Submission no.1

We've finally received some submitted articles here at FPA industries. The first is from Jeff Grayson. Jeff is a local sports authority who is the host of "Call of the Wild" on Comcast and other cable systems. He is also the host of "Wolves Vision" halftime shows for games on KSTC/45, the host of Brewers and Bucks studio shows on FSN Wisconsin and occasional columnist for "The Minnesota Score" magazine and 10000takes.com.

He also claims to be a school janitor, which is cool.

So what’s on my mind? I’ll tell you.

Confession: I am a sports guy. True, I was a role player at best; benchwarmer is more accurate. But I’ve always enjoyed reading and watching sports, especially about historical figures and events. Sports television dealing with the here and now doesn’t always do it for me anymore. There’s only so much I can watch.

Do we really need to watch people play poker? Do we really need a four-hour Super Bowl pre-game show? Do we need 24-hour sports radio? What about hours and hours of time devoted to fantasy football? And, NFL scouting workouts get a week of airtime?

But if people continue to watch and listen, the shows will come. It’s simple supply and demand; I accept that. I just don’t like it when blowhards who are seemingly paid by the word put out all sorts of outrageous quotes that are often wrong and are never held accountable for the lack of substance in their style.

Last night, I watched the annual selection show that announces the NCAA basketball tournament. I wrote down the teams like everyone else because I try to get in a workplace pool. But as I was watching, I was struck by how much this entertainment event is dissected and inspected as a plethora of announcers interjected with regions and seeds. In short, they put their peepers on sleepers and keepers. For being about entertainment, it felt more like a stockholders’ report to me.

Like I said, I’m a sports guy. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. But I wish that more substantial issues could also be broken down in a nice one-hour package like the treatment this tournament receives. If we could get several political commentators to analyze candidates in an entertaining way, maybe voter turnout would be better. We could look at delegate counts with the same snazzy graphics that we give to the Midwest Regional. But when coaches make ten times more money than the leader of the free world, what do we expect?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not on some moral high ground claiming that our civilization is grinding to a halt because we care more about this tournament in March than voting in November. But this is entertaining theater. And who doesn’t like that?

I could just do without the endless so-called ‘insight.’ Play the games! And if you ever denounce stories about low graduation rates among college athletes who are treated like kings, don’t complain. We love this annual show and it is all about one thing: big bucks. We fuel it. We fund it.

But I’d like to see the percentages regarding the number of players who finish school. True, it took me five years to gain a degree. I’m not claiming to be a shining example of academia. But who are we kidding? Despite the video you’ll see over the next few weeks of raucous bands, emotional cheerleaders and acrobatic mascots, college basketball stopped being about college first a long time ago.

I’ve gotta go. My bracket awaits.