Should Jeff Pearlman have apologized for this?

Pearlman has taken a beating (mostly unfairly) over the years... I'm guessing he just wanted it to go away... I can't say I really blame him even though I don't think he did anything wrong...

 

I think the argument is more akin to "you can't say that about our city, only we can say that about our city."
While on the topic where can I pick up one of those instant "close-knit" town detectors most reporters seem to have when reporting on some tragedy?

 

You make a good point about the mechanics. It doesn't seem to me, in reading the piece, that Pearlman was going out of his way to trash the city, or make some easy, offhand comment about it. He described the scene, and had quotes from Holmes and his brother to back it up. Perhaps Pearlman could have had a little more about why the city was in such rough shape, or described whether there was some kind of geographical black-white or poor-rich divide. One sentence might have covered it.

But at least he did more than throw out a cliched adjective. Judging from most news stories, even locally, I live in a tidy, inner-ring suburb with well-kept lawns. Basically, shorthand for an area filled, presumably, with older, working-class white people, not wealthy enough to keep things really spectacular, but conscientious enough not to leave their Camaros on blocks on the front lawn. Because we love our lawns.

 

I think DD should apologize for reading The Big Lead.

 

To my readers:

It is with deep sorrow and much regret that I confess to you today a matter of great importance. During a moment of weakness this morning, I posted an item I saw on the Internet weblog, The Big Lead, a website you may not have heard of, but one I have been a vocal critic of in the past for its shameless starfucking. I cannot adequately express the sorrow and the shame this has caused me and my family, both personally and professionally. When you voted me Poster of the Year back in January, I realize that you expected more from me, and sadly I broke that bond and the trust we had built up over the course of the year. Indeed, I did have a relationship with The Big Lead that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible. I know that my public comments and my silence about this matter gave a false impression. I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that. But even Posters' of the Year have personal lives. I would hope we can all move on from this matter, and resist the temptation to visit this website, even to look at pictures of Adriana Lima's vagina and see who Matt Leinart is fucking this week, at least according to some girl who got it from Rick Reilly's nanny, who called from his cell phone when Reilly was passed out in a bowl of cocaine while negotiating a deal to appear on First and 10 with Skip Bayless.

And so tonight, I ask you to turn away from the spectacle of this thread, to repair the fabric of SportsJournalists.com's national discourse, and to return our attention to all the challenges and all the promise the Journalism Only board.

Thank you for listening. Good night, and God bless.

 

That's why he's the man.

 

A question on those mechanics, kind sir: does that offending phrase need to disappear, or would appending a comma after "city" suffice to sharpen our focus?

 

Awesome, DD. Totally awesome.

 

I suppose an apology won't hurt anyone.

It's an excellent read, with gripping detail, but I'm sorry, the pro-football-player-ruins-his-life-with-drugs-and-wants-everyone-to-learn-from-it has been done time and again.

This is why part of me cringes every time I hear a rallying cry for some fund or foundation to help indigent players. (Not those who have crippling injuries and have been screwed by the pension system, mind you, but those who simply smoked/drank/f**ed away their millions. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for them.

 

I don't think a comma sufficient to prevent readers from taking offense. The word order in the sentence still creates the impression that the whole city is being described in the itemized list that follows.

 

The same thing is happening on the state level in North Dakota, where people are demanding a do-over from National Geographic because of a story that they say was unfairly negative.

I think the New York Times had something recently.