Everyone Get Back to Your Corners

So let me get this straight, Bill Conlin.  You are siding with Adolph Hitler over Thomas Paine?

As you may have read already, Conlin got into an electronic brouhaha with the author of Crashburn Alley:

The only positive thing I can think of about Hitler’s time on earth–I’m sure he would have eliminated all bloggers. In Colonial times, bloggers were called “Pamphleteers.” They hung on street corners handing them out to passersby. Now, they hang out on electronic street corners, hoping somebody mouses on to their pretentious sites. Different medium, same MO.

So again, let me get this straight:  Bloggers are like pamphleteers, and bloggers should be eliminated, and so therefore, so should the writings of Thomas Paine, no matter what they did to help to spur the revolution that allows us to now eat burgers, drink beer, and watch fireworks every July 4th?

Look, in all seriousness, there is no way Conlin actually believes this, nor is he the racist, anti-semite, or anti-dentite or anything else that people are now accusing him of being.  Lets just forget about that.

But what this does illustrate is the fact that for some reason, people in the media often feel so threatened by blogs that they lose their cool and say/write all sorts of things they probably shouldn't in an effort to defend their livelihood and way of life.

To all media members, let me say this:  I probably speak for 95% of sports bloggers when I tell you that we have absolutely no intention of taking your job away from you.  You have the thankless job of writing for consumers varying greatly in terms of both literacy and awareness, you have to deal with brooding and egotistic athletes in order to get your information, and you have to spend the great majority of your summers in airports -- the Hades of travel.  No thank you, you are welcome to your position, we are perfectly happy forgoing objectivity and remaining fans in the comfort of our homes.

While those in the media tend to get a little paranoid at times, that doesn't mean there isn't some blame on this end.  To all bloggers, let me say this:  OK, fine, so some columnists tend to espouse opinions from yester-year.  Don't berate them every chance you get with emails and blog/message board posts, openly questioning their sanity because of it.  Chances are your father or grandfather holds the exact same opinions as the columnist, and you don't call him an idiot at Thanksgiving dinner, do you?  If you listen, you might just learn why they hold the opinions they do.  Oh, and finally, quit publishing the emails they send to you because there are some of us who like being able to exchange ideas with reporters in a civil manner.

I think if all of us -- reporters, columnists, bloggers, message board trolls -- stick to these principles, there'll be a lot less angst.  Doesn't the Phillies rotation give us all enough of that already?

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Further reading:  Joe Posnanski, Kansas City Star