Nice Guys Finish Last — Only When the Mainstream Sports Media Gets Involved – Opinion

Riffing a bit off of Joe Cunningham’s excellent take on how traditional sports media is misjudging its audience’s appetite for more woke in lieu of actual sports, a recent article in the Seattle Times caught my attention. Because of a failure to market individual players, it seems that Kraken fans are missing the opportunity to reach them.

Here at the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState, it’s duly noted there most likely isn’t anyone on the Kraken’s roster ranking alongside past and present Seattle sports luminaries such as Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Shawn Kemp, Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch, or Russell Wilson. The vast majority of hockey players don’t look very interesting.

There are not many social media celebrities or bar brawlers in the NHL. Listen to a hockey player being interviewed, and even the ones such as the Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid, who have earned the right to blow their own horn, alternate every other word between “we” and “team.” There are far fewer stories with hockey players and police blotters in the same paragraph than, say, football. It’s the nature of the beast, eh?

Since marketing a bunch of nice guys is apparently a challenge, you don’t see a lot of it in NHL markets — save for a team that has an all-world quality playmaker, in which case the player’s ability will be highlighted in an ad campaign. You don’t see the player as an individual. For example, you’ll see plenty of this:

Trevor Zegras Feature Stories, Not so Much

Referring back to the Seattle Times article, it should come as no surprise the MSM (Mainstream Sports Media) isn’t overflowing with features on hockey players. There’s seldom if ever ready-made clickbait. You won’t find any bold political statements, trash-talking or throwing your teammates under the bus. Leo Durocher wasn’t wrong. Nice guys don’t always finish last, but they are definitely in last place when it comes to MSM consideration.

Tim Tebow is, most likely, the icon of this phenomenon. Were he to have been a Trump-trashin’ conservative-bashin’ pot-smokin’ wokester, Tebow would have been the toast of the MSM town. He made In-N-Out seem like the den of iniquity, and was mocked mercilessly for it.

Again referencing Joe’s story, one of the many areas in which the MSM is falling woefully short is neglecting the fact that nice guys can also be heroes. The anti-hero is not for everyone. Davante Adams’s call out to Zac Stacy, a former NFL player for his vicious abuse of his partner is something that people can relate to. LeBron James taking the “see no evil/hear not evil/speak none evil” route regarding China? No, people can’t relate.

Are stories of athletes who spend their time away from the field, rink, or flooring to love their wives and children so bad? No. Which is part of the reason why we’re covering sports here: to remind people good people are playing the games we love to watch. As it does every year, the MSM will continue to look for scandals or hot take material. But for actual sports fans, it’d be good to know who the good guys and ladies are — so we know who deserves our cheers.