New rule: Leonard Shapiro needs to chill out

Washington Post columnist Leonard Shapiro's new rules for D.C. sports journalism:

New Rule: If you really do want to be taken seriously as a member of the media, you are not supposed to be abjectly rooting for the home team. During the Washington Capitals recent playoff run, I heard more than one local broadcaster end sportscasts or individual reports on the team with an emphatic "Let's Go Caps!"

So? If fans wanted to get non-homer coverage of a game or event, they'd pull up an AP story off of Google News, or tune into ESPN. Fans watch local news because they want to see their local sportscaster live and die with the local teams, right along with them. This isn't exclusive to the D.C. market, either. That's everywhere in America.

And let's be honest, here. For the most part, are local sports anchors even actually journalists? In the technical sense, maybe. But not really.

Let's review their main job responsibilities:

1) Report scores/results from sporting events.
2) Narrate highlights.
3) Lighthearted banter with the anchors.
4) Look reasonsbly good while doing so.

And that's really about it.

In general, how many big stories end up getting broken by a local sports anchor? I forget which station it was, but when Gibbs retired (the first time, when it actually was a big deal) they were first on the air with it, and miked that fact in promos for months. And one of the reasons they made such a big deal about it was because it was such a rare occurrence. It's even more rare now that they have to compete with the Internet.

How many times has a local sports broadcaster really dug deep into a story? Sean Taylor's death? Gilbert Arenas's Halo team? (I'm being facetious: I actually don't think Gilbert Arenas's Halo team has gotten any local TV coverage. Unfortunately.) It just doesn't happen.

I mean, let's face it. Lindsay Czarniak's "Lunch With Lindsay" segment is about as hard-hitting as local TV sports journalism typically gets in this town. Which is fine. That's how people want it. We've always relied on the print media, whether it's newspapers or blogs, to go after the big local sports stories. All sports anchors have to do to make viewers happy is keep their teeth white, and act psyched when the team wins and bummed when the team loses.

Viewers. Like. Homers.

New Rule: Along the same lines, when you're on the job, and especially on the air, don't wear clothing -- golf shirts, team jerseys, ball caps, whatever -- with a local team logo visible.

An interesting point. Allow me to rebut:

Come on, Leonard. Isn't this totally worth whatever perceived lack of journalistic propriety it may or may not illustrate? Sure, the effect isn't quite as intoxicating when it's, say, Brett Haber rocking the jersey, instead of Czarniak. But still.

Now, do I think reporters should routinely wear jerseys? No. Except for players, no one should routinely wear jerseys. Even I only wear mine, like, three weeks out of the regular NFL season. But during the playoffs, when for a brief period, D.C. sports fans get to pretend that the Redskins, Wizards, Caps, or (snort, chortle) the Nationals will break the city's championship drought? Sure, why not?

Again: Viewers. Like. Homers.

Wolff would be too much the consummate gentleman to tell Dibble to cease and desist in referring to the Nationals on the air as "we," as in "we need a hit here" or "us," as in "they're killing us with three-run homers" or "our," as in "our pitching is dismally dreadful."

Here, I sort of agree. This has long been one of my pet peeves. Not just broadcasters, either. Anyone who isn't a player or coach or owner saying "we." But you know what? I also do it all the time myself. Just because it's a hell of a lot easier to say "we" instead of "Washington" or "the Nationals" or whatever.

I would just lump this in with people who use the word "irregardless." Yeah, it's irritating. But in the grand scheme of things, it's also not a big deal.

New Rule: Enough already with Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN-980, Washington's only all-sports talk radio station. It's not so much the show I object to as its predominately national subject matter.

Well, if the rumors are to be believed, this will be rectified when WJFK flips to sports talk. Which will suck, because we'll probably end up keeping the Junkies, while losing Mike O'Meara and Big O & Dukes, supposedly for shows hosted by LaVar Arrington (really?) and Tony Kornheiser. And that's a horrible deal no matter how you look at it.