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A unique take on sports news, updated several times throughout the day.
Sportswriters are the true tough guysEnough already! Beyond highlighting my relative lack of athletic ability, show-offs like Mannix and Verducci only serve to diminish the public's respect for sportswriters. The underlying tenet to these stunts is that sportswriting is an inherently wimpy profession, and the only way for a writer to prove his manhood is to stand toe-to-toe with a Real Jock, hoping that some of his coolness might rub off. Obviously, that's ludicrous. Marquez might act tough in the ring, for instance, but I'd like to see him take the body blows a sportswriter like me puts up with on a daily basis. He'd be literally spitting up blood (OK, figuratively) and running from his cubicle in tears by lunchtime, begging for his mommy or Don King. Consider these actual emails and comments that I've received in just the past three days. On Wednesday, for instance, I wrote a remarkably trenchant piece wondering whether the Mike Vick outrage had gotten slightly out of proportion. Yet some readers failed to appreciate my penetrating analysis. Among other things, I was called a "hammerhead," "retard," "NUTS," "shallow," "dog-hater," "stupid," "ridiculous" and an "idiot" (twice). And those are just the ones I can print. I'm not sure who this Anonymous fellow is, either, but he doesn't appear to be a fan. At 8:14 p.m. on Wednesday, he wrote: "Pete -- Please refrain from writing anymore mindless banter. This is the worst entry I read." Anonymous was back at 12:49 p.m. the next day, inquiring, "I wonder how much money you've won on Vick's dogs?" At 3:23 p.m., he checked in again to say, "This guy [i.e., me] should never be given an INCH of space to write in." Indeed, many readers fancy themselves as editors. For example, one used Thursday's clever little item about Pete Rose cursing in front of a bunch of kids to decry what he (or she) viewed as my lazy "journalism." To wit: "Unless this Pete McEntegart dude was there, then he should keep his mouth shut. He has no idea exactly what Pete said ... Don't report second hand info. Report the facts!" Others quarrel with my choice of topics. Thursday's compilation of the Worst Sports Cities brought this e-mail from Peter of Newtown, Pa.:"Best/Worst lists are boring and show a lack of effort and thought. You're better than this. I'm just happy you got rid of that stupid hat in your photograph which was either your sixth-grade class picture, or signs of a severe mental disorder. Cheers!" At least that message ended on an up note. 10 Spot Blog reader Leslie wasn't feeling so charitable: "I just want to say you are an idiot for even thinking Minnesota is a horrible sports town. You never even went there in your life so for you to make an opinion is hilarious. A good sports town is fans rallying around the team and Minnesota has done that with the Twins, Vikings, Wild, Gophers, and even the Wolves no matter how bad they are. Your criteria is pretty dumb. I can't believe SI hired a klutz like you to run a blog." Curiously, Leslie lists her hometown as Fort Lee, N.J., but in fairness that's a good five miles closer to the Twin Cities than I live, so I'm sure she knows whereof she speaks. You might reasonably be wondering at this point how it is that I am even able to function while dealing with the daily torrent of criticism. Well, it isn't easy. But I've been blessed to draw strength from a terrific group of family and friends, especially my exceptionally supportive parents. Why just at 7:48 this morning, I received the following comment on Thursday's item about my mom humiliating me in college by loudly pointing out George Steinbrenner at a classy party. Signed Ten Spot Mom, it read: "I don't think I yelled 'there's the boss' but I do admit that I talk loudly (I am a New Yorker). And get over being embarrassed by me. Mom" Forget sparring with some measly featherweight. (OK, super featherweight.) There's nothing like a little tough love to make one man up.
posted by SI.com | View comments |
Comments:Pete - I like most of the stuff you write even if you are a hammerheaded, retarded, shallow, dog-hating, stupid, ridiculous, nutty idiot!
Yeah. How come our mothers never give us a bit of slack but let our brothers (and sisters, I assume) get away with serial brother-icide? Stand-up was never meant to be easy, buddy. Cheers, too!
Talk about having it rough... Pete, I tried impersonating you at a local watering hole the other night, and instead of free dinner and drinks, I got slapped six times, had two drinks thrown in my face and got kicked in the jewels!
Pete:
Honestly, that was one of the funnier posts I have seen in a long, long time. Maybe I'm still excited that you decided to include Philly as one of the worst sports towns (yeah, that was me...Anonymous), so I might be a bit biased. i think of it like this...at least you have the fortitude to sign your name to your rants...better than most of the commenters (present company included!) Kudos to Mother Ten Spot on the zinger.
Suck it up, Pete! You know that if you didn't want the issues, you should've stayed in school and used your brain. Be a doctor, be a lawyer, carry a leather briefcase. Forget about sports as a profession. Sports make ya grunt and smell. See, be a thinker, not a stinker.
Pete, Pete, Pete. You said 'sportswriting is an inherently wimpy profession'. Bat Masterson was a sports writer! Bat (terrifically played by Gene Barry) Masterson! I bet nobody ever told him he was wimpy to his face. At least no more than once.
Pete - I like your writing. I don't even mind your raves. And with or without the hat - doesn't matter. You're still good looking.
Pete,
Why worry about diminishing the public's respect for sportswriters. In general journalism has become a joke and you guys are just one part of it. If SI, Time or the NY Times would start publishing facts instead of opinions that perception might change. Until then the insults levied against you are just because you're a more direct target than the biased editors.  |
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Beyond posting a comment, if you have a news tip or a link to a story or video clip that you think is interesting, please drop me a line. Or if you have a general question or comment, send that along too. You can email me here. (One note on the blogger comments: The only rule is to keep it clean. No curse words, please. This is a family blog.) Recent Posts
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