In this case though i agree with Costas and Bissinger. Though Buzz handled himself poorly. They have a point,

Deadspin and other like minded ilk are trash and were correctly identified as continuing with the dumbing down of America.

Deadspin is trash.

There is still an obvious benefit to reading more intelligent, edited, and informed scribblings. I’m sure you won’t agree, but for me the writing is far better in the NYTimes than any blog I’ve seen. When a story is picked up there, for me that means its a real story. The writing is better, but not far funnier, however, which is where i think the true value of sports blogging is. The Deadspin type material is still far less mean-spirited than the other entertainment blogs, as we in the sports world have still yet to resort to pictures of cellulite and nipple slips.

As in the early days of Metsblog, the main value of the best blogs is not in their quick distribution of “information,” but in combining this with the community that forms around common purpose of following this maddening team. Gallows humor is tough to pull of all alone. We Mets fans are lucky to have some terrific blogs, all with different personalities, and Matt played a big role in that.

As for “opportunists who will defile anyone for personal glory” I sometimes agree with you. But athletes too, get incredible privileges in this society and they know their images are liable to take some abuse when they slip up. And the smart print journalists will look to get in on this trend, or already have, while the others sink into the tar pit of low circulation. If the print guys are looking for a scapegoat for the massive loss of credibility and stature of “real” journalists, I’d say ESPN would be where I’d go.

I go on at length on this topic elsewhere. regards…

hey …I am all for the opportunity granted to anyone to go out there create a blog and state your feelings/opinions to a broad audience. I think it is fantastic. As I said, it is unfair that this privledge has historically been granted only to a chosen few (reporters). So I appreciate the concept of blogs and the door they’ve kicked open. It is revolutionary.

But we should also scrutinize them just as much as we scrutinize anything else. Many of these people are opportunists who will defile anyone for personal glory. I do see Will Leatch in this light more so than I don’t. There is a lot of crap out there that, for the most part, is far substandard to what I read in the newspapers. I am just grateful the blog I go to the most is the superior MEtsBlog, which is the best media avenue for Mets fans on the planet.

Don’t get me going on ESPN. I will take any blog, negative or in a foreign language that I can’t comprehend, over those Disney clowns.

Two words best describe for me why blogs have become ascendant: “Budweiser Hotseat”

Deadspin, I do believe, displays more negativitiy and frat boy nonsense than it does worthwhile information. It is a “dumbing down” of information. Will is not a good writer. But he is very good at shotgunning thousands of bits of “news” items at us that are primarily for entertainment. It’s paparazzi sensationalism for the most part. And It’s certainly not art.

But the good in many of these blogs is that

1) they create a communication forum for fans. Sports writers are no longer the only voice; and

2) it asks a very good question to the sports writer esatablishment…”who the hell do you think YOU are?”.

I take high offense to the old boy network in the press room and broadcasters booths that have shaped our opinions and perceptions of our athletes and teams for decades. So much of it is biased. And they can do so b/c their industry has a very high boundry to entry. These guys have a sense of entitlement just b/c they went to school and ‘put in their time” without ever playing or being good at the sport in the first place. They have a lot of power, are arrogant, and even determine accolades (like HOF entry). Deadspin and other blogs do a very good job at calling out these guys who have not been held accountable (other than by their editors, perhaps) for nearly a century. And I appreciate that.

So when an educated, dedicated, and refined artist like Buzz, spending months to years worth of time to research and produce a well-written book, finds that he sells just as many copies in one month as Will gets viewers to his site in 2 hours….he gets pissed. I don’t blame him, b/c he sees the general public giving Will’s lesser refined material as much legitamacy as his. Buzz was certainly protecting his backyard on the Costas program, but he was also trying to protect the integrity of the sports writing world. Because one thing is certain, Will could care less about journalistic integrity and is much more like a vulture going for a story regardless of it’s effects on the main character. Buzz does not want his kids going down much cheaper avenues (provided by Will) to acquire information which is so heavily scewed, vulger, and far less detailed. Very legit point.

To defend his right at the table the best possible way, I would have like to see Will say one thing to Buzz that would have put the demand and popularity for Deadspin in perspective. That would have been this: “Buzz, it’s your exact arrogance and inflated opinion of yourself and your contribution to this society that results in Jim Rice still not being elected into the HOF. B/C writers like you have far more power than you should, and you refuse to vote for deserving players simply b/c they don’t want to talk to the you. That’s an abuse of your position, and it serves only you.”

Fact is….both Blogs and writers both have to clean up their own backyard.

One take-away for me after this show is this….I will NEVER again get on Matt Cerrone’s case for being too positive on MetsBlog. Because a positive blog with high integrity appears to be a very rare thing.

So Matt, as I stated in my email to you yesterday…..hats off to you, my man.

seriously, he may be the only person in sports broadcasting that makes Joe Morgan look humble and intelligent.

It’s true that a blog is only as good as it’s author (and you can have poorly written blogs built upon bad intent), but the same was true in the early days of print as well. Over time, things will sort themselves out.