Pearlman on Lupica with a sportsjournalists.com reference

Very cool of him.

 

I hoped you leveled with him the fact that his writing style was not your favorite.

 

I remember that.

Stoops had his fifth team in there at the end, literally instructing them to fall down. Of course, Loopy didn't know that. All he saw was the score, and fired from the hip.

 

Don't see what relevance that has.

Believe it or not, but this a profession unto itself, not just a fallback position for failed athletes.

 

Had to chime in on the arrogance issue. I've met Jeff many times through our careers and that's just not a word that can be used to accurately describe him.
Even when he was at Sports Illustrated, he was down-to-earth and interested in meeting and talking to anyone, respectful of the beat guys (almost to a fault) and just an overall good guy.
He can get a little too sensitive for his own good, but it's always struck me as more of a concern people would think he was a jerk than demanding they treat him like some kind of star or something.
Which, by the way, he happens to be.
The guy's an extremely talented, successful writer who respects people at every level of the industry -- and outside of it -- and, if you ever find yourself encountering a problem, you can expect him to throw a ton of support your way.

I find his blog refreshing because he attempts something few do --he strips himself down to a place where he bares his insecurities and flaws and just lets it go out there. Does some of it probably come from ego? Sure. Does it also leave him more open to the type of shots that sometimes bother him more than they should? Yep.

But overall he's one of the most talented, nicest people I've met in this business and I think it's unfortunate there are so many misperceptions out there about him.

 

How about one more nice Jeff story?

A year or so ago, my wife was taking a class at Ole Miss and somehow ended up working on a group project about Barry Bonds, of all people. One of the group's reading assignments was Jeff's book on Bonds, and for the project the group was supposed to record an interview with somebody about Bonds.

I got Jeff's number.

I called him.

We have mutual friends but don't really know each other.

And yet he still spent 30 minutes on the phone with my wife, answering questions from a woman who, bless her heart, wouldn't know Barry Bonds from Barry Switzer. He was patient and helpful, and he didn't have to be. He had no reason or need to help my wife, but he did. Good dude, far as I'm concerned. And he was the opposite of an asshole, for what it's worth.

 

When you work in a profession that makes you dependent on lots of people donating their time to you by being cooperative and being willing to chat, you ought to be willing to do the same back.

That's why sportswriters who refuse to go on radio shows for interviews or talk to a kid's class or mini-mentor a young journalist really are no better than athletes who blow off the media.

Jeff might be a nice guy and miles from arrogant or cocky or whatever, but being willing to talk with someone -- while making a living requesting people's time to talk -- is no reason to salaam.

 

Only on these boards could someone twist something like talking nice about a guy into something negative.

Well done, Joe. Well done.

 

Look sneed calm down. Jeff is a real enigma to many on this board based on some of his posts as well as him curious im's to sj members who were critical of his work.

It's great that he is will to help out folks but it's also safe to say that he is no Gandhi.

 

Nah, I'm good, man. I don't think anyone said he was Gandhi, but I don't think there was a need to mock those who were expressing some appreciation for what he's done for them, either.

Anyway, on to newer threads.

 

Thanks, Sneed! ;D

Look, it's fine that someone is generous with their time for other journalists, aspiring, young, small-market or otherwise. That's a good way to be. I guess the play-by-play of "giving 30 minutes" and "putting up with dumb questions" or however else those testimonials were worded was what hit me as a little overboard.

It seemed like praising people for doing the basic, decent, right, good thing, when those very folks need others to do it for them all the time. Praising that seemed like giving a kid a trophy just for showing up.

I sometimes wave people through the intersection who get to the four-way stop a split second after me. When's my tribute dinner?

 

It was last week and you didn't bother showing up. You big-timed your own tribute dinner. Jeff Pearlman would never do such a thing. You're an asshole.