Rant of the Day (11/15/11): The “gamble” of Reality TV

With the news that the National Basketball Association is basically all but about done for the season you would imagine that my “Rant of the Day” (which has not been posted in a couple of days and I apologize for that) could be about that. But you would be wrong, cause everyone else is talking about this, and so I needed something else, and all I had to do was to turn to what we all use each day, the television, to get my inspiration. So, today’s rant is about a fade that has hit of late and that some athletes have been involved in as well as ESPN: reality television. It feels that any channel you turn on these days you find a show that is under the category of “reality tv”, from Survivor (who has had a soccer player and a former football coach), to the Amazing Race (who has had a pair of basketball players), on the main channels to the swarm of shows that are on the cable channels. But of course, if you follow sports, you know that on ABC their “Dancing with the Stars” has had their share of former and current players shaking it in front of million of people.

By all means, to each his own, but do I need to hear Mike and Mike in the Morning announce Emmitt Smith as champion of Dancing with the Stars? Really? And yes, ABC does own ESPN and all of that, but c’mon now! And speaking of the World Leader in Sports, remember “Dream Job” and the couple of seasons it lasted? Do not get me wrong, I do not mind some shows, and I can live with the above mentioned shows, but let’s take in consideration this, some of these shows are gambling without having to go to a casino or a bookie! Forget that ESPN has cut back with the poker since the scandals of the internet poker sites, but they still have the World Series of Poker on each and every week. And personally I do not agree with that at all! But how many hours a day are there of people going to “gamble” on a storage locker? And why do they never show them losing their shirt, when the reality is that 80% of storage lockers bought are a bust.

Reality television in my opinion should be called “over hyped tv” as it never really shows the harshness that it could be. We show the glamour of these young men and women going for millions of dollars in cash prize, but not one time are the statistics put up of how many people lose everything because of that same “sport”. They show people buying lockers and at the end of the show having this or that much, and yes, the one on A&E does show them losing on some, but there is no way you can tell me that the national average is that 80% are a bust and on those shows they might have a bust once every three or four shows. I am sorry, but if we are going to have reality television let’s have that, reality, not hyped up, not for the stars of old to come back for one last time on the tube.

Could there be worst to talk about? Maybe, but if you turn on A&E right now they have a marathon of “Storage Wars” while ESPN is replaying the WSOP and on NBC they have “Poker after Dark” Monday through Friday. So, not only do we have an overload of shows that are way fakes and not true reality, but we also have a lot of them that put people in a spot where they should not be, thinking about gambling, be it at the poker table or on a storage locker. Why do I speak of this as my “Rant of the Day” for November 15, 2011? Simple, I write on sports blogs, be it here on CLNS or on my own site, and I believe that we have to be careful, which the major sports sites are not, when talking sports which can then lead people to gambling.