ESPN’s newest super-columnist Rick Reilly debuted this week with a front page story at ESPN.com. His elegantly penned article detailed the troubled childhood he endured at the hands of an alcoholic, abusive father. The world grieves these tragedies and the neglect experienced, unfortunately, daily by abusive or non-existent parents.
Welcome to the life of Reilly
However, that is not the point of this article. Mr. Reilly appeared this morning on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd. The two talked back and forth about the article, which Cowherd praised as “tear-jerking,” and it is. However, Reilly became animated with Cowherd when he insinuated that Reilly is a blogger -- or part of the “blogosphere.” Reilly went on to proclaim that while there a “few good bloggers, most are wearing out the couch springs while sitting in their parent’s basement, eating nachos, drinking a cold beer and watching TV.”
I have never considered myself a blogger until the recent launch of Mocking the Draft, part of the SBNation.com network. My career as a football writer, scout and coach have taken me inside the locker rooms, something Reilly mentioned no blogger has ever done. The point of this essay is not to stoke the fires of the “blogger versus journalist” debate, but rather to point out some well-worn myths related to bloggers and internet writers.
Myth #1: Bloggers live in their parents’ basement
Reality: I can honestly say I wish my parents had a basement for me; I would definitely live there. The cold, hard fact is that 100 percent of my staff of 15 writers, scouts and Web support own or rent their own places. While it’s funny to proclaim we all live at home with no social lives or life experiences, it’s simply not true. The great thing about my parents is that no one was ever allegedly raped in their home, charges or not. I’m pretty sure that this is also true for the rest of my staff.
Myth #2: Bloggers have never played sports
Reality: I am sure that there is the occasional blogger/writer who never made the varsity squad in high school due to injury, a lack of talent or an over-protective, basement-owning Mom. I played three years of high school football, and just like Peter King or Mr. Reilly, I didn’t play college football. Most sports writers get into the business because they grew up spending every waking moment imagining they were Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone, or Eric Crouch carving through the Missouri defense on an option run. Give me one accomplished professional athlete turned writer. Being a superstar athlete, even in college, is not a pre-requisite for having a passion and knowledge for the game. It simply means that most writers didn’t possess the extreme athletic ability to make it to the next level.
Myth #3: Bloggers have no education
Reality: A small sample from my staff shows degrees in journalism, business law, psychology, computer science, sociology, mass media communications and new media interactive development. A great point has previously been made that most bloggers are lawyers or other business professionals who are bored with their day jobs.
Myth #4: Bloggers live off of nachos and cold beer
Reality: We all wish...
Myth #5: Bloggers have no talent
Reality: Anyone who has ever read Peter Bean's work at BurntOrangeNation knows this isn't true. There is a long list of bloggers with a better following and reputation than all but a few national writers. I'll take Bean, Mike Florio, Dan Shanoff, Will Leitch, Tyler Bleszinski and others over many print columnists.
At New Era Scouting, we have interviewed Jon Gruden, Reggie Bush, Jimmy Clausen, Bill Polian, Vince Young and a host of others in the football spotlight. We have been credentialed to football games, training camps, collegiate all star games, and the NFL Scouting Combine.
While we, and others, may not have the cache of CNNSI or ESPN behind our work, there is quality on the Internet.
http://www.newerascouting.com/new_era_scouts/matt_miller/731-welcome-to-the-life-of-reilly/
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