I really love ESPN and watching sports in general. I remember in high school watching SportsCenter multiple times in a row, knowing all the top plays and all the amazing little SportsCenter jokes.
But lately I can’t help thinking something. If sports announcers and analysts didn’t wear suits, would we value their analysis the same?
What if they wore jeans and t-shirts like me and my friends do when we talk about sports?
The suits give a strange sense of sophistication to otherwise pretty meaningless banter. It definitely makes me feel better about watching hours of well dressed professionals talk about sports, rather than hearing dudes in over sized t-shirts (ain’t none of those guys shopping at American Apparel) spout their speculation about the upcoming game.
Gross. I can do that at any sports bar in town.
That’s what it is isn’t it. The suits provide value and make us feel good. Makes us feel expensive. Makes us feel less depressed about wasting time watching cable.
And after watching all this, we feel that somehow our knowledge is boosted and our opinion matters or is relevant to the outcome in some way.
I’m not against suits. I have some.
But you could ask someone about their thoughts on the latest in hotel carpet design, and if they were wearing their Sunday three piece suit with a gigantic tie-knot, and an ear piece in with someone else telling them exactly what to say…I’d probably be into it.
I love sports. Next time, imagine the analysts in track suits and see how you feel.
I did. It’s different.
