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Monday, March 9, 2009

Sports / Teh Internets People Are Mean on the Internets

Posted by on Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 7:04 PM

Bob Costas had Will Leitch from Deadspin on his show to argue with Buzz Bissinger—sports journalist, author, and really, really pissed off about the Internet. This is a beautiful, amazing, clash of media cultures.

No embed, gotta go to Deadspin to watch.

Costas and Bissinger are arguing that sports writing on the Internet can be of "poor quality" and commenters are jerks, and therefore... Well, they don't really address that. Therefore, what? People shouldn't be allowed to have blogs? You should have to have a press pass to have a blog? You know, Bob and Buzz, there's a lot of content in newspapers and on TV that's also of "poor quality." Really, I've seen some of it.

Bissinger and Costas want everyone to know that in the good old days, journalists and celebrity athletes were really special and privileged (they had ACCESS!) and didn't have to have their rarified air polluted by regular people—the fans—calling them fetus-faced windbags or suggesting that they might be better qualified to manage a Denny's. And the people saying these things don't even have ACCESS! Plus it's not nice.

Also on the show is Cleveland Browns wide-receiver Braylon Edwards, and if anyone should be pissed, it would be him, right? These jerkwad bloggers are talking shit about him and his teammates, and they don't even have ACCESS! But no, he's not pissed. He says the input is valuable and it keeps him humble.

Also, Costas thinks the Internet poses "no threat" to television.

I'm all for quality. People should write good and be smart. But Costas and Bissinger really have no point to make. People are mean and their writing is juvenile, and so... Nothing. They're just mad about it. As Leitch says, the Internet is a meritocracy. This stuff is popular, so get used to it. People read serious writing (increasingly online, often on blogs), and they read un-serious blogs. In the same day, even! And they understand the difference.

via @stevenblum

 

Comments (17) RSS

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1
Umm...isn't this so 2007 (or 2008)? Either way, old news, from at least a year ago
Posted by deltron on March 9, 2009 at 7:10 PM
2
@1 - Yes! It's old. The other thing about the Internet is that you don't read the date on stuff.
Posted by Anthony Hecht on March 9, 2009 at 7:20 PM
3
Still a great clip, and one that continues to reverberate in the blogosphere. Although Bissinger is one of the most revered sportswriters in the game, his rep took a big hit thanks to his maniacal ranting. Taking on Big Daddy Drew (not Balls) was an especially big mistake, given that Drew Magary is more of a comedic writer, and an especially hysterical and profane one at that.

Leitch may not be a traditional journalist, but how many print sportwriters had to go on Win Ben Stein's Money the morning after their girlfriends broke up with them?

http://gawker.com/5019359/will-leitch-di…
Posted by Jason Josephes on March 9, 2009 at 8:01 PM
4
Bob Costas is a clown ball sack with one ball in it with a clown nose on it to make him feel better but actually making him look, well, worse.
Posted by uninoseball costasfuckshithead hole on March 9, 2009 at 8:03 PM
5
When I watched tv, as a kid, sports seemed really stupid. Now that I don't watch tv, sports seem like the last meritocracy. Sports commentary, anyway, because there's so much money involved and because so many people want to work that gig. Some of the only decent suits I saw in the W. era were on sports commentators.
Posted by Amelia on March 9, 2009 at 8:10 PM
6
Mass communication has been democratized and people like Costas don't like it one bit. There are no gate keepers to limit who can communicate with the general population. Sports should be the least of the worries of those who are not comfortable with the internet.
I think the internet is in part responsible for this:
http://cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/…

Posted by Heather on March 9, 2009 at 8:27 PM
7
"Fetus-faced windbag" is not a harsh insult. "Costas-faced fetus," on the other hand, could scar you for LIFE.
Posted by rob on March 9, 2009 at 8:33 PM
8
The internet is no threat to television? Have you seen the shit that passes for entertainment on TV these days Bob?
Posted by Gern Blanston on March 9, 2009 at 8:55 PM
9
The real threat posed by the sports blogs is that sportswriters will be exposed as the blowhards they too often are.

Sportswriting has always been seen as a literary form; the average column inch the sports section has more high-flying metaphor and simile than the rest of the paper put together. Sometimes this leads to great writing: John Updike, for one example, wrote some great stuff once upon a time.

But too often it's just windy bull farts. And this famous ACCESS! is a huge part of the problem. Access gives you the human perspective -- Bubba's feeling down because of his knee -- but it gets in the way of analysis. Bubba doesn't want to hear detailed explanations as to how his crappy defense is costing the team fifteen runs a game.

A lot of what passes for sports blogging is pretty windy, too. But there's good analysis there too. It's doubtful that any daily newspaper in the country, or sports program on TV, would ever delve with even a tippy-toe into the deep waters that USS Mariner dives headfirst in every day. Simply put, USSM is better than them.
Posted by Fnarf on March 9, 2009 at 9:34 PM
10
Costas and Leitch can take solace in the idea that the Internet will inevitably be a forgotten fad within a few decades, just like newspapers, radio and television.
Posted by Just Sayin' on March 9, 2009 at 9:48 PM
11
Not to mention, what do a lot of old school sports journalists offer us? Stuff like "Mariners Could Win AL West This Year." Yeah, they could. Or, they might not. And it doesn't matter if the M's do or don't, these guys get to pull stuff out of their asses, call it reporting, and get paid for it. Yes, we all try to predict how things will go before the season starts, so why do we need these guys?

Also, since I've never had the forum to say so: Dwight Perry is the most worthless of the bunch. Y'ever read his "Sideline Chatter" in the Times' Sports section? Ham-handed, obvious jokes with the only occasional chuckle coming from a Letterman quote or somebody else's quip.

Thanks. I feel a lot better now.
Posted by Jason Josephes on March 9, 2009 at 10:19 PM
12
@1 - Yes, it's from April 2008.

Tomorrow they'll probably be a posting here about some wackiness during the obama vs clinton debates.
Posted by stinkbug on March 9, 2009 at 10:21 PM
13
Back in the late 1960s, my Dad used to sneak out with me (the oldest) to go see a movie and escape the noise of the house.

I remember there used to be people sitting in front of the theatres with petitions to sign...condemning cable tv (their foreseen competition).

It is said...the old are insanely jealous of the young.
Posted by 1 800 Cable Me ! on March 9, 2009 at 11:56 PM
14
I hit ctrl+f and didn't find 'bitching' even once.

wtf, internet?
Posted by lkw on March 10, 2009 at 2:07 AM
15
(no 'bitchin' either)
Posted by lkw on March 10, 2009 at 2:20 AM
16
"People should write good and be smart."

'nuff said!
Posted by mm on March 10, 2009 at 8:57 AM
17
Blogs have been a godsend to sports fans, the fantasy football mentality and the baseball prospectus mentality has dumbed sports fans down even more.
Posted by Thought I Saw A Bum on March 10, 2009 at 10:39 AM

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