THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Not sure how many of you caught the 'Costas Now' special that's being run ad nausea on the HBO, but if you get a chance, check it out. Costas held a sort-of roundtable discussion with industry 'big-wigs' and discussed, among other things: how negativity is fueling sports talk radio and seeping into other mediums; how the relationship between athletes and reporters is being breached by jealously and mistrust; and how the influx of blogs are making it harder to distinguish between real news and an 'uneducated' opinion. The program has ignited a short of shit-storm after author/blog hater Buzz Bissinger attacked Deadspin's Will Leitch on-stage and said: "I feel very strongly about this. I really think you're full of shit because I think blogs are dedicated to cruelty, they're dedicated to journalistic dishonesty, they're dedicated to speed. It is the complete dumbing-down of our society." Thankfully, we got guys out there like Jason Whitlock standing up for blogs-not all of 'em, but he does recognize the good ones…No doubt, if I were to open my vault, I'd have no trouble attaining DeadSpin status. But to categorize all blogs, as Bissinger has, as 'dedicated to cruelty, journalistically dishonest and dumbing down society' is ridiculous. In my opinion, blogs are a threat to mainstream media because we're not bound by the usual restraints put on journalists, therefore allowing us to express our opinions freely. And those opinions aren't necessarily 'uneducated', in fact, I'd say it's quite the opposite. (After all, is it uneducated to write that Washington Redskins second round draft pick, wide receiver Malcolm Kelly has the sickest body-in-the-draft? I think not)… more...