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Wilbon doesn't see why Pearlman wrote about Payton

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Versatile, Oct 1, 2011.

  1. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    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.
     
  2. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    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!
     
  3. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    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/
     
  4. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    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.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

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

    henryhenry Member

    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...
     
  7. Illino

    Illino Member

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

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I have no problem believing a man can admire someone while also being a journalist and completely fleshing out that someone's failures and foibles. One is being human, the other is being a pro. I think the best in our business are both.
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    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.
     
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    But even so, going back to an earlier point, isn't that the point of a blog? Whether it's moralizing or joking or bullcrap, I consider all blogs just "behind the music" kinda stuff and I can separate that from the author's conventional journalism.
     
  11. Joe Lapointe

    Joe Lapointe Member

    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.
     
  12. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Welcome.
     
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