SportsCenter’s ability to have constant, reliable coverage of all levels of sports has allowed it to achieve great success and become arguably the best sports television program.
Despite the successes and high praises it so often receives, SportsCenter is by no means perfect, though. In fact, SportsCenter constantly airs features and debates about issues that are based solely on speculation and have no factual merit.
Just this past week, I turned on SportsCenter and saw a debate about whether or not Jadeveon Clowney can make it to the NFL Hall of Fame. Having this debate now is a complete waste of time, because he’s still a month away from the NFL Draft.
There is no doubt that Clowney had a phenomenal college career at South Carolina, but a Hall of Fame debate at this stage in his career is idiotic. Who knows if his skills will translate to the next level or if he will suffer more injuries and have a short career.
Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper and his use of a racial slur last July is another example where SportsCenter anchors unnecessarily speculated. Many thought the Eagles would cut him, some even went as far as saying this could end Cooper’s NFL career.
But as it turned out, Cooper was fined and was forced to seek counseling before rejoining the team in August. He then played every game and set career highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, not to mention he recently signed a new contract. So, I guess you could say SportsCenter’s predictions were a little off.
Those are just examples within the last eight months or so where viewers have seen anchors report stories that are nothing more than hearsay, but its labeled it news.
Other recent examples where SportsCenter wasted its time speculating included Michael Sam coming out as gay and the infamous Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax and the impact it would have on his draft and career.
SportsCenter is a great source for the latest sports news, but it needs to stop airing stories based off speculation. Instead, it should just report the news based on facts and stop wasting viewers’ time with stories that are nothing more than opinions.
Audiences are more than capable of drawing their own conclusions, but they watch because they want the facts.
Christopher Miller is a sophomore studying broadcast journalism. If you want to share your opinion with him on SportsCenter email him at cm001111@ohiou.edu.
