The Sports Suckers

We are such chumps. For a shining Sunday moment we believed the Browns really had a shot.

We should know better.

The latest from MSNBC and WFAN, New York's sports talk station, with reports Titans backup QB Kerry Collins says Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher and Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy must have been talking because it was clear Indy wasn't going to contest losing Sunday's game. The Titans win knocked the Browns out of the NFL playoffs since Cleveland needed an Indy win to slip in.

Now the fact the Browns had to depend on another team to beat the roadblock standing between postseason and playing golf in January should be enough to throw some cold water on those playoff dreams for Cleveland fans; anytime you depend on the "other guys" to do your work for you it's a sure signal you put yourself in a crappy position. Having said that, however, doesn't get the Titans and Colts coaches off the hook for what looks, sounds and smells like collusion, especially given Dungy's postgame comments that three division teams made the playoffs.

So what's worse: the crooks on the sidelines or us suckers sidelined?

Keep telling yourself it's a game, just a game.

It isn't your kid making the honor roll at school -- that actually has a payoff later when they get accepted on a full scholarship to some pricey university and embark on a career that leaves you in retirement in Boca Raton.

It isn't whether your employer has a heart and vision as well as a constant eye on the bottom line -- that has more to do with your personal happiness and ability to pay your bills than whether a gang of millionaires owned by a group of billionaires claw their way up the ladder to play in-between :30 second ads as Big Sports hooks up with Big Media for the Big Game.

It sure as hell isn't as important as the time you spend helping your parents fix stuff around the house you grew up in or your neighbors dig out from the latest snowfall -- those are the "pay it forward" things most of us do without a second thought because it makes us feel better and besides they're the right things to do.

Is it possible the NFL had the fix in ahead of the Indy-Tennessee game? Is there a remote chance the Colts understood winning the game that meant nothing to them was a favor to a team they didn't really care about? Could the pitch we hear from professional sports on how "winning is the only thing" really be convenient sales babble anyone with a lick of intelligence would dismiss out of hand in a heartbeat?

Count me among the reformed sports suckers: believe the worst, watch for entertainment, but don't give 'em your heart. Leave the love for folks who deserve it.

NFL Coverage You Can't See and Hear

In a bit of inside baseball but covering football, there's a battle going on away from the gridiron that will impact the type of coverage you'll see on websites all across the country, including AkronNewsNow. The NFL and the franchise teams, including the Cleveland Browns, have imposed rules on coverage that severely restrict just how much reporting we'll be able to do on your favorite team.

The problem isn't with radio, TV, newspaper or web-only reporting sources; the NFL has decreed that in order to spur traffic to their own websites (league and team) we aren't permitted to play audio or video clips longer than 45 seconds, total, and that only covers a 24-hour period. This effectively means any interviews we do on training camp grounds or even game-day coverage from the stadiums during the exhibition and regular seasons must, by NFL ruling, be removed from our websites the next day.

No more going to AkronNewsNow, WKYC, WEWS, WJW, WOIO, the Beacon Journal, Plain Dealer, or Canton Repository websites to not only read Romeo's wisdom but also to hear and see your favorite player. In fact, web sites such as AkronNewsNow have been informed by the Browns that we aren't even permitted to take photographs during games to augment our coverage on the web.

We think this is ridiculous, echoing comments from just about every other major news organization including the Radio Television News Directors Association, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and scores of other media outlets. The Houston Chronicle's football beat reporter for their website even produced a video highlighting just how foolish the 45 second rule is.

WATCH the Chronicle's team try to make sense of the NFL guidelines

We agree with these and other media outlets that these restrictions are unparalleled in the coverage of news and sports, and in fact is a direct affront to the rights of our respective readers, listeners, viewers and web visitors to learn more about the teams that play in palaces funded, in large measure, because of the largess of local government and local taxpayers.

It's why you won't see web video or hear web audio reports, even from the locker room, unless media organizations break the rule and risk losing the credentials needed to cover the games. It's why you won't be able to revisit coverage with web video or web audio to watch or listen again to a coach or player more than a day after the game. You won't, that is, unless you go to the league or team sites. Is that the coverage you'll fully trust as independent?

This is a disturbing trend in sports; the NFL has been the most aggressive in pursuing these policies but don't be surprised to see the other leagues pay very close attention as the digital age pushes them to weigh commercial considerations above the interests of the fans.

A cynic would note this is only the logical extension for professional leagues where sports is a sidebar to marketing. I wish I weren't such a cynic.