JON ARNOLD — We all have that guilty pleasure. You know, that TV show or maybe trashy novel series we can’t get enough of, but would be semi- to completely mortified if anyone found out about. Apparently something called Bachelor Pad was on tonight that had plenty of people excited. Jersey Shore draws disconcertingly high numbers. My favorite is certainly not VH1′s delightfully odd Mob Wives, and I don’t know where you would’ve gotten that idea. Oh, you’ve read tweets? Well then.

For the most part, we know what to expect from these things. They’re nicely packaged in their time slot, allowing us to escape from our real lives for a few moments and think about how much more civilized we act than some people or peer into the lives of others to see how they live. Typically these shows are actually kind of mundane. Nothing really happens, but then there’s that one moment. The moment all the characters build up to during their talking head interviews. The scene they showed at the end of the last episode when the voice over said “Next week on ______.” The one where the audio has to be so heavily censored it sounds more like a hearing test than any sort of discernible dialogue. And that? That is what keeps us tuning in the next week and the next and the next.

Of course, sports haven’t been immune to the reality show treatment. Plenty of athletes have starred in their very own reality shows (most shows run for about as long as Tyson Gay, and for good reason), and players’ wives and/or girlfriends have moved seamlessly from tabloid fodder to reality stars. But sometimes there’s a character within the game who brings the reality show to us, without all the guilt, time and effort of watching an actual show. There he or she is, right there in the middle of the game we love and are already glued to. As if sports didn’t provide enough drama on their own, there’s something else there to provide that jaw-dropping moment. (more…)

JON ARNOLD – Reading FC is headed to the Championship playoff final for a chance to earn promotion back into the Premier League after they beat Cardiff 3-0 Tuesday afternoon.

As a journalist, I tend to shy away from any sort of team affiliations. Even during the three years I covered my now-alma mater as a student, I made sure to distance myself from any sort of fandom. For some reason, though, I’ve been supporting Reading FC for most of my adult life. That’s why I’m celebrating this result in the middle of the afternoon here in the United States. (more…)