In which I compare Buzz Bissinger to my ex-girlfriend
Jun/080
A few weeks ago I ran into an ex-girlfriend of mine that I hadn’t seen in about three years. We had one of those classical romances for a time. Started dating in high school, her father at one point forbade her from seeing me, so we dated anyway and ended up moving to Seattle together where we lived happily ever after. Until we broke up. Anyways it’s been six years since we broke up and she’s still mad. She even went so far as to tell me that she wanted to punch me in the face. I don’t know why she reacted this way, she broke up with me. I didn’t cheat on her and I wasn’t that bad of a guy. I just watched too much Mariners baseball and Dragonball-Z (don’t judge me) and didn’t give her enough of the attention that she needed. I know that when we broke up that it was my fault it happened and that was something that I was able to accept, but apparently she was not. In her mind, I really messed her up and if she believes that I guess it may be true.
Now we have Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights, and his ongoing feud against sports bloggers. He doesn’t like sports blogs because he finds them too snarky, too rude and underwritten. He, seemingly, blames them for a lot of the problems in modern society because the world is becoming more mean spirited than ever. He thinks that the only true journalism, the only true writing even is through hard work and months (even years) of investigation. Any blogger out there isn’t trying to be a good writer, they are trying to take an American Idol-esque shortcut to a real job at a real newspaper (or publishing house). I know that the majority of sports bloggers do it as a hobby to distract from their real jobs. I know that the general point of blogs in general is to be a fun distraction. Sports are supposed to be fun and writing about them can be fun too, but apparently Buzz does not. In Buzz’s mind sports is serious business and should only be handled by professionals and, again, if he believes that I guess it may be true.
The thing with both of them is that the world isn’t black and white. There is a place for everyone and everything in the world and it all fits, somehow. I had to be the worst boyfriend she’s ever had because someone had to. There has to be blogs because not every piece of sports journalism has to be worthy of a Pulitzer. Not everyone likes to read 3000 word books. Not everyone likes to date guys who watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer religiously. People want different things and they don’t know until they try them, experience them and enjoy them or hate them. The point is there is a market for everything whether it’s pictures of Matt Leinart giving a beer bong to an underaged girl or a twenty-six year old single dad with a coke problem. It’s simple really, some people like some stuff and other people don’t like that stuff and other people like that stuff, but the original people don’t like the stuff that the other people like and there are some people that don’t like any of that stuff and like something completely different stuff. And some people like everything and I don’t like those people. It’s not that hard to figure out.
(Full disclosure: I don’t really have a coke problem.)
Post script: How could I possibly be the worst boyfriend someone has ever had? I should win on looks alone!
