Denver Post writer goes postal on ESPN

[beefncheddar]

Dater obliterates the four-letter

 

[jgmacg]

His screen test must have gone very poorly indeed.

 

[Hustle]

That dude needs some valium.

Is it that hard to take 24 hours and present a coherent argument instead of screaming and name-calling?

I dislike ESPN as much as the next person, but good Lord.

 

[Diabeetus]

Simply amazing

 

[Diabeetus]

So what are the chances he and Woody are on good terms?

...and second, do you think Woody reads this?

 

[Birdscribe]

Nice rant that probably sums up a lot of SportsJournalists.com Nation's feelings, but I'm afraid Mr. Dater just tripped over Leo DiCaprio and a deck chair on his way to the lifeboats.

 

[SF_Express]

I dislike ESPN as much as the next person, but good Lord.

That was to be the gist of my first sentence of my post as well, although I don't really even dislike them; they just do some weird stuff.

Unfortunately, while there are some reasonable points here, he gets so much completely, utterly wrong that it pretty much torpedos the whole argument.

Most important is here:

You didn’t break JACK SQUAT. Some real journalist at a newspaper broke that story.

Well, they might not break everything they take credit for, but they break plenty, and they have some great reporters and editors there.

The rant's kind of fun to read, but it's so off target in so many respects that any credility is completely neutralized.

 

[dawgpounddiehard]

Wow... um, burn?

I wonder how different this would have been if he stepped away for 24 hours, came back and did a little self-editing. I'm sure it would have made the same point, but perhaps, more eloquently.

Still... wow.

 

[Diabeetus]

I'm sure it would have made the same point, but perhaps, more eloquently.

*Ding ding ding*

 

[User 4755]

So what are the chances he and Woody are on good terms?

...and second, do you think Woody reads this?

Given that he is not among those mentioned in Woody's "farewell," I'm guessing they're not going out for beers anytime soon.

The Post has sure made for some entertainment the past couple days, at least. ;D

 

[SF_Express]

Given that he is not among those mentioned in Woody's "farewell," I'm guessing they're not going out for beers anytime soon.

Well, that's because Woody was only saying those things to people who were leaving.

 

[Diabeetus]

Sort of a threadjack, but does anyone else think Woody looks orange most of the time?

 

[SixToe]

Great blog.

 

[Ace]

Ed Werder actually is -- or was -- a very good reporter. Since I don't watch ESPN save for live games, I don't really know enough to get all worked up about its excesses.

 

[mediaguy]

Wow. Can't go that much in all-caps and be taken too seriously. YOU SIMPLY CANNOT! ALL I CAN PICTURE IS YOU SHOUTING FOR NO REASON AT ALL!

ESPN, disliked as it is, breaks a ton of stories. They like taking credit for it more than they should, but they're in the TV business, where self-promotion is ahead of anything else.

 

[shotglass]

I'm going to choose to believe SF's take on it, that ESPN does break a majority of its "scoops." Because SF is usually, you know, well ... right.

I sure would like to see the hard, cold numbers, though.

 

[leo1]

i think this part is at least somewhat valid. if it weren't for actual reporters, people like simmons would have a lot less to write about. it's not that simmons would have nothing to write about but he'd have less.

If I didn’t do what I did tonight, you wouldn’t be able to do what you will do today, which is sit in your underwear, click on a story that a real journalist wrote, and then pass judgment to all the middle management drones out there in the workplace that pass their time in boredom reading your tired act.

 

[Billy Pritchard]

That dude needs some valium.

Is it that hard to take 24 hours and present a coherent argument instead of screaming and name-calling?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of blogging supposed to be about the here-and-now and not let's wait until tomorrow and see if I've cooled down? If this was a column for the paper I would expect it to be more coherent. As a blog I think it captured his emotions pretty well.
That said, even 15 minutes of forethought might have served him better. Write it all out, take a break, go have a smoke and then see if you still want to post it.

 

[FlipSide]

That's fantastic. Best blog ever. ;D

 

[Claws for Concern]

Also, as for this gentleman's books (with the caveat that I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to write the sports-related books I would like to do): was Avalanche-Red Wings the most passionate sports rivalry of its era?
I can't think of another right now; that's why I'm asking. And as for both teams winning the ultimate prize, and blood being on the ice, I can't argue it.

The Avs-Red Wings rivalry has been a good one, but didn't ESPN help make that a rivalry? [/ducking]