The New Yorker Makes Highbrow Blogger-In-Basement Joke You'll Set Aside But Never Get Around To Reading (UPDATE)

Ben McGrath takes up the slumming-dandy-goes-to-a-ballgame mantle from Roger Angell (who should be filing his account of the 2003 World Series any day now) and manages not only to name-check this humble site but let drop the bonnest of mots:

Some of the most successful online sportswriters, like Bill Simmons and the Deadspin dudes, have made it a point of pride not to think of themselves as journalists at all but as fans-or, in the case of the brilliant wonks at Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs, as analysts. "There's definitely a place for them — a new kind of coverage of the team," [Mark] Zuckerman said. "But a lot of that stuff is based on what they're reading from beat writers." How would an outsider, writing in his basement, know what it's like to experience the crackle of Strasburg's four-seamer?

Hear that, basement-dwellers? You're a little aloof and out of touch, according to the guy in the ivory tower.

UPDATE: McGrath e-mails us:

But I write in my basement, too. Should I have mentioned the pajamas? Have we not reached the point where these references come with an implied wink? Oh, well.

The Rainy Season [The New Yorker] RELATED: The Basement Tapes: A Compendium Of Sportswriters' Hacky Jokes About Bloggers