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Shut Down The Internet, There's Cruelty A-Foot!

Here we go...



Excuse me for a second while I take some mean-spirited potshots.

Bob Costas and his back-handed "I find you very palatable in person" compliment to Will. Gee...thanks.

Buzz's W.C. Heinz argument. What the hell was that? Was that actually a question? If we're being serious, even Will would tell you that Heinz would be much better at describing the events of a game with prose and style. But would Heinz then analyze the game as if it had been played in a Tecmo Bowl simulation? I think not.

"It's amazing to me that you say sports new without access, favor or discretion when you admit to being biased to the Cardinals." Jesus, what are we, seven? Whatever you think of Will and bloggers after this piece, know that at least he wasn't the one name-calling and taking potshots.

"I think that blogs are dedicated to cruelty...dedicated to journalistic dishonesty..." Admittedly, there are blogs out there dedicated to cruelty. There are also blogs dedicated to having fun with public figures. Sometimes its a mix of both and hell, I'm certainly not above taking shots at Greg Robinson, Daryl Gross or others myself when I feel warranted. I don't think they're the same thing but I'm sure they get lumped together.

But dedicated to journalist dishonesty? Huh? We may have stumbled along the way but I think we all have an understanding of when something is rumor and when it is fact. And most sports blogs do live up to that standard of clarifying either. Should we ignore rumors that exist out in the ether just because it's not fact? ESPN doesn't. The Post-Standard doesn't. Rumors are reported on every day by every news source. Why are we the assholes?

"It really pisses the shit out of me." Wasn't that a Shooter McGavin line?

"The complete dumbing down of our society." Dude, we're talking about sports blogs. Get off your high horse for a second and find a little perspective. You write books about athletes. Good for you. You're very good at it. Take what you do and what we do for what it is, nothing more.

Well, it certainly lived up to the hype. I'm sure there are those out there who felt Buzz handled himself quite well and put that stupid jerk from the Intertubes in his place. They probably also watch a lot of Fox News, so, whatever. If nothing else, Leitch handled the onslaught admirably. The crux of the argument certainly skewed towards the rumor-spreading and behind-the-scenes access that Deadspin and other blogs provide into the lives of athletes and to be honest, we can't always say that it's justifiable or a good thing. As for the commenters on Deadspin, MOST are just trying to be funny and besides, don't newspapers have article commenting now too?

But it's like Will said. If you looked at the Matt Leinert beer bong photos or drunk Ben Rothliesberger photos and thought to yourself "What a disgrace, I shall never root for them again," well then you're probably just not wired for sports blogging and the Internet age in general and you should go read a book. If you looked at those photos and thought to yourself, "Oh right, despite the fact that they're millionaires and the NFL wants us to look at these guys as marketable, pristine bastions of good...they're really just like us, gettin' drunk on the weekend and trying to get laid...cool...," well then you're probably going to be right up our alley. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't read books too.

By the way...poor Braylon Edwards. Who invited him, anyway?

(Video courtesy of AwfulAnnouncing)

(Mike Tirico, who was also on-hand last night at the show, will be on Axe's radio show in a few hours to discuss what transpired.)