By Mark Vasto
King Features Syndicate
While the First Amendment will always be there and writers have always tried their best to keep sports away from the gossip on the back pages of their tabloids and broadsheets, the wall started to break in the '60s when New York reporters started reporting on Yankee brawls at the Copacabana and in the late '70s when they started reporting on cocktail straws and marshmallow salesmen. Sold papers though, didn't it?
The leading sports weblog on the Internet, Deadspin, gets its hits, too - it's probably the leading independent sports blog on the Web. A trip to Deadspin will offer viewers a fair share of rumor mongering, salacious gossip and a lot of irreverent, sarcastic takes on sports reporting that can supplement a fan's intake of statistics, standings and (hopefully) actual games watched.
Deadspin has, of course, drawn a lot of fire from the traditional media, especially as of late. Deadspin's "go for the garter" style of reporting and its easily apparent jealousy of "old media" types getting legitimate credentials into actual press boxes really seem to chap their hides. Still, it's always kind of fun seeing the old guard -- guys like Bob Costas (I'm sure Dick Enberg hasn't a clue as to who they are) get annoyed with them. They can, on good weeks, come off like the bad kids in the back of the classroom but have really nice parents.
A few weeks ago, The NY Times, ESPN and TIME magazine -- not exactly what you'd call lightweights in the media world -- took a Deadspin correspondent to task for threatening to "unload the in-box of all the sordid rumors we've received over the years about various ESPN employees." The blogger was unhappy that he wasn't getting any answers from ESPN's brass about alleged sexual harassment or misconduct at the company. Spreading rumors, for most any other "old media" bastion, would be considered "libel." What Mr. Internet was upset about was that he wasn't getting there first. As Time, ESPN and the NY Times -- all of them credentialed -- pointed out, "tough (crap)." Anyway, offering publication as retaliation is no way to get a scoop -- at least not more than one.
Did Deadspin's correspondents think they were the first to find out a "Mr. Face" for a sports network had sex with his co-worker? Were they mad for not beating CNN with a "posted 6 minutes ago via web" post?
I suppose all this soap-opera stuff matters to many, but not to me. I'd just rather watch the game. Pass me the beer and the chips and ask me if I care who Tony Romo is sleeping with. (I don't.) Throw the ball!
But that's just my Sporting View. (I knew anyway.)