Mariotti calls out Whitlock, Wilbon

Jay isn't happy with Wilbon or Big Sexy:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/683686,mariotti120507a.article

Odd that Mariotti would say the following:
"The reaction has been that bizarre, that sensational, that irresponsible, that disproportionate to the bigger world."

Isn't the bizarre, sensational, irresponsible and disproportionate the basis of Jay's entire career?

 

OMFG!!!

"But Wednesday night, the mourning site couldn't be found. Three inches of snow had buried any traces of 21."

 

Nah, she's OK. She's talking about cock on some other thread.

 

i'm not defending whitlock, but...

he suggested that the shooters were bred by a black culture that glorifies violence

yes, it's true taylor was not the victim of a revenge shooting

but it's also true that the shooters were, in fact, black, and in time we may find out how much they were influenced by a black culture that glorifies violence - a lot, i suspect

so whitlock was only half-wrong - he shouldn't have jumped the gun in assuming taylor brought it on himself -

but to look at those four punks, and ignore what whitlock wrote, is to disconnect from reality

stupid kids - they probably thought they were in a hip-hop video - and that after you pull the trigger the director yells "cut" and everybody goes out for pizza - that's how dumb kids are at that age - now they'll have 25 to life to figure it out

 

He wishes.

 

I thought that was a fantastic column. I'm not always a fan of Mariotti's , but he developed his though, presented it well and had me engaged. Solid work.

 

Look, it was only natural to wonder if Taylor's past history had anything to do with what happened to him. Was everybody supposed to just turn their brains off and not think about or write about the logical possibilities? I don't remember exactly what Wilbon and Whitlock wrote, but most of the columns I read were pretty responsible. They allowed for the possibility that this was a completely random crime but said you can't ignore the fact that this was a guy who ran in a tough crowd, at least at one time. Was there speculation? Yes, but it was reasonable speculation for the most part. This scolding of the media is getting tiresome.

 

well said.

what if the media had not speculated, given taylor's past.

it would have seemed stupid and brain-dead. and if it had turned out taylor was shot in a revenge killing, people would have screamed about "stupid naive media"

 

As I recall, Whitlock's column wasn't really themed on Taylor's background nearly so much as the general issue of black on black crime and the likelihood that the destructive cultural trends that are his favorite whipping-boy might've influenced those guilty here. In that respect, I can't say that he was off the mark.

 

Mariotti "calling out" Whitlock and Wilbon is a joke...like me walking up to Mike Tyson and slapping him in the face. Mariotti is a one-note whiny bitch, whereas Whitlock and Wilbon are real writers. Go back to dissing Ozzie Guillen, Jay.

 

I think Mariotti is a tremendous and gifted writer, one of the five best pure writing columnists in the business. Just too many fastballs - and also no original reporting. But as far as being a wordsmith? He's elite.

 

Thanks for stopping by, Jay!