Deadspin
Here's the important thing to remember about Buzz Bissinger, and whatever the heck happened on "Costas Now" about two hours ago: Buzz is not alone. Sure, he might be metaphorically alone, raining spittle on the imaginary demons that clearly haunt him. But if you don't think that almost every single person — with obvious, clear exceptions — who was on all those panels last night didn't come up to him afterwards and give him a fist pound and a "yeah, we really struck back tonight!" well, you weren't there. This really is what many of them think. Though most are a little calmer about it.
It was an odd thing, really, to read the emails that flooded in, to see people (kindly, sure) ask us if we were OK. We're fine. We were not the person on that panel to be pitied. What more can one do when a man is disturbed than to show him compassion and not sink to his level. (It felt odd to be considered the uncivil person on the panel.) And hey, we get it: The simplest, most obvious emotion that comes when we are faced with what we do not understand is fear, followed quickly by rage. We're not sure what happened to Mr. Bissinger, but, honestly, we're kind of worried about him. And, as people who own all of his books, we say that legitimately; we want him to write more of them.
It was clear from the get-go, from the very first, "I bet you don't know who W.C. Heinz is," that this was not going to be a roundtable exchange of ideas. (Poor Braylon Edwards, honestly. He must be completely bewildered this morning.) It was obvious that Bissinger had been building up to this for a long time, those dark nights wondering what the kids were searching online, those terrifying moments when the world seemed to be spasming out of his control ... they all built up to this. We had seen him backstage, and introduced ourselves. He was, as Jimi Hendrix was famously described, a live wire with too much current running through it. We could see it coming; anyone paying attention couldn't have missed it.
We suppose we could have punched him in the nose or something, called him an asshole, said he was a piece of shit. It might have made for more riveting television; we are certain Costas wouldn't have minded. But that would have been counterproductive. When you see someone flailing desperately at someone, something, anything, there's nothing more to do than sit there, bemused and bewildered, amazed at what was happening, just like everyone else was. We cannot imagine any reasonable human being watching that display and saying, "doggone it, that raving man has a point!" The only way to win a battle like that is to let the audience take in what is happening, and trust them to respond accordingly.
Sure: We would have loved to have made all the points about blogs that we've made countless times before, trot them all out again, in front of a national audience. Had we that opportunity, we surely would have taken advantage of it. But we felt, in a way, the point was made for us. Watching this talented man spin himself into a typhoon of imploding bluster showed the fear, showed the anger, showed the futility of it all. We sat back and watched, and hoped nobody got hurt, just liked you. Honestly: We really hope he's OK. A fight would have done no one any good, least of all him.
We have to take a flight to Los Angeles on Wednesday morning and, as luck would have it, be gone all day today. (Daulerio will be taking over the site until Thursday. We hope he ignores Costas' bizarre misconception and doesn't just post grotesque comments all day, because, you know, that's what bloggers do.) We'll be back Thursday, doing what we do, trying to bring you a little distraction for another workaday. We are not mad at Bissinger, or Costas. We just watched a man immolate on national television. To have piled on the carnage would have been discourteous. The future is obvious to anyone even slightly interested in looking. We just stand aside, as he, as they, watch the light shrink, then fade, then vanish.
(Photo via AOL Fanhouse)
Comments
Such a brutal segment. I couldn't believe how fast you walked into the buzzsaw. Way to keep the high ground will getting pummeled on pay TV, though.
Also, thanks for humanizing athletes (something you have done) and dumbing me down for the future (not sure about this one).
Also, Joe Buck is Balls Deep?!
-!
@madripper: while
[img.dailymail.co.uk]
Oh man, Will. I thought you handled that tool bag Buzz very well. I kept waiting punch him or nonchalantly give him the finger but your cool. More than anything I think Buzz really made a strong case for being the Willy Lohman of sportswriters.
Seeing him in action makes me very glad to have purchased my DVD of Friday Night Lights from the back of a taco truck.
Hey if anyone wants to drop Buzz a note, you can reach him at buzz.bissinger@gmail.com
Behold: Big Daddy Balls!
@the.munson: I'd rather people not do that, by the way, email Bissinger. The more angry emails he receives, the more his poorly considered notions will cement. Also, it's not nice.
@the.munson: NO. We discussed this in Du!an. Lets not shrutebag him. Its only gonna reinforce what he said about blogs/bloggers. I think Will's response was the right way to deal.
I'm willing to be that in the coming days we will see the more rational members of the MSM addressing this, and Will will come off the better man.
@Will Leitch: I'm glad to see you are still kicking. I havent seen the commenters so angry in a while. The moment he came out with the prep material folder I figured he was going dirty quickly.
I do love that he questioned your accuracy while giving Balls credit for a BDD column.
I'm guessing it was the weight of Buzz Bissinger's titanic that ego broke his chair? SO HE WALKED ON THE MOON. BIG WHOOP.
Despite the lather that Buzz got worked up, here we are.
I'm sure he's reading this now, and getting pissed aboot my gramattttical errrrors (HA HA).
Hey Buzz, we're still here. We're not going anywhere and there's nothing you can do about it. ;-)
And no, we will not get off of your lawn.
Will, you are THE MAN.
Buzz Bissinger: To Irrelevance, and Beyond!
@Will Leitch:
I can't believe Buzz Bissinger asked you to come on his ass. Did anyone else catch that?
Bissinger might have spit all over himself, but it's still less saliva than he slobbered in his atrocious book on Tony LaRussa.
@Will Leitch: D'oh sorry about that, Will. Is there any way to remove my previous comment? It doesn't look like I can do it from my end.
I wasn't encouraging anyone (really) to stoop to his level. Once I move from the couch to my desk and put on some pants I plan to write him a rational and well meaning note.
I just thought it was funny that one click on Buzz's website lead to his direct email.
I'm going to look for clips of this tomorrow; I always love watching a good train wreck.
As for Mr. Bissinger's described histrionics, I think Cracked.com's article on '5 Douchebag Behaviors Explained By Science' offers an accurate explanayion of Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's behavior:
[www.cracked.com]
The Aging Douchebag
"This man is suffering from what is known as andropause or "male menopause." It's a frustrated state accompanied by anxiety and anger resulting from a lack of testosterone, the production of which diminishes in midlife. The term "male menopause" can also be used as an early detection method, since most men with IMS will hear this term and respond with a loud grunt while shouting about "New Age psychobabble bullshit."
Appearance on Costas Now I was impressed with the way you handled the barrage from Buzz. A lot of people would have gotten into a verbal brawl with him - and that is what he wanted. A couple of other observations: If you're a sports fan like I am, (and a former play-by-play guy), this was the best 90 minutes of television in the past 10 years. It was incredibly ambitious of HBO and Costas to tackle that array of issues in one night on live TV. I enjoyed every minute of it. As a former reporter, I understand the threat that the internet represents to traditional print journalists. What Buzz and Mitch Alboum said was true - journalistic standards are almost absent from the web. Wikipedia is an incredible resource - but most academic institutions won't let you reference it because it is not 'authoritive'. Neither is Deadspin. There are no rules for the Internet. So they fall back on the rules they know, and are comfortable with. On the other hand, they kept reading rants and profanity from posters and equated it with blogging. I wish you had pointed out that the exact same posters flame on espn.com, cnnsi.com, sportsline.com, and every other sports web site - the corporate biggies don't censor the posts - or not very much, at minimum. Why should Deadspin? If they're going to be offended, be equal opportunity about it. Blogging is not going to replace journalism, as you pointed out. Bloggers don't pretend to hold themselves to any higher standard. But the media people are hypocrites because they have let the standards in their own industry fall into the dumpster over the last 20 years. Now they're blaming the Internet. They have no one to blame but themselves and their employers. It is not yet clear how sports blogging will evolve, and what it will evolve into, over the next 10-20 years. At the beginning of mass media, the Hearst Newspapers with 'yellow journalism' stretched facts into fiction to sell papers - journalistic standards be damned. Fox News does the same thing today. But sports journalists - of all people - are being 'holier than thou'. I don't get. Keep up the good work and lead us where ever it is we're all going. I'm looking forward to it. Lars Hanson Seattle, WA
I think tonight was the night the whole MSM vs. blogger debate was put to bed. (Or at least should be put to bed.)
It's clear they don't get it and never will; there is no use in raising ire or getting worked up over traditional media's negative stance about what we do and what we love.
Via la blogosphere and via la Deadspin. As Will said, "The future is obvious to anyone even slightly interested in looking. We just stand aside, as he, as they, watch the light shrink, then fade, then vanish."
Amen, brother.
how fitting is it that Buzz took the stage with an entire "print-out" of a Daulerio post?
The only time I've ever heard of anyone printing a blog post is if they need reading material for a trip to the bathroom. And even then, isn't that what wireless internet is for?
@Steve Trachsel, ACE is a proud older brother: Apparently, BDD and Daulerio have morphed into one uber-blogging machine now.
I fear for the children.
Excellent work, Will. You took your verbal beating like a man. What's it like to be told that "you're full of shit" on HBO?
The range of thoughts I've had on this confrontation has really changed in the few hours since it aired. First, I was hoping you'd beat Buzz with Costas. After that I was irritated at Costas for letting a "round table discussion" turn into a verbal assault. Then I realized that Buzz, like many members of the MSM, wasn't lashing out to thumb his nose at bloggers. It was the desperate act of a man who sees his era becoming irrelevant. I don't know how difficult it must be for glorified English majors (no offense) who follow sports to realize that they aren't, in fact, any better than the rest of us. It'd be like all those poor tax accountants at H&R Block if we changed to a Flat Tax system.
Oh, and I know a guy named Richard Wacker. Just thought I'd mention that in closing.
Buzz's profane invective about blogs' profane invective proved a point, but not his intended point.
Wasn't Tirico there? I suppose he'll have something to say(blandly, of course) about it on Wednesday, and Michelle Tafoya will blindly agree with him, because she's a company gal, gosh darn it!
At least he managed to plug your site about a dozen times in his rantings, Balls Deep will now be your number 1 column.
Michael Schur has weighed in on the show as well.
In all honesty Will, was it weird seeing people again? How long were you out of your Mom's basement? What's important is that you made it back home and you're safe from those crazy interweb hating men.
@Swolestice: I, for one, have never taken a print-out of Balls into the bathroom. But that's just me.
It was good to put a face to the kind of ass-backwards, change-fearing, technologically-deficient, politically correct type of person who would fire Christmas Ape over KSK and publicly destroy themselves in front of Costas, Will, and the world. A "spitting and raving lunatic" face, but a face nonetheless.
There is no thought put forth by these people to adapt rather than attack. They come across as they truly are: decrepit, out-of-touch, and soiled by a dying medium that is making them more and more immaterial to the ways in which people all over the world receive their information.
It's no different than an animal forced to lash out when it is cornered and its habitat has been destroyed. That fact does not make tonight's self-implosion any less sad.
@Innings Eater: Did you ever think you would really want to know what Mose Schrute thought about something?
And that you would agree with him? Seriously, I made the same exact points he did in the last thread. scary
@Steve Trachsel, ACE is a proud older brother: His writing acumen is eclipsed only by his ability to sling cow feces at his cousin Dwight.
Per SI.com :
D'Antoni not coming back.
[sportsillustrated.cnn.com]
So I finished watching that gasbag Buzz finish his diatribe tonight and immediately joined this site. I had heard about it but never spent more than 20 secs here before. Yet the showing tonight made me visit again and sign up all so I could post more garbage that will ruin the future for mankind.
Hey Buzz, here are a few things for you and your love of stats, facts, and apparent money shots on the ass from bloggers; Jared Allen had 15.5 sacks last season, Minnesota is cold, and you asked for a 32 year old male to come on your ass in front of a live studio audience.
Although, perhaps you can just use your newspaper that you love so much to clean up afterwards...
@Moobs: I'm going to give Buzz a piece of my mind once I figure out how to use this teletype machine! Gar!
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this (and many other) attacks on the monolithic "blog" movement is how misinformed people are. They can't differentiate between blogs, or between posts and comments, or between information and satire. I know that Buzz Bissinger's writing is miles better than the guy who ghostwrote "Juiced," so I don't lump them together. I know better than to parse sentences out of a book and assume it's representative of the entire work; it is the work as a whole that should be judged. Why can't these blog critics--of which I am occasionally one--realize that the same parameters apply?
Jon Weisman of SI.com and Dodger Thoughts has a good post about tonight's fiasco:
You can find hate speech and irresponsibility around every corner of the universe, and what's telling is that by far the most hate-filled person in the debate tonight was the man who has spent 40 years "perfecting his craft." What an advertisement for convention he was.
[dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com]
@ClueHeywood: I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?
Frankly, I think the whole lumping thing is intentional. It's much easier to discredit something if you can lump it all together and then find the worst part of the whole. I mean, it's a whole lot harder to sit down and discredit Will as a writer than it is Deadspin as a whole. Imagine if Buzz had come by at the right time to see ol' Doug Llewelyn's use of the image embed feature.
i have never seen such a shitty costas show in that shows history. i loved how he tried to "legitimately" cover like 5 topics in the show and covered every single one as half assed as humanly possible.
i kept waiting for the internet discussion to move to the way that blogs for particular teams have done more unifying of fans and advertising for teams in a lot of cases than the team could have ever possibly done themselves.
im a poor sap of a texas rangers fan, believe me, no1 gives a shit, not even in DFW. well the one thing that has happened is that there are a couple of outstanding rangers related blogs, these blogs are crushing the sports pages rangers coverage locally. rangers players were interacting with the hardcore fans. hell, CJ Wilson had a contract to participate in the rangers blogosphere through the texas rangers. the rangers got more advertising and fan unity through 2 blogs than they have ever gotten since 1971 when the shitty team arrived here. hell, they even put 2 out of the 3 bloggers who covered the team on the official MLB.com payroll.
but there have even been incidence of beat writers coming to the blogs and literally stealing stories and making their own news b/c they arent relevant anymore. CJ said something on a site about how the majority of major leaguers never thought about politics and all they talked about was chicks and golf and money stuff (probably could remember better but i dont even care). we have had dallas sports writers check the blog, then go run around the clubhouse with what CJ as an semi anonymous poster on the site said. of course, his teammates were pissed b/c it made them all look like dropout douche bags. the club was pissed b/c it put them in a bad position in public, and CJ was ordered to never post in blogs there again.
the funny thing is that the relationship that those bloggers on the rangers site had with CJ Wilson was on the level of a beat writer. we could ask him anything, he may not answer in public but the level of the dialogue was along the lines of beat writer to the athlete. the real beat writer felt threatened and made sure that his story would insure no ranger ever posted on a blog again. but there was a brief shining moment when what you described as the "press box feeling" was in a blog, and you know what? the MSM made sure that was short lived.
beat writers would never do that if they honestly thought their job wasnt threatened.
at least we're winning...
I didn't see this whole Bissinger thing (I was working at Kauffman Stadium, filming the slumping Missouri baseball team's excruciatingly boring loss to the sKUm...and yes, the misspelling is intentional--plus, I don't have HBO), so I'm going on pure hearsay here as to what exactly he did.
Here's my $0.02 on this debate: the only people you're seeing getting worked up into a massive lather about blogs are columnists. Not once in all the whole Blogs vs MSM battle (and being on this site, I've seen a shedload of it) have I seen a beat writer, play-by-play commentator, or more neutral journalist weigh in on it, mostly because their jobs won't be affected. Since blogs, by and large, are opinion-based, the hide-bound columnists are going to be very angry about any new way to get sporting opinions out that directly affect them, and they're going into full attack mode because they're so complacent and don't know much better.
Can blogs and the MSM coexist? Yes, but it'll take a lot more cooperation on both sides.
(apologies for the massive length, and clear lack of dick jokes)
@Scoops: You there, fill it up with petroleum distillate, and revulcanize my tires, posthaste!
I don't think lumping all blogs into one giant "BLOG" is an intentional device to permit easy criticism. I think some of these people genuinely don't understand the medium. You fear what you don't understand...especially when it's cutting into your readership.
Putting Leitch up against the wall for all of blogkind is kind of like holding the manager of [your favorite local diner] responsible for the price of the Rooty Tooty Fresh 'n Frooty Breakfast at IHOPs nationwide.
Typos happen on the internet, and hate speech, and idiocy. But so do trenchant observations about sports (and, for that matter, Mr. Costas' producer and Mr. Bissinger's typist, so does the word "trenchant" - in context no less). And if someone can "make a printout" for Costas and Bissinger too: your age and for that matter your gender and your skin color don't make you the twin arbiters of all that which is beautiful and timeless in sports. All they make you is old and white and male.
I know plenty of the Deadspin community are the last two out of the three. I like your kind. But that's because generally, you're not stupidly closed-minded like some people on cable were tonight. I'm really grateful for the fact that places like this on the internet have made sports relevant and urgent and lively again, the opposite of the way that that the mainstream Ahmad Rashadization of sports has killed it for me.
Also, with your collective wisdom, I came REALLY close to winning my March Madness pool this year. A little less Georgetown and Pac-9 next time.
@Turd Ferguson: You're right. We'll still need the occasional game recap, the locker room quote, and the play by play. A blog by someone who saw the game on television can't replace that. But the gig is up for columnists, as that is what they have essentially been doing for years: watching a game, reading some coverage, and providing their opinion. They realize that now anyone can do their job. And a select few are even doing it better.
The occasional flailing columnist reminds me of Tom in "Office Space" when he realizes his job consists of nothing more than having his secretary take the specifications from the customers to the engineers, and he will likely be laid off because he's useless. "I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to!! I have people skills!! I am good at dealing with people!!! Can't you understand that?!?"
I haven't seen it (I'll track it down somewhere tomorrow), but from what I've read on DU!AN and here, Will didn't have a chance. The only way to make a coherent argument with a crazy person in that environment is to have a moderator that will jump in and keep the discourse civil and allow everyone to make salient points. Costas, from the sound of it, had no intention of doing so. Unless Will spent the whole time of Buzz's rant thinking of one massive burn that he'd deliver quietly and slowly (i.e. 1/12th of Leitch speed) when the man ran out of breath, there is no way to come out of an argument like that looking good.
/dick joke
//dick joke comment is used by Buzz to indict entire rest of comment and myself as a person
@ClueHeywood: Well put. The only thing that I can add is that, for both sides of the coin, the cream doesn't always rise to the top--a number of "big-name" blogs have not exactly resonated with me, just the same way that I feel a few of the most popular columnists/pundits are crap.
I was going to write a similar long thing about how I'm at a top journalism school right now and there's a lot of this same arguing going on, especially in light of how the traditional ethical/objectivity framework is going to fit in, but a good Aqua Teen Hunger Force was on and I would rather pay attention to Master Shake than keep my train of thought.
@Turd Ferguson: Well put and agreed. I'm more of a meatwad guy myself. Now I need to get some sleep, as my recently "dumbed down" ass has an argument in front of the court of appeals tomorrow.
On a side note, I flipped over to HBO Latino at one point to see if the translator could keep up with Will. He couldn't.
As ugly as it was, it was still worth it just to hear Bob Costas say "fuckface".
Can we all agree that Joe Buck calling himself "Balls Deep" was a despicable act?
Kidding aside, I'm not even sure what it is we watched tonight. Bob Costas fulling another part of his HBO contract? Was any new ground broken? The sports media discussion is not that different than every other New Media debate out there.
The People vs. Will Leitch, with Buzz Bissinger in the role of Tipper Gore