Here's a nice piece of writing from Will Leitch of Deadspin.com, an unabashed Rick Ankiel fan.
Speaking of Leitch, Deadspin and other popular sports blogs that have been a tad hard on ESPN were a subject of discussion during a seminar the Bristol Stompers had for sports media/business writers last month.
Here is executive VP (and former Newsday sports editor) John Walsh: "An organization that basically says, 'We want to embarrass you and we want to make fun of you,' they put everybody here on notice in the company that they are out to get ESPN and anybody who works here.
"You live with that. That’s what they do, and I think the p.r. department probably has a rougher job because they have to correct the continuum of words that may not be exactly accurate, whether it be salaries or anecdotes or whatever else, and it’s a world that you all live in in the Internet right now, and we do, too.''
ESPN.com columnist Jamelle Hill, who has been a subject of unflattering blog posts herself, admitted to discomfort at being a public figure - "It can be embarrassing,'' she said - but added, "I read Deadspin and The Big Lead and all those sites. I find them very entertaining, to be honest with you.''