They're the worst. The absolute worst.
It can never be about sports, it can never be about fun, it can never be about the entertainment of competition, or the thrill of rivalry. These days it's always about the cause, the crusade, the politics. And it's just so ridiculous.
I'm speaking, of course, of the woke warriors of sports giant ESPN. The Disney-owned (for now) subsidiary that touts itself as the "worldwide leader in sports" is at it again, seizing upon one of the greatest days of the sports calendar year - NCAA Selection Sunday (aka, the fill-out-your-brackets-pretending-that-you-actually-have-a-clue-how-these-contests-are-actually-going-to-turn-out Day) - to teach us all a lesson.
Due to a full day of family activities yesterday, I couldn't watch the live draw of the annual tournament pairings, so I logged on about an hour later to see who ended up where, who got what seedings, who got snubbed, and who I thought had the most advantageous path to the championship. And even though I should know better - and since they insist on doing this, they are unquestionably conditioning me to the point where one day soon I will know better - I still instinctively log onto ESPN to find it.
And here's what I see:
Any fan of college basketball would naturally assume that top story is referencing the men's bracket. Your eye doesn't immediately go to the small, blue "Women's" written on the graphic. So you click on it. And then you're confused because these teams and alignment don't look right. It takes a few seconds for you to realize what has happened, go back, and correct your error.
And ESPN knows that's what's going to happen. They know what people are logging onto their site to see. They don't care. They don't care that it annoys people. They don't care that it's a terrible business strategy to use what could be an insanely popular web-traffic day and use it to frustrate people by diverting them towards something they aren't interested in seeing.
Scroll down below the backwards bracket presentation on the ESPN page and you get this:
More of the same. And on the sidebar where they list their "top headlines," check this out:
I'll give you one guess which of those top two stories references the men's top seeds and which one references the women's. I'll also give you one guess which of those generates the most interest among ESPN's readers. But those readers don't matter anymore.
No, you will be made to care. You will be made to pretend that the women's tourney is just as important, beloved, and special as the men's. And you will be made to believe that voicing any opposition to their pathetic pandering and insulting condescension towards women (and yes, that's exactly what it is), makes you a misogynist or sexist.
But here's the truth: I'm not either one of those things, I don't care about the women's tournament, and the women's tourney isn't as important, beloved, or special as the men's tournament in this country. Not because women aren't as important, beloved, or special, but because the product isn't as good. I happen to love RC Cola. But there's a reason that grocery stores stock more of Coke and Pepsi. Because it's what the people want. People like me that enjoy a good RC understand we are a niche market, and we accept that we have to get used to not having our preference readily and conveniently presented to us. It's the way business works.
Unless you're ESPN.
Because again, it's no longer about the sport, the fans, or the fun. It's about the politics, and politics ruins everything good. For all of us, men and women. Last year, my wife printed off our family brackets for us and filled hers out before I got home. She doesn't even follow college basketball, but she loves this time of year. She loves the buzzer beaters, cheering on Cinderellas, and laughing at me when her bracket is better than mine despite her having not watched a game all year. When I picked up my paper to fill it out, I realized my wife had been duped by ESPN into printing off the women's bracket.
Her response was telling: "Why would they do that? Does anyone even watch the women's tourney?"
Well yes, they do. There are RC Cola drinkers, remember. But no, not nearly as many. Not even remotely close.
