By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
***centralgasports@gmail.com***

For many of us, what we used to call “the media” now deserves quotes around the word – some of us automatically reference it as ‘media’/media, because there’s more of the former and less of the latter – and it’s depressing.

So it’s unsurprising that the “media/media as well as a big chunk of the populace on both sides have missed the entire point about the uproar/angst/paranoia/hysteria/hyperbole regarding Taylor Swift and the NFL.

It’s largely about the teeveecomtwits’ and clickbaiters’ (aka “media”/media) obsession – and, very,very, sadly from this seat, a huge faction of reportedly normal “media” enamored with the situation and posting about it, kind of pathetically, with schoolgirl/boy crushness - with making a non-story out of her into a story.

Clarification: a non sports story out of anything she does. Attention in the sports world and “media/media now for anything she does, and connecting it to sports.

Headlines from just the last week, from Associated Press – they’re breaking my heart with this digression from standard news judgement - alone:

Taylor Swift’s connections to sports go back to her early days performing the national anthem

Taylor Swift rushes in private jet from show in Tokyo to the Super Bowl

Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift gear flying off store shelves

Take it as red: why Taylor’s color is everywhere

Why is Taylor Swift facing criticism for her jet travels?

From Grammys to Super Bowl and Japan, Inside Taylor Swift’s whirlwhind week

Travis Kelce says it’s been fun to introduce Swifties to football

After Taylor Swift’s win at the Grammys, Travis Kelce says he needs to ‘bring home some hardware’

Ready to disappoint Taylor Swift, Brock Purdy goes overtime on Super Bowl night

That doesn’t include stories from the news departments but posted on sports wires on assorted commerce items, as well as – this is painful type, the realization that more and more people have mental issues than anybody wants to admit - how she and her boyfriend are the “focus of political conspiracy theories.”

Must pause for a minute, because that’s just so frighteningly pathetic.

And it doesn’t include the scores of mentions in just plain ol’ stories, notebooks, and columns about the game and teams and people involved in the game.

Or stories on Taylor Swift prop bets, how many time zones she’ll cover Sunday, why she may not sit in a suite with Momma Kelce (are you friggin’ serious, CBS Sports?), where can she park her jet in Las Vegas, players reacting to her attendance, Kelce thanking Swift for “joining the team,” the head coach knowing her before the boyfriend, the Swift effect on the team and NFL and football, Kelce’s reaction to her Grammy success, criticism of the emissions effect from her using private planes, and, and and …

From “sports ‘media’/media”

It’s as if 42 percent of the sports “media”/media is temporarily made up of 17 year old girls or the 45 year old dads of 17 year old girls, and former media folks turned into apologists who would’ve lost their minds half a decade ago now turned apologists.

As of 1 p.m. Saturday, a Google search of “Taylor Swift” and “Super Bowl” shows 411 million results. “Biden” and “Trump”, a much longer-standing topic, brings in 567 million, not that much more, in the big picture.

All worse than that is that “Patrick Mahomes” and “Super Bowl” – the point of all this – brings in 12 percent of the same results, 47.3 million.

Seriously?

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Note: What’s interesting to many people is not – not – actually news, or newsworthy.

And no, the vast majority of folks aren’t interested in three days of biographical and analytical stories on whoever the halftime entertainment is. Many of us do not – repeat, do not – watch a TV show for the commercials, especially since we’ll be hammered with stuff about commercials for two days afterward (thus, skipping them during the game is not, in fact, skipping them).

Why is attendance at a game a stalkworthy subject of the “media”/media?

She’s at a game. Big friggin’ whoop.

She’s cheering on her boyfriend. BFW.

She’s in a suite at a game with people she knows cheering on her boyfriend. BFW.

Me, I don’t want to see so many fan shots anyway, unless it’s legitimately different and entertaining, like a 325-pound 35-year-old pro football player taking his shirt off in celebration of his brother’s success. That’s kind of gold, especially considering the brothers’ hard-work-ethic story and how both are hall of famers.

I do not, however, want to see 19 stories all week about a 325-pound 35-year-old pro football player taking his shirt off in celebration.

Reportedly, studies have shown – we have studies, and they’ve been somewhat misleading, counting apparently just kickoff to buzzer, not pregame and postgames shows, etc. – how little she is on the air. True, perhaps, but it’s the constant and predictable mentions and shots for no reason, and it’s just the start.

We’re not only getting constant video of a player’s girlfriend for a minute a game.

It’s too much, that’s the issue. Irrelevant but “cute” shoved down the throat of an audience not necessarily interested in “cute”.

The problem isn’t her, or him, or them. It’s the teeveecompoops and “media”/media.

A celebrity – who has nothing to do with this messy debate other than existence and a relationship – is shoved down our throats by hack teevee decisions, which are then mistakenly followed by other “media”/media all over social media, and worse, as part of routine sports coverage.

It shouldn’t be. That’s the argument. Nobody wants the places they normally go for specific coverage to be looking at mindless paparazzi BS.

Driving the “narrative” and trying to be cute or connected for the rest of the week is the argument. Turning nothing items into “stories” is the argument.

Coverage of nothing. It’s not news that somebody hugged somebody. Is at a game. Is having fun. Not relevant, nor do we need to see it every single time it happens.

It’s the Seinfeld effect: stories – video and written – about nothing. And staggeringly, “media”/media think millions of people have a serious interest in nothing. Daily. OK, well, yeah, but that’s a different tirade.

Sure, we want a certain amount of away-from-the-game stuff, stories about people – involved in the game, not in the stands – and good storytelling.

This ain’t it. At all.

Just as entertainment media doesn’t need observations about how often Jason Kelce shaves, or where did they last eat out and if she wore Chiefs red. Ditto the beats of infrastructure, food, medicine, etc.

Naturally, a lot of agenda-driving criticism of the criticism misses the point.

Sorry, but people griped about Jack Nicholson and the Lakers and Spike Lee and the Knicks all the time. Oooh, didja see Jack smirk?

No, never have. Can y’all show us?

Oooh, didja see Spike antagonizing somebody, or yapping at Reggie Miller? No, never have. What’s it look like?

Many are tired of LeBron. Were tired of Jordan. Terrell Owens. Mock drafts and bracketology (speaking of two topics that are less than nothing and shoved down our throats as if relevant or useful). People tire of Dick Vitale and Lee Corso, of ESPN on about 90 percent of ESPN’s marketing and stalking and love of a few people and a few teams – meet the Cowboys and Aaron Rodgers - and the blinding hyperbole of them.

Loads of folks were exhausted by the embarrassing and almost unprecedented butt-kissing by national “media” of Colorado’s new head coach, who went 4-8 and has lost most of his staff and revolutionized not a damn thing.

There are always complaints when something is shoved down throats, inexplicably. This is shoved down our throats. By the teeveecomtwits and losing-its-focus “media”.

Some of the arguments or defenses are odd.

We’re told that we don’t see Swift nearly as much as we believe, by the same people who tell us that Swift at NFL games is driving ratings and ticket prices and interest. Well, if we don’t see her so often, how is she driving anything? Which is it?

Taylor Swift had never needed the NFL, and the NFL has never needed Taylor Swift. Both made a crapload of money a year ago, and they’ll make a crapload of money when – please “when” and not “if” – this dies down.

No, ratings aren’t wild because of her, and no, she’s not bringing a whole new audience to the NFL. She’s bringing an audience to the Chiefs. Period. Swifies aren’t wearing 49ers colors this weekend, nor the Ravens or Lions or most anybody else.

And when Kelce retires, that blip will decrease. It won’t go away completely – and what brings parents and kids together is a good way is a good thing, no doubt, but let’s not overdo the impact.

Incidentally, the ratings for the Detroit-San Fran game were pretty close ot the ratings for KC-Baltimore. Well, in fact – apologies for the F word – the numbers for Lions-Niners were better, averaging 56.7 million viewers to 55.5 million, despite – OMG – nary a mention or shot of Swift/Kelce.

The problem isn’t her, or him, or them. It’s the teeveecompoops and “media”/media.

Memes about the uproar being anti-female, anti-successful female? There’s truth to that, but those thoughts come from the same people who are anti-anything good/positive/current anyway. They were already anti-female and anti-successful female, and anti-everybody-not-like-them, period.

And other items about the demographic grousing the most are a little inaccurate. It’s not just those knuckleheads. A lot of normal people are fine with “coverage” in moderation, and that The Singer and Tight End are all over the place all week long, well, it’s much more than just showing her after nearly every catch or following them around on the field after the game or stalking the limited-access areas in a stadium to get them just walking.

So there are some legit inaccuracies in some of the narratives, including the quasi-deranged crowd.

On the other hand, note where in the first 1,500 words here the criticism is place. Yeah, where it belongs, for those living in reality.

The problem isn’t her, or him, or them. It’s the teeveecompoops and “media”/media.

One needn’t listen to somebody’s music to respect them or their singing and writing talents, to be a fan of the person because of their abilities and professionalism and work ethic and consistency (as a performer and businesswoman).

No doubt we need more celebs to be as generous, as friendly, as alert, and as talented as she is. Hell, no doubt we just need more people in general with that mentality and personality and humility and compassions, whether they’re worth billions or checking the couch cushions for change.

Generosity and compassion and humanity and integrity aren’t defined by the numbers on a W-2 form.

No doubt she is a seriously “above and beyond” person who inspires loyalty and what from those around her because of who she is, personally as well as professionally.

Noooo doubt.

We need more people legitimately trying to make things better for people, be it through financial moves or with actions.

No doubt we don’t need to see – or feel like we’re seeing - her being her 30 times a game, and the teeveecomtwits trying to be witty about it 30 times a game. No doubt she wouldn’t mind less attention and allowed to give normal a try every so often.

Swift is certainly not going to change any of their “minds”, decrease any of the paranoia or hate, or make them decent people.

The “media”/media/teeveecompoops, though, don’t help anybody by complaining about TMZ stuff and clickbaits and then impersonating TMZ and stuff with clickbait crap, by abandoning standards and judgment.

Anything in moderation is fine, and that group is not giving us moderation, which is why what shouldn’t be a major issue became a major issue. The problem isn’t her, or him, or them.

The problem is those obsessed with her and him and them, inexplicably, and forcing it – under the guise of “coverage” - upon the rest of us. Media should be better.