Deadspin
Almost anyone who has ever dealt with ESPN's Len Pasquarelli tells us he's kind of a dick. And by "kind of a dick," we mean, "actively chewing the heads off kittens while he's speaking to you." You can add Portfolio magazine's Jeff Bercovici to that list.
Bercovici, working on a story about ageism, called Pasquarelli to discuss a comment he'd made about Joe Gibbs being "too old" to coach the Redskins. Pasquarelli apparently isn't used to being questioned.
Moments into our conversation, Pasquarelli accused me of trying to "ambush" him after hearing the sound of my typing. Was this meant to be an interview? he demanded. Of course, I said; that was why I had identified myself as "calling from Portfolio magazine."
Nevertheless, Pasquarelli felt I had misled him by not explicitly stating that I was calling to interview him; he had been under the impression that I was simply a fellow journalist calling to compare notes. I apologized for not being clearer, and attempted to explain that I had tried to send him an email laying out who I was and why I wanted to talk.
It gets better: Later, Pasquarelli lectures Bercovici on the "rules" of journalism. (Telling Len that he does a blog for Portfolio might have been a mistake on Bercovici's part; never, ever say the word "blog" to an ESPN personality.)
Bercovici eventually hung up, exhausted by the "conversation." And who said ESPN wasn't accountable?
Is Len Pasquarelli Too Old to Cover Sports? [Portfolio]
(UPDATE: Here's another great Grouchy Len story.)
Comments
Osloly will people migrate to this post?
As a future journalist (hopefully) who has talked to many current journalists, the one thing they always tell me (besides 'Why are you doing journalism?') is that blogs and traditional journalism are the future, if not the present. So it amazes me that so many ESPN people disregard this. Also, Pasquarelli looks pretty similar to Don Vito from 'Viva La Bam.' Not sure if that's been mentioned.
Is that a comb-over or a papier-mâché helmet?
Bill Conlin and LP should get together and film Grumpy Old Men 3: Fuck the Blogs!!!
So he's actively chewing the heads off kittens while he's speaking to you a dick, then.
and thus the uprising against tWWL continues. What a bunch of dicks.
You want me to be explicit...?
Thats why you should just record your phone conversations
/roger clemens
That tornado really aged Mortensen.
His hair looks like more like a hairnet than actual hair.
Do NOT look directly at the combover.
micke totally buys it. This man has a lustrous and full head of hair!
Nice, um, easter veil, worn for hair?
@Christ Sabo:
Just the sex offender registry when he's in Colorado.
That's amazing. It's as if a hundred Lilliputians toiled for forty days and forty nights to weave the world's longest single human hair into a silvery dome they could hold their harvest festival under. I bet it sparkles in the moonlight.
A blogger couldn't do that, I tell you rightly.
/and ne'er the Twain shall meet
No Blogs for Old Men coming to a theater near you.
todd stinkston
@Christ Sabo: the problem with blogs is that (traditionally) readers leave comments. i think we all know how the WWL feels about reader comments...and kittens.
lonelyjournalist13
It's almost like you can see into his brain in that photo.
The first rule of journalism is that no one talks about journalism.
Does ESPN use CGI for Lenny's combover?
I'd be pissed too if some guy from a fake magazine tried to interview me.
He looks like he's about to hand me an almanac of sports scores from the future.
And how can it be that "Angry Old White Men" isn't the most used tag on the site?
Or at least doesn't have a future post from 2025 Will about the Goddamned kids on the neural nets with their instant analysis and their rock and/or roll?
I'm waiting for a spider to spin the words "Some Pig" in that combover.
I am impressed as to how little forehead that combover leaves. As a possessor of a large forehead, I would like to subscribe to his newsletter.
The Sea Monkeys were shit, but these X-Ray Fat Guy Hair Specs are fucking amazing!
@onetakedizzle:
You, sir, are mouthful.
@Pennington Noodlearm Enthusiast:
At ESPN, the first rule of journalism is that no one does any journalism.
@And_You_Shall_Know_Me_By_The_Trail_Of_Cheez-its: I heard Vito molested some girls but have not checked it recently. So he was convicted and everything? That fucked up eye is going to haunt those molested girls forever.
Mentioning blogs to ESPN personalities causes their faces to melt off like in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Pasquarelli is Italian for "old man who wishes you to get off his lawn".
Didn't Coolio wear that flannel back in '94?
Hoagies and grinders, hoagies and grinders...
Chigurh aged gracefully.
@Bob Loblaw: fantastic
@Christ Sabo:
I think he got probation, to be served in Pennsylvania. I know he has to register as a sex offender and they took him out of all the Viva La Bam stuff.
You'd think once you get that fat you've pretty much made a conscious decision to be asexual.
@twoeightnine: Sloppy Joes, Slop Sloppy Joes
@Lamppost: +1
blogs are to ESPN personalities like books are to n........
/Offensive Chris Rock jokes
...and get off his lawn!!!
@DumpsterDining: his sources tell him that I will give you +1
He's just lucky he didn't bring up Stinkston & Trash:
[deadspin.com]
@HazelMaesLandingStrip: Navy beans navy beans navy beans navy beans...
I bet if you would to analyze Len's stool sample, you would find chunks of John Clayton in it.
Give Pasquarelli a break. He was filling out his Social Security paperwork when he was interrupted by some confounded blogger.
Does anyone like, respect , or believe Lenny P?
attempted to explain that I had tried to send him an email laying out who I was and why I wanted to talk.
The fuck's an e-mail?
/confused Pasquarelli
@Unsilent Majority: he's the anti-Tom Mees!
@Unsilent Majority: He's made of wood?
He thought the guy was trying to ambush him when he heard typing noises? Give the guy a break, he was having WWI flashbacks.
@HazelMaesLandingStrip: Just hide your money in a book.
Does TWWL have a memo outlining said "rules" of journalism?
/bikerack
Len always puts on his combover before calling Orson.