Scoops civil response to Whitlock

The human beat box is dead?! That's the worst news I've heard all week!

 

Damn, that was about 10 years ago.

 

wow dude, how's the view from your knees?

 

From CityPages (and the professor of the hip-hop class...yeah yeah yeah...I took in university confirmed it):

Acolytes take note, though: Beatboxing can be hazardous to your health. Just before Darren "Buff" Robinson died in 1996, the Fat Boys' hefty human beatbox was reportedly standing on top of a chair entertaining friends with his skills. He strained too hard and apparently "Hugga Hugga"-ed his heart out.

 

Scoop still doesn't appear to realize that young black students have a better chance of becoming sports editors than NBA players. Just because there are only five black editors, doesn't mean that it's statistically or realistically harder. There could be plenty more if that's what young, black students aspire to be.

As Whitlock pointed out, all they have to do is put in the work. I think it's safe to say that of the people who put in the work to achieve their dream of becoming a sports editor, the percentage of people who don't make it because of a lack of talent is very small. For those who work hard to achieve their dream of making the NBA, the percentage who don't make it is still staggeringly large.

 

The problem I have with Scoop's argument is that he treats those 305 major newspaper jobs as if they're the only ones in the entire industry. Of course it's hard to land a major job -- for anybody, black or white. You've got to put in the time and have the skills. But from some of the folks I've seen come through the small-paper ranks, it ain't all that hard to become a sports writer on the podunk level.

 

And, another thing, it's a good thing Scoop wasn't around in the '40s and '50s telling kids they had a better chance to be a sharecropper than to be in the Major Leagues or the NBA. That assertion, at least would have been true, though it sure wouldn't have helped anyone.

 

All this bluster does is gloss over the fact that Posnanski is the best columnist in KC, if not the nation.

 

Scoop MIRKED Jason with his column. He went up to (allegedly) Jason's level and Delived a Dagger - in an intelligent way.

Besides, what does Mr. Whitlock got against "little men" anyway. Lupica is 5'3" and 115 lbs wet and Scoop isn't that far off.

 

How did he do that? By insisting that it is easier for black children to become NBAers than top-notch journalists?

 

Care to rephrase that? In English, perhaps? Thanks in advance...

 

Imagine how I felt when I read "bojangling."

Seriously, Whitlock is a good writer, I just don't think he's a very bright writer. He's got the skills to be a solid columnist, but his opinions seem to go a little too far or to be a little unrealistic. Scoop, well, he generally sucks, but he actually put together something decent in that last column.

The truth is this: Whitlock and Scoop's "battle" is pretty childish. I got no problem with the blog's posting of the interview -- that's a site devoted to media. But the KC Star and ESPN.com would probably do a better service for its readers if spent more time focusing on sports and less time focusing on writers and their egos.