Buzz Bissinger is an angry man (and he has a potty mouth)

Think it can get testy between mainstream media and technology blogs? Take a break from that Twitter debate and head over to the sports world.

Tuesday night, HBO's "CostasNow" put a harsh light on sports blogging (you can see the segment yourself). The highlight was a panel discussion with Costas, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards, Will Leitch, editor of the sports blog Deadspin, and H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger, author of the book Friday Night Lights, which was later turned into a movie and television series.

Bob Costas shined a harsh light on sports blogging.

(Credit: HBO)

The segment was stunning for two reasons: One; Costas either didn't know or didn't bother to note the difference between comments on blogs posts and the actual blog posts (Come on Bob, you're supposed to be the most intelligent sports commentator today. What's the deal?). Two; Bissinger is an angry, angry man. In an expletive-filled tirade the author-I-used-to-admire ranted, raved and generally appeared unhinged by the sports blogosphere.

That Bissinger didn't see the irony in dropping f-bombs while decrying the profanity of blogs is certainly interesting to note. By comparison, Leitch, the guy who is supposed to be responsible for so much blog pollution, was polite and thoughtful. That appeared to annoy Bissinger, who noted, "You're sort of like Jimmy Olsen on Percoset." Check out the video for yourself. All I can say is, thank God it was on HBO, or the guy with the "bleep" button would still be icing his hand.

I exaggerate, of course--but not much.

Bissinger's best-known book, Friday Night Lights, isn't just good sports writing, it's an important piece of journalism. Unfortunately, none of the insight, sensitivity or clear-headed thinking he shows in his writing was on display on the Costas show. All viewers saw was an older guy worried he's getting marginalized by a new generation of writers who don't play by his rules (and different = bad).

Now let's dispense with the caveats: Do some sports blogs stink? Sure. Just like some tech blogs do - and a lot of them are excellent (Just like plenty of tech blogs. I put Deadspin somewhere in the middle). Are some sports bloggers full it when they say they don't want the access mainstream sportswriters get because it will taint their opinions? Of course they are. Offer 12 of them an interview with Lakers star Kobe Bryant, and I guarantee 12 of them will agree to do it. And yes, more than a few comments on Deadspin are crude, cruel, or both. Unlike most tech blogs, which like News.com remove a comment if it's reported to be offensive, sports blogs often aren't so concerned about keeping the conversation constructive.

Of course, debates like the one on the Costas show are framed in hyperbole. Sports blogs don't mean the death of in-depth sports writing. Sure, the more gossipy sports blogs may have more readers than the thoughtful ones, but there's nothing new there: People magazine has always had plenty more readers than The New Yorker. That doesn't mean People is about to put The New Yorker out of business. There's room for both.

To his credit, Bissinger allowed that "there are some good blogs out there. But they are few and far between." But if his behavior Tuesday night is something to which a young generation of writers is supposed to aspire, well, maybe young sportswriters do need to find a new way of doing things.

[tdaloisio]

Deadspin

I would be interested to know what sports blogs rank higher than Deadspin on your list? I don't like how they often cater to the lowest common denominator of sports topics, but Will has excellent perspective on the industry.

Deadspin does rank first in Ballhype's sports blogs rankings: http://ballhype.com/blogs/ which uses a Techmeme style system to capture "blog hype".

Overall it is a fascinating time in the media landscape (tech and sports included).

[tcgathens]

There are many sports blogs better than Deadspin...

and Deadspin ranks highest on BallHype because of word of mouth, not necessarily because their content is always so good. Yes, there are some gems on Deadspin, buried amongst the other tripe.

I address this and Bissinger's tirade at http://sportsontheair.blogspot.com/2008/04/bissinger-is-such-buzz-killer.html

Oh and before you look, our BallHype ranking is only 810, but I would rather take that ranking over one higher based on the display of skin and hype on many of the higher ranked sites. My measure of success is based on where our site visitors come from.

[muskratboy]

Well, actually...

... Bob Costas DOES differentiate between blog posts and comments. repeatedly. Like, at least 3 times he says something like "now, these are the comments, not the actual post." so... good reporting there, jim... way to pay attention.

And this is actually way bigger than just sports blogs. take ANY comment area on ANY topic on the Internet, and it will eventually degrade into some kind of flame war. Has Bissinger never read anything but sports comments? that's the INTERNET, not sports blogs.

Now, why people in comment sections devolve into psychotic flamer-trolls... well, that's a whole other issue. That's an issue with humanity / culture / society. Not just sports blog's comments.

Now... flame away! woo!

[stevebody]

Bisinger Eats Leitch

I'm in my mid-50s and worked as a journalist for many years. As such, I could be expected to do a back-slapping apology for Buzz Bissinger and try to explain away his bombastic sermon as a traditionalist flailing against technology. The truth is that Bissinger's rant is as old as journalism itself and was NEVER justified by anything. It's simple bad manners and arrogance and should be treated as such. One of the reasons I'm not a journalist, anymore, is that I got fed up with that stiff-necked, down-the-nose attitude that says that writing is a sacred quest, best left to the professionals and NEVER to be entrusted, in any form beyond the occasional letter to the editor, to the Great Unwashed. Young writers lucky enough to be hired by a newspaper or magazine were expected to shut the F___ up for a decade or so and learn from their betters, conveniently ignoring that the vitality of their imaginations is exactly what the veteran writers so frequently lack. They worship structure and correct form and most manage to pack in about as much emotional content as the nutrition info on a Twinkie. There are a lot of Bissingers out there, lacking only an invitation to Costas' show to find their own spectacular meltdown on youtube. Will Leitch, writing on deadspin, showed what I thought was remarkable restraint in his handling of Bissinger's baloney, saying how much he liked his books and how he really hoped that whatever was eating Buzz would heal up soon. It won't. What NOBODY - well, that's an exaggeration: very few - veteran journalists refuse to understand is that writing was ALWAYS man's primary means of expressing himself in any way that has permanance. Spoken words rely only on the hearer's memory and receptiveness. Writing is far more permanent. And back when we all scratched our wisdom on stone tablets, anyone could play. Then, along came ink and presses and, for 600 years, it was the sole provense of those who owned those resources. With the internet, the written word is finally back in the hands of those who were supposed to own it in the first place: YOU and ME. Certainly, there are utter fools and jackasses who write blogs, just like there were fools and ***** who owned and edited newspapers. But there is also an OCEAN of witty, funny, thoughtful, wise, touching content that deserves to be written AND read...and, at long last, we can ALL find it - IF we're not too lazy. Bissinger, for all his talent, lives in that country-clubby past...and he rails at Leitch as being the "future"? Guess what, Buzz? The future is here NOW.

[muskratboy]

In the old days of journalism...

... had they not yet invented line breaks?

[ghost_7]

Bissinger was right

He was right, even if he was an ass in making his point. The egalitarian nature of the internet has allowed some great, a lot of mediocre, a lot of bad and, unfortunately, some real crap on a level not disseminated to as wide an audience before its existence.

He has a right to be angry in the sense that anonymity allows people on the internet a cowardly nastiness that most wouldn't do face to face.

What you missed is that Bissinger didn't post an anon message but looked the guy in the eye. Maybe not to you, but that still means something to a lot of us.

[titanfan01]

OK, I don't want to see another "Friday Night Lights"So this Pompous Ass is what we all hate.He (Bizz or Buzz who cares)said dumbing down, but its sports you dummy ,Biz, LOL you made fun of a job that is redundant. Does he understand?

[benjaminstraight]

benjamin straight writes: Wow.