Love Hate
We all have our favorite sports writers, we also have our hated writers. I suppose I fall into a vast majority of people out there that can probably pick out the hated pontificators faster than the enjoyable read. I have had a grudge against a certain SI writer now for about four years. The guy looks like a nerd and writes nearly every single article with a certain superior, I know more than you with my Northweastern education, gloat. If you have not already guessed whom I direct my rage, I am speaking of Stewart Mandel. I suppose nearly ever single article he writes in regards to Clemson he manages to sneak in a negative jab and a useless quip. I imagine he is just doing his best to let everyone know he hates Clemson sports, the school, and he will soon kick every Clemson fans dog out there when given the chance. Maybe he was pummeled by a schoolyard bully wearing orange one day, who knows. My point, I go to SI.com and read with the grain of salt. I could always rely on ESPN. Well, my friends, there is a new “negative nancy” out there which should be on your radar. He goes by the name of Mark Schlabach, if that’s his real name. His new game is bashing the Tigers. That’s right, how can you hate us? He is a nine year vet of the AJC and all he did was cover UGA football and the SEC. Ohh, so that’s why he hates Clemson. After this article I read on ESPN.com he made to my hit list. Honestly, I think he is just putting these words down on paper for shock value. By the time I posted my own article, there have been 156 responses to Schlaback’s blatherings. For the record though, his “Clemson won’t win the ACC” prediction is dead wrong. I mean, the guy picked UNC for crying out loud! How serious can we take him and his mindless thoughts from now on?
That kind of thinking should be applied to most journalists, especially sports journalists, especially those who editorialize.
It’s not about being right or wrong, reasonable or not, it’s about producing readable content. Hopefully that content is not so far off-base that the accumulation of errors and omissions will knock the content off-track before it builds its own suitable momentum.
The guy who has been grinding my gears lately is Jim Rome. I usually only catch small, 10-minute-commute, segments of his show a couple times a week. In such short bursts, he’s actually entertaining and somewhat reasonable. But lately, I’ve managed to somehow catch too much of his content and he has gone on and on and on and on and on about Brett Favre (for the record, fuck Brett for creating the situation and good for the Packers for getting the fuck rid of him). The amount of time devoted to Favre was too much, IMO. But by the end of it, I realized Rome had taken every possible position.
The lesson though, is the same. Just keep talking (and pausing) and talking (and pausing) and create content.
Hey, I think UNC could be the sleeper in the Coastal Conference this year……but Clemson will win the ACC, my facebook membership says so damnit!!
I agree UNC is the sleeper on that side and I truly feel NCSU is the sleeper on our side. Mostly because I am a believer in O’Brien (sp?) and Davis and their disciplinary style of coaching. They may not be great athletically but will let you make mistakes, penalties, and essentially beat yourself while playing them. Keep an eye on where these teams stand in penatlies and turnover margins as the season goes on and see if they don’t steal a win or two each in the process.
If by “sleeper” you mean the players will roll out of bed 5min before game time then you are right my friend. We have discussed this. Here are the facts on NCState and why they are NOT a sleeper. They are losing 25 starters, only 10 from last season are back. Their rushing core stinks. Not a single one of the returners averaged more that 5yds per carry last year. The best was 4.7 ave ypc. Not to mention of all the returing rushers they only managed 12 TD’s the entire seson between 6 of them. The returing receivers are even worse, they get one back from last year which only had 41 receptions last year. Evans, the returing QB, threw 1 interception for every touchdown. This team has a LONG way to go until they can even be considerred competative. I said it first, Duke will take down the wolfpack this year.