Bruce's piece featured on FJM

[sneakypower]

those guys are obnoxiously myopic. i enjoy the site as a collection of bad sports journalism articles, but their attitude of unwarranted condescension in the comments gets tedious pretty fast.

[javy knows my name]

one still should put one's name on what one writes _ all the time.

+1million

 

Anonymity goes a long way to making someone a jerk

 

jamie, your name isn't on that post, you must have forgotten to sign it

 

The fact that you are readily able to know my name goes to prove that I am in fact not anonymous nor am I attempting to hide my name. If the contrary were true, i could very easily have never given my name on this website

 

+1million

 

-2million

 

love,

 

Jonas P. Quadworth Salk III

Another obligatory Roast pile-on.

I've had my chuckle for the day - good night.

[Rob]

The way I read it, the only people they really insulted were the editor and Theriot. Maybe I'm just biased, though.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

when did IMB! re-appear? take an extended weekend off for drunken stupor, miss a lot

[seanimal]

when did IMB! re-appear? take an extended weekend off for drunken stupor, miss a lot

 

umm, i don't think it was him who took a weekend off for an extended drunken stupor...

[Beer Kaese]

Bruce is correct.

 

I can post as http://www.paolicheese.com/cheese/38 without a problem and I make one heck of a salami sandwich.

 

If I made a name out of commenting on other people or posting original information I should and would use my own name, unless I was outing high level crooks.

 

I've said it before .... blah, blah.

 

I saw Yearly Kos on CSpan. Kos himself said it was about choice in what news you choose to consume. I would add that with choice comes responsibility. In my opinion most blogs are not acting responsibly, they feed on the dark part of our nature.

 

The only Cubs blog I read is The Cub Reporter. If you missed http://mvn.com/mlb-cubs/2008/01/25/bigfoot/ on Leiber's injury you missed excellence in blogging.

[seanimal]

Seeing as how we've know who ken tremendous et al have been for almost 20 days now, I think it's safe to say we can toss this little brain fart into the circular file where it belongs, eh gang?

[TruffleShuffle]

i don't think this is a big deal. i mean, a lot of us make fun of grit and scrappiness and how guys like short white guys like Eckstein are glorified for being mediocre. This article - especially the quotes from Theriot and Fleita - pretty much had every stereotype in the "scrappy" vein. Just because the article was written by a guy that we like and respect doesn't mean that we can't laugh at the quotes in it. We'd laugh if it was written by some reporter in Toronto about David Eckstein.

[Tyrant]

As Geech said, pseudonyms have a long tradition. It doesn't make something less valid just because a real name isn't attached to it. If that were the case, a lot of great literary figures would be discredited just because of a pen name.

 

And blogs work differently than real newspapers. Bruce puts his name on things because he's employed by the Daily Herald to do so. He gets paychecks and benefits. That's his compensation for putting his name on everything he writes. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure he WANTS his name on his articles in order to build his reputation and career.

 

Bloggers don't receive that same compensation. And often, writers don't want their name attached to blogs because if they occasionally blog from work (in theory, course. No one would ever actually do such a thing) they could be fired, reprimanded, etc.

 

And on a basic level, Ken Tremendous is a hilarious name. It simply adds to the humor of the posts, for me.

[Derwood]

i don't know what you guys are talking about. there is no braver journalist on god's green earth than one Mr. Perez Hilton.....REAL NAME I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW

[fiver]

My name is Jonas.

I'm carrying the wheel.

[CubinNY]

i don't think this is a big deal. i mean, a lot of us make fun of grit and scrappiness and how guys like short white guys like Eckstein are glorified for being mediocre. This article - especially the quotes from Theriot and Fleita - pretty much had every stereotype in the "scrappy" vein. Just because the article was written by a guy that we like and respect doesn't mean that we can't laugh at the quotes in it. We'd laugh if it was written by some reporter in Toronto about David Eckstein.

I agree. From my perspective the article was cringe worthy, but there are a lot of those this time of year. I don't think Bruce Miles injected much of his opinion in the article at all and that's the mark of a good writer.

 

At least the article wasn't something like this

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-080212-rogers-cubs-spring-training-preview,1,6584653.column

[SweetZombieJesus]

Well, when you have to write an article on Theriot...is there really any other direction you could possibly take with the article aside from "Theriot is extremely mediocre"? Doing that won't grant you many more player interviews. In fact, I think Bruce did write "Theriot is extremely mediocre" in the nicest possible way. FJM could have picked something a little better to nit-pick than this one. Don't let em get ya down Bruce!

 

Not a chance I'll let 'em get to me. I simply went to Theriot and told him what the numbers said and asked for his response. People don't see the interview process, but I hit him with stuff he didn't like. And unlike some of those people who like to analyze other people's work, my name goes on what I do. And I show up to face the people I write about.

To be fair to Ken Tremendous, he did come out and reveal who he and the rest of their writers are about two weeks ago, even if he doesn't put his real name on every article like he should. Ken's shtick can only work on the internets right now, and he knows it.

 

"Ken Tremendous (Michael Schur), Junior (Alan Yang), and dak (Dave King) are all TV writers. We live in Los Angeles, in places other than our mothers' basements.

 

Please do not send e-mails to us about anything other than sports journalism."

 

I thought Ken Tremendous was Mose Schrute?

 

hate to be the one to break this to you, but, despite the documentary feel of the show, the office isn't real.

 

It's real to me, dag nabbit.

 

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a30/Halman/Cryingfan.jpg

[Derwood]

my feeling is that Bruce simply gave Theriot the rope to hang himself with (statistically speaking). trouble is, thousands of readers actually believe in the gritty/gamer BS that Theriot's teammates/coaches spout every day

[ctcf]

one still should put one's name on what one writes _ all the time.

+1million

 

Anonymity goes a long way to making someone a jerk

 

jamie, your name isn't on that post, you must have forgotten to sign it

 

The fact that you are readily able to know my name goes to prove that I am in fact not anonymous nor am I attempting to hide my name. If the contrary were true, i could very easily have never given my name on this website

 

So, it's okay for you to use a screen name for internet ramblings that hundreds of people read because your name is easily out there, but it's not okay for Michael Schur to use a screen name for internet ramblings that hundreds of people read, even though his name is easily out there?

 

Its a travesty such a beautiful post got stuck at the bottom of a page.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

[ctcf]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

Really? I haven't noticed.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

Really? I haven't noticed.

You didn't read the steaming pile of [expletive] that was on Bruce's article? Really, they aren't funny anymore. They should take some time off and look for some new material.

[ctcf]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

Really? I haven't noticed.

You didn't read the steaming pile of **** that was on Bruce's article? Really, they aren't funny anymore. They should take some time off and look for some new material.

 

So because they criticized one article of a writer you like they are: 1.) No longer funny and 2.) Desperate for articles.

 

Great.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

Really? I haven't noticed.

You didn't read the steaming pile of **** that was on Bruce's article? Really, they aren't funny anymore. They should take some time off and look for some new material.

 

So because they criticized one article of a writer you like they are: 1.) No longer funny and 2.) Desperate for articles.

 

Great.

No, they have been getting on my nerves for quite some time. I could understand trashing a piece by a sportwriter that uses a bunch of cliches to prop up some player he supports, but this was a direct one on one interview with the player himself. What is Theriot supposed to say? "Well, yeah, I'm aware I suck" Of course not, he is going to present his best case of why he believes he deserves the starting job. And their whole little gimmick of "Next your going to tell me...." Yeah they need to stop using that. OMFG I CAN PARSE AN ARTICLE AND PUT THIS LINE ABOVE ANOTHER ONE! OH MAN I AM SOO COOL...NEXT YOUR GOING TO TELL ME YOU DO THINGS THAT DON'T SHOW UP IN THE BOX SCORE! ZOMG! SEE I CALLED IT! I AM SO COOL!

 

Really, it has all become a bunch of crap.

[rocket]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

yeah i know, they should stick to the articles they usually make fun of, the articles about scrappy white players who play the game the right way.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

yeah i know, they should stick to the articles they usually make fun of, the articles about scrappy white players who play the game the right way.

Agreed. And if they could actually make it funny, that might even be better.

[DenverCubs]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

yeah i know, they should stick to the articles they usually make fun of, the articles about scrappy white players who play the game the right way.

Agreed. And if they could actually make it funny, that might even be better.

Uhhh...I'm confused.

[TheGrinch]

FJM is starting to get REALLY desperate for articles.

 

yeah i know, they should stick to the articles they usually make fun of, the articles about scrappy white players who play the game the right way.

Agreed. And if they could actually make it funny, that might even be better.

Uhhh...I'm confused.

I also have no idea what point either person was trying to make. I'm hoping its some strange sarcasm tornado that went right over my head.

[CUBZ99]

This is the first time I've checked out FJM.com and a couple comments:

 

1. There is no way that this site is run by professional writers. (especially ones who claim to have writen some pretty good comedy shows).

 

2. It appears that the writer does nothing but sit and read this site all day long and steal opinions from posters. There is nothing groundbreaking or original in what they state in their blog. Its just a recessitation of arguments that have been made ad naseum.

 

3. Out of all journalists that cover the Cubs, why in the world would they pile on, or call out the one reporter out of the group that actually "gets it"??

Edited February 25, 2008 by CUBZ99