If H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger, the author of several books including Friday Night Lights
For those that don’t know what’s going on, Bob Costas put together a Town Hall Meeting to discuss the landscape of sports and rise of bloggers and sports talk radio. As you can see Buzz Bissinger had a lot to spew on the topic and Braylon Edwards had nothing to say. DeadSpin’s Will Leitch handled himself well at ground zero, because he easily could’ve done like Bobby Brown at the :50 mark.
What I could take from Bissinger’s rant is that he doesn’t know the difference between a post and a comment, and he was playing to the crowd by repeatedly messing up Big Daddy Drew’s name when Will had clearly corrected him.
BB: Is this guy’s name Balls Deep or Big Daddy Drew Balls?
WL: Big Daddy Drew. It’s Big Daddy Drew.
BB: Ok so Balls Deep.
Hmmm..
Buzz’s disdain for bloggers hinges on cruelty, speed, and journalistic dishonesty. I’ll give him the speed aspect. One of the things I’m most guilty of is rushing a post in order to have something first.. It doesn’t lead to lies or dishonesty, just some shoddy writing. But speed has also led to bloggers breaking news.
Nobody’s perfect.
Buzz thinks bloggers are mean and he’s right to a degree. Some blogs or bloggers can have a cruel slant to their writing, but not all. It’s just like the MSM, some guys are pricks and some aren’t. Outside of the coarseness of the language, I don’t think sports bloggers are any more cruel than their mainstream counterparts. Ask Barry Bonds, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, and now Roger Clemens if they’ve received more hate from blogs or the mainstream media. Coaches were being run out of town long before Firesoandso.com came along, and calling guys names isn’t new either.
‘The bloggers made me do it.’
Being the author of Shattered Glass gives Buzz Bissinger the right to speak on journalistic dishonesty, even if he has a selective memory. I wish HGBB was more clear as to which blogs are being dishonest. In my experience the sports blogosphere, Blogfrica, will police itself. I can’t imagine, and I’ve never heard of, a sports blogger writing fake posts and trying to pass them off as real. The community would call bullshit and the writer’s credibility would be ruined. What I have heard of are mainstream writers like Stephen Glass or Jason Blair, writing for major publications and making huge mistakes. These are people that have journalistic credentials. They would meet Bissinger’s journalistic standards. Buzz, IM (instant message) me when a sports blogger writes blatantly false material on the level of Christopher Newton.
The old timers that are lashing out against bloggers are doing so because they’re out of touch and afraid of change. Let’s take a look at it from their side. They’ve been dedicated to doing sports in one way for 20 or more years, and now they have to sit by helplessly as their forum starts to dwindle. Newspaper circulation is down. Newspaper employment opportunities are down. That hurts. So while their world is shrinking, they’re watching a new, lawless form of sports media emerge. Instead of embracing the change they’re trying to fight it, but they’ll soon learn that you can’t ride a horse and buggy on the information super highway.
Bob Costas Town Hall Meeting. Courtesy of Awful Announcing
**If you’re a believer in astrology and junk like that, check this out.. Buzz Bissinger is “H.G.” Bissinger.. I’m H.G. Buzz was born Nov 1, 1954. I was born Nov 1, 1971. He hates blogs, I have a blog. Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do.
