Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Bissinger vs Leitch

You know. Buzz Bissinger wrote a really great book. This does not make him the be-all and end-all of sports writing. His opinions of internet writers on The Bob Costas show are very enlightening.

Deadspin's Will Leitch gets it. In fact if you peruse my run-ins with those who desperately clutch to the term journalist this past year, you will find striking similarity between mine and Leitch's points of view.

Watch the video of there exchange here.

WARNING: It's HBO so adult language abounds.

h/t: Rusty

Promoting this from comments. During a four week stay in Kansas City I became a big fan of sportswriter Jason Whitlock. Read his take on the Bissinger-Leitch dustup. Money quote:

"Bloggers might be inspired by their loathing of traditional media, but they are not the cause of our growing irrelevance. We did that with our refusal to adapt to new technology, our clutching of political correctness and the transparency of our agenda-driven "objective journalism.""

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since you posted this, I thought you might be interested in the following article, also about this showdown. Enjoy.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8092720

Blackjackk said...

Shouldn't Bissinger really be talking about talk radio (and specifically sports talk radio in this case). At least the average person gets to comment in the blogs.

And boy, Costas' point about people who comment in the blogs is incredibly lame. What does that have to do with the people writing the blog?

I also believe there are alot of people in Odessa TX who feel the same way about Bissinger that he does about Deadspin.

Unknown said...

Leitch handled the ambush rather well. Although, he did screw up in one place: Gawker sites are controlled membership (or used to be), so the "anyone can post" comment is a sign of butt-covering.

However, if Costas/Bissinger had actually been legitimate to begin with, they'd have wrung Leitch out with that point. They didn't, and that's a clear signal of their intent.

griftdrift said...

I think it's also a sign of their ignorance Mike. How many times have you heard someone like Bissinger start screaming "bloggers are crap blah blah blah" and then immediately start talking about commenters. They don't understand how the communities work. It would be as if I based my opinion on Jim Wooten solely based on the letter to the editor.

Anonymous said...

The whole commenter thing is bogus because of sites like washingtonpost.com that allow commenting on normal articles. Are those blogs according to Buzz?

Buzz is a blowhard that really pisses me off now.

Deadspin is the greatest sports blog out there. And so what that they take potshots sometimes, thats entertaining. WithLeather.com is based completely on a potshot at Chris Berman but is still an awesome blog.

Yoknapatawpha Kid said...

Dear Drift,

this is a great entry on the Bissinger/Leitch altercation! My name is Peter Ricci, and I am a college student and writer who currently contributes to 'Too Shy to Stop,' an upstart online magazine focused on culture and the arts.

I found you entry, as it would turn out, while doing research for my own essay on the legendary 'Costas Now' episode. I focus first on how much I adore Bissinger, but quickly change focus to how wrong he is regarding his stance on blogging and why.

If you have the time, check it out! I’d love for you to read it and comment.

http://tooshytostop.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/buzzed-bissinger-takes-a-narrow-minded-approach-to-journalism/

Sincerely,

Peter Ricci