Sports Journalism Tumblr: A Black self-insert character called Jabaal Abdul-Simmons

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Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

There's a lot of reasons why sports journalism sucks. To an average paper, sports is considered a light subject and relatively unimportant. The way it used to work was that usually the guys who end up reporting on sports start somewhere else and eventually end up over there over time. With social media that's starting to change although a lot of media outlets are still somewhat reluctant to embrase their new competitors.

It's indicitive of the entire media, though. Obviously the media is having a tough time adjusting to technology. Bloggers report news faster and better than their paper counterparts and it's much more of a niche market. More importantly, it's free. Technology also removes the need for a lot of middlemen. I met with a producer of a major NBC affiliate a few months ago and he showed me NBC's news system. He explained that back in the day it would take three or four people to do what he does by himself now and he hates it because a) it means less jobs overall and b) he's getting paid less to do more work.

What I'm trying to get at is this is why guys like Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal loving suck. They both do good, if not great, jobs reporting stories. They're reporters. Heyman was a Yankees beat reporter. Rosenthal was a beat reporter too. But they're asked to do analysis on things that they have no clue about. There was an article by Heyman floating around here around the MLB draft which was absolutely terrible. It was clear that he had no idea about the draft. So why was he writing it? Because his boss asked him to. Because Sports Illustrated doesn't have someone dedicated to covering the draft.

More importantly, you write to your audience. People want to be entertained. Why do you think ESPN is so popular? ESPN isn't about sports, it never has been. The Decision, the ESPYS, SportsCenter -- it's all about entertainment. Hours of footage cut into thirty second soundbites with funny one liners cut in. Websites like Deadspin are popular not because of heavy duty analysis but because the vast majority of people care more about Brett Favre's dick pictures than Brett Favre's performance on the field.

The media is defensive about bloggers because they should be. They should be scared shitless. These people do a better job than they will ever do and for free. But of course, instead of hiring them or working with them they try to block them because that's the way the media works.

Dick Williams fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Aug 10, 2010

# ¿ Aug 10, 2010 20:47

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 07:28

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Basically what I'm saying is don't become a Communication major

# ¿ Aug 10, 2010 20:50

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

R.A. Dickey posted:

Oh completely, I still check it every so often out of habit mostly, but its terrible now. The writing is uninteresting, the theme weeks are stupid, and Daulerio just sucks, he seems like he would always be the most annoying guy in the room. Since Leitch left, the site and the writers have this strange, almost elitist attitude that really comes through in the writing and what they cover. The Farve dick pic thing really bothered me. Besides the strange obsession with posting an athlete's penis on the interweb, the complete lack of standards and ethics displayed we're actually pretty shameful and the non defense and utter flaunting of it didn't help.

You could basically say the same thing about all of the Gawker network but for whatever reason idiots still throw money at them

# ¿ Aug 13, 2010 23:23

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

TMZ, Perez Hilton, and I guess deadspin now are popular because the vast amount of people are idiots who care more about Lindsay Lohan's spiral toward rehab than the BP oil disaster

that's a major :goonsay:

but I'm not wrong

# ¿ Aug 13, 2010 23:30

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

soggybagel posted:

The problem with Deadspin is that at one point it delivered news in a funny and yes, snarky way that was entertaining to read but it still had some content to it. At this point its basically just as you all have summed up, TMZ for sports.

Deadspin was much less popular when they actually reported things

# ¿ Aug 13, 2010 23:32

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

The hypocrisy of Deadspin is what bothers me the most -- they went on that whole crusade against ESPN and then became a gossip site.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2010 04:12

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

That article also has the best comment ever

"The list starts at Jose Bautista.
I think you can add Aaron Hill as well.
The guy has a 200 batting average yet has almost 20 home runs?
A bit suspicious to me."

# ¿ Aug 24, 2010 18:35

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Every fan graphs blog post is exactly this:

State thesis based on a current event

Lazily quote xFIP or wRC+

Compare to much better player

Come to an irrelevant conclusion

# ¿ Sep 8, 2010 23:40

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

seiferguy posted:

I've clearly missed the boat on this joke can someone explain it?

On one of Dave Cameron's 6 org explanation articles someone posted in the comments as "Dave Cameron's Wife" and said simply "Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

It was deleted after like five minutes but the fact that it came out of nowhere was hilarious

# ¿ Sep 9, 2010 11:12

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

I'm pretty sure the VORP SCHLORP thing came from SAS

# ¿ Sep 15, 2010 22:17

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

The broken bones posted:

oh, you're right, i'm retarded

I think it came in response to the Bruce Jenkins article though

# ¿ Sep 15, 2010 22:25

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

I know that a lot of people have been piling on fangraphs but holy loving poo poo is Dave Cameron's piece about Adam Dunn loving awful

quote:

In his post about Jason Heyward yesterday, Matthew Carruth referred to Adam Dunn as a �maybe� Hall-of-Famer. When I read that, I assumed Matthew had taken leave of his senses, or was making some kind of joke that I didn�t quite get. After all, Dunn has a career +27.7 WAR through age 30, and the established bubble for HOF players is currently about +60 WAR. It is highly unlikely that Dunn will be able to double his value in the second half of his career, especially given his skillset.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized Matthew was right � Adam Dunn very well may end up in Cooperstown if he can stay healthy.

Career HR totals are definitely one of the magic numbers that get voters attention. The guaranteed entry barrier used to be 500 before the offensive explosion of the 1990s. Only 25 guys in history have ever hit 500+ home runs, and almost all of them are or will be in the Hall of Fame. Now that non-superstars like Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmeiro have joined the list, its exclusivity has been diminished, but it�s still the kind of number that will draw notice, especially for a guy who has never been linked to PEDs.

Well, Adam Dunn is only 149 home runs away from 500, and he�s averaged 35 HR per 600 PA in his career so far. Barring injury or a very early collapse of his skills, 500 homers seems like a very easy target for Dunn. That�s averaging just under 30 homers a year for the next five seasons, and the last time he hit fewer than 30 long balls in a year was 2003. His bat may begin to slow down, but he�s got enough power that he can lose some and still crank out that piece with relative ease.

Given just how bad defensively he was in the outfield, however, he�ll almost certainly be the worst player ever to reach that milestone. Even with the power, his offensive production has always been just good, not great, and he�s one of the worst defenders and baserunners of his generation. In terms of actual value, there�s almost no way Dunn will deserve to go into the Hall, but I�m not sure that will matter.

If he hits 500 homers, and is presumed to have done so while �clean�, there will be support for his candidacy, especially if he�s going up against other guys who have tested positive or been linked to steroids. If he gets anywhere near 600 and keeps away from scandal, he�s a mortal lock, and it�s not impossible to see Dunn launching 250 homers over the remainder of his career.

So, I have to conclude that Matthew is right � Adam Dunn is a �maybe� Hall of Famer. If he stays healthy for the next 5 to 10 years, he�s got a pretty decent chance at putting up the kinds of numbers that voters will take notice of. He won�t deserve to go in based on total value, but the sexy numbers just may be enough. He does the things that voters like, and the aspects where he fails, there is little emphasis. I can�t believe I�m saying this, but there�s a decent chance that my kids might walk past Dunn�s plaque in Cooperstown some day.

I've heard of mailing it in but Jesus Christ

# ¿ Sep 18, 2010 03:07

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Bob Shabazz posted:

Players that Cameron thinks have "good, not great" offensive production:

Al Kaline, Orlando Cepeda, Jose Canseco, Boog Powell, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Baker, Tony Gwynn, Joe Morgan.

Wrong, Griffey played for :swoon:

Seattle

# ¿ Sep 18, 2010 13:54

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Congratulations Brooke Hundley on your new career in radio

# ¿ Oct 2, 2010 02:10

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

morestuff posted:

It's entirely within their right to do so, but I don't understand the logic. The Truehoop Network was mostly made up of small-fry bloggers doing their own thing - how was anyone going to confuse it for ESPN's product? How much of a draw is the TrueHoop Network that they felt like the old blog was going to detract from their new coverage?

It has nothing to do with coverage. It reads like they want full editorial control, something they're not going to get from an affiliated blogger.

# ¿ Oct 6, 2010 17:58

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

The culture at ESPN is basically the sports version of Network

# ¿ Oct 6, 2010 18:08

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

morestuff posted:

Then why agree to the TrueHoop Network in the first place? They didn't dissolve the network; they just replaced Hot Hot Hoops with their internal Heat Index.

Part of it is what leo said but I believe that it has more to do with the fact that ESPN has invested a ton of time into the LeBron brand and have been working extremely hard to protect him despite all of the recent PR gaffes, including completely killing stories that cast him in a negative light.

After seeing who they're bringing on, including the aforementioned "LeBron expert", it seems like ESPN is nervous about what a blogger with full independent control would write about him. It's not about the rest of the TrueHoop network at all, the rest are irrelevant.

ESPN has a monopoly on information and they don't want anyone, no matter how small, infringing on it, especially when it comes to their hottest commodities.

Dick Williams fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Oct 6, 2010

# ¿ Oct 6, 2010 18:41

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

GODDAMN IT motherloving caluclators!!! Ruining my baseyball

# ¿ Dec 14, 2010 20:59

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

More heavy hitting journalism from espnW (originally posted by Crazy Ted in the MLS thread).

quote:

IS THE UNION'S NEW SPONSORSHIP DEAL SEXIST?

Jan 11, 05:17PM ET | By Amanda Rykoff

Amanda Rykoff (aka The OCD Chick) is a NYC-based sports fan, Yankees devotee and TiVo junkie. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, a recovering attorney and previous host of the ESPN podcast "Play Ball!"

If you don't follow Major League Soccer, you might not have heard of the Philadelphia Union, the second year MLS team. More of you have probably never heard of Grupo Bimbo, a large Mexican bakery company that distributes many popular bread and baked goods in the United States, including Arnold, Oroweat, Thomas', Entenmann's, Stroehmann, Freihofer's and Boboli. That's about to change, as the Philadelphia Union announced today a four-year partnership to put "Bimbo" on the front of the team's jersey and on all Union team apparel.

This would seem to be great news for the second year team. An affiliation with a large international company with ties to soccer (Bimbo sponsors three Mexican soccer teams and a Costa Rican professional soccer team) and an influx of much-needed revenue ($12 million over the four-year deal). But not so fast. The Union's loyal fan base is already up in arms over the new sponsorship deal, which puts "BIMBO" in prominent all-capital letters across the chest of the official team jersey. For the record, it's pronounced "Beembo."

Within hours of the announcement, fans posted angry comments on the Philadelphia Union's Facebook page and photo albums. They do not like the jerseys, they do not like the name "BIMBO," and, most notably, many of the team's female fans who commented said they feel the team is alienating them with this name choice. At least one man said he wouldn't bring his girls' soccer team to a game now that the jerseys have "BIMBO" on them.

When I first heard about this via Twitter, I thought it was an unfortunate name but didn't think it would be taken so seriously. What do you think? Is this just a whole lot of overreaction over nothing, or did the Union alienate its female fan base with the Bimbo sponsorship deal?

# ¿ Jan 12, 2011 19:49

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

morestuff posted:

It sounds like she has an understandable perspective and is just reporting on some fans' reaction to the sponsorship news. I don't see the problem.

It's just dumb and not news. People from ~~Philadelphia~~twitter by in large are very stupid, check out the trending topics for confirmation. If espnW is trying to legitimize itself, posting articles about how a bread company's name may or may not be sexist is not the way to do it.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2011 21:18

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

LARGE THE HEAD posted:

The GQ piece on Daulerio is good. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I see the piece as attempting to connect the pieces between sports culture and the general depravity Daulerio seeks and receives on a daily basis. I find things to like and dislike about Daulerio, but instead of passing judgment on him I will say that he comes off as someone who has jumped down the rabbit hole only to find no bottom. He keeps falling and falling.

You could basically say the same thing about the entire Gawker network. It's all salacious tabloid crap for the lowest common denominator. Will Leitch at least had some semblance of talent, Daulerio is just a legitimately creepy dude. Deadspin's readers are even worse, the mailbag they do is loving disgusting.

But Gawker is read more now than ever so what do I know

# ¿ Jan 28, 2011 00:09

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

SAS > everyone, shut down the sports industry

conversely, i feel bad for the intern that had to search the internet for bad deadspin publicity.

Dick Williams fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Feb 2, 2011

# ¿ Feb 2, 2011 00:13

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

quick someone cash in on their kyoon griffey jr cock pictures

# ¿ Feb 2, 2011 00:28

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

The 'best' deadspin stories are the ones that don't get hyped up by Daulerio and come completely out of nowhere so I'm going to assume it's going to be a couple of pictures of the inside of Mark Sanchez's bedroom and a bunch of really circumstantial crap.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2011 23:53

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

jeffersonlives posted:

Oh that's 100% what it is, I'm just not sure where the "story" is even there.

It's just another lovely salacious sports related sex story, which fits perfectly on a lovely sports related gossip blog

Deadspin is funny only when they troll the traditional media. The Rex Ryan foot fetish story was a hilarious non-story that got blown way out of proportion by proselytizing idiots with too much feigned moral superiority in the press which kind of owned

Dick Williams fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Feb 6, 2011

# ¿ Feb 6, 2011 00:03

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

leokitty posted:

I'm not sure what Gawker was going for with this redesign, honestly.

I think it would be really good if I had an iPad but I don't so it loving sucks

edit: also they tried to copy the new Twitter layout but failed pretty miserably

Dick Williams fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Feb 8, 2011

# ¿ Feb 8, 2011 00:22

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

ahahaha the Mark Sanchez story is literally a girl saying "omg mark sanchez texted me" on facebook and pictures of his bedroom. Cutting edge journalism.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2011 21:55

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

I like how Daulerio is playing the lawyer contacting them as though it's the huge smoking gun when it really reads like the girl was claiming things that weren't true and when Daulerio said that he was going to publish it she realized how much deep poo poo she'd end up in.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2011 22:06

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Two observations: one, the fact that they're parading the "deadspin vs. the jets" storyline as some sort of thing to be proud about is probably one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen on the internet. Second, I would be completely unsurprised if it turns out that someone from deadspin or gawker leaked her name.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2011 00:18

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

LARGE THE HEAD posted:

I'm bothered by the Internet detective work but not by the story itself. Dating someone 7 years your junior when you're fresh out of college is a little creepy.

Who gives a poo poo if the quarterback for the New York Jets is creepy or not? Why is it being reported as some sort of big deal?

# ¿ Feb 10, 2011 05:11

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

morestuff posted:

I love reading about sports before 1990, when players would doubleteam groupies under the bleachers before eating two Big Macs (with a side of nose candy) and punching an opponent in the back of the head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F9vRVyV914

# ¿ Feb 10, 2011 05:22

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

The Chris Henry thing is still the greatest troll in the history of the sports media just because it exposed how loving retarded and lazy beat writers are jokes on us nothing changed and they're even lazier

# ¿ Feb 11, 2011 22:54

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

That

I couldn't make friends in college :qq:

article by Drew Magary is the biggest steaming pile of self-indulgent, first world problems poo poo.

I would be kinder to it if it was decently written but it's literally a poorly written thousand word essay on how pathetic he is which somehow makes him come off as even more pathetic

Dick Williams fucked around with this message at 11:27 on Feb 18, 2011

# ¿ Feb 18, 2011 11:20

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Nodoze posted:

jeffpearlman: I believe in Howard Bryant 100%�a good friend and good person.

Case closed, nothing to see here.

quick call him a retard and see what happens

# ¿ Mar 3, 2011 05:07

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Politicalrancor posted:

I asked him how I could trust him not to write a disingenuous piece about me if I engaged him in discussion and he got waaaay bent out of shape. He really takes everything too seriously.

I saw that. I like how he tried to pin the whole situation on me but just says "we'll agree to disagree" when you called him out for being disingenuous about the situation

# ¿ Mar 3, 2011 18:15

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Groucho Marxist posted:

What's all this? As a fellow Jeff target I have a right to know

He said something like "well your friend called me a f-ing retard so it's not my fault i overreacted like a child"

# ¿ Mar 3, 2011 19:39

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

At this point I really wish they would just do away with interleague all together because it's getting really drat tired. Or, at the very least, spread it out every couple of years so it's still special.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2011 18:46

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

My God, it even contains my favorite bad sportswriting line: "sure, [player] scored a ton of points but it took him [arbitrary number] to do it!!"

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 22:44

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

MorningView posted:

Once and awhile I guess, but he was pretty bad even before that. Most of his articles fell into two categories. They were either something filled with dumb hack jokes about how darn ~WACKY~ sports were or something about someone overcoming some sort of disability to play sports (which were occasionally pretty touching, but it was also more or less the same article over and over). Also he was really annoying and holier than thou about steroids.

My mom absolutely loved the back page Reilly columns because she would just fall head over heels for all of the sappy crap he would go on and on about. It seems like his demographic is people who have no clue about sports

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 22:50

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 07:28

Dick Williams: Aug 25, 2005

Mods, please rename this thread "Ann Coulter Nails It"

edit: ahahahahha

How do you feel about the government forcing you to pay for someone else�s cell phone?

I�m pretty sure that�s what�s happening.

The government is giving �free� phones to people who are already getting lots of �free� stuff from the government like food and housing.

How did all of these people survive before the cell phone came along.

Were they sent a roll of quarters to use in a pay phone?

# ¿ Apr 12, 2011 20:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > Sports Journalism Tumblr: A Black self-insert character called Jabaal Abdul-Simmons

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