I Love Me Some Me

This past week Brett Farve found yet another way to make sports headlines. Farve announced that he will give the Vikings an answer by July 30th as to if he will return for the upcoming season. Instead of analyzing what impact Farve may (or may not) have for the Vikings, this announcement has reminded me of something else that is worth discussing:

Has anyone else noticed that Brett Farve, Shaquille O’Neil and Terrell Owens (T.O.) are always in the sports news? In season, we expect these all-stars to generate buzz. But it seems like, all year round, these three names are always coming up. I’ve wondered, are their names constantly moving throughout the media circle because reporters won’t let them live privately? Or do these guys really thrive on being the center of attention?

Farve for instance: every year we go through the same thing—will he retire? Lately his trend has been: retire, change my mind, un-retire. How many times are we going to see the ESPN specials on Farve’s career just so he can change his mind a month later? How many, “Farve’s last home game” will there be? I understand retiring is a big deal, especially for someone with the competitive nature like Brett Farve, but this is getting old.

Moving on…Shaq, who I think is very funny, seems to struggle from withdrawal when he goes too long without his name in the headlines. Most of the time, the things he does to draw attention to himself are for comedic purposes. Everyone remembers the infamous rap song for Kobe Bryant, “ya’ll know how I be, last year Kobe couldn’t do it without me.” While funny, was that really necessary? Or did Shaq just take advantage of the lack of sports news that summer?

Another example—Shaq’s remarks for Stan Van Gundy this past season. To sum up his remarks, Shaq basically called Van Gundy a bum and bashed his coaching career. Shaq definitely went overboard with this, but once again gave us something to laugh at.

How about when Shaq said, "tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh,''' resulting in accusations that he was a racist. Did some people find it funny? Of course. But was it just another reason for Shaq to generate more media buzz? Probably. I could go on and on about Shaq but I think you get the point.

Last but not least, I am somewhat torn with T.O. On one end of the spectrum, we have Farve, who continues to find himself unintentionally in the headlines because of his retirement uncertainty. On the other end, we have Shaq, who actively pursues the front pages to make his announcements. But where does T.O. stand? He does a lot of instant media buzz-worthy things, like the mini workout in front of his house for a gathering of reporters, but he is also targeted for everything he says or does. Obviously T.O. feeds from the attention, that’s why he takes shots at former teammates like Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo through the media.

If you haven’t heard, T.O. also has a new reality TV show on VH1—just another reason for T.O. to get some buzz. Even through all his cries for attention, I still think trouble follows T.O., even when he doesn’t ask for it.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that unlike the extremes of Farve, who unintentionally seeks attention, and Shaq, who intentionally seeks attention, T.O. falls in the middle. Regardless, all three can be annoying at times.