Don't Blame Bloggers
Bloggers being ripped by mainstream media is nothing new, but somehow this week was a little more pathetic than usual. As the Mel Kiper’s of the world become relevant for a week, I heard or read more than a few sports’ commentators take shots at the plethora of mock NFL drafts that are available these days.
I happen to agree that mock drafts are stupid. They’re almost as stupid as airing the NFL Draft for two days. My problem is the media members who are ripping these things one minute in a weak effort to play the maverick that doesn’t follow the crowd, only to project what the Eagles might do the next as if there’s a difference.
Then there’s columns like the one Jack McCaffery wrote for the Delaware County Times this week. When all else failed, he took a gratuitous shot at bloggers:
If you’ve never heard of McCafffery, you’re likely not alone. The only reason I read his column was because I was stuck in a barber shop that happened to have a copy of the Delaware County Times in the chair I happened to sit next to. Out of curiosity, I checked out the paper’s site today. I found a story detailing what the Birds will do — this season.
That’s right, the same paper ripping bloggers as idiots for mimicking media members who project a draft just days away, has projected what will happen in a season of games that doesn’t start for more than four months. Odds are they’ll run a mock draft tomorrow.
If a writer wants to rip a blogger for something they wrote, fine. But if a columnist with a paying job is threatened enough by blogging about the exact same things their own paper does, maybe he should check out blogger.com — he’ll be slumming with the rest of us soon enough.
Week-in-Review:
· Tom Gordon blew another save tonight. I was skeptical when Brett Myers was moved to the bullpen, but it’s shaping up as a pretty good move if he can supplant Gordon. Somebody better, and soon.
· The Phils failed to sweep the Nationals. Don’t get me wrong the Phils are hot, and not sweeping even a bad team is a weak complaint. But last year as this team fell short of a playoff bid, there were plenty of potential sweeps of bad squads left on the board along the way. Along with the slow start, it could be another bad sign.
· Larry Brown wants to coach again. Odds are he’ll be gone from the Sixers before the draft he was essentially brought back to help with. Just curious: all the moving around he does, how’d Philly end up as his ol’ standby?
I happen to agree that mock drafts are stupid. They’re almost as stupid as airing the NFL Draft for two days. My problem is the media members who are ripping these things one minute in a weak effort to play the maverick that doesn’t follow the crowd, only to project what the Eagles might do the next as if there’s a difference.
Then there’s columns like the one Jack McCaffery wrote for the Delaware County Times this week. When all else failed, he took a gratuitous shot at bloggers:
In the backward modern society of sports, that’s not easy. Any more, rampaging interest in drafts has become so ferocious that mainstream writers and broadcasters, let alone idiot bloggers, recommend out loud that basketball teams lose games to ensure a more favorable draft position. They recommend losing games. Losing. Games. That’s how twisted sports draft-ism has become.
If you’ve never heard of McCafffery, you’re likely not alone. The only reason I read his column was because I was stuck in a barber shop that happened to have a copy of the Delaware County Times in the chair I happened to sit next to. Out of curiosity, I checked out the paper’s site today. I found a story detailing what the Birds will do — this season.
That’s right, the same paper ripping bloggers as idiots for mimicking media members who project a draft just days away, has projected what will happen in a season of games that doesn’t start for more than four months. Odds are they’ll run a mock draft tomorrow.
If a writer wants to rip a blogger for something they wrote, fine. But if a columnist with a paying job is threatened enough by blogging about the exact same things their own paper does, maybe he should check out blogger.com — he’ll be slumming with the rest of us soon enough.
Week-in-Review:
· Tom Gordon blew another save tonight. I was skeptical when Brett Myers was moved to the bullpen, but it’s shaping up as a pretty good move if he can supplant Gordon. Somebody better, and soon.
· The Phils failed to sweep the Nationals. Don’t get me wrong the Phils are hot, and not sweeping even a bad team is a weak complaint. But last year as this team fell short of a playoff bid, there were plenty of potential sweeps of bad squads left on the board along the way. Along with the slow start, it could be another bad sign.
· Larry Brown wants to coach again. Odds are he’ll be gone from the Sixers before the draft he was essentially brought back to help with. Just curious: all the moving around he does, how’d Philly end up as his ol’ standby?
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