As someone who surfs message boards and websites harder than Bede Durbidge hits mid-tide Coasta Rican pipelines, I've always been somewhat amazed to the point of casternation as to why local fans concern themselves with the opinons of national pundits. The most recent ocassions were the perceived slights from Herman Edwards and Kirk Herbstreit.
Edwards, ESPN football analyst and former NFL defensive back who was selected to zero Pro Bowls, a former head coach boasting a 56-77 record, prompted a phone call to my weekly radio spot with WIST 690am legend Eric Asher from a crest fallen Saints fan when Edwards failed to mention the Saints as one of his picks to contend for the Super Bowl.
Herbstreit, ESPN college football analyst and former fourth string QB for the Ohio State Buckeyes, failed to mention enough LSU Tigers on his latest list of "all-stars" called "The Herbies". He is public enemy #1 on LSU boards. Why? Cause the affection he dotes to universities falls short of the corner of Nicholson and Skip Bertman Drive.
I know it's frustrating to watch these pundits yap it up and I must admit to once being sucked into the hate. So I am empathetic. But then I realized that these people have no clue as to what's going on down here. More so, they could care less. They have personal allegiances. Edwards played for the Eagles so it should come as a shock to no one that they are his pick for the NFC. Herbstreit displays no shame in his advocacy for the Big Ten, specifcally Ohio St. To be fair, though, he does hail USC, Alabama and Oklahoma. Though with slightly less vigor.
So why would one care what the likes of these two have to say about?
Maybe this speaks somewhat about ourselves. We are a quirky civic bunch. In some ways we're like the kid in the class, emboldened with the right answer, waving his hand feverishly only to see someone else noticed by the teacher. Whether it's our cooking, partying, tailgating or culture, we are sure that there is no one who can do it better. We don't mind telling anyone within whispering distance as much. Therefore when the likes of Edwards and Herbstreit have the audacity to snub our local heroes there's gonna be hell to pay on the message boards and radio shows.
Look, coaches want to be Al Pacino's John Milton,"never let them see ya comin". Hype motivates the oppositon and drops complacency on the hyped. That's why they retreat Costanza style when selected to the preseason top 5 in the polls.
Fans should take the same approach. Let your team fly under the radar.
Since 1950 85% of pre-season #1s have failed to live up to the hype. The 2004 USC Trojans are the only pre-season #1 to win the BCS. And they cheated. Who picked Green Bay or the Saints to win the last two Super Bowls?
All this tells you what? That pundits are wrong. They're wishing, they're hoping, they're guessing. Pay them no attention. John Milton once said,"look, but don't touch, smell, but don't taste". I say, "hear, but don't listen".
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