently a
lot of people love the television program “Pardon the
Interruption.” I would like to address some of the letters I
received, and respond to my critics.
Dear Daniel, First of all, we (the University of Maryland) had a
guy named Danny Miller once upon a time on our basketball team. He
was a whiny, unintelligent piece of trash, transferred to Notre
Dame, and failed to pick up a championship ring. So, my condolences
for sharing a name with the worst McDonald’s All-American
ever. Do you read Wilbon and Kornheiser (co-hosts of
“PTI”)? Their tirades are one-minute columns.
It’s not journalism. But are columnists really held to the
same standards beat writers are? They are supposed to be
opinionated.
Oh, man. How sweet is that? Someone from Maryland read my
column. And there’s a basketball player named after me.
Dear Daniel, Your article blatantly smashed one of the most
insightful sports shows of the day, “PTI,” condemning
them for trying to be inventive, and add humor and a new style to
their show. You think that Terrell Owens’ comments about
other athletes’ (crimes) were insightful? Why should players
be condemned for their personal lives? People doing drugs, or
beating their wives has nothing to do with football, or their
career, but showboating and parading and mocking the rules of the
NFL certainly does. I am not saying that athletes should be put
above the law, but I do understand if they keep their personal
lives private. I think it is ironic that you write about the
downfall of sports journalism when you are the epitome of its
downfall.
This reader’s opinion that Owens’ Sharpie debacle
deserved the media attention it got while destructive, abusive
athletes should be allowed to keep their violence private is an
incredibly irresponsible idea. It is absolutely better for young
sports fans to hear that Owens signed a football, than to hear that
an athlete beats his wife and continues to reap the benefits of
athletic talent despite his crime. These guys are role models,
whether they like it or not. For better or worse, athletes are
public figures. When they commit crimes and are held above the law,
it sets a dangerous precedent. Did anyone else notice that both
teams’ mascots in Sunday’s Super Bowl are types of
pirates? E-mail Miller at dmiller@ media.ucla.edu to discuss
pirates.