The WSJ speaks to Costas about his HBO show today, and the entire first half of the article is Costas' obligatory rehash of Bissinger's tirade. I'm sure he will never tire of discussing it! And he has obviously perfected his equivocation on the issue by now:

"The truth," says Mr. Costas, "is that this issue was a powder keg waiting to explode somewhere, and ours just happened to be the match that set it off. I think Buzz realizes he did a disservice to the journalistic standards he was claiming to uphold by jumping on Will that way. At the same time, it's easy for many of those in the blogosphere to dismiss Buzz's outburst as representative of the objections the mainstream sports media has to the excesses of the Internet.

Interesting. Any further "on the one hand, on the other hand" formulaic statements of diplomacy you'd like to make, Bob?

"Put it this way: Though I would have preferred more light and less heat on the subject, I think we did a service by putting the issue out there to be discussed. And it won't be the last time that we'll be discussing it. Next time we'll be better prepared. For now, I'll leave it at this — though Buzz is a friend, those who suggest that he was expressing my views on sports blogs are wrong." His own feelings about the Internet, say Mr. Costas, echoing Alan Ladd's gunfighter in "Shane" on the subject of his weapon, is that "it's just a tool. No better or worse than the person using it."

Then he describes his next show, which sounds incredibly boring in comparison.

[WSJ]

The main criticism of the Sporting News' strategy is that its newsletter will come out in the morning, while rabid sports fans will probably have gotten their fill of the news the previous night. It's certainly possible that the entire comeback will be a colossal failure. But getting one of the sports world's most high-profile bloggers on staff (once again—Leitch worked there ten years ago) was a pretty savvy move for the old folks. People will be forced to link to them now!

Publisher Ed Baker's defense of the morning newsletter:

"What if a player gets arrested or traded? Things happen overnight," he said in response to Mr. Padwe's comment. "And if the Mets are on the West Coast playing the Dodgers, how many people stay up till 1 to find out the score?"

Here's hoping for plenty of arrests!

[NYT]

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).

[The Big Lead]

BuyCatch: So my apologies for not being able to chat with you more last night, Ms. Gould. It is difficult for a shy boy like myself to cut through your fanbase.
Memily: Heh, fanbase. [Note: Emily doesn't actually have a fanbase — Will is employing a literary device called "hyperbole."] I don't think either of us really has the fanbase of Prom King John Green! [Note: John Green wins awards for his writing and also is just generally very endearing, so he's like a rock star among his fellow YA writers.] The funniest part is how much some of the ladies there OBVS hate his wife.
BuyCatch: Ha.
Memily: "You stole our dream date John Green! We hate you!"
BuyCatch: That is absolutely true. I think by the end of the night he was kissing babies and signing boobs.
Memily: It's such an interesting scene. I mean, it's actually a scene!
BuyCatch: Yeah, I never realize there's a scene until I actually show up at one of those. Someone who I'd never met told me last night, "I thought your story really didn't fit with what they were doing with this book. It's a little too adult." Hey, good to meet you too!
Memily: Who SAYS something like that? Oh: hopeless loser dorks.
BuyCatch: I suspect there are some unresolved high school issues amongst some of that crew. Just a guess.
Memily: What tipped you off, the evening of tiara'd swaying to 'In Your Eyes'? The, uh, CAREERS IN YA NOVEL WRITING? I know unresolved high school issues are what led me there!
BuyCatch: Yeah. Someone else, at another reading a few months ago, mentioned that they didn't think, because I was writing another book that wasn't YA, I was "devoted" enough to "what we're doing." It's a cause!
Memily: I'm so disturbed yet oddly charmed by that.
BuyCatch: Of course, I also had five different people last night ask me where my wife was, so I suppose I've done an effective job of avoiding them for a while. [Note: for a while last year it seemed like Will might get married, and then it didn't.]
Memily: Those people clearly haven't been keeping up with YA AUTHOR SCANDALSHEET WEEKLY magazine.
BuyCatch: I know. You know, the people who run that magazine, they're all parasites. They're all going to hell.
Memily: They should really think about what they're doing with their lives.
BuyCatch: They really should. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LEAVE ME BE.
[later]
BuyCatch: Does 'settling scores with old girlfriends' count as "unresolved high school issues?" I suppose it probably does.

Deadspin editor Will Leitch's THE BALLAD OF RON MEXICO: Why ESPN, yellow bracelets, fantasy leagues, and yes, bloggers, have ruined sports for real fans and how we can get them back, a humorous call to arms in which the ringmaster of the influential sports blog punctures today's out of control jockocracy and offers a blueprint how to put the fun back into our games, to David Hirshey at Harper, in a pre-empt, by Kate Lee of ICM.

Some pre-empts require little explanation [GalleyCat]

Cardinals Put Tigers on the Brink [NYT]

Detroit Tigers Offer You Opportunity To Be Free of Us For a Day
A Friendly Wager, If You Will [Deadspin]

Mets finish in unhappy Endy [NYDN]

Per ESPN editorial policy, the use of "underground" web sites as a source of credible information within any ESPN platform is strongly discouraged. Specifically speaking, the use of the site "Deadspin.com" as a source of credible information is not allowed under any circumstance. As always, any breaking hard news story off of any site must be approved through the proper channels.

Please see me or another programming manager if you have any questions or seek clarification on the web sites called into question. Thank you.

Probably a good move on their part. We've read Deadspin, and, man, it's all lies. Will Leitch doesn't even like sports. Sadly, other publications with less commitment to truth, like the New York Times, continue to print any old crap that comes across their desks.

Coming To You Live From The "Underground" [Deadspin]
Birds of Pray [NYT]

"As a kid I thought Bagelfest was the coolest thing in the world," the 1993 Mattoon High School graduate said during a phone interview from his New York City residence. "I remember riding a bike around town for bagels. And you'd eat one while riding. I remember being excited about meeting Murray Lender. He was the guy who had his name on the bagels."

We're gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Mattoon High is some kind of "special" school.

Congratulations, Will.

'I thought Bagelfest was the coolest thing in the world' [jg-tc]

Related: Please Don't Make Us Lonely In July [Deadspin]