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Raissman: Writer Got Scoops with Dirty Tricks?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by RokSki, Aug 12, 2007.

  1. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member


    There's actually no comparison. Say what you will about Sheffield or Giambi, but it's entirely possible they have a valid point. Guys who get very LeBetard-ish with players often wind up blurring the line between on and off the record.
     
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    What exactly does "LeBetard-ish" mean? The criticisms of LeBatard I have heard are not that he cozies up to players. They are that he cozies up to them and then acts as their apologists in print. I saw plenty of this when he was Ricky Williams' personal valet during Williams' Miami tenure. The union would never have any complains with Dan LeBetard, because you'd be hard-pressed to find him quoting one of his pet athletes in a way that doesn't benefit the player. He's the kind of guy who I could actually see (and I am not accusing because I don't know that he does this) cleaning up a quote when an athlete speaks out of school, to protect the player.

    That isn't the case with Nightengale. Nightengale wasn't trying to make friends with either Giambi or Sheffield--not while he was quoting them in ways that would cause them to take heat. Hell, he quoted Sheffield calling Bud Selig a liar and grandstander. You get a guy to say that and you quote him and you aren't exactly being "LeBetard-ish" if my characterization of LeBetard is correct.
     
  3. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    The ethics of journalism aren't the same as the ethics of business (oxymoron?) or, perhaps in this case, the ethics of feeding one's family. If a newsroom contract requires you to join a union, forces you to pay dues and then tells you that you won't work or get paid while it fights some issue(s) that might or might not matter to you, what, you're supposed to stop working and stop getting paid?

    Unions used to have a real purpose. Now many are just self-preserving, political beasts. Fortunately, they're an endangered species.
     
  4. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I think this should clear everything up.
     
  5. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Don't forget, Giambi talked to Nightengale between games of a double header. It's not like the ran into each other in the feminine hygene aisle of the supermarket while picking up tampons for their wives.
     
  6. spnited

    spnited Active Member


    I thought it was at the pharmacy counter where Juicin' was picking up his HGH prescription.
     
  7. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member


    I've seen Nightengale work and he's one of those guys who positions himself as the player's buddy more than an interviewer. That's fine, and it's a good way to get information, but both parties have to be completely clear on what's on and off the record.
     
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