Les Miles gets it – The majority of sports commentators consistently don’t

After grinding out a 17-6 win against the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers’ head coach Les Miles went into post-game conference mode this past Saturday evening.

In this mode, you see Miles at his most human, hilarious and excited about what he does for a living: coaching.

In the past, he’s suggested only girls give his grown men kisses “on the mouth” for the way they played. He mispronounces Arkansas, “Ar-Kansas.”

He has frustrated fans for not coaching teams to blowout victories. Rather, his style is coaching players into a calm, confident comfort zone, which has gotten teams in trouble in some instances but also produced more than 85 wins in eight seasons with the Bayou Bengals, including a BCS national championship and two SEC championships. So far this season, his Tigers have posted six wins and one loss.

In Saturday’s conference, Miles once again showed a passion that’s missing in the football landscape. A reporter asked about last year’s loss to Florida and tried to mention an awkward metaphor about hammers and nails. Miles interrupted, cussing, breaking down the clichéd question and explaining the very nature of competition. In less than a minute, Miles injected some humanity in a sport that is drained of it each and every down.

Moments like this make Miles one of the best current coaches, but it also shows what sports journalism has become.

For some reporters, it’s not about finding great stories; it’s more about affirmation, trying to align what they thought they saw and expecting these athletic figures to confirm some odd storyline.

I get that locker room access isn’t what it used to be. And yes, the NFL and college football are huge areas of hypocrisy—whether it be with “safe hitting zones” in the pros, or giving money and benefits to players within the college ranks, to name just a few touchy subjects.

However, at the same time, look at how far the ranks of voices outside the locker room have fallen.

I know some great sports reporters in Louisiana. That list includes Cody Worsham at Tiger Rag, Kevin Foote and Eric Narcisse at The Daily Advertiser and Lee Feinswog at Sports Monday.

But for all the greats, sports journalism is in decline as the bigger voices get more airtime to vigorously embarrass themselves.

ESPN is a factory of awfulness. Three of the network’s college commentators are Lou Holtz, Mark May and Lee Corso—two of whom are old and drool while talking; all of whom still have a problem putting words together to form cogent thoughts. Don’t get me started on Rick Reilly.

Over at Sports Illustrated, if Peter King isn’t writing a long column about nothing in particular, the magazine’s head writers are cooking up copy.

Fox continues to have meaningless pundits such as Tony Siragusa and Daryl “Moose” Johnston. Moose wouldn’t know the term redundancy if the word tackled him. He hangs onto clichés for an entire broadcast. That’s four hours of someone “not being a gamechanger” because Johnston doesn’t know what a synonym is.

Meanwhile, Terry Bradshaw is coming to you at halftime, talking so fast he jumbles words together, making highlight reels comparable to a coked-up scene at Studio 54.

I get that Bradshaw’s a hometown hero, but he’s also a walking/talking advertisement for what happens when you get tackled too much (see also: Troy Aikman, Mike Ditka, Boomer Esiason and Ron Jaworski).

All these voices play into the worst parts of football, a sport that’s on the decline because of its lack of transparency and safety. These voices only magnify the problems with the sport because they constantly ignore the issues in order to be some frat boy’s dream.

Miles’ speech on Saturday wasn’t full of prunes. Rather, it was another forceful showing of a man who doesn’t care for bland asides commentators try to force into the sport.

It’s refreshing to hear Miles give perspective to those who have none. It’s nice to hear a coach finally bring up something journalists and athletes often miss—respect. Miles sounds like one of the few remaining athletic figures left who thinks respect is necessary, inside and outside the walls of Death Valley.

In sports and journalism, once you start disrespecting your opponent or the craft, you’re done. This season, it looks like Miles has a team that gets this lesson.

If only all the commentators would follow suit.