Media To Blame?

by: Michael Steffes

On my way home from my morning activities, I took a little break from NFL Radio (because ther-e is zip going on right now) and ventured over to ESPN radio. The host was Colin Cowheard. More often than not I think this guy is a total moron. However, he is from the Northwest, grew up in Seattle, and got his radio start in Portland I believe. He was talking today about Seattle, and their struggles in pro sports. He blames the media.

His overriding point was that West coast media is much softer than East coast media. They are far less harsh, and often defend those in the organization. Also, that the West coast tends to be nicer, and far more willing to promote people just because they have been there a long time, ex used Jim Lambright and John Mclaren. His assertion is that it is the media's job to hold the teams accountable. In markets like NY, Boston, and Philly, the teams are shredded if they aren't doing a good job and it motivates them to solve their problems. In markets like Sea, Sf, and San Diego the media pats the teams on the back and says try harder guys, thus assuring they they will never get it right and or win championships. Cowheard says if you take Bill Walsh out of the equation, those three cities would have an alarming rate of futility. For discussion topics...

So here is my question.... Is the Seattle media doing it job? I tend to agree that the local media is a lot softer than their East coast counterparts, but does it effect the success of the teams? Also, do we care? Would we rather read scathing articles and hear bitter chatter about the team to no end? It seems incongruent to the way NWesterners see and feel about things.

The Seahawks are obviously the exception, success wise, but there is defintely a massive love fest going on. As a fan blog that is great, right... But what about KJR and the beat reporters. Should they be pushing the team a little harder? Until 2005, the Hawks were a mess. Wasting first round picks, one after another. Not surprisingly, it took new blood, hired from the outside, as Cowherd would prefer, to come in and be cold and ruthless before any success was really had. Food for thought this morning.