Comments on: Why I call out guys like Murray Chass and T.J. Simers

By: umrguy42

umrguy42 — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:48:00 +0000

Haven’t listened to Vin, but as a Cards fan, I’d say, “…not enough Jack Buck”. (Jack, not Joe. And yes, I know he’s deceased – more’s the pity. RIP, Jack. Cardinal Nation misses you BIG TIME.)

By: lanflfan

lanflfan — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:53:43 +0000

Go right on calling out those two for being the giant horses arse they are. Intelligent sportswriters are becoming an endangered species, yet they control award voting and HOF access. I’d like to see that removed from their domain, and put in the hands of former players and other HOF members. That is far more appropriate than some douche who somehow manages to stay employed as a sportswriter by muckraking.

By: lanflfan

lanflfan — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:49:23 +0000

Simers is a huge horse’s arse. He doesn’t have a “shtick”, he gives you the only thing he has: irrational and illogical anger. He needs a long “vacation” somewhere way down south, I’m thinking somewhere with penguins, and no internet access.

By: lanflfan

lanflfan — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:45:15 +0000

Jon Miller was decent, but Joe Morgan’s act was too old. Baseball does not need a former player in the booth during games to discuss, ad nauseum, how he “played the game” and how “the game has changed” since he played. If one person can’t deal with describing the game and reading stats, perhaps he/she is not fit for broadcasting.

Too many hacks, not enough Vin Scully.

By: lanflfan

lanflfan — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:42:34 +0000

ESPN used to be a good place for sports news, before they forgot about teams west of the Mississippi and became focused more on money and headlines than actual, (semi-) serious reporting.

By: dad2twins

dad2twins — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:17:26 +0000

Craig, on links out to the idiocy that's spewed by the likes of Chass and Simers should have the "rel=nofollow" attribute set on them so that the link is not used by search engines in calculated the ranking of the target site in their indices. Maybe there are edicts from your corporate masters to not use it, which I get, but maybe it's worth some agitation to make an exception in cases like this. On the other hand, we should all work on ensuring that the first hit on google when you search for "chipwich" is TJ Simers.

By: Lukehart80

Lukehart80 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 21:35:46 +0000

ESPN’s new ombudsman wrote or quoted someone else there about how Obama didn’t get to insist that his mention of the tsunami relief charity be a part of his bracket filling piece, because ESPN doesn’t allow others to “dictate content” to them. Tell that to Lebron James.

ESPN produces a good game, but their other programming/content just keeps getting worse and worse.

By: baseballstars

baseballstars — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:50:02 +0000

But those guys are in the best shape of their lives.

By: Matthew A.

Matthew A. — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:17:52 +0000

I’ll gladly send Murray Chass or T.J. Simers a few thousand clicks

That seems a little high. Just because you want to masochistically subject yourself to their mindless blathering, that doesn’t mean we will as well.

By: BC

BC — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:58:46 +0000

They’re not ballplayers. And they’re definitely not in the best shape of their lives.

By: wihalofan

wihalofan — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:57:20 +0000

Fight them with comics:
http://www.halosheaven.com/2011/3/23/2067259/blogging-beaver

By: Dug

Dug — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:55:15 +0000

erratum: T.J. “shtick” IS his style……

Along with READING your posts…..

I hate my own typos. Sorry.

By: Dug

Dug — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:53:25 +0000

Regarding T.J.Simers: Tongue in cheek, satire, grain of salt and all that. He is making a point using sarcasm and wit. You might not like it, some, judging by the comments in the Times, just don’t get it.

T.J.’s “shtick” his style. Jim Murray used the same style from time to time. They both can make you laugh, think and cry.

Along with you reading your posts everyday, Craig, I also read every Simers column. Like you, he hits way more than he misses.

By: wickedworld123

wickedworld123 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:43:25 +0000

Right on. We’d be remiss to let B.S. of this caliber go un-checked.

By: wickedworld123

wickedworld123 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:41:49 +0000

played out…

By: jayaresea

jayaresea — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:22:07 +0000

as long as FJM is dormant, your media criticisms are not only welcome but needed. for much of our sanity.

By: PanchoHerreraFanClub

PanchoHerreraFanClub — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:05:59 +0000

My biggest issue with sportswriters/bloggers is that they think they are journalists. Chass may have actually been a journalist back when Jesus was a boy, but that part of his brain was dissolved by alcohol sometime during the last century. Besides we have his use of other mind altering drugs, I can tell because he had acne as a kid.

By: cur68

cur68 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:58:41 +0000

I vote for Mookie and her ray gun.

By: Brian Murphy

Brian Murphy — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:56:36 +0000

I appreciate this, Craig. After reading Simers’ attack on Thames a couple of days ago and sending it to some others in outrage, I felt as if I was doing Simers a service. But you’re right. Exposure of such ridiculous, unprovoked, malicious bullying helps the public realize how worthless Simers and others are to their profession.

By: heyblueyoustink

heyblueyoustink — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:55:35 +0000

Maybe we need to call in some superhero help to keep these clowns in line :

http://capitolhill.komonews.com/content/phoenix-jones-real-life-superhero

By: youbeillin13

youbeillin13 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:53:49 +0000

I’d say that calling out guys like Chass and Simers advances the cause of intelligent baseball commentary. Look at Joe Morgan finally being let go by ESPN after the case had been built over many years.

By: Mike Luna

Mike Luna — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:51:29 +0000

This is exactly how I feel about ESPN. They seem to spend a lot of time creating stories and bringing in their “Insiders” to perpetuate them.

Being the only game in town, ESPN doesn’t ever seem to consider how much power they actually wield. There is no other channel that does what they do that is that well established and that should be considered when they make their decisions about how to go about their business.

By: wstanley425

wstanley425 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:50:31 +0000

This may have already been thought up, but can we just start referring to TJ as TJ Slimers

By: TomTom

TomTom — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:44:15 +0000

Yes, but are they also scrappy with intangibles?

By: pwf207

pwf207 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:42:49 +0000

agreed, debating an issue can only improve the general level of understanding.

By: BC

BC — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:39:21 +0000

I can answer the question in the title of this entry in two words:
They’re chipwiches.

By: cur68

cur68 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:38:51 +0000

Agreed.