Mythology

For years I’ve heard about this supposed “East Coast bias” that taints professional sports. Other than their jealous feelings of the East, there is zero credibility to this claim. Often I’ve heard that it’s obvious because of how often East Coast teams have their games televised. This is complete crap. That has to do with ratings first and foremost. Fact is that if a game in New York is on at 8pm eastern, more people will be able to watch that game as oppose to a game in St Louis that starts at 9pm eastern. It isn’t that the networks want to ignore a game in the Midwest; they just want as many viewers as possible. Plus those hicks in the Midwest have to get up early to tend to their farms, and the flower people out West, well they just don’t like sports anyway.

Then I’ve heard that the reason for this “bias” is because CNN, ESPN and Fox News are all located out East. That’s just ignorant. They happen to be located in cities of some importance; little things like Wall Street, the United Nations and our Capital are in these cities. Where should they be located to get the stories, Omaha?

Recently I heard something that made me realize, some people don’t even understand what the East Coast consists of. So, let’s clear that up. Take the original 13 colonies. Now, whoever ended up in the North is the East Coast. The states that ended up fighting as part of the South, are just that. The South, well they don’t consider themselves part of the East Coast, and cry about the “East Coast bias” as much as anyone. It’s really that simple. It isn’t just the states that are east of the Mississippi, that’s ridiculous. I heard someone say Indiana was part of the east, how that works I’ll never know.

The current AP Top 25 College Football poll has one actual east coast team in the top 10, Rutgers. Rutgers is also undefeated, yet they are behind USC, Arkansas, Norte Dame and Florida (a southern school, not an east coast school) who all have one loss. There is exactly one other team from the east coast in the top 25, and that is Boston College. BC is 8-2 and ranked 20th. Yet, Oklahoma, Cal, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech are ahead of them and have an identical 8-2 record. So when does this bias kick in and help them out?

The last AP Top 25 College Basketball poll had five teams from the east coast ranked. Those schools being Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Boston College, UConn, and Syracuse. Going back to 1999, those schools have 3 National Championships, four Final 4 appearances and six trips to the Elite 8 between them. So you can’t say they haven’t done anything to deserve high praise.

In baseball, going back to 1995 players from the East Coast have won a combined 4 MVP’s and Cy Young Awards. Guys named Alex Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens. The numbers the three have compiled have nothing to do with media bias, and in fact they’ve produced even better numbers when playing elsewhere.

In the NBA, aside from Allen Iverson winning the MVP playing on the East Coast in 2001, you have to go al the way back to 1986 for the previous East Coast MVP winner. A guy named Larry Bird. The past two seasons, a friggin’ Canadian playing in Arizona has won the MVP. There must be a strong Canuck bias in the NBA eh?

There’s plenty to be envious of for the rest of the country. New York, Boston, Washington DC, and Philadelphia are cities rich in history, and sports history. The rest of the world thinks of those cities when they think of America and the American way. Just admit there’s jealousy, it won’t make the East Coast think less of you. That would mean you are already being thought of.