In a perfect world where people were sane, the title of this article would probably be all I would ever have to write when discussing the subject of soccer players making TikTok videos and how that really has nothing to do with anything when it comes to winning or losing games.
But this is not a perfect world. For Steelers recipient JuJu Smith-Schuster, this was a world where he was viewed as “fresh air,” a newbie who couldn’t ride, whose bike was stolen, and whose heart was stolen from any fan who had one.
The late 2010s, what an innocent time.
The world really wasn’t that innocent then, and it was only a matter of time before Smith-Schuster found out.
In the subculture known as the sports world, unrelated things have always been blamed for why a team doesn’t win all championships.
It could be a touchdown celebration a gamer loves, a commercial they’re in, a vacation they’re vacationing, a bar they’re invested in, or even a radio show they’re co-hosting. If a championship is not won while doing any or all of these things, that player must stop doing any or all of these things and focus only on their sporting craft.
It was almost always like that for professional athletes. If you go back and delve deep into the archives of an old sports radio show in America, you will likely find lots of phone calls that included sentences like this: “I just wish he’d stop (insert non-sports) (related activities here) and focus only on the game. ”
The sports fan “I only wish” is apparently alive and well today in 2021, not only in the form of a sports talk radio caller, but also in the form of a comment in the poster area and a user for social media.
An activity that made Steelers fans popular with Smith-Schuster back in those innocent times of 2017 – making TikTok videos – has now made him a bad guy in the eyes of many in 2021.
I know because Alejandro Villanueva caused a stir last week during his introductory press conference after signing a deal to play the Ravens when he referred to the TikToks: “It was incredibly challenging that we knew we were doing this Had to stick to game schedules You may have to pass the ball throughout the game and not really practice or rehearse the other part of football that alleviates some of that fear, ”said Villanueva. “So the mentality, if you have a balanced offense or if you let the ball pass, it’s obviously better for the offensive line. I assume that the broad recipients won’t have that much fun because they don’t get all of the catches. They do the TikToks and have fun on their social media. “
I thought I’d include the whole quote so you wouldn’t accuse me of click-baiting and “stirring the pot.” But let’s face it, was it really important that the media just took a snippet of Villanueva’s quote and poked that sucker right into the ground? No, probably not a single bit mattered. It didn’t matter that Villanueva was probably just kidding. Do you know how i know He’s also tried to test his buddy David DeCastro’s driving skills and nobody spent a second discussing it.
“TikTok” has become a trigger for a lot of fans, and the media and trolls know it. They use it to “stir the pot” because they know that so many Steelers believers believe that a player playing on Making a video Wednesday will affect his performance on the field on Sunday.
Total focus all the time. The “I just wish” set has romanticized this notion so much that if a player does not seem to be focused on his professional craft around the clock, that is used as a reason for failure if and if failure occurs.
James Harrison once said that he and dozens of his teammates would go out and be wasted several times a week during the regular season in the 2000s. They also played table tennis in the locker room and won and lost titles in expensive cars in high-stakes card games, according to Ike Taylor.
Nobody cares, because the Steelers won two titles during that time.
Winning heals everything, while not winning puts everything and everyone on trial.
But I think we’re scratching the bottom of TikTok videos.
I know you just wish the players would stop doing the TikToks and focus on their craft.
I just wish the Steelers won a championship so people can stop blaming stupid things for why they don’t.
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