A Mediot Shrieks!

by Rafael Vela on Jan 22, 2006 12:37 PM CST in Dallas Cowboys General

Blogging has changed the nature of journalism by changing the frame of communications. What was typically one-way transmission from a network, newspaper or magazine to a passive audience is now a two-way world, in which a story or opinion piece can receive multiple, real-time reviews of its worth.

It's revealing that journalists can be some of the thinnest-skinned people around. They have lived in a world where their barbs and assumptions have gone unquestioned. No more. It's happening with increasing frequency in the political world, where bloggers are driving mainstream press members into fits of apoplexy by simply pointing out mistakes.

This phenomenon popped up in the sports world, where ESPN's Len Pasquarelli chastised some critics who had the nerve to question his exclusive circle or football writers.

The surprise was that Len's targets were not bloggers like me, but members of his own profession. Pasquarelli was upset that Metroplex scribes from the Morning News, Star-Telegram and the website The Ranch Report ripped the Hall of Fame voters for short-shrifting Cowboys nominees like Rayfield Wright and took more shots at DMN writer Rick Gosselin, the Cowboys representative, for his tepid advocacy of Cowboys candidates.

Pasquarelli writes,

The Pro Football Hall of Fame balloting won't take place until the morning before Super Bowl XL, but some media folks in the Dallas area have already begun banging the drums, in their typically ill-informed fashion, about contentions that a bias exists against the Cowboys' candidates... The annual rhetoric is every bit as petty and small-minded as the Dallas area media accuses the selectors of being. It never affects the votes, and won't this year, but that probably won't stop the columnists from grinding their axes on days when they've apparently got nothing better to write.

My, my, what shameful little creatures those Dallas-lovin' boys must be. Such gall. Such cheek they possess. Well, Len, your harrumphing reveals as much about you as it does them, and it's ugly. So let's dispense with the polite knife twisting and get down to business. They might be mediots, but dammit, they're our mediots and they're right to be upset.

You accuse them of trying to influence votes, but on reading their pieces, all I can see are arguments that the voters -- you voters -- are lousy at your jobs. And you are. The voting on Wright two years ago was more than suspicious. And the Galloways, LeBretons and Fishers don't arrive at their disdain without cause. They, like us, have read the Paul Zimmermann pieces red with frustration over final votes. They've seen the Don Pierson piece two years ago wondering if a Cowboys bias does exist. LeBreton referenced a Minneapolis writer who took some glee in Wright's black balling. They "show their work," so why are you protesting so much?

Next, are you a classist, a regionalist or simply an all-around, all-purpose snob? The "typically ill-informed" and "petty, small-minded Dallas folks" comments reveal every bit of the parochial bias you claim doesn't exist. Those poor unwashed folks down there in that Southern backwater can fly planes too, Len. They can even operate word prcessors. They've been to Super Bowls and have talked to people who do the voting.

If you wanted them and the rest of us peons to be less ill-informed you could end all mystery by publishing your votes. But that would bleed the power you've created by treating yourselves as cardinals and equating these rituals with the electing of a pope. You wouldn't be able to look down upon the rest of your brethren and the fans if this system came to pass.

And that's why your comments are so appalling. You're not protecting state secrets. You're not working on sensitive medical research. You're a sportswriter, which makes you rather small next to the doctors, teachers, lawyers, firemen, businessmen and other folks with real throw weight in this society. You're an elf, Len, and a rather rotund one judging from your photo. Anointing yourself with Keebler crumbs and saying "but we're so much better than those elves down there in Dallas," still leaves you stumpy at the end of the day.

What's worse, you're that much smaller than the men on whom you pass judgement. That's why we resented you before your opened your snotty mouth. Men like Rayfield Wright and Michael Irvin literally bled for their uniforms and for us. We don't like it when their work is deemed worthy or unworthy by a unit that has no accountability.

Finally, why are you hiding this screed in a protected column? If you're angry post your response where everyone can see it. Stick up for your selectors and yourself. Don't rant and rave behind the walls of your exclusive enclave, you big mean sportwriter you. After all, nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, but which requires a subscription fee, right? Petty and small-minded indeed.

Before you slither back behind your firewall, know that your timid tut-tuting won't solve anything. You never expected to have your holy status challenged, but the net has changed everything. Not only did your fellow writers challenge you, the whole world saw it. What's worse for you, the readers can now set up their own shops and fire back too. Until we get some satisfaction, we'll speak up about this and other issues. Theirs was just the first whack at your committee's overstuffed egos. More are coming. Get used to them.

Tweet Comment 18 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

First I’ve got to say that I used to read his pieces and the ones of Clayton of ESPN, but things that they said that weren’t favorable to the Cowboys usually came to my eyes. The dropplet that filled the glass, and that’s why I haven’t read their articles anymore is their annointing of Steve Smith saying that he’s unstoppable and that almost no human being can stop him.

So Terence Newman doesn’t exist… They don’t see the Cowboys play and I can bet that they don’t like them.

More reasons to keep liking Dr. Z which is guy I look up the most.

by Chandus on Jan 22, 2006 1:58 PM CST reply actions

Raf,
I love your “Elf” reference. Lenny P is truly a MEDIOT! Yes, Eight Super Bowl appearances, with 5 Championships don’t seem to matter to these morons. It’s a good thing they can’t simply vote those Lombardi trophies away, otherwise they would!

by onepaniolo on Jan 22, 2006 2:53 PM CST reply actions

C’mon, the lustrious dynasty-Tennessee Titans, has as many Hall of Famers that the Cowboys do…yea, real parody…

Rafael:

Thanks for you writing of the truth. I love that aspect…after all, men, share character, which the sports journalists forget, are supposed to be based upon…and not just conveniently and self-supporting privileges that they alone seem to think they possess…

by CCBoy on Jan 22, 2006 3:19 PM CST reply actions

great stuff, Raf. these guys better get used to the two-way street that the Internet has provided. fans are more educated and thus don’t accept the same old coaching excuses. and the fans (who pay Lenny P’s salary) want to know what is going on INSIDE everything. get used to it. it isn’t ABOUT to happen. the future is now. get on the train or get left, Lenny P. and yes that does mean Cowboy fans can compare stats and see that our guys are getting shafted in the Hall of Fame voting.

by BuckeyeMark on Jan 22, 2006 3:49 PM CST reply actions

i use to kinda like mr len, not anymore. that was the biggest piece of crap ive ever read. im so mad about that i dont know what to even say. comment more later

by mike on Jan 22, 2006 7:23 PM CST reply actions

Rafael,
Outstanding use of hyperbole. A few months back I remeber some flamer on this blog that was railing about our awful and unfair use of “mediot”. Pasquarelli’s filthy pie-hole and the fact that he is being called on the carpet by his colleagues (why he would refer to metro-plex writers as rubes is beyond me, Dallas is a sophisticated big city like any other)only proves 2 things:
1. There are mediots and he is a prime example.
2. Cowboys do get the shaft in HOF voting.

by eyeamkurgan on Jan 22, 2006 9:37 PM CST reply actions

Great writing and excellent points Rafael. It’s sad that guys like Lenny get paid a salary to do something that you can and do so much better…and don’t think he doesn’t have a favorite team too.

That’s the point. All these writers are not much different than us. Deep down they are fans too, and you better believe they have their team.

The bias against the Cowboys is simple. The Cowboys won. They won a LOT. They won in convincing style on many occassions. We have the collective consciousness of D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, San Francisco, Buffalo, Miami, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Green Bay, Denver, and Pittsburgh all praying for our downfall. Ask a fan of any other team in the NFC East what team they most want to beat every year is and you will hear Cowboys every time. It’s not even close. The 49ers, Broncos, Packers fans all despise us…I know this firsthand.

So the Cowboys have all these places, mostly concentrated in the large Northeast media markets, with sportswriters who are homers and who still hate the Cowboys for what the Boys did to their local team. It is obvious why they don’t vote for Cowboys for the so-called Hall of Fame. What is sad is they can’t act like men and admit why they have their bias, they have to make good players and good men suffer for the recognition they deserve simply because of the team they played on.

by Sterling on Jan 22, 2006 10:33 PM CST reply actions

Lenny P doth protest a bit much, eh?

by Len on Jan 22, 2006 10:34 PM CST reply actions

Another thing. I think too many people have blown smoke up Lenny P’s rear end because recently I have begun seeing a lot more writing like this out of him:

To have ever predicted in the blue-collar Steel City that the Steelers might finally claim a fifth Super Bowl title on the strong right arm of a callow, second-year quarterback, not on the piston-driving legs of some beefy-thighed runner would once have been anathema. But on Sunday night, throaty ’Burghers likely were raising their Iron City beer bottles, and toasting Roethlisberger late into the night.

What, does this guy think he’s Frank DeFord or something? Does he write for the New Yorker? Geez. I’ve published three books. My editor tells me, the best word is the most straight forward word. This guy consults his Microsoft Word thesaurus a bit too much.

by Len on Jan 22, 2006 10:37 PM CST reply actions

Len:

He’s only trying to enhance his appeal with the “blue-collar Steel City” Burgher chowing, Iron City beer guzzlers. They love that Northeast Fancy Talk.

I don’t call him a mediot. The fact that he works in the media is inconsequential to the fact that first and foremost he is an idiot.

Skip Bayless is still worse in my book though.

by Sterling on Jan 22, 2006 10:55 PM CST reply actions

Sterling,

But that’s just the thing. He doesn’t write blue-collar at all. He completely misses his audience. And the “educated crowd” would prefer someone like Gregg Easterbrook or our own Raf to a poser such as this guy.

I completely agree about Bayless.

by Len on Jan 22, 2006 11:13 PM CST reply actions

Len,

Purple prose aside, his comment is dead wrong. They needed a strong armed QB named Bradshaw to lead them to their ’70s dynasty. You would think they ran the winged-T then, listening to Len P. They had one of the nastiest passing games going then and any real Steelers fan will tell you so. I know. I know a few.

by Rafael Vela on Jan 22, 2006 11:16 PM CST reply actions

Len:

I was being facetious. Obviously he could care less about appealing to the very people he should be. Maybe he’d be a better fit for the Lifestyles section, at least Steelers fans wouldn’t have to put up with him stereotyping their franchise’s offensive successes then.

by Sterling on Jan 23, 2006 12:28 AM CST reply actions

Sure Bradshaw had a strong arm- but he was well served by having acrobatic receivers that had to jump and stretch for his often inaccurate throws.

by burmafrd on Jan 23, 2006 6:56 AM CST reply actions

This is great stuff. The point is simple, given Dallas’ success and lack of representation in the HOF, there is something amiss.

Certainly no one can argue the fact the Bob Hays was shafted and the media is responsible (whether Dallas media or others, still media).

Statistical analysis proves Wright, Irvin and Hays belong and when the Superbowls are factored in, you close the deal. Arguing the off field indiscretions of Irvin and Hays should exclude them, fine, but have the guts to say they belong but because of their mistakes they are out.

As Raf sez, these guys are gutless and lack the journalistic ethics they claim to possess.

by rha on Jan 23, 2006 7:14 AM CST reply actions

Way to hit it out of the park in true Mickey Mantle fashion, Raf.

by BluegrassCowboy on Jan 23, 2006 7:45 AM CST reply actions

Well, now. I don’t know, but it seems to me that calling Dallas-area media “typically ill-informed”, “petty”, and “small-minded”, might not be exactly the best way to tamp down the claims of bias against Dallas.

Way to pour gasoline on the flames, Len!

Aw, shucks! Us rubes don’t know nothin’ nohow! ’Scuse me, Len, oh great one, for ever questioning your judgment.

Gotta run back to my double-wide. [I get to use my neighbor, Lum’s computer, while he’s out sloppin’ the hogs and such.] TVLand is showing a Hee-Haw marathon. Can’t miss that!