Quinn’s Quickies: NBC’s Idea of History; NFL Wild Card Picks

I finished the college football season with a nice 1-0 week for +$215 as Michigan took the championship. My best pick of the year, the win got me out of the red on the blog for the season, leaving me at +18.48. A frustrating total to say the least. Alas, the NFL playoffs are calling.

Of course, I can’t watch all of the NFL playoff games this weekend because the league decided to up its game in screwing fans by putting Saturday night’s Dolphins - Chiefs matchup exclusively on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. It was pathetic watching Mike Tirico, the reputable broadcaster, doing the Sunday Night Football season finale call it historic that the game would be on Peacock. Hearing his partner Cris Collinsworth telling viewers to get the service right away so they don’t have worry about it Saturday night was about par for the course – do we really expect better from him?

I get it. They work for NBC. They were told to play it up. The words “historic” or “making history” weren’t off the cuff. (I didn’t note the exact words watching the games, so the quotation marks aren’t being used to quote anyone. But some form of the word “historic” and the idea that the broadcast would be “making history” was used.) I’ve heard there’s a commercial promoting the game using the terminology.

But at some point, you should have some semblance of journalistic integrity. I said should. No one does anymore.

Making history? Really? How? How does it possibly rise to the level of making history to put a game on a service that makes the company more money? It’s been going on for decades.

I’m not even talking about the fact that they’re gouging fans right now. They are and they will more and more. All leagues are or will go in this direction along with every network that can get a piece of the action. I’d do it. Years ago, I had a casino offer me money for links in my posts. I can’t even say it was pennies on the dollar compared to what’s happening with sports broadcasts today, but I took it. And would love to do it again. I don’t begrudge the networks or leagues anything.

But don’t piss in my ear and tell me it’s raining. When you’re playing the role of broadcaster, even a sports broadcaster, often reporting actual facts, you don’t get to call putting a game on your network’s streaming service a “historic” event.

It’s only sports, but this is just a microcosm of what’s going on with the media today. They tell us what’s reality. They don’t just give us information anymore. They give us the information they want us to have and they decipher it for us.

It needs to stop. But it won’t. And we will pay for it with a lot more than money.

I really didn’t plan that rant, but what the hell – I do these blogs to have my say. Have yours in the comments along with posting your picks.

I actually won a $5 bet with Duke over Pittsburgh earlier in the week in college basketball. I’m not sure how to keep picks going on the blog after the Super Bowl. Any thoughts? Let me know.

I’ll have my picks in the comments. I’m thinking about different options. Right now, I’m looking at the Cowboys -7 over the Packers and the Browns -2.5 over the Texans. Frequent reader and texter (but never commenter!) Angry Mike from Media tells me the Bucs +3 over the Eagles is the way to make money this week. I tend to agree with him, but I keep thinking the Birds have to show up sometime . . . right?

Get in the comments!