Gawker
Buzz Bissinger, the excellent sportswriter and blog hater who made himself a very unpopular man very quickly by becoming unhinged and cussing out nice-guy Deadspin editor Will Leitch on TV last week, has had some time to think about what he did. And he's sorry now. First his wife told him he looked bad. Then everybody else did. "I started reading emails sent to me. The majority were predictably vindictive — dickhead, horsefucker, douchebag, windbag, ugly, stupid, etc. But what struck me far more is that many of the emails were smart, not laced with personal invective, and made cogent points about sports blogs and the Internet." He has perhaps now learned a valuable lesson, or three!
While Bissinger still professes to believe in his core argument—that sports blogs are the devil—he apologizes for cussing and yelling and generally acting like a crazy person on Bob Costas' HBO show.
I believe in what I said (although the emails I received have also directed me to some excellent information-based sports blogs I was not aware of). But I made a terrible mistake in the manner in which I said it. I am a man of passion and my passion truly got the better of me. I should have considerably toned it down, in particular in terms of my treatment of Will Leitch.
Then he apologizes to Will Leitch again. He must been worn down by Leitch's unflaggingly polite Midwestern disposition!
What is ironic, and embarrassing, is that I directed gratuitous profanity at Will Leitch. And no question - that did undermine the points I was trying to make. Valid points in my mind.
And Bissinger's final bit of very accurate wisdom, in a comment on another sportswriter who disagreed with him:
I think Joe said that because he blogs now and doesn't want to piss off bloggers off (trust me on this on the basis of experience, he is smart not to want to piss off bloggers).
Comments
His beady eyes are burning into me.
And mine are burning into him.
It's funny how the PTI guys are very careful about any mention of bloggers. At least Tony is - Wilbon might be a little more bold about it.
Let's send them all to Mrs. Coach's office and get this thing taken care of.
He looks like Renko on Hill Street Blues, also a barely hinged sparkplug.
@fiveinchtaint: has ESPN ever mentioned deadspin?
will was even nice that time i tried to sleep with his girlfriend.
(true story by the way)
@bess marvin, girl detective: I'm not sure, but I have to think they've been mentioned at some point. I've never heard it on PTI, which is the only show I watch regularly.
Wow. It's kind of refreshing to see someone offer a seemingly genuine apology for acting like an asshole, right? It's also kind of sad that it's kind of refreshing to see someone offer a seemingly genuine apology for acting like an asshole, right?
"I am a man of passion and my passion truly got the better of me." The horsefuckers' creed.
What does Buzz Lightyear Dillinger think about sportstalk radio?
I just started reading the e-mails sent to me, and they were pretty predictable too.
You know, the usual stuff — buttface, douchebag, skank , whore, bitch, slut, bastard, jerk, dolt, moron, tool, numbnuts, chump, bonehead, idiot, git, bitch, twat, dumbass, asswipe, jackass, putz, trollop, twit, dipshit, pussy, loser, schmuck, dingleberry, dork, spaz, crotchstain, nappy headed ho, jizzbeard, butt nugget, ratbag, cum guzzler, jerk off, punk, assbag, turd, pantywaist, nimrod, ass pirate, sucker, assclown, peckerhead, strumpet, goon, poofter, turd burglar, wuss, jarhead, butthead, numbskull, meathead, peasant, fairy, teabagger, fatass, etc.
I did see one intelligent-looking message, though. It was from some banking dude from Nigeria.
@MisterHippity: Tee hee.. you said "peasant"!
@fiveinchtaint: Yeah, Wilbon has come out and trashed bloggers in general, not Deadspin in particular. He actually was in a taped segment of that "Costas Now" show where Bissinger went haywire.
PTI has mentioned Deadspin a couple of times, as a source for news.
It's good this debate happened. As we all know, sportswriting is the most important thing in the fucking universe.
It's so sad to see these giant media figures that we've grown up with be so predictably defensive and hostile whenever they have one of these "internet: good or bad" segments which are on every day now. They're threatened and they know it. But instead of changing, which is what every fit human does to survive, they insist on taking on the whole internet. Not only in their discussions is it clear they do not have a grasp of what blogs are or how they work (not being able to differentiate between the blog post and the comment posts) they have a built-in hostility that even lay-viewers can see clearly. Adapt or die, guys. Don't fight it. Stop being sad.
I nominate Buzz to be in the US version of Celebrity Rape-An-Ape!
+ Watch video
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(via Balk's tumblr)
@PickleTitsTurner: That, Nina Garcia, and the Sex and the City movie.
@Hez: Thank you for that.
@LoveHandles: he was drunk maybe?
I saw this this weekend. I'm surprised Buzz apologized. He made excellent points about the pedigree of his colleagues versus that of the multitude of bad bloggers. And that blogger kid did a really bad job trying to defend his blog and colleagues. He did an awful job trying to explain himself. Just a really bad job there. Unwatchable. Hardly spoke up on the edit I saw.
Did he think he'd go on that show and not be expected to concede that Bissinger and Costas are his superiors?
Wait. "Horsefucker" is a predictable insult?
@Nard38: It was sublime, wasn't it? And I can totally see Buzz up there in the ape suit, panicking.
As Patrick Stewart's character said on American Dad last night, "well, I guess you'll need some time off to soothe your devastated bunghole!"
@if_i_only_had_a_heart: Oh, Definitely. But I think all the writers here at Gawker (and commenters) are drunk too. So we're all on a level playing field. Virtual shot to that?
@Greg Johnson:
Did he think he'd go on that show and not be expected to concede that Bissinger and Costas are his superiors?
I don't think that's the case. I think Leitch expected a discussion rather than an unending stream of vitriol based on misinformation and poor research.
That said, I do wish Will had defended blogs more articulately with Costas and the next day on Fox Sports.
This piece does a pretty good job of it.
"Buzz" is still the name of a cartoon character. Elmer Fudd used it before he became completely bald.
Cut Buzz.
@LoveHandles: i luv friendly happy drunks
mean drunks, nyet
@MrInBetween: pretty much the excuse mccain is using for his outbursts, yep
if i didn't care much i wouldn't have hit you; here are some flowers
@Theda_Bara: Re: Wait. "Horsefucker" is a predictable insult?
It is if you're Matthew Broderick!
[rimshot] Thank you, ladies and germs ...
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