Just Waiting For Certain Guys To Mess Up...

What am I referring to? Sports analysts, writers, and "experts" when it comes to particular athletes.

New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady has played anything but spectacularly this year and with a lack of fire that he's shown in the past. Does this get mentioned much? No. New York Giants' quarterback Eli Manning has been more inconsistent than Terrell Owens' demeanor this year and has a way of getting off to very poor starts, but finishing strong. Has that gotten mentioned much? Nope. Carson Palmer has been a bit slow to getting back to his usual self. Has that gotten much air time? No again. What about Rex Grossman and his two picks last week, one that was inside his own 10-yard line that went for an easy six? Nope, commentators have usually focused on the one touchdown pass. What about Matt Hasselbeck's ups and downs in the first three games? No again.

But, they treat other quarterbacks much differently: Daunte Culpepper, Jake Plummer, Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Brunell, Drew Bledsoe, Chris Simms, and Michael Vick, just to name a few. Roethlisberger led his Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl victory last season, and although he didn't have a great game in the Super Bowl, that does not take away from his management and leadership on the field that allowed for the Steelers to be in that predicament in the first place. This is also a guy who was almost killed in the off-season in a motorcycle accident and who had an emergency appendectomy. Give the guy a break. He's a leader. He's a winner. I'd like to see these commentators play while in perfectly good health, let alone following a near death experience and an emergency appendectomy. I'd take Roethlisberger anyday after his rough off-season than these commentators in tip-top shape (for them). Analysts seemingly wait for a play or a game where a quarterback does not play to his potential and they make the most of that opportunity to criticize them to the fullest. Following week 1's performance, it was Drew Bledsoe, who came back to play well in his second game. Mark Brunell was the next victim and the guy only completed 24 of 27 passes against Houston this past week. Michael Vick played well in the Falcons' first two victories, but after the Monday night loss to New Orleans, he's receiving a lot of heat.

The same is true in other sports, but I notice it more often in football, perhaps because it's only a 16 game season and every game is big. But, it even takes place in baseball. Look at the Chicago Cubs. Every year, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood receive all the hype. Who goes unnoticed? Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs' ace the past few seasons.

For whatever reason, there just seems to be guys the media likes to root for and root against. When a Tom Brady messes up, it doesn't matter. When Ben Roethlisberger does something similar, the Steelers may want to think about starting back-up Charlie Batch. When Carlos Zambrano pitches a shutout, it almost goes unnoticed. When Mark Prior does, then it's the start of a legendary career. Yeah, I should expect bias in whatever I read or listen to, but it gets a little old.