It's an awfully rare time that I find much worth reading on ESPN's Page 2 anymore. The Daily Quicky was fun, but it's gone. I'll admit to a weakness for Bill Simmons, but even his work is pretty far from perfect, and - blaspheme, I shall - his schtick gets tired now and again. Uni Watch isn't bad, but their daily blog is better.This weekend, however, I bumped across an excellent column by Scoop Jackson. The column discusses a recent issue that Jason Whitlock (former ESPN columnist, black sportswriter) had with one of Scoop's columns about becoming a black sportswriter in America and the odds being possibly stacked against it.
I'll admit that I don't read Scoop's columns regularly. He can be awfully incindiary, and I don't always open the ESPN page to be preached to. Most honestly, though, his columns just don't speak to me, and therein might lie the crux of his argument.
I read Bill Simmons - largely because I identify with him. He's white, middle income (probably upper middle by now, I would hope), about my age, and a sport/entertainment fan.
I don't read Scoop Jackson - who I know very little about, by the way - partially because he comes at sports (and at his readers) as an often-angry black man.
I just don't identify.
That doesn't mean, though, that I didn't enjoy his most recent column. It's excellent and well worth the read.
In the interest of fairness, please note that there are various opinions about Scoop out on the magical interweb.
2 comments:
I admit I haven't read the entire article, I perused and came across this from Jason Whitlock RE: Lupica
On Mike Lupica: Lupica is an insecure, mean-spirited busybody. ... The Little Fella probably won't let the producer (Joe Valerio) have me back on ["The Sports Reporters"] again. That's cool. They're mostly upset that I wouldn't participate in their Barry Bonds witch hunt and help them single Bonds out as the creator of steroids. Lupica doesn't like to be disagreed with, and he's spoken so abusively to that producer for years that the producer probably doesn't realize people are allowed to disagree with Lupica. I enjoyed my time on the show. But if the price of admission is stepping to Lupica's drum, I'm more than happy to go without.
Now, I read this and had one of those 5 year old pointy moments, you know, every now and again, you see something and your eyes get big as saucers and you jump up and down and point screaming “Yes, yes, see, I saw that way back when and told people and nobody believed me! See I told you so!”
I used to be a regular viewer of “The Sports Reporters.” The idea is get 3 local sports writers plus a mediator, and let them have at it regarding sports topics. It was the predecessor to “PTI.” Lupica is a regular, and Whitlock was part of the “B-team;” He'd rotate in about once or twice per month. There was an episode earlier in the year where Lupica absolutely went nuts on Whitlock. Normally, all these old white guys are supremely civil. Occasionally, they get a bit fired up, but they spaz out in a monologue, not in a diatribe directed at another panelist. Anyhoo, it was about Bonds, and I really thought Lupica was going to get out of his seat and try to beat the Afro-American Jabba the Hut (Bill Conlin was the original Jabba the Hut- see this pic: http://cache.deadspin.com/sports/billconlin.jpg to understand- those two are both so corpulent that I have to differentiate- the guy was so fat that his ankles flopped out over his shoes. I am serious here, he had ankle fat that hung out and partially covered his shoes, made me cringe every time the camera panned out). He absolutely went apeshit. His face was all screwed up, his glasses were fogging over and there was spittle shooting out of his mouth. To Whitlock's credit, he just sat there, remained calm, and refused to respond to the vitriol. At the time, I thought perhaps Whitlock was intimidated and was standing down. In all actuality, Whitlock probably knew that if he responded in kind, he would be shown the door. This whole Lupica/Whitlock feud had been building up, as I sensed some of the same tension in earlier shows.
Personally, I could not stand Whitlock. I thought his points were utterly ridiculous and illogical. Lupica annoyed me, he has this sycophantic, puppy dog at your heals quality. In fact, he reminds me a bit of that silly dog Paris Hilton used to wear like it was a purse. What this whole episode did was to make me feel more sympathetic of Whitlock. In fact, I enjoyed hearing him spout his opinions. As far as Lupica goes, it made me sick. The man now disgusts me.
The episode also left such a bad taste in my mouth I deleted it as a timer on my DVR. I can no longer stand the show. Truth be told, it has been in steady decline since Dick Schapp passed. He was an absolute master in that forum. Now, the only guy worth watching is Boston's Bob Ryan. I read his column regularly, and really enjoy PTI when he fills in for Tony Kornholer.
I am not sure about Scoop Jackson, but I sure can vouch for Whitlock's slamming Lupica. It was overdue, and well-deserved.
That's one hellaciously long comment, Googs...
And I agree that Lupica was a snotty bastage...
Post a Comment