Sports Writing at its Finest

This is T.J Simmers. T.J Simers is a dick. Always has been and Always will be. On the surface it's not a huge problem, lot's of people are dicks. However, Simers is a dick who gets paid (handsomely) to write about sports.

Simers has this schtick where he acts like an asshole to players/coaches/fans in order to get a rise out of them, THEN he goes all "holy shit (insert individual/group/team) is an asshole"

He did it when he was on ATH and he's become quite good at it.

An example of this is his latest column ripping Marcus Thames.

Here's Simers gripes with Thames

-He's a power hitter (who mauls lefties) with below average fielding skills on balls in front of him. (Essentially Man Ram in the field)

-Thames wants his last name pronounced correctly.

-Thames walked away after Simers walked up to him and said:

"Are you that horrible on defense that teams don't think it's worth playing such a home run threat?'' I asked by way of introduction....When I came back on Tims/Tems, he sat silent. I can see one problem he might have on defense if everyone is relying on him to yell "I got it."

He said he wasn't going to talk to me because I hadn't introduced myself. That would have allowed him to pull out the little card the Dodgers' PR department provides players advising them how to get a running start on Page 2.

So basically his first interaction with a new guy on the team and his introduction is "Hey why do you suck so much on defense?" and he's upset that the guy wouldn't talk to him?

Nevermind the fact that the Dodgers got Thames for a 1 yr $1 mil contract. Nevermind that if he thinks Thames is that bad he should rip the Dodgers front office. Nevermind Thames' only job his entire career has been to pulverize lefties and hit homeruns.

No, here's the main problem is that Thames' mother was in a car accident when he was 5 causing her to be bed ridden for the rest of her life. Thames grew up on Welfare, and while still a junior in high school, joined the National Guard to make more money for his family. He is not an asshole or a stiff.

But enough about T.J Simers. The problem I have is that Simers does a hatchet job on a guy and he's considered a "professional journalist."

Spencer Hall of EDSBS fame was recently on a panel at SXSW dealing with the future of blogging. One of the topics dealt with the respect, and opportunities teams and leagues will grant bloggers.

The issue I've always had with sports journalism is the fact that nothing really grants you "authority" to be a good sports writer. It's not like being a doctor or lawyer where you have to know certain shit, and pass certain tests in order to practice your profession.

What's that you say? J-School? T.J Simers, Shaughnessy, Jay Mariotti, Mike Lupica, Bill Plashke, and my personal favorite Mitch Albom all went to J-School.

Your argument is invalid.

But honestly, those guys get to go to the biggest sporting events in the world, and write absolute pure shit.

Meanwhile, Free Darko, Matt Hinton, and others are left to be lowly bloggers.

Just food for thought.