GENERAL: Where are all the local, non-football news?
Is it just me, or is football fast becoming the ONLY sport that people care to read about these days? Everyday, there are countless stories on football, football, football, but hardly any stories on other sports. Even badminton is taking a back seat in the papers' sports pages.
Here's a breakdown of the Sports pages in The Star today (Friday, October 29 2004):
- 11 Sports pages
- 6 pages dedicated to football (7 if you count the one on LOCAL football)
- 28 stories overall
- 9 non-football stories
- 7 stories on English football
- 12 stories on football in other countries, including two Malaysian ones, and one from the CHINESE league.
And the most damning one:
- a grand total of FIVE stories on local sports. FIVE out of TWENTY-EIGHT.
So much football, so little other sports. and this is not even counting the 16-page special weekly pullout solely dedicated to football. No wonder most Malaysians didn't bother with the Olympics. They may not even know what sports are in it!
So much foreign sports news, so little local news. No wonder local sports (or any other sports besides football, for that matter) are not generating much interest. Look at how little is reported about them! Even local football is limited to a measly TWO stories. And FAM wonders why the stadiums are half empty. After all, why bother paying to go watch a game between Kedah and Perak when the EPL is on at the same time, right?
Funny thing is, I remember a time when huge crowds would turn up for local football matches, when the start of the Malaysia Cup or the Liga Perdana would feature a daily profile in The Star on each and every team. These days, a visit from NORWICH CITY probably generates more excitement than the Malaysia Cup final.
It's pathetic that Malaysians can be so passionate about an English team, and yet care so little about sports in their own country. I'm also guilty of being more passionate about Liverpool than the Malaysian national football team. But I also think it's a Catch-22 situation. The fans don't care about Malaysian sports, because frankly, Malaysian sport is pathetic. And the state of Malaysian sports can hardly improve if there is no interest or support from the fans.
