Breaking Down Rob Parker/RG3

Watch that video above. Here is the full text of what happened on First Take when ESPN's Rob Parker and Stephen A. Smith discussed Robert Griffin's comments on race.

Let me educate people on this. Robert Griffin is doing what many Black people have done for years. They strive to be the best, regardless of race, and they don't seek to be defined by it. I have personally felt the same way that I wanted to be seen as a great guy, not a great Black guy. Yet at the same time, I've been told in college that I blew people's minds on what they expected from Black folks.

This is not about how Griffin carries himself. This is about what Parker said and why people are looking at this wrong. The problem is that Parker put all of this barbershop talk on ESPN. A conversation that Black people may have had in front of a mainly White audience and you have people of all races rushing to call him an idiot for questioning Griffin's blackness.

Deadspin, Grantland and the future of sports writing.

So I was reading this Grantland story on the idea of Humblebrag, one of those elitist, sarcastic writer terms that has crept up in the past year or so. For those who don't know, here is Harris Wittels (the author) explaining what it is.

A Humblebrag is basically a specific type of bragging which masks the brag in a faux-humble guise. The false humility allows the offender to boast their "achievements" without any sense of shame or guilt.

In other words, praising yourself in a low-key way. Think award speeches. Granted folks tend to do this a lot and it's why I don't follow too many athletes or celebrities because they promote their interests and rarely show a true glimpse of who they are. But I think Wittels went too far in this latest story. I barely read his pieces and when I read this one, I remembered why.

In his Top 10 list of Humblebraggers, he mentioned writer/social activist Kevin Powell who tweeted about taking two homeless women to dinner. Powell said he couldn't do it every day but he did it then. Naturally, most of us would sympathize because we face that dilemma (I do every time I go through my old city) but Wittels in his sarcastic tone said this:

"Best of luck to you tomorrow in your struggles of going back to ignoring them."

That sarcastic tone got on my nerves. Are you kidding me? Having been on Twitter for 3 years, I've seen this before with people who are jaded by charity or sincerity from a famous person. I assume it’s because people feel celebrities are shallow and full of themselves and are easy targets due to the 24/7 media cycle around them. Instead of saying it to friends, Twitter makes it easy to say it publicly.

But rarely would I expect to see that in print. Wittels is a writer for “Parks and Recreation” so that explains his tone and writing but I was insulted that genuine charity is treated with such callousness. 

Sadly this type of sarcastic tone happens often in modern sportswriting, especially on sites like Grantland, Yahoo's blogs and Deadspin. It's a sarcastic, jaded, more opinionated style that has crept up in the last 7/8 years thanks to folks like Bill Simmons and Will Leitch.

Simmons (AKA The Sports Guy) started to become popular on ESPN around 2003/2004. By 2005, he was probably one of the most read writers in the country. He influenced Internet sports writing (and this writer in particular) with his combination of wit, quirky tidbits, personal stories, sound opinion and pop culture references. It's because of his success that he has creative control that few writers have, leading to his conception of the ESPN 30 for 30 series and his spinoff site, Grantland, last year.

Personally, I think that when Simmons is on point, he's worthy of his lofty position. He's a sound writer on basketball, his live-columns are intriguing (where he goes minute by minute watching something), he has great analysis and his critiques of professional leagues are usually 100% correct. Unfortunately, at his worst, he can be painfully biased and so caught up in his own Boston hype that he's downright annoying.

Bill Simmons is probably one of the 10 most influential sports figures of the last decade.  I have no shame admitting he was one of the first sportswriters who I realized influenced how I wrote nor the fact that he has spawned cheap imitators. 

Will Leitch, on the other hand, impressed me when he wrote “God Save The Fan”, a book that showed how sports fans are being left out or thought of last in the sports-industrial complex. I find him to be incredibly smart, witty, polished, sarcastic and not mean-spirited. He loves his St. Louis Cardinals and he loves to tell great stories, whether it be in Sporting News or his recent GQ piece on reigning MVP Derrick Rose.

Unfortunately, his site Deadspin was built on telling the side of the story you didn't see in the mainstream. It was mixed with a ton of distant sarcasm (sarcasm that tends to lack any understanding or sympathy of context), gossip stories (athletes partying, questionable pictures), and some actual good work that ESPN and others didn't report. For better of for worse, it's the granddaddy of modern sports blogging.

I never really read Deadspin too often, especially after current editor AJ Daulerio threw a hissy fit over the NY Post scooping ESPN's Steve Phillips' affair in 2009. It was unprofessional and childish - basically the reputation that Deadspin has now posting suggestive photos and potty humor amidst the actual decent commentary they have.

Yet Simmons and Deadspin have influenced a lot of websites. The sports blogosphere has some good merit (I respect SportsbyBrooks for his journalist ethic and SBNation is incredible) but the majority of sites are Deadspin-lite and get a bad rep due to their own making. Yahoo's sports blogs usually find good stories but when their snide, condescending tone comes out, I typically tune out because they lack any understanding and remind me how uptight or super sarcastic they are.

It leads to a point that I've reflected on for two years and Bomani Jones' reflected on last year. At the Blogs with Balls conference last year, ESPN's Jemele Hill asked Daulerio why Deadspin didn't hire more Black writers and Daulerio said that it's a White industry and he doesn't see a lot of Black people in this new media. Therein lies a key part of the problem.

I see a lot of young White writers in the blogosphere and some of them rely a lot on snarky comments, statistics** and their own perspective. Of course there are some great White writers that I admire but typically that leads to a disconnect with covering some sports (NBA: dominated by Black players, MLB: a large number of Latino players). It leads to some comments or opinions that come across as insensitive but mainly there's little flavor in how sports gets discussed in the public sphere.

The dominant Black blog, Black Sports Online, is part gossip site, part real news combined with a healthy dose of ego tripping (and as a friend points out, quite a bit of bad grammar). While BSO stands alone, the lack of color or pursuit of it lends me think this new media is going to be homogenous like this and that bothers me because it alienates a lot of great talent.

(It reminds me why I really enjoyed The Morning Jones. That deserves its own blog post one day [Edit: It's right here] but I’ll just say that hearing a different voice on sports – a voice like mine and so many others – was refreshing.)

Throw in the fact sports media is dominated by loud opinions, over-the-top statements and anything to generate attention instead of just writers who get it with their provocative words and you have a bad climate for future talent to develop.

The main offender of this new era? Skip Bayless, who has written about sports for 30 years in Dallas, The Bay Area and Los Angeles, but will mostly be remembered for his over-the-top ideas and proclamations on 1st Take. 

(Thought about this the other day when I heard ESPN was folding up Page 2 - in college, I had the luxury to read Scoop Jackson, Jemele Hill, Ralph Wiley, David Halberstam, Dan Shanoff's Daily Quickie, Wright Thompson, a young Bomani Jones and Bill Simmons on Page 2. I saw the early days of Pardon the Interruption. Nowadays? Young journalists/sports fans see a culture of talking heads, shouting matches and dumbed down entertainment. The calm voice of reason in writing is almost ignored for reactionary pieces that lack nuance or depth.)

I saw it a lot on Bleacher Report when I wrote more for them. It's a crap shoot because for the talented writers you see, you see some bad writers who got a lot of hits for BS pieces.

Grantland is a mix of two worlds – the youthful energy of bloggers with the high-brow, long-form writing of GQ/Slate. They have a great array of talent (Wright Thompson, Jonathan Abrams, Jay Caspian Kang and the grizzled veteran Charles P. Pierce) but they also have some writers who get in the way of their story, like the aforementioned Wittels. Unfortunately, the highbrow audience acts like too much like Wittels and expects the same attitude from similar writers.

I like writers/sports personalities that have the right mix of inviting personality and great opinions. Something that makes you read or listen to them because you know you're getting quality. Mostly I like writers with common sense, not rushing to judgment but able to step back and give you perspective. Like Ralph Emerson's ideal poet, they speak to regular people plainly but share something you don't realize right away. 

On Twitter, I follow some very sharp sports minds. My bros Zach (@ZachMentz), Lamar (@Primetime2832), and James (@MrESPN) are solid young writers who get it and whom I often share similar opinions with on sports and media. Folks like Arjun C. (@arjunc12), Jackie Taylor (@ThatSportsBabe) and others bring passion, strong opinions and common sense. Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) is as smart, insightful and measured as anybody I follow. They inspire me to think and as a writer, I'm challenged by excellence and my own standard. Not by grabbing attention with publicity stunts.

I'm not giving up hope that great writing will continue to shine and folks will use the new media to become great talents. But with more people focusing on Deadspin, Skip Bayless, and Grantland’s snarky pieces instead of their brilliance, I have a fear that sports writing will devolve into snappy soundbytes instead of smart, quick hits. And that could hurt those of us who write with a clear purpose to be insightful, witty, cool and reasonable.

**Quite a few younger writers have embraced the sabermetrical culture of the post-Moneyball era. They use detailed stats to prove efficiency in a greater way than traditional stats do. As a former math geek/stat nerd, I find stats very helpful but they don’t tell the whole story.

A good writer learns to absorb numbers/info but trust their eyes and the words of trusted observers. Another problem I have with modern sports writing. Numbers never lie but they can be manipulated**

L.B.J. (What Does It Mean?) - Winners/Losers/Reaction

Bill Simmons of ESPN called it the LeBronApocalypse. The reverberations of July 8, 2010 are gonna be felt for years to come just like July 1, 1996. So in the spirit of the Sports Guy, here's the winner and losers.

Winners:

LeBron James - Cut to the chase, beneath the BS of his process, he won because he chose the best chance of winning over money and staying home. He sacrificed his on-court ego for the Superfriends. New jersey, new team, same dream.

Dwyane Wade - He becomes the Alpha Dog Superstar. LBJ and Chris Bosh came to his team, he's still The Man and better yet, his reputation grows even bigger. He's no villain, in fact, he's arguably alone with Kobe, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant as a superstar.

Pat Riley - Nearly 3 decades after Showtime, he's still making moves. Biggest power broker in the NBA (World Wide Wes who?). Erik Spolestra, Stan Van Gundy's on Line 1 telling you watch your back.

Miami - Welcome back to respectability. 4 years after Shaq and D-Wade brought you a ring, you're poised for the best run you've had since Tim Hardaway and Alonzo ran the city for years.

The NBA - Promotions galore? Sellouts around the country? Hype, Hype, Hype!! Oh YES, David Stern is happy as he's been since Jordan's final season. Ratings through the roof, casual fans tuning in, not to mention a highly competitive season.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers - While the Evil Three celebrate, the Black Mamba chills with his army. If Pau Gasol dominated Amare Stoudemire and Dwight Howard, how will he fare against Chris Bosh, a far weaker version of the two. Oh and Miami needs to figure out how to fill up that bench besides Mario Chalmers and Mike Miller.

Did I mention the Lakers just got a boat load of new fans rooting to take out the 3-headed Hydra? For Kobe haters, they hate LeBron even more and its picking the lesser of 2 evils. More motivation for the 3-peat. If Derek Fisher doesn't get his deal from the Lakers then this goes for naught. Memo to Mitch Kupchak. Make. It. Happen.

Kevin Durant - quiet as kept on Twitter, he re-upped with Oklahoma City ensuring they'll run the West along with Portland and Houston. Give them a quality big man and they'll get a ring faster than Miami.

He also endeared himself to more fans. Showing up to summer league games for his team? Putting in work in the gym after signing? He gets it.

Losers:

LeBron James - Where to start. He becomes a villain (Darth Vader, the 2nd half of Richard III) and is the NBA's answer to A-Rod, its greatest talent with zero team hardware. His reputation will never be the same as a King, but rather a talented, unselfish PG that couldn't do it on his own.

That's not a bad thing considering it didn't tarnish the legacies of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Clyde Drexler, Moses Malone (peep his 1982-83 Philadelphia squad of 4 All-Stars and the 6th Man of the Year), Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett. Not every star stays with one squad. But outside of Shaq/Moses/Kareem, all of them weren't in their prime. They all had chances to be the man and when they couldn't, they went elsewhere to win.

It's true for LeBron, but the backlash of his announcement has turned him into Darth James. The love is gone, enter the hate and resentment. He'll be hated worse than Kobe for his oversized ego in planning this whole charade. It was a celebration of himself and his empire, which leads me to...

ESPN: The Worldwide Leader of Sports has blurred the line with sports and entertainment before. They've been accused of favoritism, bias and being the story instead of reporting it. Thursday, it all came to a head.

Journalistic integrity was lost as they not only hosted this charade, but allowed for LeBron advertising to dominate the airwaves. (via Vitamin Water or McDonald's). My dude Stu Scott was painfully guilty of hyperbole and if not for Michael Wilbon's and Jon Barry's perspective, it would be the worst public foreplay in a while.

ESPN's been pumping this dude up since 2002 when they showed him and Carmelo facing off in high school. They've been feeding into the hype machine for 8 years so it's no surprise they publicly sold their soul for a 1-hour special that felt all shades of dirty compromise. They made this bed, laid in it and in the end, the network looked like a prostitute instead of a news station.

Amar'e Stoudemire -After LeBron's announcement, it was announced David Lee left the New York Knicks in a sign and trade with Golden State. Soon after, Chris Duhon left to sign with Orlando.

So what did Amar'e gain this week? A $100M contract to play for a team with no PF to ease the burden and no PG to run the team and give him the ball. Oh, but he's back with the coach he didn't win anything with. Have fun in mediocrity - anybody seen Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw or Quentin Richardson lately?

(By the way, this makes Steve Nash all the more valuable)

We the fans - I asked on Twitter if we're partly to blame for LeBron's ego. But it can apply to any famous athlete who we've built up and watch become a villain. Like Jay-Z said, "First they love you, then they hate you, then they leave you alone"

We worship the cult of personality created by the media and our interest. We build people up to be bigger than are. We tell kids that they are the most important people around, throw our hopes into them and make them out to be saviors. But then we get mad when they don't follow our plan or throw it away (Painfully obvious this past week with Lindsay Lohan)

Welcome to Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein makes a monster that he hopes to control but ends up watching it lose control b/c it began to think for its own and become independent. We can't control people yet we feed into someone having a bigger sense of identity.

So we lost too. Sportswriter Will Leitch (one of the best today) said it best - we idolize people who are nothing like us and project ourselves onto them. Only problem is they have a brain too and will take our praise and run with it.

Cleveland - 1964 was the last time they won a professional sports title. They won't win another for another decade at least.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert - We went nuts over his ether to LeBron. Then realized it was self-ether because he pampered and coddled his "King" by hiring a favorable coach and trading for parts that didn't fit. You mad? Look in the mirror and realize this is your fault. Loyalty is about winning and you made LeBron's decision easier acting like a jilted lover.

Knicks/Nets - Waited two years for what? To be way out of the running despite Jay-Z, incredible cap space, overload of $$$ from the Nets owner and the Knicks doing everything to set up for this day.

Epic failure. And no sign of getting out of irrelevancy for a while. Sorry Knicks/Nets fans.

The NBA landscape has changed big time. It's the Rise of the Six Lord Darth James and the Evil Empire orchestrated by Gordon Gekko Himself, Pat Riley. Will it be fun to watch? You bet. But bet your money on the Lakers not being ready to give up the throne and Boston ready for one more run as the Beasts of the East

LeBronApocalypse will be felt for years to come like July 1, 1996 (the day Shaq came to the Lakers and ushered in a shift from the East to the West). But it's bigger than basketball as the world watched his decision, it reminded us that winning no longer is a requirement to make you a brand. Just hype and buzz.

We are all witnesses AND participants in this disgusting ego trip. It exposed what we've done for years but too bad the outrage won't change anything.