Sorry, Mike. I’ve only been writing this blog for about a year, and you were going to be my first blog post in October 2010, but you’ll have to settle for something in December 2011. There’s a pecking order here and this is where you landed. So here goes:
Dear Mike (great name, by the way, you have that going for you):
I absolutely love reading your sports commentary. I enjoy watching you on The Sports Reporters (on ESPN previously, now found on “ESPN, The Ocho”). In general, I enjoy your take on things having grown up reading your opinions. Not that we share the same team allegiances, but at the least I’m a CT boy, born and raised, and have spent a majority of my adult life in NYC reading the Daily News. We have geography going for us. I don’t agree with you too often, but I wouldn’t say it is seldom, either.
So far, so good.
Now, experts in publicity (I’m in this general industry, by the way, and know a thing or two about Marketing), will say that if you’re not upsetting at least one-third of the population with your commentary, you’re irrelevant. What a shame. Yet, it’s true. So I get your opinions and I get why you dwell on two things in particular, over and over again seemingly, that you absolutely shouldn’t:
1) Notre Dame football
2) Politics
Mike, I respect your sports journalism skills immensely. Honestly, the only reason I tune into The Sports Reporters (on “The Ocho”) is you. You’re outspoken, and you take a stand. You have an opinion. Your opinion is not one I agree with all the time, but some of the time. I think you’re one of the best sports reporters (lower case) I’ve read or listened to. So please understand I’m not trying to publicly undress you here. But….
When you write or speak about Notre Dame football (outside the confines of current sports topics) and Politics, it is irrelevant. By extension, you are irrelevant. Truly, anything you write about I disregard in these two areas. I understand you have a platform that most envy. And 99% of the time, you use that platform for fun, entertainment, the passage of knowledge, and very unique insight. But, gosh, it is that 1% that really ruins it for the rest of the class.
I’m a Notre Dame graduate. Everyone on the planet who reads your columns regularly knows you are a Boston College (BC) man. That’s fine, though tragic, in your case. I grew up going to a Catholic high school in CT with many of my friends going to BC. I get there’s a rivalry. I get that there was “the kick” in the 90′s. I get there’s even perhaps some animosity when talking about sports. (My tennis team blitzed the Eagles when I was at Notre Dame by the way – take that!). One of my good buddies celebrated on Notre Dame Stadium while I was a student there after “the kick”. I get it. Good school, good people, except when people like you take things to “jackass” stage.
But seriously. When you drop little nuggets like this one at the end of your columns, about a Notre Dame football team that, let’s face it, hasn’t been TRULY relevant in 20 years, you bring yourself down – not ND. Notre Dame aspires to be a top 5 football program in the country, and hasn’t achieved that in 20 years. I think that’s well documented. Now, you want to pick on our “red-faced” coach? Come on. You’re not just a “homer”, you’re bordering on being an idiot. Actually, it isn’t even idiotic. It is more like a “non-sequitur”. Look it up.
The other thing I can’t stand is when you use your platform to talk about something that is absolutely NOT in your sweet spot: politics. When I see your column on the front page of the NY Daily News, throwing your political opinions into the ring, I turn the page – online or offline. I respect that we as Americans have the freedom of speech and you can say what you want about the political system. But is there a reason why the “Comments” are turned off on most of your articles? Probably. You’ve jumped the shark. People may know that by now.
Stick to sports.
So…back to sports. I think your perspective is unique. I think you’re a good man. I think you have an appreciation for “family” (in the general and good sense, in addition to your own family topics which I enjoy). I think you know sports and I think you are a fantastic personality who needs to be on TV, in papers and writing books. I think you are doing exactly what you should be, in short, and are a great role model for many. I’d love to have a beer with you.
But, you do not need to talk about politics or Notre Dame football as much as you do. Understandably, you chose two lightning rods with which to branch out your personal franchise and brand. As much as it pains you, Notre Dame is probably the preeminent football program in terms of history, fan base, and tradition – and even if there are twenty 8-5 seasons in a row, or 5-8 seasons, that’s not changing. Deal with it. Like it or not, there IS a “Notre Dame clause”. That’s life, buddy. Taking snipes at ND doesn’t elevate you as a journalist even though it might endear you to current BC students. But maybe pick a better year. Right? Like…2011 isn’t such a good year to drag down others to elevate your own rooting interests? You know what I mean.
Politics…come on. Give it a rest. No one wants to hear from a sports guy just because he or she has a platform. You have the platform, but don’t go there. Because, really, no one cares. Use the platform better, dude.
Thank you,
Concerned Citizen, Avid Sports Fan, and Mike Lupica Consultant (OK, I made that up)
