ESPN's Enthusiasm for 'Noles Flips the Script

It is common knowledge among FSU fans that every single member of the media hates us and is hell-bent on the destruction of our program. Every negative word in the press is documented, debated, and denounced on FSU message boards, and the chief culprit according to many fans is none other than the Worldwide Leader, ESPN. So you can imagine my surprise when ESPN showered the Noles with a veritable avalanche of positive press in the last week:

- On Sportscenter's mythical college football playoff bracket the Seminoles were sitting pretty with a first-round bye and a pairing with Ohio State.

- The Virginia Tech column in which Florida State was credited for the birth of BeamerBall was posted shortly thereafter.

- Finally, Gene Wojciechowski, respected football columnist and longtime Bobby Bowden supporter, posted a column vehemently defending Bobby and setting the record straight for all of Bowden's critics who mistake him for a hands-off, out of touch CEO-type who's uninvolved with his team. Link below for the full article...
Wojo Says Bowden can Still Lay the Smack Down

Mind you, all of this enthusiasm from the Worldwide Leader is for a team coming off a five-loss season, its first three-game losing streak in 20 years, and continued grumblings about the offense. Despite a myriad of questions surrounding the team there is obviously a great deal of respect for Bowden and the 'Noles among the staff of the biggest sports-media outlet in the world.

So this is The Chop Shop's plea to FSU fans: stop the madness! ESPN is not out to get us. When our players get in trouble it gets reported, just as it does when players at USC, Texas, or Nebraska get in trouble. When Chris Rix follows up a tumultuous week on the field with multiple parking infractions it makes the news. Such is the price of success. We also enjoy the positive side of our image when our name is still brought up among national contenders despite a drop-off in our results. So we've got to learn to take the bad with the good when it comes to our media coverage. Better yet, let's stock our team with talented, classy players who won't embarrass the program...players like, oh I don't know, Lorenzo Booker, Drew Weatherford, and Myron Rolle. Then the good will overwhelm the bad and we can all forget these crazy conspiracy theories and anti-ESPN rants and turn our energies to where they ought to be: focused on bringing down those biased sons-of-bitches at Sports Illustrated.