Comments on: Buzz: YOU are Full of Excrement

By: sincekindergarten

sincekindergarten — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:04:18 +0000

Ya know what, Joe? I’ve got to re-read The Canterbury Tales again. I think I read it when I was at St. Lawrence . . . that was a sketchy semester.

By: joe

joe — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:44:17 +0000

SK, got the link, thanks … but no worries, I wrote this article before you sent me the link.

You’re right, the old media dinosaurs are a lot like bullies. Kind of sad, really … a lot of smart people, but unless they open their minds, they’ll remain bitter and unhappy, since it appears this “blog thing” will be around for a while.

I think that many of the great, classic writers — Chaucer, Swift, and Pope come to mind immediately — would be bloggers if they lived today. But then, their works are timeless, while I doubt “Friday Night Lights” will be read in English classes 300 years from now.

By: sincekindergarten

sincekindergarten — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:39:09 +0000

Joe, I sent you a link to a story on Fox Sports’ site that was written by a NFL writer there, that pretty much backed you guys up. Hopefully, that wasn’t what set you off.

You hit it on the head: What the “Old Media” fears the most is that the dialogue between the writer and the reader. It happens in political blogs, too. “Old Media” types usually think that they are the “smartest people in the room.” When they’re proven not to be, they do what any bully would do in that situation–they lash out at whoever they perceive as threatening their comfy existence.

ID sums up the options pretty well–”Either embrace it or get the hell out of the way.”

By: joe

joe — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:12:28 +0000

WELL put, ‘dude. And thanks for the support. I like to think of MetsToday as a conversation, with everyone’s input adding to the value of the site. And that is exactly what people like Buzz don’t get, and where they get frightened: a blog by definition is open dialogue between writer and reader. Buzz feels very safe writing from his pedestal and keeping his work a one-way street, giving no one the chance to respond or otherwise soil his Pulitzer Prize - winning pontifications. He’s typical of many (but not all) writers I’ve met — people more interested in themselves than in others.

Note to Buzz: the great writers tend to listen, and find excitement in the passions of others.

By: isuzudude

isuzudude — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:57:16 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly, Joe. I only lasted about 3 minutes into the “discussion” before I wanted to jump through my computer screen and strangle Buzzy Boy…and since that wasn’t an option, I stopped watching. But I definitely got the gist of what he’s trying to convey. And that is, like you say, to compare deadspin.com (a site I’ve never visited or heard of) to every blog in the world, and to lump every blogger into the same basket as the 2% of idiots who think it’s funny to do nothing but curse, ridicule, and make up lies about others online. And we all know he couldn’t be further from the truth, but he’s too pig-headed and set in his ways to educate himself on the topic.

I found it quite ironic that he and Costas accused all bloggers of being foul-mouthed poop-for-brains when they couldn’t complete a sentence without dropping an f-bomb or sounding like they knew nothing of which they were talking about.

I also find it contradictory that Buzz would imply that only the cruel, dishonest, amateurish, and inept author blogs, when many of his “competent” brethren have been involved with blogging for years. For example, Adam Rubin has a fantastic blog that is accurate, frequently updated, interactive, and enjoyable. But by Buzz’ standards, Rubin must be up to no good simply because he’s associated with the word blog. And that is entirely blasphemous.

I’m glad you chose to cover this topic, Joe, and I’m glad to see Buzz and Costas getting so much negative feedback from their attempt to discredit the international blogosphere. There is no doubt they made absolute fools of themselves, and that their way of thinking is dying by the second because the spread of information via the internet is only going to get bigger and better as the future unfolds. Either embrace it or get the hell out of the way.