Spencer Hall tackles Dan Wetzel and Sports Is Serious logic

Basically, Dabo Swinney said nice things about Marcus Lattimore. Steve Spurrier said mean things about Swinney and Clemson (without naming either), then thanked Swinney for the thoughts. Obviously, this was another poke at the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry.

Dan Wetzel wrote this, calling the act classless: http://yhoo.it/Y1365G

Then Spencer Hall wrote this, calling invoking class the lowest form of sports writing: http://sbn.to/Y13gdt

These two people are perhaps the best at college football writing in the country. I'll wait to post my thoughts, though.

What sayeth you, message board members?

 

If Spencer Hall is one of the two best college football writers in the country, he's going to need a better clip than that. That column was a disjointed, whiny mess aimed solely at trolling a media feud.

 

You're right; this wasn't his best work by any means. But I think he has a point, and he's not the type to troll. He's not even the type to start media criticism.

 

"Stay Classy" also happen to be the worst two words in message board banter.

 

Easy stance for Hall to take, considering he rarely writes anything "serious" about college football.

Wetzel, meanwhile, is a completely different type of journalist.

That's not to say one's better than the other. They're just....different. With vastly different audiences. Hall's audience is looking for constant dick jokes, ALL CAPS RANTS, and funny GIFs. Wetzel's audience is looking for more "serious" analysis and opinion.

 

Spurrier took a day set out for Lattimore and made it about Spurrier. If Hall doesn't like the word "class," he can take the vernacular with the hippity-hop and the whatnot that kids do today and say "dick move, bro." But it sounds like Hall doesn't have any problem with Spurrier's act here. Which probably makes me kind of happy that I don't read a lot of Hall.

 

Poor Spencer Hall. Get him some Kleenex.

 

It's impossible to write a judgmental column about why people shouldn't write judgmental columns.

 

I'm inclined to like Spencer Hall. He's a funny guy, creative, a talented example of the new breed of web-sportswriting. But that column by Hall, from its inception to its execution, was dung. One day he'll do what I do from time to time when I look back at stuff I've written -- and he'll be mortified at himself.

 

Everyone seems to have a lot of inches to fill, and little to fill it with. And I like them both.

 

Yep, we all whiff. But if you're going to take a swing at someone like Dan Wetzel, you'd better be on solid footing. You just open yourself up for all sorts of counters.

 

Stop these friggin' feuds, writers! Makes y'all look like a clown show.