We chose to ignore the Steve Phillips scandal here yesterday because, well, who cares? Really? I don’t know, maybe former-GMs having sex with 22-year-olds is interesting to you. It doesn’t do much for us.
But over at Deadspin, they used the story as a roundabout excuse to post various unconfirmed rumors of sexual exploits in Bristol. As Deadspin editor AJ Daulerio explained himself, he was angry that a) he had the Phillips story on September 9th via an email tip; b) ESPN denied the allegations when contacted by AJ (SHOCKING!); c) AJ decided not to run with the Phillips allegations, which I guess — in his mind — turned out to be a mistake because Deadspin got scooped by the NY Post yesterday.
So, as I said, this was an excuse to go all scorched earth and post various rumors that have popped up in the Deadspin inbox without confirming them. They included people’s real, full names and details of the sexual allegations. Of course, this isn't really Daulerio's fault -- he's simply doing what his boss told him to do.
Regardless, bloggers aren’t thrilled about this. (Note: Not necessarily agreeing with all of the opinions that follow. Only most of them.)
From Stupid Sports Blog:
If you’re looking to ruin someone’s life, I suggest you set up a fake e-mail account and e-mail Deadspin with a tasty sex rumor about whoever you like at ESPN. Get your friends to do it too so it seems more credible. Tell them Stuart Scott tried to work a three-way with Cindy Brunson and the corpse of Tom Mees. They’ll print it and be right to do so since they didn’t get the Steve Phillips story.
No one tries to get the best of A.J. Daulerio by telling him the story he’s calling about isn’t true! He’ll learn ya real good!
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Deadspin set back journalism 50 years or anything like that. I mean, it’s not like they invented Around the Horn. But it’s just a sad state of affairs over there for a blog that used to be one funny dick joke after another, and now it’s run by a guy who has a vendetta against ESPN because the New York Post did its job better than him.
Daulerio’s an embarrassment. As someone who runs a sports blog for a living his wanton flouting of common decency* makes me look like an asshole by proxy, and I don’t appreciate it. Buzz Bissinger wasn’t totally wrong. If he blew up again today, he’d be mostly right. Deadspin is sleaze, and little else. The overtanned dwarf with the child-molester mustache running it is a perfect representation of its true nature.
I’m yet to come across a post defending Deadspin’s actions, which doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. If you find one, I’d be happy to share the other perspective here, too.
UPDATE: And here's your counterpoint: Punte at With Leather says Deadspin is "doing the lord's work" by outing ESPN employees.
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Comments
Personally I don’t read Deadspin to read about ESPN employees having sex with each other.
They’re a great blog for funny news about sports but they should probably take a deep breath and realize that they can be viewed as legitimate without constantly taking shots at ESPN.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
by Chemmy on Oct 22, 2009 9:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
so?
but they should probably take a deep breath and realize that they can be viewed as legitimate without constantly taking shots at ESPN
Who wants to see them as legitimate? That was never an issue four years ago. Now, because they’re popular, they’re supposed to be legitimate? I think not. If anything, AJ’s actions are what DS is all about.
by HabsFan29 on Oct 22, 2009 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Deadspin
I used to read Deadspin all the time, as I’m sure every sports blogger has, but eventually I got sick of the constant editorializing about ESPN. Deadspin, awful announcing, Kissing suzy kolber — all these blogs do is bitch, and bitch, and bitch, and bitch, and bitch about ESPN.
I mean, we all have problems with ESPN. I personally hate that they somehow ruined Baseball Tonight, which was a kick-ass show like a decade ago. But man. Deadspin just has a stick up their ass when it comes to ESPN, and it’s sad, because you know that if anyone there was offered a job at ESPN, they’d snare it in a second.
Inhistoric.com -- the No. 1 source for sports history.
by ZombieMonta on Oct 22, 2009 11:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
KSK
I disagree about KSK. I think they’ve stayed true to their hilarious, satirical ways. I don’t read much ESPN-bitching from them.
by Chris Mottram on Oct 22, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
When I visited there a while back there was a lot of it, but I don’t want to give the impression that I know that for certain. It may have just been a bad day.
Inhistoric.com -- the No. 1 source for sports history.
by ZombieMonta on Oct 22, 2009 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'll defend DS
I’m a blogger, and I’ll defend AJ to the last. It’s a friggin blog. To sit here and talk about legitimacy or decency or blah blah blah is a joke. Good for AJ. He’s just a blogger having fun out there.
by HabsFan29 on Oct 22, 2009 1:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
which raises the question
What exactly is a “blogger”?
Blogging Suns Basketball . twitter: @phoenixstan
by Phoenix Stan on Oct 22, 2009 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
WWEBD?
Ah, but there is a rather glaring difference between what you and I do and what DS does (aside from providing Denton with giant piles of mattress stuffing money). I’ve never held myself up as a serious journalist, and I’m betting neither has FHF.
AJ has repeatedly, and loudly, boasted of his journalism cred, and has also taken, on more than a few occasions, shots at other “real” journalists for perceived ethical lapses.
The real questions he should have asked himself? What Would Emo Bangs Do?
by SLC on Oct 22, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Whoa whoa whoa
I’m a serious journalist!
/ goes to hunt for more stripper pics
In all seriousness, point taken SLC. AJ does boast of his journalism cred. I’m not sure if that makes Deadspin a serious journalism endeavour, however.
by HabsFan29 on Oct 22, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
In what way. . .
. . .is potentially ruining someone’s life or livelihood “fun?”
by WhoaNellie! on Oct 22, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
They ruined their own lives
If there were all sorts of ESPN sexy shenanigans going on, the people involved in those made their own problems. And AJ’s right to point out the hypocrisy of suspending Steve Phillips (or Harold Reynolds for that matter) while all sorts of other people are doing the same thing and not getting punished at all. That point seems to have gotten lost.
And if he named names and was totally wrong, he’ll get sued for libel. Then he won’t be having fun.
by HabsFan29 on Oct 22, 2009 2:33 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Probably not
Libel is notoriously difficult to prove. It’s unlikely that anyone would go to the trouble of bringing everything up again, especially when this story will die down in a few days.
Clay Travis had an excellent legal summary at Fanhouse yesterday.
by ASUJon on Oct 22, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m not surprised With Leather would back Deadspin on this. Their name is literally a punchline to an unflattering Chris Berman anecdote.
The line between journalism and blogging is gray at best (see Cookiegate). What makes it even more difficult a line to discern is that you have bloggers who clearly think of themselves as journalists decrying the actions of other bloggers because they are giving “bloggers” a bad name (see K. Dwyer, and might I add that it really bums me out to see him being such a dick when I’ve enjoyed his writing so much in the past). Then you have print journalists who clearly think of bloggers as something akin to smelly transients with undeserved press credentials (see Howard “Yes, really” Beck at the NY Times)—but that doesn’t stop them from scrambling to get their own blogs online (see— oh hey, it’s the same guy!— H. Beck at the NY Times!) because I guess having a blog doesn’t make you a blogger if you were a capital J journalist to begin with. VV.
I don’t read Deadspin anymore myself, and haven’t for a long time, but it has nothing to do with whether they are journalists or bloggers. It’s because they specialize in cynical asshattery, and that gets really old, really fast. If I were reading the same material in the paper, I’d stop reading the paper, too. Deadspin likes to take people down just for fun, which makes me feel queasy and in need of a shower. Not my cup of tea. A lot of the content generated by ESPN isn’t my cup of tea, either—it can be fatuous, obvious, and lazy. So a lot of times I don’t watch them, either. I really don’t care about the labels. I care about the content.
Why is that so hard for journalists and bloggers to deal with?
WWTD?
by Lauri on Oct 22, 2009 4:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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