tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34596380.post7121160308512604574..comments2023-09-22T06:36:56.776-04:00Comments on Sportsthodoxy: The Great Blog Controversy of Ought-EightAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13822250073253508995noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34596380.post-29952778554013495442008-06-26T22:18:00.000-04:002008-06-26T22:18:00.000-04:00Osmodius - I agree with you absolutely. So much of...Osmodius - I agree with you absolutely. So much of what's labeled journalism these days is a refined form of preaching to the choir. Mind you, some of the blame for this falls on us, the audience - we need to get a lot better about being willing to hear things that we don't automatically agree with, and take them rationally instead of as a personal attack. Then again, every time I watch more than five minutes of The O'Reilly Factor, blood jets out of my eyes, so I've got some work to do on that as well.<BR/><BR/>Here's hoping Bissinger - whose work in Philadelphia I do admire - is indeed open to debate, as opposed to simply making nice.<BR/><BR/>Mahnu = No argument. At it's worst, it's jock-sniffing bullying - "I've been in a locker room and you haven't", excuse the Jay Mariottis of the world. Fortunately, there are the Joe Posnanskis and Todd Zoleckis of the world out there to show how it can be done at its best.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13822250073253508995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34596380.post-51967142585851207902008-06-24T18:45:00.000-04:002008-06-24T18:45:00.000-04:00Amen from the choir. Of course, the fact that the...Amen from the choir. Of course, the fact that the mainstreamers feel the need to bash at bloggers proves that somewhere in the cobwebs of their consciousness, they realize that their heretofore exclusive privileged positions don't exist purely out of merit and can thus be threatened by a bunch of %*#@ing amateurs.mahnu.uternahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17514929434206638486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34596380.post-43738276249340111212008-06-21T15:38:00.000-04:002008-06-21T15:38:00.000-04:00Richard, I certainly understand that things slip t...Richard, I certainly understand that things slip through...in my experience with business documents, after you've re-read it twice you are useless to perform any further proofreading. Which is why I firmly believe in the 'fresh eyes' principle...always have someone who has not read a doc do final proof. I just don't understand why larger publishing concerns don't employ that method...<BR/><BR/>As to Bissinger cherry-picking his examples, I have to say that that seems to be the rather unfortunate way things are done these days...at least in 'mainstream media' circles. In an era where 'truthiness' rules, you say what you want and you are right (if you are loud enough...shouting down your opponents or outright blocking them). If something is stated or written once it is an educated opinion, if it's stated or written twice it is fact.<BR/><BR/>It's really a shame, because it is through discussion and (civilized) debate that new knowledge is created. I have noted over the past several years that people have become more and more insular in their opinions and feelings...they will not even listen to opposing views to give themselves the opportunity to have their minds changed (or educated). At least Bissinger seems a little more willing than many (by being civil, if nothing else) to have a real debate about it...Osmodioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01629875493204286891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34596380.post-80382951485440625222008-06-21T02:43:00.000-04:002008-06-21T02:43:00.000-04:00Thank you for the kind words. Getting mentioned in...Thank you for the kind words. Getting mentioned in the same breath as Shyster is high praise indeed. <BR/><BR/>I confess, I've worked as a professional writer and editor in various capacities for fifteen or so years, and I've seen things get through the editorial process that are mind-boggling. Publishing, whether it's fiction or journalism or tabletop RPGs, is a relentless sprint toward merciless deadlines, and it's easier than you think for something to get through. One game book I worked on went out the door sans the single most important rules section in the book, despite the fact that we'd had three proof passes on the book and had run the manuscript past one designer, three editors, twenty-some-odd playtesters, and the Northwest Georgia Marching Vampire And Chowder Society. I understand the mistakes. I just object to them being used to bludgeon blogs to death.<BR/><BR/>Honestly, Bissinger is right when he calls out the "Haw-haw" nature of some blogs. The gay jokes, the juvenalia, the frantic abuse of hyperbolic profanity - they don't do much for me as a reader. But it's lousy logic and bad journalism to cherry-pick the bad examples without context or self-examination.<BR/><BR/>Besides, if I'm reading his admittedly civil, if wrong-headed response to Sara Kniffen correctly, he gets his subjunctive wrong, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw out all sports columnists' work based on that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13822250073253508995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34596380.post-1384760816816873502008-06-21T01:25:00.000-04:002008-06-21T01:25:00.000-04:00Ignoring, for the moment, the quality of the writi...Ignoring, for the moment, the quality of the writing itself, the overall quality of supposed 'legitimate' media is abysmal these days. Editors for various publications, such as PC Magazine and the New York Times, get paid a hell of a lot more money than I do, yet I <I>constantly</I> find grammar and spelling errors in their pages (along with plenty of layout errors...how difficult is it to notice that you've cut off half of the last paragraph of an article, really?). Personally, I am offended when I am confronted with errors in publications which have the nerve to maintain an attitude of superiority.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, thank you for your post on this topic...I've been making the rounds of all my favorite blogs to see what their 'takes' on it are, and you and Shyster have done the bloggers proud, I feel. Of course, Bissinger would probably just pull an O'Reilly and call you an ignorant poopyhead, or some other erudite appellation if this were a face-to-face debate...Osmodioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01629875493204286891noreply@blogger.com