Dave Portnoy Accidentally (Or Intentionally) Shines a Light on the Polarizing Change in Beat Writers
Owner/Founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, recently wrote a book called Cancel Me If You Can, covering the story of starting and running a sports entertainment company. I’m not finished reading it yet, so don’t tell me if it ever works out for him.
Early in the book Portnoy writes “Barstool Sports was supposed to encompass anything that guys would discuss sitting around a bar watching sports. It was supposed to have the tone of a real sports fan, which was the direct opposite of how the Boston sports media was at the time.”
The time period Portnoy is referring to is around 2003.
“Traditional newspapers and sports talk radio had a monopoly on sports media. And it seemed that all the sports reporters who covered the local teams weren’t actually fans of the teams. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe openly rooted against the Red Sox. Ron Borges hated Bill Belichick and the Patriots. It was infuriating that the only media outlets covering your favorite teams were seemingly run by crusty old men who rooted and probably profited from their demise.”
The beat writers of today have the polar opposite problem. They want to protect their team access so bad that they won’t report on anything harmful to the teams they cover. Sure, you might get a report from a local San Fran moron that says the 49ers are mishandling the Brandon Aiyuk situation (I’m not calling all SF writers morons. Just the one that used my comment for engagement and then blocked me). That same writer isn’t going to address, or even acknowledge the possibility of a coverup involving a local police department, though.
And that’s the problem. For issues involving a multibillionaire organization potentially mistreating multimillionaire players, we can get some opinions and coverage. For coverups, affairs, or even police corruption - we get little (or no) coverage on issues that have impacts on real world hundredaire people like you and me. Okay, I might be a thousandaire.
Obviously I don’t want local writers that just hate their teams as Portnoy describes in his book. I remember what a bummer that negative style of reporting was (I was a kid at the time, but I remember it). There needs to be a middle ground where local writers can be fans and still have journalistic integrity. It sucks reporting on something negative involving a team or player you love, but that’s the toll of being a journalist. By the way, nothing is stopping these writers from covering their team in a fair way, and then writing a follow up post that celebrates the exciting things about their team.
I took no pleasure in making a video about Richard Sherman’s DUI a couple of years ago. As much as I hated it, I had to be honest and give a fair criticism to one of my all-time favorite players - otherwise what purpose am I even serving here?
Also, are you guys watching Hard Knocks right now? The Seahawks are winning the Super Bowl again this year. Sam Darnold and his spin rate are winning MVP. Mike Macdonald is winning Coach of the Year (Should have won it last year too). Go Hawks!
-Written by Seattle Mike