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Morris’ Ibanez Story Made All Bloggers Proud
Published by MoonDog on June 12, 2009
A few days after the Raul Ibanez article written by Jerod Morris at Midwest Sports Fans created a maelstrom in the sports world, it gave me pause to ponder the big step forward Morris took for bloggers.
In my mind, the Ibanez story was more than a news item about a baseball player whom Morris singled out. It became, in effect, another opportunity, or better yet, an excuse for the mainstream media to rise up against one of our own, a big bad evil blogger.
It was also an opportunity for Morris to carry the banner, one that was initially carried by Will Leitch and to some extent the larger sports blog sites like Deadspin, Awful Announcing and The Big Lead.
The banner of which I speak is the one that Leitch never seemed comfortable carrying, the banner that encompassed the entire sports blogosphere.
In fairness to Leitch, I don’t believe it was a banner he really wanted to carry. But he was the one the mainstream media singled out and as a result, he became a defacto ambassador of sports bloggers and his appearances on programs like Costas Now was a reflection upon us all.
Morris – whom I know was fully aware of the impact his appearance would have on bloggers – took the banner and carried it onto Outside The Lines, one of the most respected sports news programs in America, and waved it in the faces of the professionals.
Not surprisingly, the deck was stacked against Morris just as it was stacked against Leitch. The segment pitted Morris against John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the author of a sneering piece regarding the Ibanez article, and Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, who authored his own piece attacking Morris.
Make no mistake, the Outside The Lines segment was situated in such a manner to promote verbal sparring between Morris – under the guise of him being the lowly, mis-informed, irresponsible blogger – and two mainstream media professionals who were there to champion the higher moral and ethical standards of professional journalists everywhere.
Even if you don’t subscribe to that notion, it can’t be dismissed that on every occasion to my knowledge, the mainstream media has never invited a blogger to participate in a discussion where a one-on-one debate takes place.
The formats Leitch and Morris were exposed to always involved multiple members of the professional media attacking them for articles appearing on their respective web sites.
Point in fact, the mainstream media doesn’t want a balanced, objective debate to take place between one blogger and one professional journalist because the possibility exists that someone like Rosenthal could lose the argument, and we certainly can’t have that happening, can we?
And despite the condescending remarks of Rosenthal, Morris withstood the verbal assault and defended his position. Rosenthal’s point – predictably supported by Gonzalez – that only they, the professional journalists, are bound or adhere to higher standards is beyond laughable.
The battle cry of responsible journalism can be attacked ad nauseum, beginning with former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather fabricating a story regarding former President George W. Bush’s National Guard service.
In fact, in a follow-up piece Morris wrote yesterday about his appearance on Outside the Lines, he linked two articles, one by Bill Simmons and the other by Howard Bryant, both of ESPN.com.
Those articles written by Simmons and Howard engaged in speculation and specifically named those the speculation was directed towards in their respective pieces, the very thing that both Rosenthal and Gonzalez chided Morris about.
Simmons and Howard represent two examples of countless articles written by professional journalists where the author has conveniently forgotten their heightened sense of ethics.
As it stands, and as it’s always stood, the mainstream media is quick to point out the supposed flaws of bloggers and blog sites in general, but seldom if ever will they attack one of their own for the same offenses.
Bill Conlin, Stephen A. Smith, Buzz Bissinger, Bob Costas and Joe Scarborough, among many others, have derided bloggers in the recent past, claiming we’re all a bunch of Cheetos-eating, skivvy-wearing, basement-dwelling denizens who are incapable of forming a coherent sentence.
The sports blogosphere withstood those attacks and carried on, supported in part by bloggers like Morris and the competition we create among ourselves. But after a relatively calm period where no one in the mainstream media lashed out against bloggers, the true colors of many professional journalists reared its head after Morris wrote his Ibanez piece.
Even more telling during is the fact bloggers have now “come into the light,” since apparently all of our basements are dimly lit, and when doing so, we’re attacked for articles we’ve written that are in many cases more insightful, objective and better researched than our professional counterparts.
Again, it’s another example of the mainstream media arguing that we hide behind screen names and avatars, then when we make a concerted effort to present ourselves publicly, we’re told, in essence, to head back down to the basement.
Bloggers were gaining a measure of acceptance by the mainstream media, most notably through the Blog Buzz feature during the morning SportsCenter telecasts on ESPN. Ironically, the very network that appeared to be extending an olive branch was the same one hosting a program where a blogger was the centerpiece of an attack by Gonzalez and Rosenthal.
I’m of the opinion that the foundation of good will built upon the gesture ESPN was making took a serious hit. While some may consider the warm fuzzy glow as being completely dim now, the fact remains just two years ago a blogger would never have been invited to participate on such a program.
Morris’ appearance on Outside The Lines only bolstered the growing legitimacy the sports blogosphere has created for individual bloggers and for all of us as a whole. Furthermore, it confirms the unwritten and unspoken fact many in the mainstream media know but are afraid to admit – that bloggers have become just as popular among the fans as are the well established sports outlets like ESPN, Fox and Sports Illustrated.
Those readers, like most of us in the sports blogosphere, are fans that grew weary of the same tired commentary we read in our local papers every morning. Fans never had an opportunity to instantly interact with the author and offer their thoughts on the subject.
From that inability to have our say on the subject sprang sites like Deadspin and The Big Lead, and voices that were silent now had the perfect medium to project their opinions.
Attached to those once silent voices are paying customers, and those customers have continually turned away from local papers and sought out the free access to information the Internet affords them.
And yet, the mainstream media continues to engage us in verbal battles even though print media is quickly becoming a thing of the past, as evidenced by the ever-dwindling subscriptions of newspapers, magazines and periodicals around the country.
And so this too shall pass, another barrage from the professionals who just don’t seem to get it. What they don’t get, or what they do realize and are too embarrassed to admit, is that we, the sports blogosphere, have arrived and aren’t going anywhere.
In fact, the only places yet for us to travel are beyond the places the professionals can’t go anymore, and that’s to the heart of what every sport on earth must have – the fans.
The fans are being served in any number of ways, by people like Morris and other bloggers that serve a purpose, regardless if that purpose is understood by the mainstream media.
Morris’ sacrifice of sorts is a badge of honor he can carry forward as he continues to produce content for his site, and we as a sports blogosphere can rally around while giving him his just due for the invaluable service he provided.
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Tagged with: Awful Announcing, Bill Conlin, Bill Simmons, Bloggers, Blogs, Bob Costas, Buzz Bissinger, Dan Rather, Deadspin, ESPN, Fox Sports, Howard Bryant, Jerod Morris, Joe Scarborough, John Gonzalez, Ken Rosenthal, Mainstream Media, MidwestSportsFans.com, MoonDog, Outside The Lines, Philadelphia Inquirer, Professional Journalists, Raul Ibanez, Sports Blogosphere, Stephen A. Smith, The Big Lead, Will Leitch
Meghan on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 11:35
It really is a big step for bloggers and regardless of the attacks at least we are being taken seriously enough by the Mainstream Media for them to feel the need to attack us. Blogging and traditional sports journalism both have a place in the new media world. I’d like to see this feud end and still be able to enjoy both mediums.
Btw, literary masterpiece!
9-to-Fried » Blog Archive » Oaky Afterbirth for June 12th on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 15:03
[...] Morris’ Ibanez Story Made All Bloggers Proud (MoodDog Sports) [...]
Paneech on Sun, 14th Jun 2009 21:04
When you back a scared animal into a corner, it does everything possible to survive. Malignant media is in trouble because of brilliant journalism online, much like the story I am now commenting on. Bravo Midwest Sports and bravo Moondog for better educating the readers of fine blogs about the perception of a blogger that the media is trying to encode.
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[...] Morris’ Ibanez Story Made All Bloggers Proud [...]
Matt Clapp on Mon, 15th Jun 2009 07:44
Sensational post MoonDog. Spot on.
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