Today while trying to force myself from the couch and go to the gym, I was channel surfing when I stumbled upon Keeping Up with the Kardashians, another one of E! Channel's long list of terrible C-List celebrity reality shows (including: Denise Richards: it's Complicated, The Girls Next Door, Sunset Tan, and the newest addition- Pam: Girl on the Loose). I didn't think twice about changing the channel when I caught a glimpse of New Orlean's Saints Running Back Reggie Bush, Kim Kardashian's boyfriend. After seeing the former USC standout, I found myself curiously interested and continued to watch. Three painful episodes later I found myself still watching the show and in the past 2 episodes, Reggie had only appeared once and spoken on the phone with Kim twice, but I continued to watch nonetheless, hoping Bush would appear once again.After coming to my senses and realizing I had probably just killed billions of brain cells from watching Kim, Kourtney, and their other sister Shrek embarrass their brother on a date with a playmate, awkwardly help the homeless, and visit New Orleans- I realized why I had become so interested in the show, I wanted a deeper look into the life of an athlete. Sports fans are just like teenage girls and stay at home trophy wives who thirst for the latest celebrity gossip, except it comes in the form of trade rumors, mock drafts, and "expert analysis". Anytime I can find a video on youtube of an athlete off the field or an MTV Cribs re-run of an Athlete's home, I always find myself glued to the screen. So assuming that I am not the only sports fan that feels this way, my question is, why aren't there more reality shows that follow athletes around? because I sure would watch.
I'm always happy to find an episode of Beyond the Glory on FSN, but you don't see much of the athletes' daily routine. The only athlete reality series that I can remember was the failed "Bonds on Bonds" show that debuted on ESPN2 at the peak of the steroid scandal.
(By the way I personally think that the series was Bonds' last ditch effort to win over fans to make up for years of being an asshole and appearing like a regular guy so that baseball fans and the media would go, "Hey, Bonds isn't such a bad guy he seems just like you and me")
There was also the Sebastian Telfair documentary, "Through the Fire" that only made Sebass seem more like a bust. And then there was also the short-lived ESPN's "Playmakers" that was a fictional inside look into the lives of pro football players that lasted a whopping 11 episodes because of its controversial potrayal of the players.
So, my idea is this, why not make more reality shows documenting the lives of pro athletes? We see athletes on the field constantly, but I wouldn't mind being able to see them off the field as well. And hey, if it doesn't work out, maybe the E! Channel would be interested in picking the series up to show in between Denise Richards and the Girls Next Door.
In Other News:
Today, the Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez in a three-way deal that sent Manny to the D_dgers. While I'm sure the Sox are just glad to finally get rid of the headache that is Manny Ramirez, I think they might have hurt their chances of contending this year. David Ortiz has been injured all season and he clearly isn't himself and i doubt he will be ready come September. Without a healthy Ortiz in the lineup, who is supposed to fill the void of both Ortiz and Manny? JD Drew, Mike Lowell, and the newly acquired Jason Bay could probably make up for some of that offensive loss, but you can't expect anyone to fill that big empty area in the clean-up spot if you're the Redsox. Even with Manny on their team, the Sox showed that they aren't ready to compete with the AL elite after more recently dropping a series at home against the Yankees and being swept by the Teixeira-less Angels at home. But, I suppose the Sox may have simply had enough of Manny daring management to trade him. Only time will tell whether or not the Sox hurt their title hopes for this season.
