obviously i'll have something to say about this...

dude, i don't think you can do any of these type columns well without reporting. reporting is a given. however, there are different types of reporting skills. gathering good quotes and information from a sympathetic feature subject is indeed one style of reporting that columnist do.

rick reilly broke the story of michael jordan's return. that's great reporting. sorry to toot my own horn (but it's what i do best), i've consistently broken news in my column and had my name attached to many important news story here in kansas city. i'll give one example of a well-reported column that many people would think was just an opinion piece. i laid out in february why the chiefs should consider trading larry johnson, talked about how many of his teammates don't like him, problems he has in the locker room. well, in late april, word spread that the chiefs were willing to listen to trade offers for larry johnson... people in kansas city appreciate that kind of column. many so-called journalists have no clue that there is more to reporting than "gathering quotes" for a feature story. and i'm not knocking gathering quotes for a feature story. but i once read an analysis bill simmons did on the boston celtics and their problems. i didn't agree with all of it but i recognized he had some tremendous sources within the organization to make the kind of points he made.

 

Jason, in your opinion, was there a clear winner in this Imus thing?

 

I'd say the Rutgers women came out looking pretty spiffy.

 

winner: people who want racial polarization.

 

i don't always agree with "el gordo" but he's right on with his take on “gene why-in-the-heck-did-espn-send-a-white-columnist-with-no-insights-to-this-forum?”

gene wojciechowski was good on the college beat. but this effort is lacking and i blame espn for sending him to this event. i would rather read an african-american columnist's viewpoint. calling jemele hill.

the first graph lured me into the column. :

You know how sometimes you see a movie like, say, "Syriana," and you walk out of the 40-plex two hours later not knowing what the hell you just watched? I mean, no clue. So you try to fake it with your wife and mumble something about "geopolitical fissures," whatever that is, and hope she buys it.

embarrassing. wojciechowski faked it all right.

but he made me laugh, though, when he mentioned "cowboy up" when referring to the african-american students running toward the microphones to ask questions. did they really sprint?

 

Come on, man.

You got your sig line and what not.

Let me have mine.

Please.

Just keeping it real, you all.

 

Well, personally. I think you need not look further than this thread to sort things out:

JW: "Boots, I'm a columnist, I get paid to respond. "

Just keeping it real, you all.

 

Fair enough. In your profile settings, you can put it in the "signature line" window, and you'll have it every time you post, so you don't have to retype it each time.

 

Probably a side thought, but I'm wonder if Stringer had anything to say to Jim Brown, whose treatment of women in general and black women specifically is a wonderfully shitty example for young men.

 

Correct!

Hey Jdub wanted to give you a heads-up that Rok and I are going to do a You Tube spoof on the Jdub / Scoop feud.

It should be a barn burner, but all in fun.

How hard are we allowed to go bc there is a TON of material and most of the gold is near the edge.

JDV

 

Another side thought:

When is it going to occur to anyone in this debate that the obscenity in America today is not Don Imus, nor is it hip-hop, nor is it prison culture, nor is it lack of self-respect. Our public school system is the obscenity. We have failed the system and the system has failed America, black and white, native and immigrant.

 

Another bullseye!

Damn you guys are on fire today.

Must be something in the water.

Parents + values + schools (education + discipline/structure) are the critical factors.