2007-09-18

Times Fishes for Story, Catches Nothing But Cliches

Leave it to the St Pete Times to fabricate a story where none exists. From the ink rag which brought us proprioception, we now have Brooks-gate.

Background: After the Bucs win, the Times Bucs blog ran a story entitled "Is Brooks miffed?" In it the Times accused Brooks of harboring some deep seeded hatred against the franchise based on nothing more than a sports writer's hunch and a smile from Monte. Never mind the Bucs had just come off a win due in part to a great performance by Brooks.

Kudos to the Times though, much like the Philly papers they know how to play down to the lowest common denominator of fan. For what I guess are the same reasons certain people find Larry the Cable Guy funny there are fans who believe Gruden's only goal in life is to ostracize Brooks from the Bucs. These same people ignore that Brooks has lost a step, and can not play as many passing downs as he once did. And the Times, nevers ones to shy away from a little yellow journalism, play up the "Brooks miffed" angle in a desperate ploy to increase readership.

Is Brooks upset? Of course, no player ever wants to come off the field willingly. But Brooks is also a professional, and understands that he has to put the franchise before himself. There is no story here, only a desperate newspaper's shameless bid to save themselves from the rising tide that is reader indifference.

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