The One Where Bill Self Gets Feisty

We get a massive amount of tips in our inbox each week. Some are pretty interesting, but don't get published for one reason or another.

It's usually because they're just so absurd or really lack even the most tenuous of news angles to give them the go-ahead. Other times it's because they're just absolute horseshit. But every Friday until we get sick of running them, we'll present to you some of these not-so-shiny gems. All items should be treated as [Sic'd]. Enjoy...

This Insult Was Self Inflicted

So there is a story that goes with this photo. I was in Lawrence for my girlfriend's birthday in April (I'm keenly aware it's nearly June but just finally got the picture from her). We went to dinner and then to a new piano bar in Lawrence, the Barrell Roll or something. We went to this bar because A) it was new, and B) all people believe they will have some new sort of experience "this time" at a piano which inevitably does not happen. Anyway we're in there maybe an hour before Bill Self saunters in ostensibly alone. Of course I have to walk over and say hello. So here is a basic breakdown of how this goes down.

I see Bill Self and tell my girlfriend to get the camera ready so I can get a picture with him.

I walk over and say hello and tell him nice season. He is cordial enough and even shakes my and my girlfriends hand and says hello.

She sort of backs off to take the picture.

Me: "how about a picture Bill?" (we at this point are at a first name basis)

Bill Self: "No pictures at the bar." (declarative statement also given with a quick glance around as if he's being ambushed)

I push the issue, "come on a quick one?" (as if he was unaware of how long it takes to snap a picture)

Bill: "Sorry buddy." and he then turns his back on me.

I motion to the girlfriend to snap it anway even if its just me and a profile of the coach.

He catches the red eye flash and turns right into it as if he thought we were joking around and is caught. He manages to smile as well, quick on his feet that Self. He then realizes he's been photographed at a bar on Mass St. (technically on the back side) and is pissed. He shakes my hand again and brings me in close (so I can hear him over the dueling pianos) to say, "you know you're a real asshole." I quickly retort, "well I'm a Mizzou fan, so I don't really give a shit." Bill fires back one final dig, "you would be."

With that I realize I've revealed myself a Mizzou fan to the High Priest behind enemy lines, and am a tad worried Cole Aldrich will surface, like a ridiculously tall ninja, choke slam me and erase the picture. I instead merely return to the group, which was predominately females that attend KU, so the greatness of this moment was completely lost on them.

But there you have it. While Bill was not pulling a Eustachy (or I foiled his plans) he dislikes being photographed at bars and will call you an asshole if you do so, he clearly hates Mizzou fans, and isn't nearly as affable as say Baby Mangino.

Go Cards

"The Silver Sack" Is Actually A Great Nickname For Him

This picture is of the back end of darius miles sick escalade. Hanging from the trailer hitch is this silver sack.

Enjoy and please don't use my name.

Sir, Your Babel Fish Skills Are Other Worldly And Strange

Señor Daulerio,

Muy buenos días; yo soy un lector japonés de tu buenísima 'weblog' deadspin punto com. Me gusta que utilices varias cosas de youtube (si EMI tiene su derecho, su nuevo nombre sería jewtube). Te escribo para preguntar si t e gusta el grupo 10cc; su nombre viene del volumen de esperma tipíco que ejacula un hombre normal.

Have a nice day.

-al

No Need For Babel Fish Here!

It'd Be More Plausible If It Were Band Of Horses

Did anyone else catch Will all pleathered up singing back up for Green Day on the Tonight Show Tuesday night?

Screen shots attached.

Do YOU know your enemy??

Sometimes You Have To Call Upon A Higher Comment Complaint Box (With Footnotes)

Sir:

I've been a reader of Gawker and its sister sites for some time. For the last year or so, I've had commenter privileges which I've used on a number of sites, though my main read has been Deadspin. Normally I wouldn't write about an editorial position — it is the editor's privilege, after all — but the events of the last few days have prompted me to do so.

As you may be aware, A.J. Daulerio posted a piece on Sunday night stating that major changes to Deadspin's commenting system were about to take place and that the readers could expect many commenters to lose their privileges starting almost immediately[1]. No further explanation was offered — no reasons as to why this would happen, no explanation of new commenting rules, nothing — though Daulerio did claim that it was out of his hands, suggesting that the decision had come from higher up in Gawker Media. On Monday, all heck broke loose as many of the most respected (and, dare I say, funniest) commenters were summarily dispatched. Daulerio did post an article[2] to the effect that everybody should stop whining about it and consider themselves lucky to have a site to read, but that was about it. As a result, most of the banned commenters headed off to a different site, one started by a bunch of people who met as Deadspin commenters, for the evening. Many of them haven't come back and, if the comments on other sites are any indication, won't.

I don't think anyone would argue that the comments section was due for a clean-up — there were far too many off-topic and unfunny posts, far too many cheap jokes, and far too much repetition. Daulerio, in an interview on another site Tuesday[3], admitted that his decision to direct successive comments ombuds to lighten up the standards for new commenters was a mistake, and the decision to adopt Facebook Connect, while understandable from a business standpoint, exacerbated the problem. That all could have been fixed without playing games with your readers. As you know, they're not idiots. By and large, they're adults and rather well-educated. A message explaining why the comments section needed to improve, and what standards would be enforced to see that it did improve, might have been met with some grumbling, but the vast majority of the regular commenters would have complied. Heck, another blogger did a great job of analyzing possible reasons for the crackdown based on the available information[4], any of which would have been accepted by Deadspin's readers and commenters. Unfortunately, Daulerio chose not to offer any explanation. He left everyone in the dark while hiding behind Gawker management — and then, in that same interview on Tuesday, admitted that the decision had, in fact, been his alone (despite having implicated Gawker management in his initial announcement) and was based on the offer of a small group of commenters to form a de facto lynch mob (what Daulerio calls his "comment ninjas") to clean up the site as they saw fit. In short, he put his own ego, and that of a few commenters upset that they weren't getting as much attention as they'd like, ahead of any sound business decisions. In the process, he managed to alienate some of your most loyal readers and many of the few people who actually added value to the site with their comments.

I think everyone is aware of Deadspin's performance relative to the other Gawker sites. Ultimately it's your site to do with as you see fit, but I can't see the value in policies designed to drive away your most loyal readers. Sadly, that's exactly what Daulerio and his team of anonymous "ninjas" have done.

Sincerely,

Colin Morton, Vancouver, BC

[1]http://deadspin.com/5273554/a-brief-shady-announcement-about-your-commenting-privileges [2]http://deadspin.com/5273985/your-profanity+laced-tirades-will-now-be-taken-under-advisement [3]http://sportingmadness.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-ground-deadspins-aj-daulerio-speaks.html [4]http://sportingmadness.blogspot.com/2009/06/nick-denton-deadspin-and-commenter.html