Pitchfork Journalism

This is his best Hate Mail collection ever.

I think it's comical that folks accusing the media of having a mob mentality and rushing to judgment are doing it in defense of folks who allowed a suspected pedophile to troll their locker room for 10-plus years.

 

True. Those people need a large rope with which to hang themselves, and Doyel gives it to them.

Also somewhat humorous that a highly decorated national columnist would challenge a reader to a fistfight over their disagreement.

From: Tony Browning

I hope someday we meet in hell, so I can spend eternity kicking your white, Denzel Washington, Spock-looking ass! F--- you and everyone who hates Joe Paterno!

I don't hate Joe Paterno. I don't hate anyone, not even that last guy. But I do think you're a moron. And I invite you to come find me while we're both above the dirt. You'd really hate me then.

 

Doyyyel has invited everyone to a fist fight.

 

I prefer to ignore Doyel's Twitter and mailbags because I mostly agree with SF. When you just read his columns, he's brilliant. I loved his take on the rally for Joe Paterno before the firing: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/16040232/want-to-find-joepa-supporters-get-on-his-lawn

 

This industry is changing dramatically. Some ways for the better. Many ways for the worse.

Gregg has his niche and he's successful at it. It's way over the top compared with what would be expected of a newspaper columnist 15 years ago, but that bus has sailed.

It think his pugnacious attitude is funny, and if you give him crap as a reader, you should know you're gonna be invited to get a belt in the schnoz.

 

Still, as he outgrows that demographic, he might want to upgrade from the Fists of the Dragon shtick.

 

I try to stay out of things that I'm personally involved with, and since I have a stake in it, my objectivity on the subject is questionable anyway. But I really think this particular person has elevated his game in 2011 and deserves it.

 

This is a very good point and brings up the larger issue: Can the same person be someone different in different places on the Web? I am sure Doyel is not the only writer whose tone varies greatly based on the medium.

Honestly, as someone who doesn't follow anyone on Twitter and therefore tends to see tweets only as they're posted here or emailed to me, I'm fine with that split. I still think there's a different standard, because Twitter is supposed to take no more than 30 seconds and your column is supposed to be something that you check and double-check and re-check.

 

What makes Gregg Doyel's pugnacious attitude any different from T.J. Simers' pugnacious attitude? Doyel's a far more consistent and original writer, in my opinion. And he clearly works hard. He offers a unique take on most situations and does so without being wrong nearly as often as, say, Jason Whitlock.

Note that Doyel, Simers and Whitlock were all newspaper writers 15 years ago.

I use Twitter quite a bit. But I think it's important to separate writers' tweets from their written work. Buzz Bissinger is a brilliant author. He's a foul-mouthed miscreant on Twitter. These things are not opposing, they simply are.

 

I assume editors edit columns, but not tweets.

 

I don't think 15 years ago that your bosses would allow you to challenge readers to a fight when they disagreed with you.