Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Standing O' For Chad O'

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Two weeks ago Jets fans were skewered by every media outlet, major and minor, for "cheering" Chad Pennington's injury. Please read my take on the media misinformation campaign here.

Well this past Sunday, Chad received a standing ovation from Jet fans when he ran onto the field to start the game. Did Keith Olberman, who named the fans of Gang Green as the "Worst Person of the Week" last Sunday night make mention of the very warm reception Chad received this week? Of course not. Did Peter King, who almost threw up his triple pump mocha skim no fat latte back into his cup (only to later drink it again) after the display, reference this week's reaction in his column's "10 Things I Think I Think" segment? Of course not. How about the local beat and features writers? The Daily News' Gary Myers mentioned it in his column, but it was buried deep in the sixth paragraph. Otherwise I didn't see any other mention of the ovation.

It's disconcerting, but not at all surprising, that the media would completely ignore this story since it tends to harp on and sensationalize the negative. The ironic part is that the crowds applause for Chad was a direct reaction to that media coverage, but since the media does not like to police itself (hence websites like awful announcing, fire joe morgan exist) nary a mention was made of the reception.
(Disclaimer: if I missed any positive coverage of Jets fans please ignore the preceding post)

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