Chris Jones on Jason Whitlock

Yep. Because once you become an elite Esquire writer, you give up the right to have and/or reveal human feelings and emotions. :

 

Seriously? There may be a few Jones critics (Boom and Chris certainly seem to fit that label), but most folks here could double for fan club members. Piling on is generally the precise opposite of the SJ "fashion" I've noticed when his name comes up.

And deservedly so, he's a great writer, but let's not martyr him. He's gotten no unfair treatment here that I've seen.

 

I'm surprised that nobody has addressed Bill Reiter's post. He seems to make a number of valid points that none of the Jones Jock Sniffing Brigade has taken the time to refute. Qui tacet consentit?

Nicely done Bill.

I'm glad that Whitlock seems to have let this go on his end (I haven't seen any Tweets from Whitlock on the subject).

 

Sounds like Jonesy has some regrets about his second shot at Whitlock. What is confusing is that Whitlock has never fired a shot.

Chris Jones said...

Believe me... Shorn Walrus? Really?... I thought for a solid hour about whether to write this post or just let it go. Maybe I should have thought about it overnight. Anyway, my head agrees with you, with the notion that guys like Jason suffer the most when they're just ignored. But ultimately, like I say in the post, a lot of writers, including me, are insecure in some way, and it's really hard not to respond when someone takes a shot. I like to think of myself as disciplined, but the truth is, I'm pretty emotional. It's a constant struggle.

I really thought the whole thing was done. Anyway, it probably is for me, on here. I want to write about writing I love more than writing I hate. I've got some things coming up on the blog that I'm pretty excited about. I'm thinking of them as redemption for things like this.

 

Really? Some were applauding Whitlock's shot at Jones (and his editors) just a couple of pages ago.

 

His absence here, and those of Jeff MacGregor and other well-respected writers who felt like this place just didn't deserve their presence any longer, is unfair to those of us who appreciated them.

And yet, every time Jones' name comes up, we have the usual suspects eager to keep shitting into their hands and throwing it at the wall.

Stoney, maybe you think piling on is a strong term. I don't. Maybe there were and have been only a few people involved, but their criticisms have been as incessant as they are moronic. And then they stand back and feign innocence.

I'm not saying Chris Jones and Jeff MacGregor and others are beyond criticism. They're not. But they were here for good, important reasons. They were interested in dispensing whatever advice they could give and in generally being supportive of others. And they allowed themselves to be chased away because they could no longer tolerate the abuse from a small group of hooting idiots who by and large contribute little of value to this board.

So please forgive me for standing up and saying that Chris Jones is my friend and I support him....just as Bill Reiter supports his friend.

 

I'm not part of the instigators or the rabid defenders, but Jones doesn't come off well here. He started a pissing match, then had much more trouble letting it go than the person he took a shot at to begin with. They're both good writers in their own way, but from a pr standpoint, it's clear to me Jones lost this fight. And, as any man knows, losing a fight is one thing, but losing a fight you started is quite another.

 

And, as we all should know, there are no winners in message board/BLOG!/Twitter slap fights.

 

Double J, I thought yesterday that it was normal for someone who knows Jones and has at least some level of personal and/or working relationship with him — which I assume you do — to defend a friend. Much like defending family. But this bolded part makes you and the writers you mentioned sound like petty, arrogant assholes who think because they're "name" writers, everyone should automatically kiss their ass. I haven't folllowed many of the threads that prompted the departures of the great and wise ones, but if they're anything like this, then Boom and Chris L are justified in the way they're framing this debate.

Didn't deserve their presence. What the fuck? They're fucking writers; they're not running into burning building or fighting off insurgents in a foreign land.

 

Before Bill Reiter throws around claims of false reportage, he should take the time to investigate the kind of assclown Whitlock was around these parts and why so few people here care for him or his writing.

But, really, Chris Jones doesn't owe Bill Reiter an explanation any more than he owes me an explanation. Nor do I owe you an explanation. If that makes me part of the Jones Jock Sniffer Brigade in your tiny opinion, oh well. Like I give a shit.

 

I think his wording wasn't great, but his overall point was good.

We had several bigtime writers posting here under their own names (or didn't make much of an effort to hide their identity). They (Whitlock included) were all chased off by assholes who seemed to take joy in attacking every word they wrote and every post they made.

I miss seeing Jones shooting the shit here. And Whitlock.

 

Okay, that was a poor choice of words on my part.

What I should have said was that the writers I mentioned felt they didn't belong here any more because they couldn't or wouldn't tolerate the abuse.

But as far as their presence goes, it was invaluable. They brought a lot to this place and it's a travesty that neither of them are here any more. That's my opinion and I don't think I'm alone in that. I hope I'm not.

I'd feel the same way if somebody like Les Carpenter Double Down were no longer here. I don't mean to embarrass him or put him on the spot by mentioning him here in this way, but I always enjoy reading his thoughtful, insightful posts, and I have absolutely no idea who he is in real life.

Maybe that's a good thing. Because if his identity were to become common knowledge and if it turns out he is in fact a high-profile writer with a national platform, I'm sure that alone would cause the carnies to unsheath their knives.