Crosby watch. Tiger's troubles. LeBron's decisive power hour.
Every sport appears to have that one guy: the media darling; the next, next one; the guy who seems like the only one keeping the sport above water. Of course that's not really the case, and it's hard to find blame for these excessive stories. Is it the sports writers? Is it the consumer? Do these athletes just have really determined publicists and gigantic egos?
My best guess is that all of those things are colliding to make a perfect storm of repetitive stories that focus on one person in the entire sport.
Some leagues really are making an attempt to re-image themselves away from that one marketable star's coattails the rest of the league was clinging to for so long. The National Hockey League is making no such attempt.
The PGA Tour has greatly reduced its push to place Tiger Woods at the forefront of everything. The tour is trying to market all these great young golfers who are exciting to watch, and trying to bring in the younger crowd that would otherwise find golf as exciting as watching an athlete talk about his free agency decisions during an hour of prime time television (more on that later). Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson are among the studs stealing the spotlight on the tour this year from the wily, but aging, veterans like Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk.
The young guns versus the establishment. That's been the motto so far, except when Tiger Woods shows up on Thursday. He steps up to the first tee and anybody watching a telecast will then be treated to all of Tiger's 71 shots that day. He'll shoot even par and head to the post-round news conference. When he's answered all the questions and exits stage left, so do the reporters, leaving the guy who shot an opening day seven-under round to answer one reporter's question. Did you think you'd be leading after round one? No. Maybe there will be a follow-up question. Tiger, who played 20 tournaments in the last two years, still owns the PGA Tour.
In the last two weeks I've seen daily stories surrounding Sydney Crosby and his return to the NHL being in short-term jeopardy. I get that the hubbub over the Jets is done, and August is the slowest month of the year for hockey news, but we don't need daily updates on Crosby's head, unless Crosby is the only NHL story out there, just like Tiger is the PGA's tarnished golden boy.
Then there's Lebron, or King James as he's known by his subjects. With last summer's The Decision, and the Miami Heat dream team, he's under the sports world's microscope. With no championship ring and a battle of words with his hometown of Cleveland, he carries the NBA headlines from day to day.
As athletes have become bigger than their owns sports, we are also on vigilant lookout for the next prodigy player to step up and take over the mantle or crown in Lebron's case.
The next Crosby is some 15-year-old Maritimer, though Crosby is my age and just about to enter his prime. He doesn't need another one of him yet. The next Tiger is being made out to be the 22-year-old Irishman McIlroy. The next Lebron better show up soon because the people turned on him a long time ago.
