Let me first say that neither of these stories are anywhere near as annoying as hearing about the economy every ten fucking seconds. It's one gigantic self-fulfilling prophecy that bleeds into every facet of life, including sports. The difference between that and the two things in the headline is that the economy actually affects everyone, and the coverage is not wildly out of proportion.
Nothing that has come out about A-Rod has been remotely current nor does it alter the life course of anyone besides himself and his immediate family. We are talking about him supposedly taking steroids/HGH, banging strippers, leaving somewhat below average gratuity at Hooters and tipping pitches to opposing batters in games that were essentially already decided.
We find it upsetting or salacious or unfair or distasteful, but all at a certain distance. The same distance we use to view celebrity exploits, watch reality shows and gossip about co-workers. It's superficial bullshit that's not concretely correlated to your own life.
Despite what every news organization on Earth would like you to think, Swine Flu isn't relevant to your life, either. There are roughly
290 confirmed cases in the U.S. Your odds of contracting it (let alone dying from it) are something like
a million to one. There's a significantly better chance you are a regular reader of this blog, for fuck's sake.
The only reason people talk about it is because, like "A-Rod", it grabs people's attention in a headline. Welcome to the internet, the home of 10 second attention spans where your stories better be eye-opening right off the bat. And a sure recipe for that is to include a disease named after something to do with animals.
Mad Cow Disease, Monkey Pox, Bird Flu, Hoof and Mouth Disease and now the Swine Flu. Am I missing any? They haven't even found one pig with it yet. If they had been calling it the "
N1H1 Flu" all along, do you honestly think the entire country would be aware of it? Attention Doctors: If you want to raise the awareness of a certain disease... just name it after an animal. A few suggestions:
- Deer Measles
- Canine SARS
- Horse Herpes
- Toad Rubella
- Sheep AIDS
- Spider Meningitis
- Duck Lupus
- Fish Trichinosis
- Bullfrog Fever
- Goat Gout
Pick any of those (especially Horse Herpes) and it will be a household name in two weeks.
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Here is the reason Swine Flu is much more annoying to me: The result of the eventual saturation of coverage is a country who is
fucking paranoid about something that is literally a one in a million shot.
About 63,000 people in this country die from the regular flu every year. So far from Swine Flu?
One toddler.
On the other hand, now that the A-Rod firestorm is now reaching it's saturation point, people are starting get tired of it. We get it. He's phony and insecure and a cheap tipper (in more ways that one). Let's move on. It's putting things in perspective as opposed to blowing them out of proportion.
Informal poll time! What say you, Fackers?
A-Rod or S-Flu? Cheaters or Pigs? Clubhouse Cancers or Contagious Viruses? Character Assassination or Fear Mongering?
[
Note: I don't know that I would have the same perspective if I hadn't been reading Craig from Shysterball's takes on the Selena Roberts book. If you haven't heard his opinion on the matter, do yourself a favor and follow that link.]
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