Breaking My Silence
Hey everyone. You might remember me from a pretty cool sports blog that used to reside here. One billed as Buffalo’s “first daily sports blog”. Well, times have changed because despite all the excuses I have been making, the biggest reason the site hasn’t been updated is because I just didn’t feel like writing. I didn’t plan on turning this into a two-week vacation, but in looking back at the times I spent pecking away on a keyboard since BfloBlog started in October, 2005, I guess a couple weeks off to recharge isn’t completely unwarranted.
But usually it takes something big to go from inertia back to activity, and that something big was a big turd named Bucky Gleason. But we can get to that later, for now let’s get caught up.
For those who had sent e-mails wondering if everything was all-right I’ll just say that the Missus is well, unborn SonThree is well, and I am now the proud owner of two homes, one of which is being worked on as we speak to make it habitable by our growing family. Also, I had the thrill of mowing two lawns yesterday. Awesome.
- Let me get this straight. A guy gets into an argument with Marvin Harrison in a bar owned by Harrison, he leaves, Harrison follows him, shots are heard, the dude is hit, they find a gun in a car wash owned by Harrison, the gun is registered to Harrison and ballistics shows the shots came from that gun. Look, I think Roger Clemens is as evil as the next guy, but shouldn’t this story at least be getting a mention in the papers and on the net? I know Roger boinking some 15-year-old redneck chick is a great story, but Marvin Harrison shot (allegedly) a guy. Marvin Harrison!
- I watched Will Leitch of Deadspin fame get pounced upon by some turd-sandwich named Buzz Bissinger on Costas’ HBO show. You can watch it here if you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen it. If I may make a few points, which have likely been made elsewhere:
—Bissinger refers to blogs as “the future”, which I don’t think is correct at all. To me, blogs are just part of the ever-expanding ways in which people receive information. We started BfloBlog because there was a lack of immediate, real-time information on Buffalo sports available on the internet. Now, there are dozens of sites that fill that void. Blogs filled a gap in what was available as compared to what was possible based on existing technology. And blogs still do fill a gap. You won’t find commentary like this in any mainstream media outlet. And I’m sure the great God’s of Journalism are appalled by Pensblog. But they get a boatload of readers because they are offering something nobody else is offering. So, I don’t think blogs are “the future” – that’s something people say to avoid having to contemplate the role of blogs in people’s media consumption. Blogs simply fill a gap, or augment something already existing, in the media.
—I doubt most media people would be dumb enough to think that “all” blogs are bad, just as they would have a hard time saying all sportswriters are good. But what’s the real difference between Bucky Gleason’s knowledge and my own? Are his opinions more valid because he watches the game from a press box instead of the seats? Are his opinions more valid because he gets to ask questions at a press conference? Point is, his opinions are no more valid (or invalid) than any other fans. He just has a soapbox from which to shout and perhaps a piece of paper saying he went to college to learn how to construct sentences properly. See, Bucky would have written “properly construct sentences”, because that’s, like, better grammar and shit. Or rather, an editor may have changed it. Here, it stays “construct sentences properly”.
—Did he really say he “was watching” Will’s blog?
—The funniest moment by far was when Costas was reading comments (which he referred to as “posts”) and actually said aloud “good luck managing a Denny’s, douchebag,” and having Will laughing in the background. He was laughing because the comment was funny, but the journo-Gods didn’t find it such. Again, the mainstream can’t give us that, and thus a void is filled.
—In the end, guys like Bissinger and Costas just take themselves way too seriously. Not to offend any of my friends who are “sports journalists” but what you do (and what I do on here) just does not matter. In the big, wide world filled with real people and real issues and real problems, writing about sports means jack shit.
- I took no joy in Soupy getting knocked out of the playoffs, but I was glad Drury was a non-factor and his team is done. The best was when TBN writer John Vogl wrote, and I am paraphrasing here “Drury scored the series-clinching goal (imagine that) against the Devils.” Dude, Drury scored at 5:35 of the second period in game five to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. Just because the Devils ended up scoring three goals later doesn’t exactly make that a “clutch” goal. But it’s better to write bullshit like that to push you and your cohorts agenda than to just write what matters. It’s gone to beyond ridiculous.
- And speaking of ridiculous, I guess we finally get to Bucky. His column on Sunday was the ultimate because not only are the folks who run the Sabres stupid, but now you, the Sabres fans, are stupid as well. You see, Gleason is now the sole arbiter of what fans are allowed to do, think, and believe. To wit:
I know it’s unbecoming for a born-and- raised Buffalo guy to shower such praise upon Philadelphia. Here we are, 33 years after the fact, and people around here still haven’t overcome Bernie Parent and Bob Clarke.
I don’t quite know how to say this, but if you’re a born-and-raised Buffalo guy, you are legally required to hate the Flyers. If you do not, you are a dillhole. Period. There is no middle ground on this, and it’s not just because of 1975. Heck, I would argue that half the people who read this site weren’t alive in 1975. It’s more than that. It’s them beating us in five games in 1978 in the second round, it’s Reggie Leach and Bill Barber, it’s that cheap mother Ron Hextall, it’s Eric Lindros and his “Legion of Douche”, it’s when Lindy got nailed with a beercan in the Wachovia Center during the playoffs, it’s the goal through the side of the net, it’s their fans crying about Buffalo showing the Umberger hit when it was never shown, it’s about Hitch calling Lindy Ruff “Lindsey” and telling him to “fuck off”. But most of all it’s about their obnoxious, savage, lowbrow fanbase that takes pride in it’s ignorance. You don’t get to turn your hatred on and off based on some whim. It’s ingrained in you as a Buffalonian, and you don’t get to switch. Ever. But Bucky thinks you’re some kind of loser for not rooting for his crush Danny Briere.
If the same players performed to the same level for Buffalo, this town would be buzzing about their toughness and camaraderie. But because they play with an edge in Philly, blindly loyal fans around here claim Hatcher & Co. are a bunch of no-good goons.
Of course we would, you prick. Because they would be wearing Sabres jerseys. It’s not about the players on the team, it’s about the sweater on the player. Notice the contempt dripping from his pen as he writes about the “blindly loyal fans around here.” What are we supposed to be, fickle douchebags who cheer for whomever is winning? That’s called a bandwagon fan, and that’s the worst kind of fan there is.
FYI: Fans there cheered the tears out of former Flyers center Jeremy Roenick during a brief ceremony this season after he scored his 500th career goal. Fans here booed the Sabres’ ex-captains after they took Buffalo to the conference finals in consecutive years.
“Cheered the tears” out of him? Did I really read that? Look, it’s cool that Philly fan likes JR and his three years there. They also booed fucking Santa Claus, plus every injured player who has taken more than five seconds to get off the ice. Awesome. But if the analogy is really that Philly Fan > Buffalo Fan, well, please. Let’s examine the evidence.
Wish I brought my kid.
Only Sabres fans boo good players on other teams.
As clever as Duke fans.
Honestly, it goes on and on. I don’t think Buffalo fans need defending during that comparison.
For his next column, he should just write “You are all stupid” 250 times. Because you are all “blindly loyal”, don’t cheer for Philly, and have the temerity to boo players you don’t like. You know, Buzz Bissinger read this piece which was written by Big Daddy Drew and published on Deadspin to point out how simply awful the bloggers are. But there is a telling point, in that the folks in the press box tend to lose perspective on what the fans are thinking. About what makes us tick – about what makes us fans.
The difference between how Rick Reilly watches sports and how you watch them is wider than Tony Parker’s vagina, and the fact that he fails to appreciate that difference makes him weak. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad there are reporters out there who have access. You need only read Tom Callahan’s book about Johnny Unitas to appreciate that. Or read Reilly’s own account of the death of referee Kenny Wilcoxen. Both are brilliant pieces. Neither could have been written by us basement-dwelling mongoloids.
But there’s a kind of sportswriting out in Blogfrica now that also has value to me, as a fan, specifically because the people writing are non-credentialed jackasses, just as I am. They experience sports the same way I do, so I’m more apt to connect with what THEY’RE saying than with the dude who gets to hang out with Phil Mickelson at the pitch and putt.
They’re talking about sports WITH me, rather than trying to lecture me about whatever unique, enlightened perspective they discovered watching from their privileged viewing platform. Sometimes I need the latter. Other times, I don’t. The whole reason people like sports blogs is because it’s regular fans shooting the breeze with other regular fans. It’s a viewpoint some columnist with unlimited clubhouse access can’t share, and often looks down upon, as Reilly does, because it’s “uninformed.”
(emphasis mine, obviously)
And folks, I think that sums it up. Oh, yeah, one more thing. He also wrote:
With every day that passes without a contract agreement, the chances increase that Sabres prospect Nathan Gerbe is headed back to college for his senior year.
It’s another episode of “Bucky Gleason Can’t Lose”. If Gerbe signs Now that Gerbe has signed, Bucky can say how smart he is because the Sabres listened to him. But if he didn’t sign, those Sabres are just plain dumb. It’s similar to the best episode of “Bucky Gleason Can’t Lose” during which he takes every team with a former Sabre on it to jizz over, and we get the actual Sabres. Which is also known as we get our team, and Bucky gets the rest of the NHL.
I simply can’t imagine another writer who so consistently maligns and degrades his own readership. But hey, it’s idiots like me who write about him and keep him in business, I guess.
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Goddamn, I missed you around here, Kev.
And I’ve been trying to tell that to everyone who’d listen, and I actually had a few SABRES fans tell me that I was wrong for hating Briere solely because of the sweater he’s wearing. He’s a fucking FLYER for God’s sakes. As you say, it’s our birthright and (should be) mandatory for all real Sabres fans to hate everything Filthidelphia. Even if it’s “Bucky Gleason thinks I’m God on Skates” Danny Briere.
Bucky, go jump off a bridge. I hope you hit your fat head on a rock in the water too.
Bucky and Jerry write nothing worth reading …
I thought maybe you were waiting to see if we’d all go away – it didn’t work.
Welcome back!
Kevin – glad you’re back. I was one of the worried masses who though something bad had happened. Good to have you back.
And now… Sucky Gleason is the son of a motherless goat. I don’t even read him anymore. It’s done wonders for my blood pressure. The guy is a complete douchebag. “Born and raised in Buffalo” huh? I’ll bet he has a closet full of Dolphins Jerseys. I’ve never seen anyone else (besides my father) who was born in Buffalo yet hates Buffalo sports so much. The difference being that my father doesn’t profess to be able to everything sports related infinitely better than the professionals hired to do those things. He simply hates them because he’s tired of having been let down for decades. (Luckily, that gene skipped a generation
)
Anyway, good to have you back Kevin.
Damn, that is a great post.
Great fisking of Bucky. I swear that guy’s wet dream is Dierkersian – from the press box to the manager’s suite. DUDE! It’s not going to happen.
Your paragraph on filling a market niche that didn’t exist before is especially poignant and is the prime reason why this site gets 200+ comments for weekday Sabre games.
Re: Philthy, you hit the nail on the head. I still look back with fond remembrance on the Flyers/Sabres 2001 and 2006 clinching series’ wins. 8-0? 7-1? Man, those were great times. I look forward to repeating them in 2008-09.
Great to have you back – keep up the good work.
Mike Hudson and Buzz Bissinger were separated at birth.
Also, the construct of the argument between Bissinger and Leitch was totally false. Print editions of newspapers will eventually fade away, but there will still be online versions of those papers offering multimedia versions of the stories. Having the NY Times eventually become an online news outlet (and it will) does not reduce the impact nor will it destroy journalism forever. Blogs and establishment journalism will always be complementary.
The newsprint doesn’t make the words of a journalist sacrosanct, it’s the words themselves. If they are pixels on a screen or inkblots on a paper is immaterial.
It’s too bad that Will didn’t have the time to form a response like that since he was trapped in the moment with a spittling writer worried about losing his job.
Inkblots are more portable and easier on the eyes (if the print isn’t real small).
When I read the newspaper, I move my eyes. When I read the screen I scroll and stare at one spot.
As someone who toes the line between evil blogger and credentialed sports writer living the high life up in the press box, the Bessinger/Leich throw down definitely got noticed by more than just the interwebz and it was actually a pretty hot topic during a Bisons rain delay last week.
What I’ve noticed is that the journalists I see everyday down at the ballpark who take the time to get to know players, ask good questions and generally do their job well are the ones who actually tend to be more pro-blogger. They understand the role of a blogger and the role of a beat writer are complementary and I think they also realize that no matter how many blogs sprout up writing about every aspect of every game, we’re always going to need someone down at the ballpark to ask the questions and break the news.
The journalists quickest to bust on the blogs are ironically, the ones most similar to bloggers. The life of a columnist is pretty god damn good and they know it. They aren’t up in the press box night in, night out. They interview big name players after the story has already broken and don’t spend half an hour standing around in a locker room while a guy takes an extra long weight session and shower just to duck them after a bad game. In short, they get to spout off an opinion about something they don’t know nearly as much about as the beat writers in the trenches everyday and then they have the audacity to slam bloggers for the same thing.The people I’ve talked to in television aren’t much better in terms of being ‘blogger friendly’ (or at doing much more than showing up for a free meal in the 3rd inning and asking who half the players are in the locker room during post game interviews) but at least they aren’t so damn pretentious about their medium. (Also- the exception to this rule is the guys at channel 2 who show up to WAY more games than the other networks and actually have an idea what the hell is going on with the team before they walk in the building.)
I do feel sorry for columnists in a way though. If I spent 30 years working my way up from phoning in bowling scores and covering high school track meets to become a columnist and finally get my opinions out there and a bunch of bloggers came along and stole my thunder right as I reached that goal, I’d be bitter about it too. And really, as much as I love blogs and defend them to old media who don’t ‘get it’ every day, there is A LOT of pure crap being published online.
Blogging isn’t going to replace traditional media but it would be nice if in some small way, the blogosphere adopted some of traditional journalisms ethics. Does that mean we shouldn’t say ‘fuck’ in every post and make lots of dick jokes? Hell no. But hyping up unsubstantiated rumors and accepting every source as bible does more to hurt the cause than help it. Deadspin’s done a lot of good things in advancing sports blogging but it’s done it’s fair share of crap too. Remember when Leitch tried to say Pujols was linked to steroids in the Jason Grimsley affidavit? He had one source and tried to reason that it was true because the blacked out name was about the same length as Pujols. That kind of stuff wouldn’t go to press at any major outlet and when the MSM points to stuff like that as to why blogging is bad, they have a valid point.
The one good thing that came out of the Bessinger melt down is that it almost forces sports writers to confront the stupidity of some of the stuff Buzz said. The dude came off like a raving lunatic and did far more to hurt his side than help it.
In celebration of your return I think BfloBlog should sponsor Pat LaFontaine’s Hockey-Reference.com page, the just went live today. I wanted to but went with something more in my price range.
http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/kaletpa01.html
(Just needs to be approved.)
Yay! I was starting to forget why I hate Bucky Gleason so much! Thank God you’re back, Kevin!
Aside from the obvious sputtering ignorance of Bissinger, the most disappointing aspect of that whole conversation was that no one ever pointed out that blogging is not a new form of journalism, it’s a new form of publishing. The main stream media seems so stuck on the idea that every blogger aspires to be like them when we grow up. Writing a blog means that my words are published every day on a global platform- this used to be the exclusive domain of newspapers, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean I have to behave like a journalist. Blogs like Pensblog have given a voice to unabashed fandom, and I think it’s great.
289, I rescued Derek Roy from the puck bunnies who would’ve targetted him. Someone better tell Heather B. to snag Tallinder while he’s on the market…
There’s a Tallinder “4th man in” joke to be made somewhere…..
…oh, and great post!
Great post and great to see you back. I totally agree about Bucky’s nastiness and in fact I was ranting about it to my brother today. I really don’t understand why TBN seems to think this is good editorial policy. I rarely read the columns because I don’t feel the need to be insulted by bitter blowhards like Gleason and Sullivan.
I sponsored Hecht, although something tells me he would have been available for awhile.
Welcome back.
Thanks for spelling out why I hate Philly. A co-worker who’s a Wings fan thinks I’m a little unhinged when we’re talking about Philly. I just cut and pasted (giving full credit and a link) that paragraph into an email. At least now he’ll realize all Buffalo fans are a little unhinged…
I am quite sure that when Thurman signed with the Dolphins that Bucky would have written that we should root for Miami. Or maybe since Sam Aiken and Sammy Morris were on the Pats last year that we should have been cheering for New England during the playoff’s. Ughghghhh, Bucky is intolerable. If I didn’t love complaining about him so much I would never read his columns.
What the hell does Splett know? Hell, he’s one of those basement dwelling bloggers! I always love the insinuation that we’re all some weird subset of humanity…
Jon makes some excellent points, and I very much agree with this:
there is A LOT of pure crap being published online.
Will Leitch said the blogosphere is a meritocracy, and I would agree with that were it not for Hockeybuzz. Somehow, the crap written there has a very wide audience and it does a dis-service to bloggers everywhere. But generally speaking, good blogs thrive, bad ones whither and die.
Also:
Blogging isn’t going to replace traditional media but it would be nice if in some small way, the blogosphere adopted some of traditional journalisms ethics. Does that mean we shouldn’t say ‘fuck’ in every post and make lots of dick jokes? Hell no. But hyping up unsubstantiated rumors and accepting every source as bible does more to hurt the cause than help it.
I think he’s right. And that’s why BfloBlog says “fuck” often enough, but rarely mentions rumors. And again, readers find those sites that are trustworthy and go back to them again and again.
Fucking hockeybuzz does so much harm to this medium…
Yeah, I think he’s got a script that takes random available players and assigns ‘e’ ratings and teams interested to them to stir the pot.
I’d say Hockeybuzz is the exception that proves the rule but ProFootballTalk and The Big Lead are wildly successful too so we might have to amend the rule even more.
Not sure who I will miss less…Jeremy White or Bucky Gleason. When I cancel my Buffalo News on 7/1 I will say it is because of Gleason.
I pray the Blues coverage is better.
Will Leitch said the blogosphere is a meritocracy, and I would agree with that were it not for Hockeybuzz. Somehow, the crap written there has a very wide audience and it does a dis-service to bloggers everywhere.
Eklund gets a ton of readership because the mainstream journalists and talk show hosts give him credibility. Why do they do that? He allows them to cite a source and talk about what they always want to talk about, rumors. He came along at just the right time and was a single source of “news” during the strike.
Since then, talk show morons like Howard Simon think he is well connected and have him on the show to generate ratings since he pitches wild ass rumors that draw interest. At the same time, those same journalists can keep him at arms length because he’s a blogger. He is unique.
When 97Rock asked you (BFLOBlog) to come on the air to talk hockey, they seemed to get what blogs were about. A platform from which fans could talk about the game and share their views. They didn’t try to make it seem as if your goal was to be a journalist in a press box, they knew that blogs represented the voice of the fan. Which was cool.
Welcome back, Kevin. And to certain columnists, if you love Danny Briere so much, why don’t you marry him?
I think a large part of the problem with sports journalism is that they take themselves so seriously, like it never occurred to them that maybe the reason people aren’t marching on HSCB Arena with torches after Drury and Briere took off last summer is because the country is in a war, gas prices are outrageous, the economy is in the shitter, etc., so pardon the fans if we can’t get too worked up over the fact those guys are making a few more millions this year.
And do we need to write thousands of words wondering why hockey heroes like CD and DB get booed when they come back? People pay good money for a ticket, they have fun booing for the opposing team, and when those guys retire and make local appearances, they’ll get cheered again. It’s all about having fun at the game. Jesus Christ, it’s not rocket science. Who cares?
I remember listening to Sullivan on WGR a few weeks back bemoaning the popularity of Guitar Hero, why can’t these kids learn to play the real guitar, what is this world coming to, etc. And I kept thinking to myself, “Dude, you’re a sports columnist, it’s not like you’re curing cancer for us.”
He also began a sentence with this, “Maybe I’m an old fuddy-duddy …” I’m of the opinion that people who still use the term “fuddy-duddy” are officially fuddy-duddys.
Also, this blog comment was brought to you by the word FUCK.
- Sports ‘journalists’ are just bitter because their craft will be extinguished when newspapers die – at the precise moment the last remaining baby boomer passes on. Good papers will make the wholesale conversion to online format while shit papers – the vast majority – will die out.
- It doesn’t take living in Buffalo to hate everything Philthy.
- Will Young Bucky ever realize that Darcy let Briere walk because we had Gerbe? There’s only room for one resident midget.
- I would pay good money to see Chris Simon two-hand Jeremy Roenick across the face.
- I still think we should pilfer Jeff Carter.
Shit.. and yes, Kev, Young Bucky would have written “properly construct sentences,” and he would have split an infinitive, and he would have been wrong.