NYT Obliterates Lolo Jones

Plaschke had her back: http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-oly-plaschke-lolo-jones-20120808,0,6703198.column

Couch did, too: http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/track/story/lolo-jones-fourth-place-100-meter-hurdles-not-good-enough-dawn-harper-kellie-wells-backlash-honesty-helps-and-hurts-080712

Mark Purdy took a more balanced approach: http://www.mercurynews.com/mark-purdy/ci_21258724/mark-purdy

 

3 good columns. All make Harper and Wells look petty and Jones sympathetic. In the end the biggest loser is Jere Longman. The story he wrote now defines him and his career.

 

As much as I know this is the epitome of a Boom_70 baiting post ... Longman's profile of Lionel Messi did make Best American Sports Writing, announced today. Which story will be remembered more?

 

Lolo. By a factor of 100.

 

You think people will remember this story in two years? By Christmastime? Jere Longman forever can put that he had a piece published in Best American Sports Writing 2012, and anyone who picks up the book will be able to find it. This story is disposable. We won't even remember Lolo Jones by the Rio de Janeiro Games.

 

I hope you're joking. This has been one of the biggest talk stories of the Olympics. It will fade, sure, but Olympic stories have their own aura. And Lolo will always be the pretty girl who was the subject of all that debate.

How many books does BASW sell? How many Americans are going to read a long-form feature on an Argentine soccer player?

 

The only people who are going to remember the author of "That New York Times Piece Bashing Lolo Jones" are Lolo Jones and sports journalists. Sports journalists will probably be more impressed by his Best American Sports Writing entry, his best-selling book and his other work for the best newspaper in the country than upset by this story. You'd think. Some people don't let things drop, though.

 

Probably true. But it will also be Google-able. And even in that small realm, the Lolo story will have 10x recognition.

 

Keep in mind, my argument was that this column does not define Jere Longman and his career, as Boom_70 suggested.

 

I know. And a lot of that is Boom being Boom. But to the extent that people on the outside even follow bylines, this one will be the one Longman is associated with. Deadspin and TBL aren't going to tweak him in the future by saying "Jere Longman, who wrote that awesome profile of Lionel Messi ..."

 

Maybe, but they've praised his work in the past: http://deadspin.com/137751/authors-with-pure-hearts-jere-longman

And is it a stretch to imagine Tommy Craggs views Lolo Jones similarly?

 

That was Will Leitch Deadspin, before unabashed hate and mockery became the site's whole thing.