The Packers, Sports Shock Jocks And You: A Survival Guide….And A Call To Arms

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All right, that does it.

I tried ignoring it, but the more and more I read Twitter the more frustrated I am getting. I’ve been taking the high road on this and will continue to by not using his real name. He doesn’t deserve all the attention he is getting.

Who am I talking about? A certain sports shock jock on ESPN.  Since I’m withholding his real name, I will call him Jump Shoremore. Think about it.  He’s the guy trying to undermine Aaron Rodgers every time the mute on his microphone is accidentally turned off.

Packer Nation, it’s time to take a chill pill and face reality: the closer the Packers get to an undefeated season, the more amped up the media coverage will be.  If you think things are bad now, wait until Week 17 should the Packers be 15-0 at that point.

That said, I beg you all to do this regarding the aforementioned ESPN jock: Ignore. Him.

I know it’s tough. He’s attempting to torpedo our quarterback.   As fans we naturally surround the player and defend him from these kinds of things and fire shots back at the attacker.   It’s the natural thing to do, so I can’t blame fans for reacting the way they are.

But it’s time fans realize they aren’t helping fix the problem. They’re actually making it worse.

Journalists are used to taking flak for what they report.  This goes back all the way to the advent of print journalism and then broadcast journalism.  Everyone has an opinion and it is impossible to please everyone.    It comes with the job.

Things are much different today, however.  Thanks to the 24 hour news cycle and the rise of social media, journalists are given a much larger platform and have much more power and influence that they did just one short decade ago.

Some use this responsibly and have enhanced their careers because of it and others abuse it just to stir up trouble and piss people off.  The ESPN shock jock definitely falls into the latter category.

In fact, I’d say he is the epitome of an industry that has gotten out of control.  An industry that has become more about flash and pageantry than it has about substance.  To make matters worse, his network seems to be encouraging it!

Thanks to their injection of raw emotion into an industry that covers very emotional moments, fans have no choice but to respond and respond vociferously.  Being a fan of a team is an emotional investment, and these shock jocks play off our emotions for personal gain.

It’s wrong and it’s corrupting our entire society. Just watch cable news from both sides of an aisle that shouldn’t even exist in the first place.

This isn’t to say sportscasters can’t be emotional and have opinions.  In fact, that’s what the sports industry is really all about.   However, taking people’s emotions or the emotion of a big game to prop up one’s own ego and career is pathetic and cowardly.

Of course, I have a personal stake in this as well.  I grew up watching my own father as a reporter become one of the most respected journalists in the area, maybe even the state.  He covered a lot of emotional stuff—rape, murder, kidnapping, you name it.  When he retired, a lot of victims’ families showed up to pay tribute at his retirement banquet and I’ve never been more proud.  He won awards for stories like these but he never talked about what he won.  He always said it’s about the people in the story, not the one who wrote it. That’s why people respected (and still respect in retirement) so much.

So yes, I feel that people like the ESPN shock jock insult my father’s legacy as well as all the other reporters throughout time who did the job the right way.  And yes as a young journalism major, I am going to take it personally.  What my dad was a microscopic piece of building throughout his career is being torn down by cowards like Mr. Shoremore.

It’s also exactly why he cannot win.

Packer Nation, you are some of the smartest and most decent fans on the planet.  Don’t stoop to this clown’s level.  Instead, fight back….by doing nothing.

Why? If we turn him off, his ratings drop and with low ratings he won’t be able to survive as long as Mark Sanchez under a four man rush.  It will difficult to watch as the shock jock continues to hound Rodgers.  But you must remain silent.  You must take comfort that someday, he will get what is coming to him.

Oh, and that Rodgers is listening. When he made mention of this shock jock on ESPN Milwaukee, I thought Rodgers had discovered a motivational mother lode and we all know how good Rodgers is when he has a chip on his shoulder.

Hey NFL defensive coordinators! Upset that Rodgers just torched your defense? Looking for someone to blame.

Turn on ESPN.

To the ESPN shock jock, I say only this: your days are numbered.  You must realize this and perhaps that’s why you’re enjoying every last drop off attention.  Your listeners are much smarter than you give them credit for and one day they will wise up to your act and you will be finished.

And we, the young up-and-coming sports writers in this country, will take over and save the industry from the filth like you who have ruined it. We will engage our readers/listeners/viewers with respect and treat them with respect instead of belittling them and forcing them to say something stupid so you can mock them.

Your time is up.  Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

I conclude with a message to all those upset by Mr. Shoremore’s act:  The night is darkest just before the dawn.  I promise you….

The dawn is coming.

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Kris Burke is a sports writer covering the Green Bay Packers for AllGreenBayPackers.com and WTMJ in Milwaukee. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) and his work has been linked to by sites such as National Football Post and CBSSports.com.

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26 thoughts on “The Packers, Sports Shock Jocks And You: A Survival Guide….And A Call To Arms

  1. You know what? I think that deep down, He Who Will Not Be Named actually believes every word that comes out of his mouth. He’s still a sort of “Shock Jock,” but only because most of what he believes is always so off base. That’s the saddest part of the whole deal for me…

  2. I wouldn’t doubt it. Some of these guys are so full of themselves they get delusional and believe their own lies. Isn’t that a symptom of being a sociopath?

    1. Hey, at least it’s been fueling Aaron Rodgers. Even Say-less didn’t talk trash about him last week because “he’ll just be more motivated”.

  3. I feel completely out of the loop. I have zero idea who you’re talking about, and I don’t have any clue as to the turmoil he/she has apparently created.

    I didn’t know there was an uproar. I guess that’s a good thing, at least I know I’m not feeding the troll!

    1. I am also completely in the dark. What did skip say? If you are going to rant on about what a commentator said to your audience, you have to briefly summarize what has transpired to that point. Otherwise you lose a good portion of your audience who are not up to speed, like me. And, like others have said, using Skip’s real name shouldn’t be a problem.

  4. Well, he has never said anything untrue about Aaron Rodgers. However, he seems to catch every single tiny little thing that is negative about Rodgers as he can possibly find. He will always talk about the negatives, and never about the positives.

    One of his favorite things to say is that Rodgers nearly lost to Caleb Hanie in the second half of the NFC Championship game, and never mentions the numbers he’s posted since then. He just focuses on that ONE HALF.

    One more thing though. Is it really SO bad to call him by his name? I mean, you’re not gonna burn in hell for it. Besides, people may not know who you’re talking about. Just sayin…

  5. I also have no idea whom is being discussed. I rarely watch ESPA, unless a game’s on. Please name the un-nameable, so I too can dislike him.

      1. Thanks – I do know who this guy is. And I already disliked him. My only question, is does anyone really listen to him. The man is an idiot. Perface for the worldwide leader.

  6. The Man with no Name(yes I know of him) makes me glad that I don’t have cable.

    The thing is he can spout his crap knowing the odds of any one team winning the SB (at least at this point in the season) is well less than 50%(about 2.15:1 or approximately 33% right now and roughly 6:1 to start season). That way can say “See I told you so” if the team loses. When Tiger Woods was in his prime he still won less than 50% of the events he entered. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t dominant or brilliant at times.

    Anything that motivates A-Rod is alright with me.

  7. Why would anyone expect a network who protected a child-molesting dirt bag (Fine)for 9 years. Network has no morals leads to their little butt boys that have no brains.

  8. Im glad I watch the NFL Network to catch up and not ESPN. Therefore i dont have to listen to this clown. IF the Pack doesnt win the SB, its not going to be Rodgers fault. Skip ‘Say-less’ is a moron, Maybe he’s just mad because his name is Skippy

  9. Skippy WAY-LESS is a Cowpie lover, I hope the Packers draw the Cowgirls in the playoffs. It will be fun watching A-Rod school Romo at Lambeau!

  10. In order to hold any truths as self evident,one must accept that there are always two truths,one for each side of a fence.To have justified clarity of either,each must allow the other to spout their whys.To not do so for each,makes both as ignorant as the other.
    What a scene it would be to have all on one side of a fence in sports…stroking each others righteousness.

  11. Tarynfor, your statement is dead-on for all issues except for a clown spewing negatives regarding our beloved Packers and thier leader, Mr Aaron Rodgers . Haha…This is the beauty of sports, bias rules, if someone is stretching thier opinion about your team, its ok to fire back. In the case of ‘SKIPPY please SAY-LESS’, this is especially true.

    1. Exactly,if those that don’t agree or stretch opinions are banned and dismissed,only self gratification is left and the abililty to use “Skippy please say less” is no more.
      Embrace the opposition for it’s what feeds your point of view/belief.

  12. Say-less is a moron, a lot of people feel that he just likes to hear the sound of his own voice not just us Packer fans. This weekend the moron was verbally arguing with Stephen Smith?? on ESPN about who they would rather have as QB in the last two minutes of a game, Say-less took Tebow. Moron what can do- pray his way through the last two minutes he can’t throw the ball. Smith said he was crazy and no one should listen to him. It was great.

  13. Haha, Hey Sarahboo, Skippy Say-Less is on our Packer site disguised as some loser named Tarynfor, Can’t wait for his preacher rebuttal, Lets here it Skippy, I mean tarynfor…..

  14. They’re all decrepit old liberals over there at espn that desperately want to graduate to msnbc so they practice the old lib-jour0list game of “create the news” instead of report it!

    I haven’t watched espn since the advent of NFL Network and besides, if you don’t like Hank Williams (Jr.), you can kiss my ass!!!!

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