Chuck HTimes Writer Questions Athlete, But Blogger Can’t?
June 29th 2009 13:20
Take a look at the quote below by L.A. Times writer Jerry Crowe on the best hitter in baseball--in my opinion--Albert Pujols.
“Thanks to Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, etc., fans outside St. Louis must wonder, 'Do we celebrate Albert Pujols or suspect him?' . . .
In his only other at-bat with the bases loaded, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger delivered only a two-run single. . . .
Sadly, it makes you wonder. . . .”
So who can say what now? Jerry Crowe is a journalist at the Los Angeles Times and Jerod Morris is a sports blogger. When Morris brought up Raul Ibanez' monstrous first half of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies on his blog, and the fact that in these days when someone of his age puts up eye-popping power numbers in bunches like that--it makes you wonder about possible use of Performance Enhancements--he was crucified by some "mainstream" journalists. Ken Rosenthal blasted him on ESPN saying that he shouldn't just throw out accusations on someone and be irresponsible without having facts that Ibanez actually used PED's. When is Rosenthal going to weigh in on Jerry Crowe saying what he said about Albert Pujols? Or is it ok for Crowe to say it because he's a "real" journalist? I like Ken Rosenthal and I'm a huge fan of his work, but it's time to realize that media is changing. You can state your opinion on something in a blog, the same way you can write an opinion piece on something in a newspaper. Jerod Morris' post on Raul Ibanez was very well written and brought some very good information to the table. Ibanez can save his comments about not needing to hear the opinion of some "45 year old blogger who lives in his mama's basement."He clearly didn’t even bother to read the post by Morris before commenting or he would’ve known that Morris was defending Ibanez more than anything else in that piece. In my opinion as long as you produce a well written case to support your opinion, it's fair game. I hate bloggers who just peddle smut or write about stupid topics just to get attention. Trust me, I'm well aware that there are plenty out there that fit that bill. Personally, I always try to be responsible about everything I write but also give you my true opinion on the issues. The fact of the matter is that there are many well informed sports bloggers out there as well, who have an opinion and state their case quite well. What's wrong with that? Does it make some mainstream journalists upset because a blogger can be anyone and just start their own blog at anytime without necessarily having a degree in journalism? Probably.... but to me it just makes things a lot more interesting. Bottom line, if it's written well and the topics are interesting, the more the merrier. Everyone has a forum now. Just filter out the blogs that have garbage for content, and enjoy the blogs that are well done--it's that simple. Personally, I have no problem with what Jerry Crowe wrote, but then again, I had no problem with what Jerod Morris wrote about Ibanez either--yet a lot of other people did. So what are the rules--and who can write what? Are there two sets of rules?
(thanks to todonitido for great pic of Pujols)
Chuck Hanf
Two Cents From Beantown
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Comment by jason007thomas
Rasheed Wallace to the C's? you gotta be lovin that!!!!
Comment by Chuck H
Two Cents From Beantown
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