Mission Statement

by Ryan



[via Awful Announcing]

The above video is the prerequisite to what you will see here. Unless you were like me and ignored hockey for 90 minutes to watch HBO, please take the few minutes to watch an old man complain about change.

Good? Okay.

Now, I've always liked Buzz Bissinger's work. He is a respected author and Pulitzer Prize winner. Bissinger wrote one of my favorite sports books, and what he did with Friday Night Lights was the first thing I'd read that made me want to be a writer. Buzz Bissinger made me fall in love with "New Journalism", and he should be given credit for that at every turn.

I have to admit, having those feelings disintegrate in the matter of a few minutes really was something special.

The strange thing is that I'm not mad at Buzz Bissinger. I'm sad, really. How could someone so talented, so celebrated, not see the forest for the trees? Buzz went on national television in the hopes of defending his medium and ended up exploding to the point where his arguments were refuted by his own actions.

He criticized bloggers for being negative and vulgar while insulting Will Leitch's intelligence and saying words that only HBO can air before 11PM. He was arrogant and angry, bullying everyone else off the stage like a teacher embarrassed by a student's correction. His intent was to appear strong and stoic, but in the end he looked quite sad and helpless, exhausted by the effort.

As I was watching Will Leitch get railroaded on live television, I couldn't help but get depressed by the spectacle. Is this how others view blogs? A vulgar wild west of nonsense and deception? Is that what this site is about? Taking shots at others and giving wild opinions not worthy of the server space?

After sleeping on it and putting on a pair of pants (a respectable pair I could even wear outside of my mother's house...) my conclusion was a resounding no. The truth is that Buzz Bissinger does not and will not ever understand what sports blogging is all about, and I'm okay with that.

In a medium "built for speed", sports blogs are still infants. This very site is just under a year old, and while the growth we've seen in that time is drastic, compared to others we have barely taken the protective film off the shiny new toy that is a blog.

Blog. You could tell he didn't understand just by the way he said it: "Blag." He and Costas, as well as the millions of people that just don't "get it" all say it with that long "a." It is very much like the way people above 30 say "cool." Sure, they understand what it means, but when you really mean it you add a little "u" in between the "oo"s to show that you really "get it." Blogging is that new "cool", and if you don't know how to say it now, good luck understanding when it catches its stride.

It is interesting to note Bissinger's Pulitzer Prize win in 1987, as the very award is an example of the evolution of the medium. Joseph Pulitzer, the award's namesake, was one of the founders of Yellow Journalism, the sensationalist foundation of large-circulation newspapers. Yes, the greatest prize in his field is named after scandalous and "not quite libel" writing.

The origins of newspapers are questionable and at times downright pathetic, but out of that history of deceit came something wonderful. Newspapers brought literacy to the masses, as well as a new understanding of news in our nation. How many boys fell in love with the game of baseball through box scores and the words of those reporting from the press box? Over time newspapers evolved and matured, giving us the best that journalism had to offer. Who is to say that the same thing won't happen with blogs?

Last year when we started this site I had no real knowledge of sports blogs. Since then I've spent hours and hours looking at the work of others, and I feel like a better fan for it. Their words are not gospel, their prose is not revolutionary, and sometimes grammar is incorrect; but what they have to say has affected me and how I watch sports, and absolutely for the better. I have never loved sports as much, and I have never had as much fun as a fan.

Something good will come out of this, I can promise you all that. For every negative, unreadable blog created in six seconds there is a solid, insightful one that is worked on for weeks and months and years. It is ironic that what Bissinger read last night as "disgusting" was one of the best justifications for sports blogs that I have ever read. Guys like Big Daddy Drew and Ken Tremendous have become some of my favorite writers not because they are outstanding journalists but because they are hilarious and can deliver a good point every once in a while.

Perhaps this is a degradation in standards or the dumbing down of society, but I don't see anything wrong with wanting an alternative. I still read books, I know who Ralph Ellison is, and I could probably make you dinner out of a cook book if you asked nicely. However, I feel strongly that what you are reading right now is the future. It isn't the end of newspapers, it's not a virtual Bay of Pigs invasion, this is something new and fresh, and we're going to see it through to the end.

Something good will come out of this, and I can't wait to be a part of it.

Will Leitch Revealed

The Spectrum, the University at Buffalo's student newspaper did an interview with Deadpsin.com's Will Leitch.

I'll probably start reading his new book, God Save the Fan, sometime next week and I'll post a brief review here whenever I get around to finishing it.

Some highlights from the Q&A:

Leitch: I don't think I'm this brilliant writer. I work hard, I turn my stuff in on time, I'm not a diva, and I think that makes a difference... Honestly, writers are flakes man... When I came to New York I was like 'no matter what happens, I'm not going to have anyone outwork me.' If I were like a banker, that might have been hard, but out here, writers are flakes, man.

On Bill Simmons:
WL: I think Simmons is a better writer then I am... I like Simmons, he gets hammered a lot by people on the Web and I think even the people that hammer him have to at a certain level owes him a debt. Frankly, I don't think he likes that. I think he always feels like 'look what I have launched.' I don't know if he's a big blog guy... Up until recently he's been writing three columns a week for like seven years. Inevitably, you're going to repeat yourself. Inevitably, there are going to be times when you sound like a caricature of yourself... There aren't many people who I read every single one of their columns, and Simmons is one of them.... He and I used to have a little bit more of a relationship than we do now...but I think the day the commenters all hopped on his site and all started leaving messages, after that I don't think he liked talking to me anymore.

And of course, the 007 picture: