Today with media outlets pretty much giving us the fan viewing pleasures of our favorite or non favorite athlete’s on a 24 hour basis, it made me think how much times have changed.

With the growth of the world wide web aka the internet, the scope on athlete’s has become that much bigger. With the internet it birthed social media, which two major sources are Facebook and Twitter. Both of these outlets give the athlete a chance to connect with their everyday fan who may or may not get to see them perform live in their area of expertise live and in person. Overall, it can be a good thing but it does have it’s bad points, from JR Smith getting fined 25k for showing a picture of a girl’s butt via Twitter, to Kyle Williams and his family receiving death threats after his unforgettable two fumble game in the playoffs, Arian Foster showed a x-ray of his injured hamstring before the opening game of the season when the Texans were trying to keep the severity of the injury under wraps and I could keep going but I will just name a few incidents where social networks backfired.

Just like the growth of the web, TV networks have made leaps and bounds in the amount of coverage athlete’s get also. Just imagine back when Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 points in one game there is no footage besides the hand written card that says 100 that he is holding in a picture. From ESPN, CBS and ABC via the internet or tv you have unlimited access, which is great for sports nuts like me but even we can get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

With these media outlets wielding a lot of the power of what we hear or see about a particular athlete, sometimes they can go into overkill. My main two examples are Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin. Both players are fairly new to each league they are in but the overkill of the coverage both players get are equal to or greater than when Michael Jackson passed or Whitney Houston RIP to both. We had two(Brees and Brady) QB’s break Dan Marino’s 25-year-old passing record during the 2011 season and all you would hear about is Tebow this, Tebow that. Even if you wanted to like the kid you get tired of them showing him every minute on the hour every hour. I’ve never seen a QB get so much love after only completing two passes (In one game) in my life.

As for Lin, the surprise point guard for the New York Knicks, this year had a 8 game hot streak when Melo got hurt. When Lin blew up all you saw online and on espn was Lin this, Lin that, they acted like the kid was Isiah Thomas or something. Lin is a solid player don’t get me wrong but it’s like the media forgot the NBA was a full season not a 8 game sprint. Him playing in New York and being Asian had a little bit to do with the overkill of coverage. They posed questions like should the Knicks trade Melo? Or how could he fit in with Lin? Like come on people Melo has been an All Star multiple times, Gold medalist and all NBA performer and you think because of some hot games Lin should be the face of the franchise? I know Flip Murray is saying what about me media, back when he broke into the league with Seattle he was filling in for the Great Ray Allen and he had a nice hot streak, I remember not even a fraction of coverage for Flip that Lin receives. Lin had a few rough games and the new media dropped him like a bad habit, I personally forgot he was still playing for a few weeks because there was not a peep about him.

This day and age everybody wants the hottest story, gossip, rumor or next budding star we can pump into the spotlight. New Media can we chill with the overkill and stop making people tired of certain players within a two-week period? I hope we never see a circus like the two provided by the Media over Tebow and Lin but I highly doubt this will be the last time in my life that I will see something just like it or worse.