How Bob Costas ruined sports

I think I might be able to come to terms with Northwestern's defeat in the Alamo Bowl now. Maybe. Not having won a bowl game in this century and barely in the last is getting to be grim. And everything started out so promising. At least we beat the spread. All those people who thought we would totally suck lost money.
And it's possible that I was in a bad mood because NU was losing, but the telecast brought to my attention one of the most annoying things about "big" sporting events. First off, the announcers had it in their head that Missouri was going to trample NU, so every time NU succeeded, the announcers sounded shocked and amazed. Also, the Missouri quarterback is graduating this year. Apparently, he was THE ONLY ONE ON THE FIELD. The camera crew was obsessed with Chase Daniel's family in the crowd. After every play, offensive or defensive, we had to see how the Daniel Family reacted. Did we get to see NU players' families? Not one. The broadcasters had decided that Chase Daniel was their Bob Costas Type Feel Good Story and so we had to fixate on that. Isn't defeat in overtime enough punishment? Why were we subject to the ongoing saga of one single player's family? Even if I weren't suffering in defeat; even if I were a graduating senior from University of Missouri, I would have been ticked. As it was, I was wishing massive flight delays for the Daniel Family's trip home. Grr.
Bob Costas began this movement of showing the "softer" side of sports. During the Olympics, he narrates these in-depth stories with the sappy music and the soft lens work. He tells us that during training, an Olympian in some obscure sport found out he had a third cousin twice removed who was training for the Uzbekistan team in the same sport, and how they felt an immediate kinship, and how tragically before they were able to reunite during the Opening Ceremonies, the new cousin fell into a hole, and is stuck there unable to compete because his village doesn't have any rope to pull him out. I HATE those stories. They range from sort of irrelevant to totally inane. Every single athlete has overcome adversity by the time they get to the Olympic level. I admire them, and respect their dedication. But having runty Costas with his dyed hair (toupee?) and bad plastic surgery go on and on about it in front of a fake fireplace makes me want to puke.
I know, I have no soul. What can I say? Those side-stories are the reason why Internet coverage of sporting events was invented. Reporters can delve into athlete's personal lives, and only those interested types can seek it out.
As it turns out, I may not be over the NU loss. I seem to be bitter.
In other news, I would like to apologize to my Father-In-Law who felt maligned by my DNA/Holiday post of a couple of weeks ago. I meant no disrespect, and in fact TRIED (unsuccessfully) to indicate that my husband was born into a relatively normal family. I am very sorry for hurting your feelings in any way.
I got on the scale this morning. The New Year is not off to a promising start.