I don't want to sound like Gloomy Gus, a Debbie Downer or any other name with alliteration.

But it's pretty hard to ignore some of the really rotten things happening in sports these days at all levels.

And I do mean all levels.

Not even Little Leaguers are safe from the wrath of negativity.

Sports these days are more about what happens off the field — contract disputes, scandals, 12-year-old Chinese gymnasts — than what happens on the field or pool or balance beam.

I guess we can thank the Internet and 24-hour sports news on ESPN for that.

What it does is warp our definition of what sports news is.

We don't care as much about why A-Rod strikes out at the plate, but about whether or not he strikes out with Madonna.

Here's a sample of some of the biggest sports stories of the past month. Notice how few actually deal with sports:

n Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is banned from pitching for his Little League team because he is too good.

Guess what? He

is too good. That 40-mph heater to a 9-year-old looks like a flaming death-missile from Joel Zumaya, pre-Guitar Hero.Live with it.Let him pitch so we can get on with our lives instead of watching parents holding picket signs and lawyers holding press conferences.• Brett Favre fumbles a snap in practice, then runs a penalty lap.Yeah. That was breaking news. I suppose when he shaves his gray stubble, ESPN News will break in and tell us about that, too.Let's just nominate Favre for president now and get it over with.• Chinese gymnasts.I'll never be one of those county fair performers who guess people's ages, but I could tell some of those Chinese gymnasts were not 16.One still had some of her baby teeth.Still, there was no proof, and I heard once that you need that.Despite that, it was a major story during the Olympics, overshadowing the stellar efforts of both the American and Chinese performers.• All things Ocho Cinco.I couldn't care mucho nada about Chad Johnson.Yet he hijacked the offseason with his "I will not play for Cincinnati" act and his challenge to Michael Phelps that he could beat him in a swim race.And the fact that he is actually trying to change his name to Ocho Cinco.Wake me up when he actually does something on the field.• NBA stars flirting with Europe.This is such a nonstory, it's not even funny.There is no way LeBron James is going to suit up for the Brose Baskets in a couple of years.Kobe Bryant isn't going to dunk for Virtus VidiVici, either.About the biggest name to bolt for Europe will be Joel Przbilla.So don't sweat, Cavaliers fans. You will lose the biggest star in basketball to the New Jersey Nets or the New York Knickerbockers, not Efis Pilsen.Now can we have some

real sports news for a change?Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.