Jeff Pearlman on Walter Payton

Why?
I agree with (gulp) Dick ... It ain't like he threw shit against a wall. His stuff is sourced. I can't say it's suprising that Sweetness was no saint - who is ?
If this stuff its true it's true.
BTW I don't think he destroyed Payton's rep.
Tore down yet another myth of the all-American hero, maybe, but Payton was responsible for his own flaws. Pearlman - through others close to him - only exposed them.

 

I read the Bonds book and excerpts of the Clemens and Cowboys books. How much do I have to read before I'm allowed to say I don't care for them?

 

I can tell you didn't read the books if you think all they are is salacious gossip. There is plenty about Clemens, the Cowboys, and the '86 Mets that isn't what you think it is.

Pearlman writes about interesting people. He writes about what sports are really like behind the scenes. Some of it's ugly.

I've never taken you for someone who was this protective of the romantic myth of sporting icons or sports in general. I'm surprised at your reaction.

 

Athletes tend to partake in a lot of bad behavior, LTL. Sex and drugs are not just for rock stars. So if Pearlman tends to write about famous athletes, he's going to find some nasty stuff about a lot of people. Doesn't make Pearlman's intent malicious.

 

I guess I could see why you'd prefer not to know.

But, I'm not sure it makes Pearlman a bad guy for putting it out there.

 

I think the characterization that Pearlman is "making a cottage industry out of showing us that athletes are bad people" is incorrect.

I have read the Mets and Cowboys books and while the salacious stuff was very entertaining, he also managed to write about the good in people. His writing on Michael Irvin for example was really good at showing the douche and the possibility of someone with a good heart.

I read Pearlman's Blog and I certainly don't get the impression that he set out to tear down Walter Payton.

 

Well, LTL, athletes ARE often bad people. But as others have pointed out, the excerpt doesn't make him out to be a bad person, just a flawed one. Again, I'm one of the biggest Payton fans you'll ever come across, but I'll read this book. I want that peek behind the curtain, even if it saddens me a bit. I never viewed Payton as a hero, just an extraordinary athlete. Because he apparently gave into the temptations that have become part and parcel of many an athlete's (and, unfortunately, many a person's) existence doesn't diminish that extraordinariness one bit. In fact, it heightens it in a way knowing that off the field, he was more like the bulk of us than anyone could have imagined. "Heroes" are still human, and I think there's value in reminding us of that.

 

Read the excerpt. Is honest, well-sourced, and shows an admiration for the man, warts and all.

Journalism.

 

If he has chosen this as his subject matter, he wants to put it out there.

Maraniss had some "salacious" Clemente stuff to deal with too. It was artful, in context, and didn't overwhelm everything else he said about the guy.

 

Is it really character assassination to pen books in which Bonds, Clemens, the '86 Mets and '90s Cowboys are shown to be pieces of shit when their respective behaviors did all but type the pages? If the other books were guilty of anything, it was that they essentially added some salacious details to that which most people already believed to be true.

 

Maybe for his next book he can write about the old lady crossing guard in my neighborhood who helps kids cross the street.

I'm sure it'll be a runaway best seller.

 

Beat me to it, Ace. To me they are the definitive look at the King's life and career. Albert Goldman this ain't.