Really, Reilly?

You should be as specific as possible about what kind of beverage you are drinking? I'd call that valuable characters pissed away on a throwaway line that only served to make him look as into himself as was the guy who was driving the car.

This column is what Reilly does; read him or don't. But that line was either narcissism in its purest form or just plain poor writing. It's not humorous and if Reilly thinks it is he's not "lost something off his fastball," but is due for journalistic Tommy John.

I no longer enjoy Reilly's stuff and that's OK. Lots of people do. As a journalist you can still read it and know what he's trying to do and this column is fine on that level. But that line sucks.

 

I wonder, given the access he got, if there were restrictions on the questions.
Like: "Kobe, maybe if you didn't do so many 'suicide pushups' on game day, you could shoot better than 46.7 percent, which is below the team's overall percentage of 47.4."
Or: "You said you don't have nannies, how come the previous housekeeper is suing you for abuse and other issues?"
Just wondering .....

 

Is there history there, or is this the first shot?

 

You're annoyed that he told you what kind of coffee he spilled instead of just saying it was coffee? That makes no sense.

 

The best paid help cannot begin to approximate the impact of a moderately competent parent or parents.

 

Perhaps, but to me it smacks of the "look at me" bullshit that puts the focus on the writer and plays into the "columnist as celebrity" crap that is getting so old. He couldn't just be drinking a cup of coffee or even a mocha, it's a venti mochachino? It goes from a drink to a pop culture reference and has not a god damned thing to do with your subject. Then again, maybe he really was drinking said Starbucks product.

That said, I am admittedly cranky and old school so I'm probably just being a prick. All of this has distracted me from watching MLB Extra Innings on DirecTV.

 

Like?

 

PK, I'm assuming.

 

Good christ, people. Details, details, details. That's what you shoot for in any piece. "Venti mochachiato," or whatever it is, is much more funny than "coffee." He's poking fun at himself -- here's this dopey writer who can't even keep his coffee cup vertical while Kobe is jumping through five hoops at once. And for those of you who say you hate athletes, or don't care about what Kobe does -- what the heck are you doing on this site? In this industry? You may think jocks are overpaid louts, but that doesn't change the fact that the job of a sportswriter is to tell good stories -- preferably about the kind of people that readers actually want to READ about. Some of the reactions on this thread make me wonder if poor management isn't the only reason this industry is in the toilet.

 

The main reason in my opinion is hysterical rejoinders to honest criticism on message boards, but, hey, that's just me......

 

He's been the prototype of the "I-me, I-me" type of columnist for a long time. He can do some great stuff. But this is hardly the first time he's done something like this. Remember, he's really tight with "Gretz."