Chris Benoit and family found dead

Sorry for lumping all those who disagreed with the lede into the fanboy camp.

I can accept disagreeing with you and Smasher. Neither of whom wondered if I was a journalist.

 

BYH - I am not defending Boston Bred - mainly because he's a Red Sox fan - but, I just think for the news story it isn't the greatest of leads. If you want to use it as some sort of followup or column afterward, then I think it works. But as the story is breaking, it just seems crass.

 

It would have been okay for a magazine lead or a follow, but not the A1 first-day. Too cute. Maybe they wanted to take a shot a McMahon because this WAS the home of WCW. Strike a blow for Goldberg and Sting and ... Tank Abbott.

 

Has the WWE faked deaths in the name of advancing a storyline?

Is this indeed a real death of a wrestler?

Well, I guess you don't see how that would be a really interesting juxtaposition.

 

Except, of course, that hundreds of professional wrestlers employed by Vince McMahon have died. The WWE empire was built with blood money; McMahon has many deaths to answer for, either in this life or if-and-when he meets his maker.

Is it a terrible lede? Maybe. But it should be noted somewhere in the story.

 

Yeah, the fact should be noted. But not as the lede. You don't use a murder-suicide story to poke fun at the alleged rubes who follow pro wrestling.

 

So, you think this might be a fake?
I ask that as a serious question.

 

I don't see how it poked fun at the alleged rubes. It merely pointed out that an entity that just faked the death of its czar for storyline purposes now has to battle the real thing.

And I agree with HB: I would like to see in the coming days someone point out how so many of these wrestlers die young, and suddenly.

Edit: Markvid, no, I do not think this is fake. Nothing would shock me, but I do not think this is fake.

 

To me, it sort of read as if it was a news story with a column-esque lede.

 

Hmmm...that's a good take on it.

 

I could give a shit what the ramifications are for WWE, and I'm sure Atlanta's readers in general are of that mind. What is newsworthy is two real murders and a real suicide of a somewhat-celebrity in the area.

And H-Beat, you don't get cutesy with death.

 

Clearly, Mushnick is going to write that column. And the New York Post's sports media critic will be criticized for beating beating a dead horse.