Prayers Sometimes Get Answered
Posted: April 30th, 2008 | Filed under: Media | 59 Comments »
A few bloggy, Bissinger thoughts as we prep for another exciting Banny Log!
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A couple of weeks ago, I was alerted by a friend that I was on a “short list†for a Bob Costas panel discussion on “the future of blogs and sports journalism.†Now, like George Bailey, I’m not a praying man, but you better believe I hit my knees that night and every night thereafter for days … and my prayer went something like this:
Dear God. I’m not a praying man, but if you’re up there, and you can hear me, show me the way. I have not asked for anything at all in a long time, probably since college, you know, that girl who always sat near me on the city bus, and, well, you kind of let me down on that one, but no matter, you’ve been good to me, I have no complaints, but I would like to ask a favor. Please, please, please Lord, do not allow anyone from the Costas show to call me.
The Lord is good. The Lord is just. The Lord had the Costas people bizarrely call Braylon Edwards. The Lord worketh in mysterious ways.
You may think I’m joking — and one level, I am — but I am deadly serious when I tell you that I was scared almost to tears that they would call me to be on that show, and I would not have the boldness and good sense to say no. There are a lot of reasons why I would rather cut every lawn in the neighborhood with a manual lawnmower than appear on that panel, one being that I totally suck on radio and television. I should tell you sometime about my six-week radio show sometime.
More, though, there’s this: I have no idea about the future of sports journalism. Man, I don’t even know when I’m going to get my car’s oil changed. I don’t even know if my youngest daughter is going to have a good potty day. I don’t even know if Jim is going to really propose to Pam. Dammit, I know nothing about nothing, and I cannot imagine five things more terrifying than going up in front of a national audience and trying to pretend that I have something meaningful to say about the future of sports journalism, or the meaning of blogs, or the point where it will all come together.
I can tell you this though: One of those five terrifying things would have been having Buzz Bissinger scream at me.
The Lord is good. The Lord is just. The Lord is my Shepherd.
I did not watch live the already famous Costas Now segment where Pulitzer Prize Winner Buzz Bissinger went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs on Deadspin’s Will Leitch. I was, at that time doing some research on the 1975 Reds and Pete Rose* and watching the Royals and Texas play rather entertaining ball. I was happily unaware of the whole thing until this morning when I woke up to about 20 emails demanding that I weigh in. I took it from those emails that Buzz had been rather harsh in his assessment of the blogosphere and in particular Will.
*I see a couple of commenters and emailers have griped about Reds manager Pete Rose penciling himself in the lineup at the end of his career so he could break the hits record, and I don’t disagree entirely with the anti-sentiment. I can see the argument that by playing himself he hurt some younger players, in particular my buddy Jim’s favorite guy, Nick Esasky. Anyway, I believe Rose was a different man and a different player by the 1980s … I’m really much more concerned with the Pete Rose of 1975, when I think he really was a force of nature.
Still, I think the Rose starting himself thing has been overplayed somewhat. He really wasn’t a BAD player at all his first two years as Reds manager. He had no power — I mean NONE — but he did hit .283/.401/.345. That SLG pct. doesn’t make him an especially valuable first baseman, but that is a .401 on-base percentage people. Now, the claim that he was pretty much useless is legit in 1986 (after he got the record) when he hit .219 with a .316 on-base percentage in 237 at-bats, but the guy did bench himself forever at that point. (Even with that his Reds OBP as manager was a pretty nice .375).
You can blast Pete Rose for a lot of things, but I don’t think the whole “He played himself so he could get the record†is fair. For one thing … what would you do? The guy was fewer than 150 hits away from the seemingly unbreakable all-time hits record — OF COURSE he played himself. More, though, he was not entirely without value as a player leading up to the record.
I didn’t actually see the Costas segment until a few minutes ago. It is 10 minutes I wish I could have back, except for this entirely brilliant exchange between Costas and the aforementioned blog expert Braylon Edwards.
Costas: Braylon, do you blog?
Edwards: Uh, no.
Costas: Do you have any teammates who blog?
Edwards: Uh, no.
Succinct. The rest of the conversation seemed to me to be Buzz hitting Will about the head with an umbrella, and Will saying, “Would you please stop hitting me with the umbrella,†and Buzz continuing to hit Will about the head with the umbrella, and Will saying, “Damn it, ow, stop hitting me you crazy old man,†and Buzz hitting him about the head some more with the umbrella. I love the phrase “about the head.â€
Now, I don’t know Buzz Bissinger at all. I don’t really know Will Leitch either, though we have exchanged a couple of emails and we are apparently friends on Facebook, though what that means is beyond my 41-year-old computer comprehension level. I respect and like their work. I think Friday Night Lights is one of the best sports books ever written. I think Deadspin has changed the way we watch sports, and I think a lot of it is funny and edgy and perceptive, which is more than I can say about this blog.
So, with that said, here’s how I judged the exchange: It looked to me like Buzz had decided to prepare for his appearance by not eating red meat for several days. You know a conversation might not go Lincoln-Douglas when one of the debaters breaks out the “I really think you’re full of sh..†line like 22 seconds into it. That was Buzz. He then went into a rather curious rant about the great old writer W.C. Heinz, who died recently. I wasn’t sure exactly where that was supposed to go … but I’ll get back to that in a minute.
Then, it looked to me like Buzz and Costas — who, I have mentioned here before, is one of my heroes — teamed up on Will, who apparently without his knowledge had been named the official representative of “all crazy lunatics who post nasty comments on the Internet.†It reminded me of the time the comedian Bobby Slayton was on a talk show about prejudice — because I guess he makes fun of ethnic groups in his act. He was on there with various professional haters, I mean, the A Team of talk show hate, a Neo Nazi, Mister Klan Guy, a Black Panther (are there still Black Panthers?), Darth Vader, Anton Chigurth, Kramer, whatever. And about halfway through the show, Slayton suddenly realized that he had been penciled into the haters lineup, you know, hitting third behind the guy from the Klan. And he was like, “Whoa! Whoa! I’m on the WRONG TEAM.â€
Will was being given the fun task as defender of the nastiest and most absurd comments written by anonymous strangers on the Internet. Buzz did read part of an article about mainstream media vs. blogs that was written on Deadspin — I originally thought the section was from a comment, but I was confusing this with Costas reading a Deadspin comment later. The section read out loud was about Rich Garces’ man-boobs. I’ve since gone back and read it — it was written to make a point about how Bill James did not need to go into the locker room (and see Garces’ chest) to write baseball. It was rude and pretty funny, actually, and there was a point to it, though I’m never really in favor of ripping man boobs for all the obvious reasons. Anyway Buzz hated it so much he read it out loud on national TV so it could reach a larger audience.
I really thought Will went in there to have a real discussion about real things. He really did seem eager to do this. Instead the conversation mostly involved Will covering up while Buzz screamed and swore and screamed and swore and and screamed at him for lowering the level of discourse in America.
“I think blogs are dedicated to cruelty,“ Buzz said just before he started screaming and swearing at Will, and this is so weird because I was actually thinking for a long time about calling this blog â€Dedicated To Cruelty“ or DTC (you know, for the kids). Come on. Is journalism dedicated to lies because a couple of pretty famous writers made up stories? Are books dedicated to murderous anti-semitism because Hitler wrote â€Mein Kampf?“ Is music dedicated to demeaning women because Flo-Rida sang “Low?†How are you going to judge blogs and the Internet because some anonymous jerk on a message board or in a comment section decides to tell poo-poo jokes about Tony LaRussa?
Anyway, it was emotional, and I get that. Sure, there are a lot of objectionable things happening in sports journalism today. There are a lot of strange things happening. This causes a lot of anger and fear and disgust, and absolutely I get that. Still, because of the emotion I think the whole point was missed, and the point is this: What are we even ARGUING about? Blogs aren’t going anywhere. Comments aren’t going anywhere. The Internet isn’t going anywhere. Stupid people aren’t going anywhere. Angry people aren’t going anywhere. And, for that matter, funny people, talented people, brilliant people, they’re not GOING AWAY just because some people don’t like technology and have gone all Barry Corbin on us.**
**Remember in War Games, at the end, when it looked like the danger was over, and then Joshua the computer decided to find the launch codes. They went to Barry Corbin, the general, to tell him and he said, â€Well just unplug the damn thing!“ I suggest that whenever someone starts ranting about the Internet and blogs and people writing in their mother’s basements, we say that he’s â€Corbinating.“
What is a blog anyway? The question itself is ridiculous … it’s like asking, “What’s an article?†or “What’s a book†or “What’s a song?†It’s a vehicle, that’s all, a way to communicate, a way to spread ideas, a way to entertain, a way to gripe, a way to spew hate, a way to make fascinating points. Some are short. Some are long. Some are curiously long. Some are profane, some are fascinating, some are stupid, some are irresponsible, some are genius, some are not read by anybody except immediate family members.
Remember Buzz’s W.C. Heinz reference? Buzz was saying that Heinz had a whole lot more to say (and could say it a lot better) than, I guess, most people who comment on blogs. Sure. That’s probably true. Heinz was a brilliant writer. Wonderful. Thoughtful. Funny. Tough. I couldn’t be a bigger fan. His piece on Bummy Davis is one of the all-time greats. He wrote a lot of great pieces.
But guess what: If Heinz was young today, if he was 25 years old in 2008, or 30 years old, you know what he would be doing? Yeah. He would be WRITING A FREAKING BLOG. Of course he would. If you love to write, if you want to be heard, if you feel like you have something to say, this is what you do. Your print outlets are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking. You know, Heinz wrote his famous, â€In The Morning They Shot Spies“ piece for True Magazine. Same thing for that great Bummy Davis piece I just mentioned. He wrote sports columns for “The Sun.†He wrote for Madison and Argosy and LIfe and so on.
You know what these magazines and newspapers have in common? Yeah. They’re gone. There aren’t many magazines and newspapers left. It’s corny, sure, but I feel honored and thankful every day to work for The Kansas City Star, not only a paper that is still in business, but more a paper that still cares a whole lot about being good. There’s a hard reality here, and it will only get harder over the next few years. Newspapers are shrinking. Magazines are shrinking. Opportunities in the mainstream are shrinking. Shrinkage is the word.
But the Internet is wide open. If Heinz was young, he would be writing words on the Internet just like everyone else, and he would probably have his own blog, and it would be wonderful, and cranky old people would be screaming about Heinz in pajamas.
The point is … this is here. This is now. I’m sure as heck not going to defend every crazy thing on the Internet, and I’m also not going to defend every ridiculous thing that appears in the mainstream media. Some of the Internet stuff is criminal. Some of it is hysterical. Some of it is brilliant. Doesn’t matter. It ain’t going away. The Internet is here, it’s real, it’s big, it’s got enough room on it for everything, enough for screeds about man-boobs and nastiness about Barack Obama and hateful words about Hillary Clinton and pleas to fire managers and message boards with phrases and thoughts that would make the hair on your neck do the Macarena.* It also has wonderful essays and remarkable thoughts and brilliant ideas and hysterically funny gags. That’s why they call it surfing. You find your own wave.
*I was just thinking about the Macarena today … first time I ever saw it was at a Beach Volleyball match at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Suddenly, everybody was doing this ridiculous dance, and I had never heard of it, and I’m like, “Oh my God, did I fall asleep 20 years ago and wake up into a crazy world?â€
Anyway, I don’t get the argument. I can’t imagine that anyone — even the most anti-Internet person on earth — believes that it’s going away. What do the Corbinators really think should be done here? Close down the Internet? Make people take decorum courses when they write nasty and stupid stuff? Take away picture phones from all Americans and restrict the blogging rights of anyone who has not read the complete works of W.C. Heinz, Jimmy Cannon, Jim Murray, Red Smith and both the Lardners? This is where we are. IThe blogosphere is messy and rude and funny and silly and idiotic and pointless and literate and everything else that we are as Americans. I wish there wasn’t so much nastiness out there. I wish it wasn’t so easy to be anonymous. I wish people would stand behind what they say. Maybe we can reel some of that in. Let’s talk about that.
In the meantime, I had two overriding thoughts watching Buzz yell at Will about blogs.
My first thought was that I hope that Bob Costas — who I believe is as sensible and thoughtful a sports commentator as anyone ever on television — tries this again, tries to have a serious discussion about blogs and sports journalism and where this whole thing is heading rather than inviting the poor guy from Deadspin to get yelled at by a very angry Buzz.
The second thought: Thank God it wasn’t me.
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I’m going to work corbinating into my linguistics vault. The English language thanks you.
I guess “toolbox” or “repertoire” would have been a better choice than “vault.” I’m not going to lock the word away, I’m going to let it soar. Fly free, word. Fly free.
Buzz would not have yelled at you like he did Leich, since you have “credentials” and are considered a journalist. Will is just some geek living in his parent’s bedroom who started a website. Guys like Buzz are the type of people the rest of us who aren’t living in 1990 need to ignore, like Joe Morgan. And now he gets more publicity, although his book about Larussa was a damn good book.
I read your blog daily and I watched the Costas show last night. In fact, I thought the Costas show was so entertaining last night that I sent emails and text messages to every sports fan that I know to tell them to watch the replays of it.
Joe, this post is absolutely one of your finest. Although I believe that the mass numbers of media, the easy access to the internet and the sensationalist society that we live in will eventually be our downfall, you are truely one of the “good guys”.
I moved away from KC 9 years ago but I still read the Star every morning because it is quality…and you and Whitlock are incredible.
Thank you for doing what you do….
Your earliest memory of the macarena is eerily reminiscent of my own: we were headed south to Atlanta from Acworth on a crowded city bus, to catch the Netherlands vs. Nicaragua (or something like that) in baseball. There was a group of about six older ladies–about fifty years old, I’d say–doing that stupid automaton thing. And within two weeks, it seemed the whole world was doing it. I wouldn’t go back to 1996 again for anything in the world.
I love your blog, but I’ve never read your column. That’s where it’s at.
Hey, look, I can read your columns directly from your blog!
The Internet, of course, is generally very good for newspaper columnists and writers because it allows their writing to be read by millions more readers than their newsprint reaches. I used to be able to read someone like Tom Boswell only when I traveled to Washington; now I can read every column he writes while sitting at my computer.
Of course, with that same computer I can tell the world what I thought of a particular column. Moreover, I can do so in as mean-spirited or inane or profane fashion as I choose, and I can do so without any editor looking over my shoulder. I can also do it without ever revealing my name.
This lack of accountability is what makes Costas and Bissinger rail that the very medium of blogging is inherently inferior to mainstream journalism. But what is rarely acknowledged by traditional media is that blogs hold them accountable for their writing in a way that did not exist before. If a newspaper columnist writes something that is unfair, or based on false assumptions, there used to be no way for him to be called on it other than the occasional letter to the editor that might never see print. Now, an influential blogger can point out those issues to as many people that had access to the original column. It is, of course, up to the blogger to decide how thoughtful and informed he will be in his analysis, but at least he has the chance. If anything, the presence of bloggers should only increase the level of writing and analysis in traditional newspapers.
Joe: Buzz’s quote about Rich Garces wasn’t from a comment, it was from an article posted on Deadspin by Big Daddy Drew, of Kissing Suzy Kolber fame. Interestingly enough, the article is my personal favorite on the subject of mainstream media vs. blogs. The link is below.
http://deadspin.com/378253/ricky-reilly-billy-simmons-and-the-follies-of-privileged-sportswriting
Actually, the Rich Garces line isn’t from a comment. It is from a post written in response to a Rick Reilly column that goes down the usual “mom’s basement” route.
What makes it particularly relevant to this site is that it is part of a larger passage about Bill James:
“I’m pretty sure Bill James didn’t set foot into a locker room before changing the fundamental nature of baseball scouting forever. He didn’t need to see Rich Garces’ tits in order to glean insight as to how he pitches (though I’ve heard Rich Garces’ tits are AMAZING). Sh**, he didn’t even need to see him play on TV. ”
If you want to read the rest – which is actually part of a cogent argument about how blogs and sportswriting should perceive one another – click here (obviously, there might be some language that isn’t for everyone).
Allow me to thread-jack if you will. I could give you my thoughts on Costas and Buzz, but I pretty much agree with everything Joe had to say (typical). But did anyone see the batting stance youtube clip that Simmons linked to? I LOL’d at least 5 times. Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9SdRitr5o0
Joe:
This is what blogs do best — introduce good writers to people who hadn’t previously found them. Here is how it worked for me —
1) I watched the Costas show and was, naturally, appalled by Bissinger’s anger (He’s only two years older than me, but he seems steamed about how the new technology is undoing the older journalism)
2) I went to Deadspin to seek pithy commentary, but didn’t find anything deep there
3) so I went to Fire Joe Morgan, whose closed forum has become something both my son (age 23) and I enjoy. I saw FJM’s reference to your blog…
4) which took me here, where I found your excellent piece filled with post-Costas-show commentary.
5) Then I read that you’re more than simply a good blogger — you’re a real live journalist. What were the odds?
6) Bonus — you work with Whitlock, who has been missed by this PTI/Sports Reporter viewer since Big Sexy was asked to leave. It is our loss.
So blogs can help us read more good stuff. What’s not to like, Buzz?
Between the Costas segment and the radio interview with Boog Sciambi, Buzz has had one hell of a week.
The kind of week that often would get someone without the awards fired by anyone but the Post.
They went to Barry Corbin, the general, to tell him and he said, â€Well just unplug the damn thing!“
I saw War Games at the theater with my parents. The line I remember from Corbin was “I’ll piss on a sparkplug if I thought it’d do any good!”. And the whole theater laughed. I was young enough that it was the first time I thought it acceptable to laugh at something naughty in the presence of my parents.
Well, Joe, if it HAD been you, and if you’d responded to the Buzz venom with anything resembling the contents of this post… well, it wouldn’t have shut him up (NOTHING would shut the jackass up, I suspect), but it certainly would have revealed him to be the intolerant has-been that he has apparently become.
Damn shame, too. He’s been a wonderful writer. Finding out that he’s a raging dick bothers me more than a little.
The Internet, of course, is generally very good for newspaper columnists and writers because it allows their writing to be read by millions more readers than their newsprint reaches.
Of course, the internet *can* be very good for writers, but it is precisely *because* of this that old school writers like Bissinger are afraid of it: it is the world’s great meritocracy. Without the internet I would never have had access to reading Joe Posnanski (I suppose I could go to some extraordinary lengths to get my hands on a copy of the KC Star up here in Toronto, but even that wouldn’t give me access to the really great writing that goes on on this blog). But I found this site, and because of its quality I (like countless others) have stayed and become a loyal reader. The same thing goes for many other writers (most of whom do not come from the mainstream background that Joe does) across the internet. Anyone *can* blog, but nobody has to read you. In order to develop a readership on the internet you have to be interesting, or have some other hook. To write a newspaper column, on the other hand, you need exactly one fan: your editor. It may well be that thousands will read you anyway; but you can be mediocre and uninteresting, but survive because people buy and read the newspaper for countless reasons that may not include your column.
The internet brings about accountability, and that must scare the hell out of the old school.
Joe, I find it enlightening that you count yourself amongst the bloggers and not the traditional media folk or somewhere in between. Perhaps that’s what Costas was missing though -a voice of moderation; a writer with old school credentials and new school sensibilities.
Bravo Joe, despite you writing this from your mother’s basement (I know, that joke’s been beaten to death).
All kidding aside, I would assume this blog helps your KC Star readership, since a lot of people who read you here probably read your columns at the Star, leading to more traffic at the site, and the potential for greater ad revenue online. Or maybe not, it’s kinda late, I don’t think I can think clearly right now. And I’m hoping for the harsh Banny Log to come up tomorrow.
Joe, I think your missing the bigger point.
It’s no accident that the Deadspin quote was pulled from an article about traditional vs. new media. Bissinger’s response is a direct result of the way the blogosphere has tended to check traditional media outlets. They can’t write articles about how Player X is a choker and Player Y is gritty and Player Z is really great without getting pounced on when their facts are wrong or their arguments are cliched. These days, they get pilloried when the simply repeat the talking points of the organizations they cover.
Bissinger himself was a victim of this when his blithe Larusa point about how pitchers weren’t getting enough minor league innings was shredded in the blogosphere.
The implicit assumption in what Buzz and Costas was saying is that the professionals are the model of how things should be done. The blogosphere is pointing out that this isn’t always the case. And Bissinger will be damned if he’s going to let a bunch of guys in pajamas point out when he’s wrong.
Joe, Neyer paid you a compliment a few months back that I have repeated many times, and that I continue to see relevant to all topics like this. He said, paraphrasing, “Most of us spend 20 years learning about the world, and the rest of our lives defending what we learned. Joe is one of the few writers who seems to learn something new everyday.”
Buzz Bissinger is yesterday. He’s DONE. Anyone that is not intelligent enough to realize blogging is a medium simply can’t have enough perspective or subjectivity to write something I would believe to be valuable.
I started reading blogs because I got bored with articles. Newspaper reporting, the medium, was continually filled with the same old tripe I’ve read hundreds of times. I am not interested in the who’s giving 110%. I’ve read it so many times, I don’t even know what the word ‘grit’ means anymore! Thank goodness for blogs, or else where could I find an original idea?
But I am disappointed in Costas. I thought that he too was someone that had perspective, and continued to learn. It’s unfortunate that he has lost objectivity, and I think yet another good columnist has slipped into irrelevance.
Joe, you are right on in this post. I think the attack would have been more fair if it was focused just on Deadspin. Much of Deadspin seems to be about trying to get embarrassing photos of athletes on the internet. That gets old pretty quick. It’s a very smug site. If Max Mercy were alive today he’d be writing for Deadspin and would be posting photos of a dead Harriet Bird lying outside the hotel or would be asking for information on Roy Hobbs’ background. Leith is just a modern day muckraker.
Fabulous post, Joe, one of my favorites so far. Once again, you clearly cut through the clutter and get at the heart of the matter. One point that bears mentioning about blog comments is that you reap what you sow. Thoughtful, considerate and intelligent blogs (like this one) net thoughtful, considerate and intelligent responses, like those posted by McKingford and Mike S. above. Both are dead on: there is much for the old guard to fear if they are unwilling or unable to accept the new landscape.
Great post.
I think you’re being pretty charitable to Will Leitch. He wasn’t chosen at random to be the defender of anonymous, vile comments. He provides the forum for them, profits from them, and parlayed them into a book deal and a certain level of celebrity.
Sorry, but when you make your living by giving people a place to say stupid, hateful sh*t, it’s part of your job to stand up and defend it.
Thanks Joe for this post.
There is crap on the Internet, and crap in print. Considering that the print side is shrinking, lots of talented folks don’t have a chance anymore in that venue, so they run to blogs. But because the Internet is so open, the non-talented also get a voice.
More disappointing to me was Costas’ lapse from his moderator role. If he was truly wanting to moderate, he would have stopped Bissinger in mid-rant. Instead, he joined in. Guess he was chasing the ratings and publicity…
Matt (19) –
Have you read any of Buzz Bissinger’s books? I don’t mean that as a rhetorical question.
I would be pretty surprised if anyone here read any of Bissinger’s books, then read Leitch’s book and didn’t come away believing that Bissinger is the superior talent by an immense margin.
Leitch created the Page Six of sports. Good for him. He found a niche and he’s getting paid.
But next to Buzz Bissinger he’s way out of his depth.
First Macarena experience:
Winter 1995, Club Med in Huatulco, Mexico
Man, the girl leading it was hot.
Got to stand up a bit for Leitch/Deadspin (including their commenters) – as a regular reader of said site, I would say maybe ~15% of the daily posts are related to “embarrassing” athletes (actually, as I scroll through, it is probably less). If you come to the site expecting Pulitzer prize-winning prose, you are there for the wrong reason. However, if you enjoy mixing sports and humor (however sophomoric), it will not disappoint. And the commenters are pretty damn funny (and if profane, it is usually tongue in cheek, unless deserved).
Mikey:
Buzz is certainly a talented writer, but he was the one that acted like a buffoon the other night, while Will did a remarkable job of keeping his composure. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘out of his depth’ because if you judge them based on their behavior, I think that Buzz appeared to be the one that was out of place.
Besides, their respective ability to write prose is not at issue (and note that none of the examples that Buzz or Costas read were actually written by Will Leitch anyway).
Agreed, Herb. The place for mean, nasty comments isn’t Deadspin, it’s the comment threads under any mainstream media blog/column/article (read a story on AOL once).
Also, I’ll disagree with Kevin, who way up top praised Bissinger’s LaRussa book. I read that book (on my honeymoon, no less) as a big “eff you” to Michael Lewis, combined with “sorry, honey” to the mythical “Baseball Man,” as portrayed by TLR.
But Mikey is absolutely right that Bissinger is a much better writer than Leitch. The TLR book was crap, but still better crap than God Save the Fan.
Roarke –
What I meant was that Bissinger is the much better writer, that’s all.
I haven’t seen anything from Leitch to suggest that he has a Friday Night Lights or Prayer For The City in him.
Maybe he does have a great non-fiction book in him, but I don’t think his work to date indicates that he’s got Bissinger’s talent. That’s all I meant by out of his depth.
Corbin’s “piss on a sparkplug” line is one of the all-time movie one-liner greats. It’s the 1961 Roger Maris of bit-part character actors.
I’m not in a place to judge the writing talents of the various characters. I do think those who express disappointment in Costas are spot-on with one of the main problems.
Also, think about what really has a bad effect: lame comments that are obviously crackpot, or well-written pieces that are ultimately falsehoods based on ignorance. Cf. April 30’s post on a Bissinger pience from firejoemorgan (can’t figure out how to link to individual articles there)
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/
That Barry Corbin line was brilliant and hilarious.
Really, aren’t blogs kind of a throwback to the old days? Back in colonial days, there was a plethora of pamphlets published, many very nasty with anonymous authors. Even some of our cherished Founding Fathers published quite mean diatribes against their political opponents, using pen names.
I see blogs as reviving that tradition for better or for worse. I think those days and today, there was a much freer flow of ideas and innovation. I think guys like Bissinger just remember the 50s-70s where print newspapers dominated and controlled much of the public forum of ideas. Losing that grip tends to make those in power freak out.
I’m not really a fan of the Deadspin comments (I like the site), and I don’t cut them that much slack because they do monitor them, and I often hear them proclaimed as an important part of the site. But they’re not anywhere near as bad as the unmoderated stuff you find on Fanhouse or Fox Sports or probably ESPN.
I’m also a big fan of “about the head”, although I think it works better with “beaten” than “hitting”.
The one thing I remember from watching War Games in the theater was a genuine MST3K moment. There’s a scene where Broderick and Ally Sheedy have to get to a ferry, and of course they’re late and have to run and jump to make it. Right as they’re jumping, someone in the theater yells “Oh no, we forgot our American Express cards!” (It was funny 25 years ago.)
I don’t think Leitch had any intention of competing with Bissinger on their respective books. Bissinger is a brilliant writer. Leitch is a brilliant blogger. If Bissinger tried to blog, I’m sure we could say “Buzz can’t shine Leitch’s shoes.”
To me, this entire incident reeks of the “old school vs. new school” baseball argument. The old scouts want to fill a team with Darin Erstads and Juan Pierres because they work hard and are professionals in every sense. The new-age thinkers want to write in a lineup filled with Dustin Pedroias and Jack Custs because they produce.
I just don’t get why these two forms of media can’t co-exist. Apparently there’s some unwritten rule that you’re only qualified to talk about sports if you step foot in a locker room every day during the season. Same thing with baseball. While there are probably some old-schoolers that still think the world is flat, there are plenty of new-agers that stare at baseball-reference.com and don’t consider work ethic and off-field issues. There’s a balance that can be achieved with those, and I’m sure there’s a balance that can be achieved with bloggers and writers.
I also don’t understand why people think Leitch wants to embarass athletes – if you’ve read his book, he says that he thinks that these photos humanize athletes and allows us to connect with them a little more. Matt Leinart, a good-looking, 24-year old star athlete, was caught drinking with young co-eds! OH NO! Let’s tar and feather him! Because, as we all know, Kirby Puckett was God’s gift to baseball and Minnesota, on and off the field. Nope, no controversies with him.
Finally, half of the hate that Buzzy Boy spewed was from the comments section. If I sat here and used racial slurs and expletives in every post and somehow it made it onto the page, would one view Joe Posnanski – a national award-winning newspaper columnist who’s already written a successful book and is in the process of another – as some uppity blogger who has no respect for the craft of game stories and features? As another commenter said, go to any website and you’ll find multiple jackholes with idiotic comments.
Long live Jenna Fischer.
Mikey:
That’s fine – I actually haven’t read God Save the Fan (and I really don’t read Deadspin all that often). I guess I don’t really see how that is relevant to the debate, though – just like Buzz bringing up W.C. Heinz is irrelevant to whatever point Buzz was trying to make. Now that I think of it, what point *was* he trying to make – that blogs should be abolished?
To play off of Max (#32), didn’t the writers coming up in the 60-70s get all kinds of grief from the established writers because the new kids were willing to write about the supposed “off-limit” things? Isn’t that what Deadspin is doing now (with the photos), just continuing that evolution?
Six week radio show? Yeah- I’m gonna need more of that story.
‘About the head’is one of my favs too- but right now I am favoring ‘About the head and face’ in my vernacular.
‘Hitting third behind the guy from the Klan’ is hysterically funny. You gotta give credit to the guy from the Kaln though, he always makes solid contact, doesn’t strike out much, pretty good bunter, tough to double up, solid on D- he is the Mark Grudzielanek of the hate lineup. By the way, who bats cleanup for those guys? Vader? Chigurth? Tough call.
Long live this blog.
Roarke –
I made the comparison because an earlier poster had said that Bissinger is “yesterday” and “done” and I think his work shows that he’s far from done.
Is he yesterday? I suppose it’s possible. I hope not.
By the way, not that anyone cares but I’m certainly not an anti-blog person.
If I could *only* follow sports by reading newspapers or only follow sports by reading this blog, BP, FO, SOSH, and – yes – Bill Simmons….there’s no question I’d choose the online content.
a. I don’t think Buzz has read any real worthwhile blogs.
b. no offense to will leitch, but deadspin is tabloid stuff. catching matt leinart with a beer bong in his mouth, or stuart scott having an affair is something so far beyond what i even care about as a fan. i’m not trying to be holier-then-thou, but trash talk and catching people at their worst ain’t my cup o’tea.
Team Hate:
Jade Fox(Crouching Tiger…)- CF She is quick, steals ya some bases, and just try to hit a home run over her.
Klan Guy- 2B Mark Grudz clone. Doesn’t take the relay from the black panther too well…
Anton Chigurth- RF You don’t pitch inside to this guy.
Darth Vader- 3B Guy gets to evertything that is hit near to him. Jedi mind trick?
Terminator T-2000 -Pitcher Can throw 105 mph every pitch first through the ninth and no pitch counts. A great batter too- just like A-Rod. And just like A-Rod is not clutch at all- in fact stinks in the postseason.
Black Panther – LF Moody, but good power to all fields, reminds me of Jose Guillen.
William Munny (Unforgiven)- 1B Doesn’t run to well anymore, but you can’t beat a guy who is cool under pressure and LUCKY. Totally clutch.
Hannibal Lecture- C Doesn’t have much pop in the bat anymore, but when he is behind the plate and you are batting, he is in your head. And if you are coming home for a close play at the plate and he got his mask off, mouth wide open…
Nazi- SS not a very good hitter, but slick with the glove.
Where’s Benjamin Linus – one of the greatest and most unexpectedly brilliant villians of all-time? He HAS to be the GM.
Also, it’s Hannibal Lecter
Team Hate wouldn’t be complete without Steve Carlton as your SP and John Rocker mopping up…
Great post. Love your writing joe, please keep the posts coming.
Glad I finally stumbled upon your blog – (thanks Alex Johnson at MetsGeek) – you’re bookmarked and will be an essential read.
Buzz’s performance reminded me of why I never actually want to meet heros – their art is often polished to a brilliant sheen, the artist is merely human. And most humans are often pretty ignorant when not creating their art.
But the biggest irony of the segment, even bigger than Buzz using gratuitious profanity on TV to condem gratuitious profanity in blogs, is that unless you were previously cognizant of the MSM/new media rift, Costas “forum” would have left you scratching your head about what the hell anyone was talking about.
Thank you for blogs. Without them I would have never heard of you, read your work, or had countless hours of entertainment.
This will probably get lost in the comments now that Neyer has linked here, but is ‘Corbinating’ really fair to Barry Corbin, the actor?
Perhaps the term should be renamed after his character, General Jack Beringer. (Beringerating? Beringiating?)
The great James Wolcott has caught the buzz (with a link to Joe!):
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott/2008/05/i-was-riding-th.html
Mikey,
I have no relationship with Buzz Bissinger at all. I am not a fan, I am not a critic. I don’t even know if I would like to read his books, that’s how little I know about him.
There are those who will agree with Buzz Bissinger, and their opinion of him will not change. There are others, like me, that value objectivity and an open mind pretty much above all else from my creatives.
If I was a fan of Buzz Bissinger’s writing, I would’ve been deeply shaken by his appearance. Probably, that’s not likely, because if that is who he is, then his obtuseness is probably part of his work, and that would not appeal to me.
But, I am (was?) a fan of Costas, and my opinion of him is shaken. True, he maintained some objectivity, but I wonder how much of that is obligation due to his position as host. Doesn’t Costas realize blogging is a medium? Would Costas have had the same view of movie screenwriting in 1930? Photography in 1790?
And besides, Bissinger, as a novelist can have one view. This concerns bloggers and journalists. It is the journalist that is saddled with deadlines, demographics, investors, job requirements, etc. Maybe that’s why we keep reading the same article over and over again. Or maybe they are lazy.
All I know is, I read the same Mike Lupica tripe 25 years ago. I liked it when I was 16. Does Buzz Bissinger really think I should continue to read it today?
How much does a blogger get paid to write, not to much I’m willing to bet. If the writing is terrible people will not read what is written. Sure some will, but not a mass audience. I think Buzzy is realizing that there are a lot of talented people that could do his job as good or better than him and this frightens him.
Frankly, I don’t care how talented Bissinger is as a writer; he behaved like an obnoxious cretin and deserves every bit of roasting and punishment he gets for it. What makes a person think that behaving the same way as those you criticize is somehow going to make your point any better?
For that matter, perhaps it’s fair to give Bissinger a little hell for those things he has chosen to glorify in his books. Tony LaRussa, ego incarnate, and Texas high school football, just about the best example you can find of priorities gone completely out of whack in the good ol’ USA.
One thing people are arguing about is credentials for bloggers, as seen in Dallas in the NBA. This is a very practical issue, moreso than turning off the internet. Though I loved the Corbin reference.
For those that might be interested … this an exchange of ideas I had about this same topic on a different blog with a couple of other good folks …
(rather than just repeating everything here verbatim)
http://edinsanity.com/2008/05/01/new-media-vs-old-media/
Hopefully links to other blog discussions are “allowed” on this one.
———————————-
In Peace, Victory & Excellence.
Joe,
Btw … first-time reader here who thoroughly enjoyed your perspective after being pointed in your direction via ‘Hardwood Paroxysm’.
ah, barry corbin. terrific reference. the two best scenes in movies last year were tommy lee jones and barry corbin: one from IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, and one from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. anyway, pointless as this comment is, good work, joe.
Deadspin really is a smug site (I tried commenting there today only to find that you have to “audition” (their word) to be a commentor. ) I sometimes find it amusing, often annoying (eg their gleeful Michael Vick coverage), and occasionally irresponsible (their jumping to conclusions on the Duke lacrosse case). Their smugness annoys me, and I often wonder why I go back.
But what happened on Costas was nothing less than a premeditated ambush by Bissinger AND Costas, who even solicited Braylon Edwards’ assistance (what athlete WOULDN’T say they disapprove of Deadspin’s Matt Leinart piece). Costas’s patronizing line to Leitch, “I find you surprisingly palatable in person” indicates more than anything that Leitch was there as cannon fodder, and he was completely out of his element. I felt bad for him.
I continue to be surprised that people enjoy Costas at all. He’s pretentious, looks like a hobbit and he takes sports and himself way too seriously. This display didn’t surprise me one bit. I would have been shocked if he’d had someone like Leitch on his show and actually HAD given him a fair chance to represent his side of this “controversy.”
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