It's fascinating to notice just how much sports enter the mind of the general public, even for those who don't go out of their way to follow athletic competition. An interesting result of this is the abundance of sports personalities shifting to areas of the media outside the realm of sports -- areas like news, politics and entertainment. While it usually takes time to climb the proverbial ladder within a specific branch of the media, a growing number of sports personalities are jumping from the world of sports into another area, finding their previous experiences can be carried with them to other types of media.
The high-profile visibility of sports -- especially with the Internet's 24-7 coverage plus sports' competition (for athletes) and nature of debate (for sportswriters and sportscasters) -- has made the transition almost seamless for these individuals who are already used to being in the public spotlight or defending their opinions on a range of topics. The result is a familiar face from the sports world in a new position. Let's take a look at a few examples.
Tony Kornheiser was a sportswriter for The Washington Post whose popularity led to a local sports radio show, a gig as color man on "Monday Night Football" and a co-host slot on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" TV program. In addition to his sports endeavors, Kornheiser wrote a weekly column in the Post's Style section usually about his personal life or more general life topics. He currently has a radio show loosely centered around sports but often strays into the realm of politics and pop culture (such as his lively "American Idol" predictions, recaps and critiques).
In the world of news and politics television, one of the most popular faces belongs to a former ESPN "Sportscenter" anchor. Keith Olbermann has hosted "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC since early 2003. Now the highest-rated show on the network, "Countdown" reports on major news stories, but not without the sense of humor and pop culture references that made Olbermann a favorite on ESPN with tag team partner Dan Patrick during the 1990s. While the subject of politics appears to be his major focus now, Olbermann is back in sports to an extent, co-hosting the pre-game show (with Bob Costas) for "Sunday Night Football" on NBC.
Here's another name you might be familiar with: Tiki Barber. Arguably the most popular former Wahoo football player, Barber retired following a 10-year career in the NFL in 2007, citing the desire to pursue other opportunities off the football field. Now he works as a news and lifestyle correspondent on NBC's "Today" and as an analyst for "Sunday Night Football." While Tiki long publicized his aspirations to become a broadcaster outside the world of sports, it still came as a surprise to many that he would terminate his NFL career (and contract) early to pursue them.
But with many former sports anchors, journalists and athletes moving on to careers in news, politics and entertainment media, maybe it shouldn't have been such a shocker at all.
We see the influence of the world of sports in the everyday lives of fans and non-sports fans alike all the time. Sports references and analogies such as "three strikes and you're out" or "life throwing you a curveball"--permeate our vocabularies. Some of the most recognizable faces in the world are those of athletes, whether as a result of their skills and accomplishments, commercial exposure, high salaries or petulant behavior. And the sportswriters and sportscasters who bring us news about these athletes are recognizable to a major chunk of the population, namely sports fans, so reintroducing them in other realms of discussion could be a shrewd way of drawing in an audience. If the Super Bowl and March Madness bracket pools don't prove the ability of sports to foster interest even in non-sports fans, the growing intersection of sports-associated figures with different areas of the media surely doesn't hurt the argument. The trend nowadays seems to be toward a more well-rounded perspective in the general media -- something that is being accomplished with the merging of these athletes, broadcasters and writers into other areas of news media -- to make coverage more interesting for the audience.
Howard Cosell once said, "Sports is life in microcosm." Truer words were never spoken and now, it seems, sports are becoming a part of other components of life -- interconnecting different branches of our media and culture.
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