When the headlines don't matter

August 27, 5:13 PMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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Does it matter what Pitino does off the court?

At some point in their career, every sportswriter faces the question - What's the point?

C'mon, in the long run, how much do sports really matter?

Sure, every once in a while, an athlete or group of athletes comes along that represent so much more than their on-field ability - Jackie Robinson, Billy Jean King, Texas Western, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali. But on the whole, sports, even at its highest level is a forgettable experience for all but the most loyal of fans.

It is the sportswriter's job to take these often trivial games and make them compelling to the reader.

This is especially important nowadays, as 900-channel TV packages and high-speed internet streaming allow most fans to tune in for the games. If a sports fan has already seen the game then they're going to want more than just a round up when they read the article. In other words, the role of a sportswriter is not simply to summarize, but to provide meaning.

Which is strange considering that when I look at the college basketball headlines, especially during the off-season, I see stories that are completely meaningless. Currently, the big headlines state that former-Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie was arrested for a DUI and Louisville coach Rick Pitino held a news conference denouncing the media for propagating the lies of his accused extortionist.

Neither of these stories mean anything. At best, they have a very distant relation to the game of basketball. At worst, they have absolutely nothing to do with hoops.

Ironically, both of these "headline" stories occurred in Kentucky, a state (along with North Carolina) where college basketball has an incredible amount of meaning. Yet, this news has no meaning. Gillispie isn't even a college basketball coach anymore, and Pitino's news conference revealed nothing new about his personal saga. In fact, both stories are more about the personal lives of

So what's the point? How does a writer distill meaning out of a story that has none? I guess the case could be made that these indiscretions reveal the true character of these coaches. That a coach who has had an extra-marital affair or a DUI is an unacceptable leader of young men. But I don't buy it. Neither issue has any relevance to how well they can lead young men on a basketball court.

In the end, the only point that I can come up with, is that the college hoops season needs to get here fast so we can have something more important to talk about than the recklessness of college basketball coaches.

Something really important, like basketball.

For more info: Former UK coaches Pitino and Gillispie in the spotlight again - Kentucky Wildcats Examiner