Deconstructing Will Leitch, His Dead Spin - and His Private Joke on Us All
May 6, 2008
Unlike MODI, who, until his excellent post on Will Leitch and Deadspin, had never spoken ill of another blog, I don’t really give a damn. I learned early on in this affair which I took up at the behest of Henry Abbott of True Hoop so that he could view recent examples of my sports writing, that I was living on the Internet in the same place in which I exist in America.
When someone like Leitch can own the most popular destination for readers of non-Big Box sports media outlets trouble is sure to follow. I glimpsed this trouble in my previous work with a now-defunct, political-action sports website.
People purchase these machines called computers and grossly misuse them. Rather than use them as tools for personal growth and to expand their understanding of the world around them, albeit at a safe distance and therefore in a manner that allows them to approach new information at their own pace, they have largely turned them into thousand dollar telephones and ephemeral “spaces” in which they only become more entrenched in their standing beliefs and more emboldened to project the sickness that is racism into everyday being.
Ten million pages, or so, of Deadspin are “turned” every month. The vast majority of which are written by a man who tells us that his Internet raison d’etre is due to the fact that “sports have been essentially hijacked by a sports entertainment industry that hyperbolizes to promote itself.”
And yet that statement is exactly what exists in the pages that constitute the weblog that is Deadspin.
Perhaps that is Leitch’s private joke. Perhaps that’s why he stumbles and stutters each time he is confronted with the material within his blog that so panders to the white frat boy sports blogosphere - and the people of other colors who love them, or whore themselves to achieve the infamous “I was linked by Will Leitch” status (oh, the t-shirt sales…).
That this mirroring of the mainstream, under the guise of being its antithesis, is not grossly apparent to even the youngest reader of Deadspin, is, in the vacuum of lighter circumstances, a hoot. However, because it actively courts, thrives and is dependent on people who find commonality in who can “out Henny Youngman” each other (to borrow a phrase about Deadspin commenters from MODI), people who openly loathe people of color, particularly black people, and people who openly hate the fact that athletes make millions of dollars to play what they consider “children’s games,” Deadspin become serious business.
Deadspin, in effect becomes a mirror of American society.
And the image reflected isn’t pretty.
For black people who do not share the overreaching opinions of Deadspin or its visitors, the image is particularly harsh. We are not “invited” to join the legion of “Leitch’s Leeches” - not that we particularly aspire to - Leitch largely refuses to our websites and blogs.
As we have been throughout our history in America, we are marginalized by a white-owned power structure; this time a structure called, the “sports blogosphere.” That we are tolerated here is as much a fallacy as the sports blogosphere is Leitch’s “meritocracy,” as he averred on HBO’s Costas Now Town Hall Meeting on Sports and Media. If the sports blogosphere was a matter of merit Deadspin and sites of its ilk would have their place on the fringe of the sports Internet as does the National Enquirer in mainstream journalism. Sites that seek to provide the best analysis of the sports we watch provide the most insight into the sports and the people within sports would be the places viewed most. Sites that reveal heretofore hidden perspectives or little-represented perspectives would be popular, Perhaps the best of the Deadspins would peek through and have a place at the table, but it in no way could dominate that table.
That black bloggers who do not toe the sports blogosphere, mirror of the mainstream party line are relegated to its fringes speaks loudly to the fact that racism rules the day.
This can be clearly seen when the mainstream’s Jason Whitlock, a white sports blogger and white commenter favorite, writes of the “Black KKK.” White people come running to Jason’s side to urge him to “go tell it on the mountain.” But let Whitlock turn his eye in another direction and critique the institution of racism. Leitch would have you believe that people’s eyes glaze over thinking, here we go again.
No. Not true.
The truth of the matter is that the silence that accompanies a Whitlock attack of racism is due to the fact that white people’s previous investment in his, ‘he’s just like us’ thought is shattered into a million pieces. So, rather than reveal that they are, in fact, hypocrites, they remain silent and lie in wait for the next Whitlock piece they can throw their racist weight behind.
Black bloggers’ hope is that here in the sports blogosphere we black bloggers would not be just tolerated. See, a person can tolerate another person and still hate him or her. No no no. We hoped that in this non-spatial space we could be accepted. Accepted and respected and listened to and engaged in meaningful and valuable conversation for our perceptions on topics like the nature of racism and collusion, and marginalization in sports.
Instead we are treated as if we do not exist. And when we do exist, we experience the absolute worst of the venomous nature of the white, frat boy blogosphere in comments; even in private emails in the form of death threats.
No, it is no accident that black bloggers who might rankle at what they see of the sports blogosphere are not at all tolerated on the Internet in a country where even the modicum of civility that comes with tolerance is expected, person to person. Yet the Internet is the place where people can pretend to be something they are not - something more than what they are. But if you take look at Leitch and his commenters you will find that too often they reveal themselves to be less than what they are; less than human, less than humane.
Oddly, all black bloggers who might not follow the prescribed path want here in the sports blogosphere - as do all black people in society, at large - is to have the ability to not give a shit about anyone else if we so choose and to still be accepted and respected ———- just like you.
When was the last time you saw a black personality of any sort whose actions, at some point in time. weren’t said to be a reflection of all black people? Or the majority of black people? Or some black people?
Wait, wrong question. When was the first time?
However, it is equally no accident that the writers who work for AOL Fanhouse, Deadspin, and their favored blogging minions, all write in a similar dumbed-down fashion. It is no accident that they have all gained popularity by largely eschewing serious sports analysis, tackling serious sports-related issues such as race and racism in and around sports, or taken any stances that would jeopardize their oh-so-close to Big Box status.
And for their purposely acting to further dumb down sport watching audiences, they are lauded rather than laughed at and dismissed by too many mainstream journalists. It is these same mainstream sports writers who privately wipe their brows in relief knowing that as long as rumor, innuendo, and opinion and analysis based on reductionist thinking rule the day on the Internet, they are safe from one less set of marauders on their collective space.
Yet these people like Leitch have the vulgar nerve to maintain that they are not mainstream.
Mainstream, ha!
Take a peek at the word “mainstream” in Roget’s and you’ll find that a synonym for mainstream is “mediocre.”
How wonderfully ironic.
But while Leitch plays his, “maybe it’s a”-joke on the world, he plays it at the expense of the beauty of what this thing called the sports blogosphere could be. He plays the joke and never takes responsibility for his actions. If he did, we would never have read the word “We” in his latest capitulation on race. He would never leave it to the masses or leave what might occur next to others. He would tell us that he now understands that he was grossly insensitive for attempting to judge the “blackness” on anyone black instead of puling on about how:
This is because we were taken aback by it; it legitimately didn’t occur to us that someone could take the impression from the book that we had some sort of problem with race.
How could you not immediately see how this smacked of white privilege?
How? Because, Will Leitch, you are the mainstream in all its fading glory.
You see, there are good writers out there in the mainstream - damn good ones. But you are correct that the mainstream seeks to engage more and more in hyperbole and because of that it compromises its integrity and the integrity of everything around it. Through this compromise it sacrifices the ability to be taken seriously. And because it is viewed with a jaundiced and skeptical eye it sacrifices the real writers out there in its field; those for whom sports writing is an art and those who are supremely adept at making a point.
Just like Deadspin does on the Internet.
(Click here for Leitch’s January 26, 2008 NPR interview with Scott Simon.)
Comments
31 Responses to “Deconstructing Will Leitch, His Dead Spin - and His Private Joke on Us All”
Got something to say?
Well, when the access to the Internet and the keys to regular use of it are dependent upon having the money for a computer and paying the bills for a DSL/cable connection, the majority of the proponents and how online life is conducted isn’t going to be a hell of a lot different than the regular ranks of American society. Sad but true, and much of sports blogging isn’t a hell of a lot different from its political brethren in terms of its treatment of race or anything else.
In my hardened cynicism, I wanted to snicker at the notion that people were supposed to use computers to enlighten, to seek out better information, to expand their knowledge of the world around them. Unfortunately, that (and everything else you’ve written here) isn’t really that funny, is it?
That was refreshing.
The fact of the matter is the mainstream is the mainstream because it SELLS–it didn’t emerge that way for no reason. ESPN is ESPN because thats what makes it money–and hell, ESPN even knows how to make money off the people that complain that ESPN is ESPN. Its inevitable in any enterprise such as this, when money is the primary motivation, that it would converge to the same mainstream. Our media is a direct reflection of us, not the other way around.
dwil (des too), great assertion about it being mainstream copying mainstream, but saying they are the opposite of mainstream (”Blackballed by ESPN” on book cover). It is actually the perfect marketing ploy that every corporation wishes to attain whether it is clothing, sneakers, or skateboards. Get the allure of cult outsider status while mimicing the insiders… Deadspin is successful because it has pulled this off… on strictly a business level the “private joke” is quite impressive… on a journalistic level, well…
MODI-
Impressive? That can’t be since it is nothing more than a replication of an already tried-and-true method. It’s actually sad that people allegedly made cynical and/or wary by mainstream corporate living and thinking could fall for the same trick — yet again. And that it could go unnoticed by people who actually claim to be watchdogs for exactly this type of activity.
Did you hear Will Leitch’s interview on NPR’s Weekend Morning Edition, when host Scott Simon called him out on the weird racist stuff in his book? It was fascinating: Like a good journalist, Scott Simon kept asking perfectly reasonable and incisive questions about why Leitch makes all these vaguely racist comments about black athletes, and Leitch completely fell apart under the scrutiny. You can hear the interview here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18442541
haelig-
Yes, I had a piece that totally revolved around that interview all ready to go, but had to scrap it because of Leitch’s post…. tell you what, I’ll add the link to it at the end of this piece.
well, what “impressive” is not that he used a tried and true method of achieving “outsider status” while actually being an insider, but only that he pulled it off. Many try that method, most fail. So i guess I’m saying that he is smart enough to know just how dumb people are, and how to manipulate them. Some people can’t do it because they aren’t smart or savvy enough, many other can’t because their integrity will not allow them. I am comparing Will to the first group.
dwil, I really don’t want to make too much of my last point which was incidental at best. I want to be clear about that. The broader and more important points that you make in your excellent deconstruction supercede the business acumen point.
I read Leitch’s post.
He tried to do something substantive, and compared to his early remarks on race this was much better. But, Dwil’s right, the fact that he kept using the royal “we” bothered me. If he had just said “I did this or I did that” then it would have been so much better.
Anyway, if you want to run with the mainstream media comparision to Deadspin; don’t mainstream outlets always mishandle racial issues in a way that drives up viewers or readers, and then write mea culpas after the fact that also drive up viewer interest? A cynical person would say that Will has the formula down pat, but I’m not that cynical.
What bothered me about Leitch’s “admission” post was when he stated that if he ever spoke for black people again, to tell him to be quiet. Well, does that mean he speaks for white people? To me, a man speaks for himself, it’s up to others to agree with him or not.
Like his idol Kurt Cobain, Leitch is a reluctant leader. Look at his past work, all woe-is-me depressive writing. There is nothing wrong with that, but people shouldn’t expect him to write the next revolutionary manifesto.
Dwil,
After watching Costas I also started to think about Deadspin as the National Enquirer of sports blogs. The thing you must remember about the Enquirer is that it is one of the most read ‘newspapers’ in the country. Whenever someone uses there popularity as proof that they must be doing something right, I remind myself that Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice sold 10 million albums each. I guess that makes them quality artists.
Big Man, about your cynical question… I think that the answer is in the future. Will he use his platform for his own or any other thoughtful links on race matters… I hope that he does… it remains to be seen, but might provide your answer…
Jordi, excellent point, however, if Will was trying to speak as a generalization for his own repeat commenters, then he would be correct… and of course, he should not be counted on for any manifesto’s, but requesting that he raise the bar a little bit is something that we could all ask…
spaceghost, great points
space-
you’re right about the nat’l en being most read; it’s the correlation I was trying to make…. and if you look around the “arts” landscape, though you don’t see Milli anymore, you sure see a lot of vanilla - and a lot of popular crap - just look at the biggest of the sports Big Box.com down to the blogs.
It’s just really insane to me that peeps can turn to this tool and pretend to be a source that is independent and different from the MSM spin they so despise, but end up emulating what they say they so dislike.
I’m trying to figure out why anyone in their right mind would want Deadspin to address racial issues. Will’s not particularly good at writing about race. And the forum seems completely inappropriate for it.
Decent article Dwil.
My favourite point was when you mentioned how he uses the royal “we” in all his posts on Deadspin.
Whenever I see that written on the site, I check the author of the post to see if it was a group project. I really hate that they refer to themselves as we, unless they all agree on what they post. If that was the case, than Bissinger made a good point when he brought up a post by another Deadspin writer. Leitch responded by saying he doesn’t stand for everything the other writers post.
Than why continually refer to yourself as “we”?
Another thing I want to address is when fringe writers become mainstream.
My favourite sports blogger is Dave Zirin. I find his writing the most eloquent and influential by far. I mean, Howard Zinn is letting him use his People’s History title for his upcoming sports book.
I’m sure Dwil and Modi know that Zirin is now a SI writer. Some of his weekly columns have been featured on their website (i don’t read the mag, so I don’t know if it’s been in there as well).
However, I’ve noticed that the majority - and often the most important - of his articles don’t make it to SI.
This is disheartened me enough to ask Zirin about it in an email. I presume it’s because they think his writing is too controversial, but I wanted to hear it from him. Unfortunately, he never replied.
And shiiiit, I just listened to the Leitch NPR interview.
I guarantee he regrets agreeing to that interview afterwards. Very good interviewer.
I came at Leitch’s appearance on Costas in the reverse order of sequence. The first thing I saw were the posts from his supporters lamenting on how shabbily he was treated. Later that afternoon I heard Costas interview Bissinger. That evening I watched the segment. With each succeeding encounter, I had a more negative view. That is the first and only time I’ve ever heard/seen Mr. Lietch. I can assure you it will hopefully be the last. He reminds me of a younger, more flippant, smugger Tucker Carlson.
He is just one of the many frat rats inside and outside of large commercial media and so many sports blogs that lacking the talent and seriousness to do any damn thing else, they spend endless hours dehumanizing and ridiculing athletes. Especially Black athletes. I have little use for Costas’ snobbery and effete hyper-criticism of Barry Bonds that stems from that snobbery as a result. But his observations on the vast majority of sports blogs as being little more than a cesspool for the belligerent, envious, and just plain hateful was exactly right.
Anyway after watching Mr Bissinger rightfully berate the stuttering, stammering court jester of Sports Blogs, I felt I was fairly singular in my absolute antipathy for this Leitch. Guys like Leitch do reflect the views of their posters, so his attempted hand-washing was pathetic. He does set the tone. As Dwil sets the tone here.
There is a huge difference though. SOMM appeals to the deepest recesses of our thought processes and forces many us to examine and re-examine or beliefs, our knowledge, and our world view. And regardless of how many visitors a toxic wasted dump such as Dead Spin has, Mr. Leitch can never ever make that claim. But you have to ask yourself who has done the citizenry the most good. Who has contributed to society as whole. Who has provided context to the great sports stories of our time? Who provides the framework for passing the lessons learned from these stories on to the next generation?
Thoughtful non-mainstream truth, is rarely popular. It takes people out of their comfort zone, and that is one thing Dwil is quite capable of doing; making people uncomfortable with their false preconceived ideas. Mr. Lietch may get bragging rights over a bigger list of unique DNS’, but he is no better than the smut peddlers in the end. So the question you have to ask yourself, is who are you better served by? The answer is obvious.
Dwil brilliant! Deadspin is full of more of the same. The biggest tragedy though is the sheer lameness of the millions of people within the community. This is the same crew that loves Jim Rome, who became famous when he got punked out by Jim Everett on national T.V. for calling him Chris Everett the woman’s tennis player. The shtick was lame then, it’s lame now.
I challenge you to find a decent comment on that site.
“I’m trying to figure out why anyone in their right mind would want Deadspin to address racial issues. Will’s not particularly good at writing about race.”
Myron, because his audience are probably not reading or be swayed by D-Wil’s shit, aren’t perusing The Starting Five, and don’t have “The Invisible Man” on their bookshelves. Change must also come from within the frathouse.
Leitch need not be serious cultural critic to point out some very obvious racial double standards. In fact, he did a little bit of his book (which i read most of to get a better feel of him before writing about him). In the book — despite the egregious parts mentioned in the NPR video, there were also parts where he pointed out the absurdity of Carmelo Anthony’s one punch defining the entire NBA, the no-win plight of the black sportswriter, and how guys David Eckstein gets unfair hustle points because of his whiteness. He is more cognizant of some things than he portrays on his website.
A white writer doesn’t have to be Ralph Wiley to point out that the sky is blue. I believe that Leitch would do this more often on his website if he wasn’t worried about pandering to his retarded audience. Im my mind — as Wilbon stated in the Costas show — it is an obligation of the white sports writer. As for serious and in depth cultural analysis, there are plenty of articles in the sports blogosphere that he could link to — starting with about 100 articles from D-Wil.
Yeah, I agree MODI, that book of his was pretty good. Will showed a decent awareness of race/gender/religious issues in sports. You can’t tell me that he’s some ignorant country boy–there’s no way. (I reviewed the book, and pointed out the difference between “Deadspin Will” and “Book William” http://mcbias.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-review-of-will-leitchs-god-save.html ).
And about races–I’ve mostly gone to school with whites and Asians, and just have a few black friends. That doesn’t mean it’s hard to put myself in their shoes or listen when they talk. Nice comment on “sky is blue”, MODI. And if Will doesn’t feel comfortable talking about that stuff–then just link to those who do. I mean, look at D-Wil’s Benson coverage–it’s cut and dry, a clear example of police brutality on a young, wealthy, black athlete. I understand that the mainstream may shy away from the hottest issues (Bonds), but you HAVE to talk about the Benson story! (In case it’s not obvious, I’m rather angry about what happened. Benson is going to be cut by the Bears and lumped with Tank Johnson now?! The unfairness is breathtaking.)
E-
Shoot me an email, please….. mesoanarchy@gmail.com.
I wrote a piece after seeing Leitch on Best Damn but tilted my thoughts toward the mainstream media’s fear, or what I personally perceive as their fear, of bloggers and the growing influence we have.
I’m in the process of writing another piece about Leitch focusing on why I don’t believe he’s what he’s cracked up to be. I sense from your article, which is excellent btw, that Leitch’s comments on the NPR segment were particularly troubling for you personally.
You wrote an interesting paragraph that really stood out:
“When was the last time you saw a black personality of any sort whose actions, at some point in time. weren’t said to be a reflection of all black people? Or the majority of black people? Or some black people?”
I honestly believe you could insert the words white, asian, latino or any other race and ask the same questions.
I personally don’t need Leitch to speak for me as a blogger nor do I believe he should continue to serve as the ordained spokesman for the blogosphere. Last time I checked, I didn’t elect him.
Again, excellent piece. I really enjoyed it.
Moon Dog,
I don’t think that you can substitute “white” at all. But forget my opinion, if you are to peruse “ESPN Conversation” comment section when a white athlete messes up vs. when a black athlete messes up… the answer becomes all too clear.
MODI - I think you’d have to admit the perception has, to a certain extent, been brought about by black athletes endearing themselves to the hip hop/”gangsta” crowd. If you’re going to project an image in any professional sports league - all of which are covered 24/7/365 by the media - any missteps a player makes is going to be magnified.
I’m not suggesting it’s right. I am suggesting that if an athlete, black or white, does something stupid, then they’ve brought that upon themselves. I don’t see it as black or white. Pacman did stupid things, as did Chris Henry and Vick. Clemens is knee deep in it the muck right now and could potentially damage his chances of being elected to the HOF.
I hear what you’re saying but I don’t see it in the same light.
MoonDog, I certainly would agree that some athletes bring disrepute upon themselves by how they portray themselves as want-to-be tough guys. But what I don’t like is when a black athlete with a mostly clean record gets arrested in shady circumstances (Dominic Davis? of the Colts for loitering in a nightclub parking lot late at night, Cedric Benson on a so-called safety check) and immediately, I see non-black guys sneering and jumping to all sorts of conclusions. Or, take how Tejada as a Hispanic was jumped for exaggerating his birth certificate…but when was the last time a white or black basketball player got called out for deliberately flunking a grade in school so he can play against players a year younger? (happens all the time). That’s where I see racism.
Sorry moondog but the way these things are covered are totally different. Lets take how it was reported that Troy Brown had taken money as a freshman. It was brought up everytime that he played. Even when he won teh heisman.
How about Colt Brennan being arrested and locked up for 8 days for breaking in entering and sexual assault. This has never been mentioned in the media NEVER.
Or how about the white athlete that played for Utah State basketball team. He did 5 years in prison for rape. After he did his 5 years he went on to pkay 4 years for Utah State, Trust me if that was a black player this would have been all on the news.
Also what do you mean by the hiphop/thug culture??? Does this mean wearing dreads or having tattoos? This has nothing to do with rap. Nor does getting in trouble.
So where the players that got in trouble for the 90s cowboys into the hiphop thug crowd? Where the Pitsburg Pirates who were doing coke in the 70s part of the hiphop thug crowd?
Where the fans that threw beers on artest before and after the brawl started part of the hiphop thug crowd??
Or how about when Andy Reid’s (who were real thugs) where selling drugs and carrying guns. Where they part of the hiphop thug crowd?
When you say things like that its foolish.
moondog, in addition to MC’s and origin’s points…
Clemens is a perfect example. Whatever he does will only effect Roger Clemens and Roger Clemens only… no other white athletes will be guilty by association whether they walk like Roger, talk like Roger, dress like Roger, dance like Roger, eat like Roger, sleep like Roger, or listen listen to the same music as Roger… same goes for Tim Donaghy, Chris Benoit, or the latest white St. Louis Cardinal to be involved with alcohol/drugs. Thus is the privilege of being white. I, like you, have benefitted quite nicely from this lack of guilt-by-same-skin-color…
That “perception” that you speak of is just that: a “perception problem”. In other words, the fault lies 100% on the one doing the perceiving. If that person can’t differentiate between two athletes who have tattoos, or like a certain music, or dress a certain way, that is THEIR “perception problem”.
This “perception problem” is no small issue. It gets Cedric Benson maced, Sean Bell killed, and a mass media pissing all over Sean Taylor as he lay on his death bed… Putting responsibility on the athlete is only a mechanism to avoid looking within ourselves and confronting our own unfair biases… biases that can often have deadly consequences…
Brotha MODI you put that so eloquently. As always on point man.
Anyway I just wanted to correct myself. The guy from Utah State served 8 years in prison for rape.
Modi I am sure you, Dwil and Mcbias would certainly like to have this info.
Like I said Modi I will begin to save a lot articles I run into just for you.
Here is a link to his bio and the incident.
http://utahstateaggies.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/pak_david00.html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060316/news_1s16pak.html
Origin - First, I think you meant Troy Smith, not Troy Brown. I can’t agree with the examples you’re using. To compare an obscure basketball player at Utah State to anyone is like comparing me to Bill Conlin. We’re talking about high profile athletes, people who are, like it or not, representatives of their teams and the leagues they play in. Should they be held to a higher standard? Yes. And not just the black players. ALL of them.
Yes, I absolutely believe the image one wishes to portray and a lifestyle a person chooses to lead can be directly attributed to one’s actions, especially if those actions are a direct reflection of what that person has portrayed.
You also used the example of Artest and the fight that broke out. OK. Was not Artest a problem child long before that fight broke out? Since he had off the court problems that incident made him easy fodder for the media. When you do things that bring attention to yourself, and when that attention puts you in a bad light, is it the media’s fault?
What I don’t hear mentioned here is accountability. Vick, Henry, Tank Johnson, Pacman and Artest are but a few examples of athletes getting involved in things that run the gamut from a bad decision to the incredibly stupid. Vick, that was beyond stupid. Did he deserve what he got from the criminal justice system? Yes. Did he get what we all knew he was going to get from the media? Yes. And had any high profile athlete been involved in something like that, the media frenzy would have been the same.
You guys have given me inspiration to write a few articles in the future along these issues we’ve discussed. Thanks for giving me that inspiration and I’ve enjoyed debating this with you.
Moondog, the dialogue is important. And while I disagree with points you made, I will not belabor them all, but address the larger issue here which is that you may be confusing three completely separate issues.
1) Accountability: Your last post brings this up, but this subject was never actually being debated — so there would be absolutely no reason for you to hear it being “mentioned” from any other commenter. Others may disagree, but I, for one, agree with the suspension given to Artest, which is clearly a position of accountability since Artest lost millions of dollars as a result. However, “accountability” is not the issue that I had with the coverage. If Artest was treated like an INDIVIDUAL and an INDIVIDUAL ONLY then he would have received his suspension and everyone would have shut up and gone home to watch some basketball. But that is not what happened.
2) The “Perception Problem”: The crime of the Artest coverage is that he was used to define an entire league, and an entire race. Everything became the NBA’s “image problem” instead of “Ron Artest’s problem” or the fans “perception problem”. The very next year a chair was thrown into the stands by a baseball player and the league did not suffer. As I stated earlier, this is an exclusive racially-biased dynamic that white athlete’s just don’t face, and this is what was being discussed.
3) Consistency: speaking of Vick you state “had any high profile athlete been involved in something like that, the media frenzy would have been the same.” …what exactly do you base this statement on? Chris Benoit murdered his wife and child — a far more gruesome offense than Vick and he was out of the news in two weeks. Tim Donaghy’s offense was far more potentially impactful to his sport than Vick and that story also disappeared. Is it because Vick is a hi-profile football star? Not at all. Pacman Jones has only 4 more interceptions than you and he is in the news for any minor transgression — even traffic tickets. Once you realize that the white customers — consciously or subconsciouly — enjoy reading more, clicking more, and commenting more on the misdeeds of black athletes, then and only then you will realize that Pacman Jones is not merely an athlete, but a tool for profit and increased advertising. http://www.cosellout.com/?p=56
Finally, your list provided 5 black athletes, but could have just have easily contained 5 misbehaving white athletes. And this goes back to the consistency issue that we were addressing. Whether consciously or subconsciously — you did not pick a random sample — but a sample that we have been inundated with by mainstream media coverage. Anyway, I’m happy that you have found inspiration here for future writing, I hope that inspiration comes from issues we are talking about rather than ones we are not.
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origin, thanks for saving articles… the research is always helpful… especially since these articles tend to disappear quickly…
I finished the Leitch article I mentioned I was going to write. I am absolutely going to use the inspiration from our discussion to address future articles on race and sports, and the comments you and others made regarding the chick pics I have. I’m going to take an interesting perspective on that subject, one that will offer a very reasonable counter argument.
I don’t have time at the moment to address your latest comments, but I’ll be checking in with you regularly.