Wilbon doesn't see why Pearlman wrote about Payton

I don't find Pearlman's political views particularly nuanced, but I think you're simplifying the way he feels about conservatives even further. He doesn't seem to care if Republicans cheat on their wives, just that they aren't pilloried for their hypocrisy. In fact, much like some of our longtime SJ residents, hypocrisy seems to be one of the things that bugs him the most. Walter Payton may have been viewed as a virtuous person, but I don't recall him going around and lecturing others about how to live their lives, and he certainly didn't try to legislate how others live their lives. Therein lies one of the biggest differences.

 

When did the standard for biography become 'living' or 'dead?'

"Samuel Clemens isn't around to defend himself!"

"Rock Hudson isn't around to defend himself!"

"Aristophanes isn't around to defend himself!

 

ATLANTA (SI.com) -- Baseball fans across the country were shocked last year when Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, one of the game’s most beloved figures, was charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a suburban Minneapolis restaurant.

But that incident was merely the latest in a pattern of alleged sexual indiscretions and violent acts by the former Minnesota Twins icon, according to the cover story by Frank Deford, with special reporting by George Dohrmann, in this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Puckett has pleaded innocent in the restaurant incident, and is scheduled to go on trial March 24 for false imprisonment and criminal sexual assault.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2003/03/11/si_puckett/

 

Also, the idea that Bears fans would have been perfectly delighted about Pearlman's revelations were Payton alive to read them is laughable on its face.

Notre Dame football fans still see red over "Under the Tarnished Dome," and Lou Holtz was certainly around to defend himself then and now. I suspect that there is quite a bit of overlap in the fan bases.

 

I wish there were more books like Under the Tarnished Dome and Big Red Confidential. I remember loving both of them.

 

when was the last time wilbon did real journalism?

this is what happens when perspective is warped by too much money and access

you lose touch...

 

Not surprisingly, Wetzel gets it: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Au2u3_IWs8svGn0zNtrM1KE5nYcB?slug=dw-wetzel_walter_payton_sweetness_review_100311

 

I'm not saying that you can't.

I'm saying that, in many other cases, Jeff Pearlman doesn't.

Or at least that's my recollection. After Double Down's post, I would have to go back and re-read some of his writings that came off as straight moralizing to me to see if they were more nuanced than that.

 

Hello.
I've read this board from time to time but never registered or posted.
Now, I'm in. I don't know Jeff but I know his work.
The Payton story in S.I. was excellent. Good writing, good reporting.
I knew Payton just a little from covering him in Chicago.
Indeed, he was ``Sweetness'' but he had a multi-dimensional personality. (Don't we all?)
Good sports reporting is not always happy talk --- although sometimes, it is.
This piece rings true.

 

Welcome.