Boilermaker Rick wrote:
HOVA wrote:
Here is the thing. No one is saying you should know who Cousins or Bledsoe are. Not knowing the best player in college ball is inexcusable regardless of how long you make your post.
Who was the best player in college football this year? How often was he talked about before the Heisman trophy became a topic of conversation? I don't remember hearing the name Ndamukong Suh on any Chicago radio station until the Big 12 title game. This includes Boers and Bernstein. Right now is the equivalent of the end of October in football season.
You're right that I don't really need to hear John Wall conversation, just like I'm not sure how much Ndamakong Suh conversation I needed, but that's not really the point. If a host said "I don't know who Ndamakong Suh is" in October, it would send up a huge red flag. Not having discussion about an area of marginal interest to the fanbase is one thing. But not knowing something extremely basic to a major sport is another. If someone doesn't know who John Wall is, why should I care what he thinks about college basketball in general?
Now, the response to that could be that most people don't care about college basketball, bathroom discussion is more popular, etc. I think Ken's point about not turning into WGN is pertinent, but even ignoring that, a host should at least have the most basic rudiments of the sport down. I don't watch any hockey whatsoever and I've heard of Ovechkin. Etc.
Quote:
HOVA wrote:
You don't even have to watch college basketball to know this either. Regurgitating the articles you read or listening to B&B would be sufficient. I know you guys love Mac but if Lovie or Vinny was this incompetent doing a part of their job Mac and all of you guys would be hammering them everyday.
He's a Chicago sports host. In January, college basketball is behind the Bears, Bulls, Hawks(for the first time in a while), and is probably equal to the Cubs/Sox even in the off-season. In Chicago, Northwestern's attempt to make it's first NCAA tournament is probably a more audience inducing story than the "John Wall is good and pretty much everyone agrees story".
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If you don't know who John Wall is, there's a pretty good chance he doesn't know who the best player on Northwestern is, or Illinois, or Purdue, or the Big 10 as a whole. It's impossible to watch any college basketball and not know who John Wall is, even if you're only watching Penn State/Iowa on ESPN 2. John Wall will be brought up. It is inevitable.
Once again, that doesn't mean that he must be discussed. But you should know who he is.