About a month ago, judoka Ariel Zeevi lost his first match in the 2012 London Olympics. It was a quick and painful loss. In just 43 seconds, all of our hopes for an Olympic medal faded away, and thus ended the glorious career of this veteran judoka. The next day, one found favorable coverage and support for Zeevi in most newspapers, despite his loss, accompanied by expressions of gratitude for a magnificent career. The nature of the coverage gave me hope. I felt the onset of a change in how the Israeli media covers sports. A new manner of coverage, that appreciates the effort and investment of these athletes, their achievements from the past; coverage that would be in no hurry to attack, slaughter or blame someone who performs below expectations. Of course it is permissible and necessary to be critical, but we must also take a moment to stop and think about what legitimizes this criticism. Last Friday, my fantasy of constructive criticism and fair media coverage of sports was shattered during the opening remarks of the show "Press Gallery," just moments after the Israeli national soccer team drew its qualifying match against Azerbaijan for the 2014 World Cup. The hosts of the show immediately said that our World Cup dreams were shattered and noted how Israel's campaign to compete for the cup has constantly failed in recent years. More commentators joined the chorus, calling it a "disgrace," They analyzed the coach's mistakes, reported on the players' mood in the hotel before the game and detailed mistakes made throughout all of their practices leading up to the game, including the night before and, of course, throughout the game itself. The bottom line: we will lose our game against Russia on Tuesday and then only get to watch the World Cup on television. I have no idea what this broadcast transmitted to viewers or what they learned from watching. I can only ask questions that intrigued me from the moment members of the broadcast panel appeared on the screen and intensified after reading the sports headlines on Sunday: Hello, are you crazy-! It was just the first away game and we didn't even lose! Just five minutes after the end of the match and you've already sentenced the team to failure! It doesn't matter that the opponent was weaker, and that from here we must simply get better: learn the lessons and improve. Why should we throw in the towel already? Why throw out the ball we only just got because it is a bit deflated? Why not wait a bit to analyze, examine and receive feedback? Why should we all give up and let the wind out of the sails before even leaving the dock? Why do commentators give up and deflate all of us by focusing on the bad things? Why do those sitting in the press gallery, and some sports journalists as well, act as if they are just fans sitting in the stands- In my opinion, anyone who gives up like this so quickly is the real loser, whether it be in the living room, on Facebook or during a live Friday evening broadcast. I hope that the players and the professional staff of the team raise their heads. I hope they missed the broadcast of Press Gallery last Friday and ignored the Sunday morning sports pages in the newspapers, because nothing good can come from either, at least, not in Israel. They are not the only ones who would benefit from ignoring the negativity of the media. Those sitting on the panel in the Press Gallery might also benefit from cutting their negativity and may even see their ratings rise a percentage or two. They might also receive some more attention, because that's how it goes: even losers deserve some positive attention.
