Jason Whitlock seems to always know how to get some attention. I remember reading a column he wrote when he was still writing for the Kansas City newspaper that slammed the state of Texas and my Texas Longhorns as poor hosts of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament. That column got a lot of attention with Longhorn fans because he was attacking our team, so naturally he got a lot of hate mail.
I quickly got over my distaste for that article, but have always wondered if his schtick is to be the incendiary columnist. I’ve actually enjoyed a lot of his stuff in the last few years because he isn’t afraid to let it all hang out. But I do think he sometimes picks topics that he knows will draw a big reaction from readers (as many journalists do). Not that there is anything wrong with that; starting a conversation is often a great thing. I was a bit shocked by his recent column on Tiger Woods because he really goes over the top to slam his fellow journalists. A few of the highlights (or lowlights, if you prefer) below:
* “…the media, especially the print media, want to be needed. We’re an insecure lot, dealing with festering childhood insecurities about popularity and sexuality.” – I’ll agree the first statement is fairly true, but I’m not touching that second part.
* Tears into Charlie Pierce saying “Pierce should’ve opened his column by admitting he dislikes Woods and his opinion is skewed by that bias.” Whitlock goes on to tell an interesting anecdote about Pierce trashing Bill Simmons because the Sports Guy had told Pierce to ‘go **** himself’ back in 2002. Not sure if either is true, but the theory that Pierce attacks those he holds grudges against is a smack in the face to him.
* “I’m sharing this because it’s important for the public to know that the media act dishonestly all the time. We’re far more phony than Tiger Woods ever could be.” – Wow, Whitlock might lose a few Christmas cards from his fellow journalists with that line. I can’t comment on other people, but I do know that my opinions are often biased when I’m writing something here. So it’s easy to imagine plenty of journalists writing something with an agenda.
* Whitlock then rips into ESPN’s Rick Reilly about an article he wrote in 2004 on Colorado football coach Gary Barnett. Reilly criticized Barnett for the same thing that Whitlock says happened at Reilly’s own house. I’m surprised to see Whitlock attack Rick Reilly in that way, but see the point he is making.
Go read the article by Jason Whitlock at FoxSports. It’s nothing if not interesting.
