Scoop's Great Interview with Hardaway: Whitlock wants to be interviewed

[Sportsbruh]

Peep this: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/070222

yeah, yeah, yeah, Hardaway is a scumbag - Yet, I was raised this same way in regards to gays.


'I don't have a hate bone in my body'

By Scoop Jackson
Page 2

What do you do when you see your friend in the middle of the ocean drowning?

That's the question you have to ask yourself, especially when you are a journalist and the friend in question is Timmy Hardaway. Do you let him go under, saying, "He brought this on himself, there's nothing I can do." Do you look over your entire relationship with him and say, "That's not him. What he said is not the type of person he is." Do you try to see both sides, his and John Amaechi's? Especially since you have a relationship with Amaechi, too, having worked together on a television show back in 1998. Do you try to come to Tim's rescue? Do you distance yourself from him? Do you say, "I hate him because he said he hates a group of people."

Do you let him drown?

See, Timmy Hardaway and I grew up together, been tight for over 30 years, family linked through blood and love. So when the fallout unfolded after he said on Dan Le Batard's radio show that he hates gay people, I felt the right thing to do would be toss the man a life preserver. Know him or not, agree or disagree, black or white, gay or straight, it should never be in us to watch a man drown without doing something. Now what he does with the life preserver once it's thrown out there is an entirely different story. That is all on him.

To find the place between objectivity and spin control. That's where we found ourselves. He in Miami, me on the same block we grew up on in Chicago. A very honest conversation with Timmy Hardaway. One week after seeing him begin to drown.

While Scoop is busy Chasing down Playa's that are now haters and getting them to speak.

Jason is busy - hounding media outlets - begging to speak.

Peep his tagline:

If you'd like to schedule a radio or television interview with Jason,
please email him at [email protected]. Nobody's calling.

 

[Alma]

This is already a thread.

 

[Sportsbruh]

This is already a thread.

where?

 

[Ace]

Yeah, Alma, I dare you to find a thread where whitepages here is extolling the virtues of Urkel Jackson over Whitlock.

I give you .02 seconds.

 

[vin1284]

bruh, I did see that tagline and I thought, he was doin it just for the pub

 

[Sportsbruh]

bruh, I did see that tagline and I thought, he was doin it just for the pub

You got it! NOBODY wants to be bothered.

btw: Do you get the suspicion that Scoop enjoys his job?

Whereas, so many sportsjournalist dont?

 

[Ace]

bruh, I did see that tagline and I thought, he was doin it just for the pub

You got it! NOBODY wants to be bothered.

btw: Do you get the suspicion that Scoop enjoys his job?

Whereas, so many sportsjournalist dont?

Sure, why not? I'd love to be a glad hander and a sycophant. Just not many of those cushy jobs to go around.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Posts about Suckup Jackson don't belong on the Journalism board.

 

[Alma]

the "what the hell" thread is about this very same interview.

 

[Sportsbruh]

bruh, I did see that tagline and I thought, he was doin it just for the pub

You got it! NOBODY wants to be bothered.

btw: Do you get the suspicion that Scoop enjoys his job?

Whereas, so many sportsjournalist dont?

Sure, why not? I'd love to be a glad hander and a sycophant. Just not many of those cushy jobs to go around.

Become a Republican - STAT!

 

[alleyallen]

Doesn't journalistic integrity go out the window when you start becoming friends with the people about whom you're writing?

Or maybe you have to have that integrity to begin with before you can abandon it.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

I don't know, alley.
It's a tough line that actual journalists have to define for themselves.

 

[slappy4428]

bruh, I did see that tagline and I thought, he was doin it just for the pub

You got it! NOBODY wants to be bothered.

btw: Do you get the suspicion that Scoop enjoys his job?

Whereas, so many sportsjournalist dont?

Sure, why not? I'd love to be a glad hander and a sycophant. Just not many of those cushy jobs to go around.

Thought you already had one of those jobs

 

[Ace]

bruh, I did see that tagline and I thought, he was doin it just for the pub

You got it! NOBODY wants to be bothered.

btw: Do you get the suspicion that Scoop enjoys his job?

Whereas, so many sportsjournalist dont?

Sure, why not? I'd love to be a glad hander and a sycophant. Just not many of those cushy jobs to go around.

Thought you already had one of those jobs

You are on the list slappy.

 

[slappy4428]

which list?

 

[bigpern23]

Doesn't journalistic integrity go out the window when you start becoming friends with the people about whom you're writing?

Or maybe you have to have that integrity to begin with before you can abandon it.

According to the story, Scoop's been friends with Hardaway since they were kids. You can't expect him to stop being friends with someone because of his job. Doesn't seem like the right spot to attack his journalistic integrity.

I have friends that I grew up with that now coach teams I cover. I haven't stopped being friends with them and they know I'm going to cover their team the way I do any other.

 

[alleyallen]

Doesn't journalistic integrity go out the window when you start becoming friends with the people about whom you're writing?

Or maybe you have to have that integrity to begin with before you can abandon it.

According to the story, Scoop's been friends with Hardaway since they were kids. You can't expect him to stop being friends with someone because of his job. Doesn't seem like the right spot to attack his journalistic integrity.

I have friends that I grew up with that now coach teams I cover. I haven't stopped being friends with them and they know I'm going to cover their team the way I do any other.

I know they've been friends for a long time, but just as we expect a judge to recuse himself when he has too intimate a connection to a case, perhaps so should Scoop remove himself from this topic. Otherwise it comes off as support for his buddy as opposed to legit journalism. I stand by my call on it.

 

[Ellis Redding]

There you guys go again, expecting actual journalism from Scoop. He is what he is -- a star****er. Sadly, there always will be a place for that role in a column lineup. Especially at ESPN, where the first word is Entertainment.

If you're reading this Scoop, congratulations. You make more money in a year than many of us will in five. Good for you. Just don't ask us to afford you the same level of respect as someone such as Whitlock, who, whether or not you like his writing or personality, actually works for a living and makes a point from time to time.

 

[Peytons place]

I have to admit, I thought this peice was pretty well done. I wasn't a fan of his All-Star column because I personally found it boring, but I think he did a good job here, particularly in light of being good friends with Hardaway. He asked some tough questions and was able to reveal some insight into what Hardaway was thinking and the repercussions of voicing that. I thought (and still think) Hardaway is narrow-minded and bigoted, but I have to admit, I was impressed by this article and liked the dynamic of Scoop's personal involvement in this situation an how to address something of this magnitude when someone you care about is involved. Okay, I'll say it, I think this was pretty good.

 

[jason_whitlock]

the piece was good. unfortunately it was a week late. hardaway did a half-dozen followup interviews before catching up with his good friend.