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The Tribune Believes I'm An Idiot
Written by wrigleyville   
Monday, 01 February 2010
US Editorial World Crisis

An e-mail exchange between a reader and Chicago Tribune sports editor Mike Kellams (the reader being me, of course).

Wrigleyville23:

Do you believe this is OK for one of your beat writers to post on Twitter about a player he has covered and will cover again?

One idiot gone, one idiot en route. Former leader of Boston's '04 "Idiots" signs minor league deal with Cubs.

If he wasn't talking about Bradley, I apologize. But I'd be curious as to who this was about, if not.

I thought that was a polite inquiry. Here is the response from Mr. Kellams:
(click "read more" for full article)

I believe a lot of things.

I believe Chicago is a big place with tough people – or least I thought we were – and this is pretty tame.

I also believe a guy who can’t keep track of outs, a guy who was sent home by his GM (who was then applauded for his actions by the player’s former teammates), a guy who checked out early on his rent, might well fit the description.

I also believe readers who don’t sign their names yet demand publicly accountability by others might also fit the description.

Not saying. Just saying.

Have a great day, Mr. Ville23. Is that a family name?

Best,

Mike

Comanche Indian, actually.

All in all, I must commend Mr. Kellams (I'm not comfortable calling him Mike just yet at this stage in our relationship) for an artfully written e-mail in very short order.

I do not believe, however, that he answered the question. Milton Bradley very well may be an idiot, but the question was whether he thought it was OK for one of his beat reporters to Tweet in such a manner (never mind my idiocy, as that is self-evident).

So I inquired again:

So, to be clear, you are OK with your beat writers - not columnists - calling players they cover "idiots"?

No response just yet.



Digg! Reddit! Facebook! Technorati! StumbleUpon! BallHype: hype it up!
Comments (9)Add Comment
...
written by JustinB, February 01, 2010
Wow, Milton Bradley must have really hurt these people personally. This is really just proof that the reason such crap comes from two of the Tribune's baseball writers (Sullivan and of course Phil Rogers) is because their boss has no problem covering their asses.
The Truth
written by TheHawk, February 01, 2010
Prigleyville23,

The fact is that you are an idiot, and the world's biggest prig. You'll delete this faster than anyone at the Trib will delete your BS. I can't believe you have the continued gaul to attack Sullivan for not answering his critics when you go bananas anytime anyone challenges you in the slightest. I'm not defending that moron, but rather stating the obvious that you're birds of a feather.

Stick to Dockers and conformity. It's what you do best.
...
written by shawndgoldman, February 01, 2010
I also believe editors of sports sections at major newspapers that still misundestand blogs enough to use the "you don't sign your work with your name" copout also fit the description.

Not saying. Just saying.
...
written by wrigleyville, February 01, 2010
To be fair, Kellams did answer my email quite quickly - and blogs are undoubtedly a pain in the ass.

That said, the point remains the same: Beat reporters really shouldn't be calling the players they cover "idiots." There is a much more artful way of doing so, something that so far is lost on Sullivan and Co.
...
written by wrigleyville, February 01, 2010
Interesting conversation on this going on in the comments at Aisle424: http://424tales.blogspot.com/2...-paul.html

...
written by AndCounting, February 01, 2010
I wouldn't expect his editor to have a problem with it, given what he signs off on to go in the Trib. This makes me very angry, but I think I want to watch 24 so I can get Jack Bauer angry before commenting any further.
...
written by AndCounting, February 01, 2010
I meant "Jack-Bauer angry," I don't want to piss off Jack.
...
written by GW, February 02, 2010
"I can't believe you have the continued gaul to attack Sullivan for not answering his critics when you go bananas anytime anyone challenges you in the slightest."

WV said he was Comanche, not French.
Well,
written by MercurialOutfielder, February 02, 2010
I guess we now know why Sullivan feels so emboldened: his editors' comments must only lend impetus to his petty tirades.

Like I said in one my Sullivan pieces: we will never know what really transpired between Milton and the media because those charged with presenting the events in a fair, objective light resigned any pretense of objectivity and journalistic integrity to paint for us the picture of Milton they had already made in their bitter, jaded minds.

What that tribune editor wrote you, WV, tells us one thing: that whatever comes from the Tribune beat writers cannot be trusted. There is now no way of knowing fact from fiction when it comes to the Tribune sportsdesk.

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