Matt Leinart may or may not be dating Paris Hilton.

Do we need to know?

Does it enhance our enjoyment of sports to learn the intricate personal details of our most well-known athletes? Would we be less well-rounded as sports fans if we paid attention only to Leinart’s play at quarterback and ignored the rest?

The answers: No, no, no.

We live in an era when it’s impossible to find the off button for sports. Some would call it the sports information age. I’d call it the sports information overload age.

The demand for, and consumption of, everything sports-related has led to excess. And it’s detracted from, rather than contributed to, our pure enjoyment of sports.

Let me offer a handful of examples.

Here are some recent revelations I’ve learned that, upon reflection, constitute information overload:

¢ Leinart is possibly dating Paris Hilton. OK, fine. Who hasn’t?

¢ O.J. Simpson offers his opinion on who’ll win the Kentucky Derby. He deserves a forum for what reason?

¢ Anna Benson, wife of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kris Benson, explained why she doesn’t want a divorce and that she was just joking about her “plan” to gain revenge if her husband cheated on her. And she has a new photo spread in FHM. Not that she’s a publicity hound or anything.

¢ Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal become fathers within minutes of each other. Cute story, if it weren’t for the fact both players still act awfully juvenile.

¢ There’s a fight over the cremated remains of Kirby Puckett, which reminded me of Ted Williams, but not in a good way.

In order to enjoy the NFL, the Kentucky Derby, Major League Baseball and the NBA, we’d need to know exactly none of the above.

ESPN contributes to the problem, but it isn’t to blame. If ESPN had lacked the foresight to understand 24/7 sports coverage would be successful, someone else would have figured it out. And when you’re filling the air 24/7, sometimes the content will be stretched to include unnecessary drivel, not to mention Woody Paige.

It’s the same with the Internet. Anytime, night or day, you can read facts, opinion and rumors about sports, with rumors sometimes masquerading as facts. ESPN.com is the online leader because of its branding success and – giving credit where it’s due – its overall quality reporting. ESPN also dominates sports talk radio, where no topic is too obscure for discussion and every one of my earlier examples was discussed, ad nauseam.

All the extracurricular sports chatter becomes so much white noise the only refuge is the game itself. If Jim Gray is on the sideline, there’s no guarantee there, either.

The best way to approach a pro game relatively distraction-free is by tuning in at the starting time and tuning out at the final buzzer. It’s those rare times when we can remain in the moment – the athletic competition – that drew us to sports in the first place.

Don’t stop reading. Don’t stop viewing. It won’t kill you to watch “Cold Pizza” once in a while, although I can’t speak for your brain cells.

But always remember, there’s a foolproof escape from sports information overload.

Turn off the TV, log off the Internet and revel in some silence before tip-off, kickoff or the first pitch. You’ll be surprised how vivid the sights and sounds become when you finally focus on the game itself.