Scoop Jackson's article from Espn the lack of black sports editors

Scoop could be purple. He's still a horrible writer.
Mediocrity transcends color.

 

I think Ralph has perhaps the most intellectual reply in this whole thread.
Instead of ripping someone you want to rip because you are not writing for ESPN or have the street cred that he does with the NBA, perhaps you should look at the content of his column.
The bottom line is that there is a diversity issue in sports departments. Ralph brought up the real life issues and it should be addressed.
But back to Scoop, I could be reaching. But I always see the venom on people like Scoop because he is a position where some of you would like to be. Is Scoop a great writer --- no. Is Stephen A. a great writer -- that's up for debate. But they are where they are because they have great connections, sources and cred with the NBA. So don't knock them for their hustle. They have serviceable journalism skills.
On the flip side, how many people of color cover the Southeastern Conference in football. My guess, none.
Also how many people of color covers professional golf, perhaps one or two.
You know why? Because sports editors think that white reporters can connect to those rich white dudes or boosters better than people of color. But you don't see people blast some of the bad reporters in those beats.
But when it comes to specialists like Stevie A and Scoop, hateration just comes out.
I don't want to hear, oh well Mike Wilbon is great. That's like a white person saying oh I think Colin Powell should be president.

Let the bashing of this post begin.

 

Couldn't be more wrong. Scoop Jackson is an embarrassment as a writer. And if he's such a tremendous journalist with all these doors that the NBA opens for him because of his "street cred," please point out where that has shown up in his work? What stories has he broken? What memorable features have stuck with you? The one on the BET host at the Super Bowl, perhaps? Not since Frank DeFord, I tell you ...

Please stop with the "You're just jealous of Scoop" nonsense. It has nothing to do with "Haternation." It has everything to do with people damanding a lot more out of sports writers than the steaming pile of crap he unloads on Page 2.

 

In Scoop's case mediocrity is a compliment, but his race is the sole(soul?) reason he has his current job and his past job.

 

Don't think I will, thanks. But if you think that the experience in American history of Asian-Americans and African-Americans is remotely similar, you got to get out more.

 

Remotely similar? Not even close.

American decendants of African slavery in America are without peer or parrall in the annalsl of North American history. Ask any nonAfrican American (Including African immigrants with no history of American slavery, Senator Obama) and they'd tell you that. Even the Native Americans were treated with more dignity and respect.

BUT, over the last 50 years, so much progress has been made, so many legal protections have been made and subsidies given that we are at the point that reminders of 350 years of history is about as instructive as recalling the Spanish Inquisition or the Roman conquest of Jerusalem.

The fact that Vietnamese and Cambodians can come to America within 5 years of the American defeat in Vietnam and within a generation out perform African Americans at every level, except entertainment, has more to do with Asian culture and work and less to do with the 89 years of slavery in the United States (1776-1865)

 

Couldn't be more wrong. Scoop Jackson is an embarrassment as a writer. And if he's such a tremendous journalist with all these doors that the NBA opens for him because of his "street cred," please point out where that has shown up in his work? What stories has he broken? What memorable features have stuck with you? The one on the BET host at the Super Bowl, perhaps? Not since Frank DeFord, I tell you ...

Please stop with the "You're just jealous of Scoop" nonsense. It has nothing to do with "Haternation." It has everything to do with people damanding a lot more out of sports writers than the steaming pile of crap he unloads on Page 2.

Once again the point is being missed.
Scoop is where is he is because for whatever reason ESPN likes his style. Scoop is trying something different. Not great. But it's an attempt.
Stephen A is great.
But the point is that people on this board seem to jump on Scoop and Stephen A all of the time, especially when the subject of diversity or race comes into play on these threads. Instead of being solution oriented, this site tends to bash the notion that diversity is not needed.
Give it a rest.
I have watched white people get lauded for being hired at a big paper and say thats a great hire. He or she will be a stud there. And two years down the line, no one ever mentions how this person has not lived up to the hype. I have seen it on more than one occasion. I have worked with such a person. I will not mention any names. But that's how it is here.

 

What board have you been reading? The so-called studs of this board get ripped all the time. Just in the past few weeks I've seen people take shots at Wright Thompson and Jon Solomon, to name two. For the record, I know neither of these people and I'm just assuming they're white. Please correct me if they are not.

 

Please don't take this post to mean that I'm aligning myself with heyabbott (God forbid), but don't forget the Japanese-Americans who spent World War II in internment camps under armed guard. And as I recall from my history, weren't there laws put in place specifically to keep the Chinese out of the country (as opposed to other immigrants)? Yeah, here it is, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (thanks, Google), not to mention an 1870 immigration law that allowed only ``white persons and persons of African descent'' to come here. The Chinese Exclusion Act was finally loosened in 1943 and wasn't completely repealed until 1965. The Chinese people who did come to America before the exclusion act often worked as virtual slaves and were very much persecuted and villified.

Nah, Asians had it easy here.

Carry on.

 

You're the one missing the point, and when you say "let the bashing of this post begin," you're hardly encouraging open discussion. So opinions other than those that agree with yours are 'bashing?'

People denigrate SAS for the same reason they denigrate Rome or Mariotti -- while he's smart and talented, he's a loudmouth, and it's grating.

People denigrate Scoop because he has no business being in the job he's in, at least not by any merit of his. His writing is bad even by mid-level paper standards. I don't care if he's green, yellow, purple, whatever. I don't care what kind of language or style he's using, or who he's aiming it at, as long as it's good.

If he is very plugged into the NBA and has broke lots of stories, perhaps that's his value -- I haven't seen it but it's surely possible he's breaking lots of news.

I'm not even going to point out specifially how that article was poorly written. It's all right there.

And that article doesn't even make any sense. The thing he said about telling these kids having a better chance to be an NBA player than a sports writer, that's idiotic. If those kids work on their writing and reporting, they sure as shit have a better chance to become a writer than they do of becoming an NBAer if they work on their jumper. But very, very few of them seem to want to become a writer, and most want to become a player. I've seen plenty of mediocre-at-best writer, of all races, able to at least make a decent living at this, so I'm sorry if I'm calling bullshit to his implication.

Perhaps his message should have been that he feels we need more black journalists, and that they can do it with hard work, instead of trying to makeit sound like a grand conspiracy and an impossibility. His message was weak, and if anything, he is a GREAT example that you can make it with some hard work.

 

Why is it that every time someone on this board dares to criticize someone like Jackson or anyone else who works for a major publication they are automatically labeled jealous because they aspire to reach his/her level?

Did you ever consider that some folks might have jobs that are as good or better?

I love my job. Wish my publication would make needed improvements but I love my job and wouldn't trade it for any job out there.

And you know what? Scoop still sucks.

 

Tripleoption34, please raise your standards regarding Scoop... :'(

I do agree, though, that you can't limit the responsiblity of training and/or mentoring young black writers to just black vets. If you're in the position of an editor -- I was for a handful of years -- it should be your responsibility to train and/or mentor all the young pups.

I've done so with white women, black men and black women. (Hell, a white woman was one of my mentors back in the day.) Some of the folks under my wing enjoyed success but some hit walls because they had no business being in the business.

Why do I, as a white male, agree it's vital that white males act as mentors, too? Because I want minorites -- black men and women, Asian men and women, Hispanic men and women -- to see that white males aren't evil incarnate and little more than a collective impedement to the rise of any minority population.