The "other" FJM
...seems to be in full-Simmons-mode
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/06/open-letter-to-theo-epstein-version-1.html
hurrah!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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A blog dedicated to venting frustration about dumb members of the sports media via angry commentary. No, we're not the first guys to do this kind of thing. Still, Jay Mariotti and several other prominent members of the national sports media need to lose their jobs. We want to facilitate that process any way we can. Feel free to direct any pressing questions or comments to any or all of us at firejaymariotti@gmail.com.
...seems to be in full-Simmons-mode
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/06/open-letter-to-theo-epstein-version-1.html
hurrah!
Labels: i hate boston's sports teams
42 comments:
This is all a little snappy isn't it guys? No need to have a go at them, not entirely sure what the point of this post is...
J.S.
what are you talking about? who's having a go? It's just a link to an odd, Bill Simmonsesque post at FJM.
Why so defensive? Does JS stand for Jen Stupendous or something?
Given the well established format of their site, I'm not entirely sure what the point of their post is. As near as I can tell, it's probably "the Red Sox are fucking great and everyone loves them so our readers need to hear about them." Which leads me to my next point: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
And don't worry JS, they don't know who we are, and if they did, they wouldn't care. We can have all the gos at them we want; it's not going to affect anything.
Dak has a lot of free time now he's been fired from Fremulon Insurance for having an inappropriate affair with this employee:
http://bp3.blogger.com/_-G2DuseO_j4/SBUCKky2gZI/AAAAAAAAADc/9Ak1UdlYlm4/s1600-h/Fremulon.JPG
oh my! what an allegation
Not to be a total dork - but It's Ken who pretends to be employed by the pretend company.
The Red Sox are going to be fine. Why would they want to bring that dude on for the season? That's just what they need, bring some asshole on in the middle of the season because the Red Sox are trailing a Rays' team that is playing out of it's mind. And they're trailing by a 1/2 game.
I'm pretty sure that FireJoe post was meant to be satirical. Kind of like how they reported that Jason Varitek used the phrase "clogging up the bases" and then they pretended to think that this was a great nugget of baseball insight. They were kidding.
I am with Larry, the motto of the site is "where bad journalism goes to die." I think it is a bit out of their format and it just sucks worse since they are diehard Red Sox fans. If it were an Oakland fan wanting Bonds, it would not bother me as much.
I guess it is their site and they can post whatever they want up there.
I do think it is funny though they have a closed forum just like Simmons does. Seems like Boston area writers can't seem to stand criticism of any kind or have anyone comment on their work. Even though they are popular and would get a lot of comments, I consider that odd. It's almost like Simmons, they don't to know if they are ever wrong.
I still like the site though.
Also, the Braves just lost John Smoltz for the entire rest of the year. I realize he is old, but based on the SportsCenter coverage of David Ortiz's injury is fair to expect the following from ESPN?
1. The story to lead SportsCenter
2. Buster Olney to call in and talk about the effect on the team and Peter Gammons to report from Turner Field of how they are going to replace him.
3. A doctor to call in and report what exactly type of surgery Smoltz is having and whether he will come back next year.
4. A list of possible replacements through trade and free agency discussed with Steve Phillips.
Absolutely not, but that is what happened with David Ortiz's excessive playing with his private's wrist injury. For those who don't get why Boston coverage pisses "haters" like me off, this is the reason. He is only going to be out for a month and they act as if it is the apocolypse, while it is just another story if another player is definitely out for the year.
to be fair, Bengoodfella, FJM keeps it closed not to avoid criticism,but to avoid fanboying, as evidenced from when they opened up comments for like 3 hours and got swamped by like 300 comments made by guys trying to be comedians a la deadspin
What? I have to be fair? Fine, that is very true and I would probably do the same thing. I just like to make up shit to make Boston fans seem worse than they are.
My punishment for wrongly criticizing them is I can not post something on this board for 5 hours, even if I have something stupid to say.
I can still mock Simmons for closign comments right?
John, I don't think dak is kidding when he says he thinks Bonds is a great asset and would be great on the Red Sox batting in front of Manny. Maybe the "cute" jokes in small print in between the letter are meant to make the letter satirical and funny (it fails) and make you think, oh yeah, this is FJM, he's being clever.
But then again, dak's the weakest of the site's writers.
Chris W: +1
(That's a Deadspin joke... and I know, it wasn't funny)
And yeah, I disagree with John as well, if the Bonds thing was written satirically it certainly went way over my head. I'm pretty sure the basic idea was just "we're big Red Sox fans, as everyone else should be, and here's a topic we've been talking about regarding our team recently."
Ben:
Hell, you can make fun of FJM for closing comments. Most every big time blog site allows it. Hell--they even realized at one point that they ought to do it. And yet, it remains closed.
Simmons deserves even more scorn on your part since he's being paid to write his blog on ESPN, and all other ESPN columnists are man enough to take the heat.
I just wanted to point out that FJM aren't pussies like SImmons is.
Larry:
I agree. I think it was authentic, with--as someone pointed out earlier in these comments--some "Silly" asides interspersed to remind you that this is the hilarious FJM, and not some random sports pontificator.
Dak seems to be setting himself up for some showdown with Ken Tremendous (or is it Jen Stupendous?) who has stated earlier that he is "perhaps irrationally opposed" to teams signing Bonds.
Also as is pointed out earlier, dak is by far the weakest FJMer.
And yes, it does strike me as rather pathetic on my part that I'm putting this much thought into some blog that posts like 3 times a month, but then again, what else am I going to do on a weekday?
I think you should point out that the NBA playoffs are 2 months old and at least a week away (perhaps two) from being over. That's something you could do with your weekday.
nah people on this site seem to love the nba so much they want to marry it.
Plus they raised a good point:
The NBA Playoffs are definitely not long at all because the longer basketball goes on the better, and anyway if I don't like it don't watch it because it's not like I have to watch sportscenter, and anyway, why would I want to see White Sox highlights anyway because Ozzie sucks even though I must love him because I'm a stupid White Sox fan
also, if I posted something about that, I would feel bad because I would be forcing people to read it!
I actually don't see what the big deal is. How is it "going Simmons" to write two posts about your favorite team? I'm pretty sure I've seen more Rockies posts here than on just about any other site which is fine. Is it that outrageous that they abandoned their format for two posts? As much as it may annoy, people are allowed to be Red Sox fans. The open letter didn't really interest me, but it wasn't as embarrassing as some are making it out to be. Anyway, unlike Simmons, FJM is an independent blog. So even if they do go Simmons, it wouldn't be half as bad as the real thing.
it's just that it's completely out of character, is pretty lame, and is pretty much the same thing they'd make fun of a writer for doing.
If you think it's no big deal, cool! It would be absolutely fine if you decided to move on with your life! :shrug:
Smitty, listen, I'm not trying to get all up in arms here, but seriously- how many Rockies posts have you seen on here that had nothing to do with a journalist and exclusively contained the opinions of one of our bloggers. Just let me know how many of those you've seen on here and link me to them. And for that matter, how many Rockies related posts of any type have we had? There was a flurry last October, for obvious reasons, and other than that... where? I'm not trying to be a dick about it. But I am, as casually as possible, calling you out. Save for last October, show me the Rockies mania here on FireJay. I'm curious to see how you've formed your opinion about our topic distribution.
Yeah, I would have moved on with my life if you hadn't posted, but now I have something to talk about and kill time with. I guess my bigger point is that I think the Red Sox hatred is almost getting to the point of being over the top. I hate the Red Sox. Hated them when they made their first world series run, even though everyone but Yankee fans thought that made me a jerk. I still get fed up with their sense of self importance (as embodied by Simmons). But it feels like its gotten to the point where even reasonable fans can't talk about the Red Sox without getting the douche label. The Red Sox hating isn't that far from rivaling the Red Sox jackassery.
Larry B, I'm not going to search through your archives. I'll take your word for it that you guys have never done anything like that. But at the very least your tone towards the Rockies is different than other teams. I remember you guys getting into a blogging slap fight with a Padres blog over that big call last year. My point was just that its OK to favor your team unless it gets out of control, like Simmons. And sorry if you felt insulted, it wasn't meant to be at all critical.
I think Chris made my original horribly worded point that it seemed ironic FJMorgan posted that open letter to Theo.
I personally would not mind Chris if you did post something about the White Sox and Ozzie Guillen, I think it would be pretty good.
The reason Smitty that the Red Sox hating is everywhere is because the level of Red Sox coverage right now is insane. The injury to David Ortiz is getting massive coverage and he is only going to be out for a month! Five Red Sox are going to be in the starting lineup at the All Star Game. Not that they don't deserve it necessarily, but we need a break from it.
It is similar to the Yankees coverage when they won multiple titles, where that is all everyone talks about.
Ortiz going to the 15 day DL led SportsCenter for God's sakes. Then they had a doctor come on and analyze the injury, Peter Gammons reported from Fenway on the team's state of mind, Buster Olney called into Mike and Mike and analyzed who they would get to replace him, if anyone. They didn't give half of the coverage to Ken Griffey Jr. when he is chasing 600 HRs as they do to Manny when he chases 500 HR. It is shit like that which is causing the "hating" you dislike. It is an oversaturation.
everyone on this site (and every site) is biased toward/about their favorite teams
Hell, even FJM is from time to time. No big deal.
The issue here (to the extent that there's even an issue) is that they devoted an entire post to discussing some random FA rumor about their team in a cutesy way as if anyone who's not a Boston fan really cares.
Considering that's not at all in keeping with what their blog's about, it's conspicuous, and yes, the fact that it's about Boston doesn't help.
Why's it them Simmonsing out? Let me count the ways:
1.) A post that has no purpose but to sportsblab-radio about Boston sports
2.) Hero-worship of a Boston player
3.) Armchair GMing
Considering that none of those three things EVER happen on FJM (or, really, on this site) it's fair to say they're kind of "getting their Simmons on"
Or at least, I think it's fair. Which is why I made the fairly innocuous post.
It's not like I excoriated them. Just called attention to something I found noteworthy.
Speaking of Simmons, his new mag column is so Simmonsey that it's Simmonsdiculous.
Well, I would argue that those three points are only truly "Simmons" if they're backing an argument that is obviously wrong. I don't think that was the case here. It was a reasonable position, but the form of the post was sort of lame. If the open letter was to anyone but Theo Epstein, it might have raised an eyebrow or two, but I don't think anyone would have cared. Which was really what I took issue with. I hate dumb Red Sox fans, not all Red Sox fans. You're right though, your original post was fairly innocuous and Dak is generally the weakest at FJM. I'm a Junior man myself.
Yeah, Simmons latest mag column is the equivalent to begging to be punched in the face.
To me, the issue is that FJM hasn't posted much at all, as someone pointed out, 3 times month or so, and that's including Joe Chat's probably. To then turn around and put this up on the site is silly. It would be like going to ESPN and they had a giant story about how to change your tires like the pros in Nascar, with helpful hints and where to get the best buy on shop towels. Tangentially related, but sure as heck not what anybody is visiting the site for.
smitty--
on the other hand do you think, say, a Rockies fan like Larry would write an open letter to Dan O'Dowd or whoever the fudge is their GM if their blog wasn't a "fanblog"?
I can see fans of three teams who would be arrogant enough to think the world cares all that much who their GMs do or do not sign--Yankees, Red Sox, and maybe Cubs.
But that's just me. Maybe it's just people unfairly hating the Red Sox (and I'll admit, I'm more willing to hate Red Sox fans these days than I was 5 years ago)...but then again, people like Berman and Simmons give you reasons to hate Red Sox fans.
And in the case of FJM, they did too, at least from where I'm coming from.
So to summarize:
a.) Yeah, if they had written an open letter to, say, Omar Minaya, it probably would have annoyed me less
but
b.) if they hadn't written a lame ass "open letter" on a blog that has nothing to do with being a Red Sox fan, debating potential acquisitions, or kissing the ass of your favorite GM--no matter how lamely tongue in cheek--then I wouldn't have had occasion to get annoyed, unfairly or no
Smitty- No offense taken, just felt like your point was a little unfair. No, we definitely have never done anything close to the "Bonds to the Sawks" post that has spawned all these comments. Yes, we did get into a sissy internet fight with some Padres fan, but that was instigated by Eriz, and was in response to an actual article (blog post, actually, but from a very popular and well-read Padres blog). I wouldn't have started that kind of thing on my own. I'm not, like, throwing Eriz under a bus or anything. I'm glad we had that exchange with that guy. I'm just saying, it's not my style. And given that Eriz basically doesn't contribute here anymore, therefore not the blog's style either. In conclusion, no hard feelings, I'm just saying that you won't ever see this FJM doing anything that resembles what that FJM just did.
As for what Simmons just did for his "Mag" column, you won't see me covering that either. It's impossible. There's just no point. The most important point to be made was made by Ben (I think) in yesterday's comments- if there's no "real rivalry" between the Lakers and Celtics, there's not one between the Red Sox and Yankees either.
Also- Peter Gammons seems like a nice old man and all, but even HE gives me reason to hate the Red Sox with his obnoxious ass kissing of them all the time. He's worse than Buster Olney with the Yankees.
Speaking of Chris Berman, 2005 ALDS: "Ohhhhhhhhh nooooooooooooooo!!!!"
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of not allowing comments on public blogs. To me, it's sort of like they're trying to eat their cake and have it too; while they're not drawing ad revenue, Schur especially isn't exactly shying away from the popularity and invitations to do talk shows. If your blog is conspicuously public in this way, I think it's incumbent upon you to allow comments, even if you don't have time to wade through them all. If they were really "writing for themselves" they could make it private. They're (somewhat) bigtime bloggers, and fanboyism comes with the territory.
I love the Office, and I greatly enjoy FJoeM, but they definitely veer into condescension. I suppose Harvard + LA will do that, but it still kind of fingers my goat.
Speaking of Simmonsing, Rick Reilly started on ESPN today, while Bill spent an hour and a half chatting with random friends and only accidentally touching on anything sports related.
I can't wait to start picking on Reilly. This first article looks a little too serious to attack, but you know full well he'll start writing crap by next week.
Unmoderated comment sections: where ideas can hang out, and do whatever.
It fingers your goat CitizenX? That is quite an image for me to picture. I like it though. I am not trying to have a backlash against FJMorgan or anything, I am just saying it was funny for them to post that letter based on the original idea they had for the blog.
I agree with you Larry, Peter Gammons is starting to annoy me as well.
"they definitely veer into condescension. I suppose Harvard + LA will do that, but it still kind of fingers my goat."
I don't follow here... should they say "aw gee shucks" more often in their posts? Isn't the whole point of this sort of blogging to essentially as condescending as possible while still being amusing?
The whole point of this kind of blogging is to complain as much as possible while making as few points of your own that become vulnerable to criticism. That way, you limit everyone else's ability to turn the tables and complain about you. At least, that's how I've approached it.
Point 1: Just read KT's rebuttal, and it was mildly enjoyable. Is it possible that he's a funnier and more dynamic writer than hak? Worth looking into.
Point 2: I don't really think that dak is that bad, I just thought that "hak" would be a funny burn.
Point 3: Hahahahahah in your face "dak".
Point 4: I should have been clearer. It's awesome when they're condescending sportswriters who suck. As a reader though, I don't want to be talked down to, and I feel a slight lack of respect sometimes. Blogs exist because of readers, and I don't really like feeling alienated because I didn't go to Harvard (side note: I could have, but decided not to after I got rejected (sideside note: I got rejected and didn't even apply. Just got a letter in the mail one day saying fuck you citizenx, which was weird, because I didn't even blog in high school (sidesideside note: does anybody know what the fuck I'm talking about anymore?)))
I should stop drinking on Wednesdays.
Easy on the parentheses, buddy. You'll be OK.
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