Purdy Stupid
by ievans on Jan 12, 2010 12:51 AM PST
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PrintThe Media, bete noir of practically everybody rich/famous/important enough to warrant somebody writing about them, has lately been the subject of more hand-wringing opinion pieces and alarmist rhetoric than any particular person should be subjected to. The other day on NPR (yeah, yeah) I heard someone say, in regard to the destruction of the traditional print media, that the next 10 years are going to be great years if you're a corrupt politician. The implication being that newspapers, with their shrinking ad revenue, readership, and newsroom headcount, will leave dirt undug, muck unraked, and corrupt public servants free to award overexpensive garbage collection contracts to kickbacking insiders. You know, unlike now.
Who knows if all that is true? All I know is that Mark Purdy still has a job, and locker room access, in the South Bay for writing lazy articles that make me wince. For example, this bit of cluelessness about basically being called an idiot by Mike Babcock.
For those who don't want to give him any page hits (and bless your soul), he wanted Babcock to talk about how it was surely going to be awkward to be coaching the Red Wings against the Sharks when in mere weeks he will be COACHING SOME OF THOSE VERY SAME SHARKS as part of Team Canada. Oh ho ho. My dear Purdy, simply nothing escapes the reach your keenly honed mind!
I liked Babcock's response, which echoed my own: wait, what?
Purdy never lets the cold slap of reality pull him back from his fanciful yet batshit theories, though. Every single quote in his opinion piece, from Babcock and from Dany Heatley, contradicts his thesis that Babcock's loyalties will be strained by, um, coaching a hockey game. That doesn't keep Purdy from continuing his pathetic little thought experiment, and even ending the column with a refrain that Babcock simply MUST have an interesting job due to all the mental strain of keeping his priorities straight.
You guys are thinking way too much. -Mike Babcock
If only that were true, Mike. If only that were true.
Meanwhile, keep using all those J-school-acquired investigative and research skills in THE JOB YOU ARE PAID TO DO, Mark! It's not like some random asshole on the internet can just think shit up and post it.
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wtf
We all know Mark Purdy is stupid, but that article is terrible journalism.
"I think people were ready to watch some hockey. We took up enough of everyone’s time."
-Jody Shelley after an 87 second hockey fight against Cam Janssen
We heard the same "On the Media" segment on NPR this past Sunday
It was Chris Simon testifying before the Senate Subcommittee on the effects the “News 2.0” phenomenon will have on local reporting, i.e., it’ll die, and take scrutiny away from local politicians, giving them more free rein.
It’s a bit scary, but I think he’s right.
They're not getting this kind of coverage at "Hockey Night In Canada" folks! - Randy Hahn
Well, I don’t want to get too off-topic here, but the ball’s been dropped, kicked aside, and thrown away long ago on local investigative reporting. Here in San Francisco, there’s been far more print devoted to whether our mayor is a scumbag for boffing his friend’s wife, or for the latest childish tantrum from a particular Supervisor, than for any of the thousand things that this city runs inefficiently and poorly, even compared to other less wealthy cities.
You’re far more likely to get the Bay Guardian or SF Weekly to investigate these issues than the Chronicle.
I agree that the role of the press is properly to serve as a watchdog for the public interest. Right now the problem is that the public is actually not interested in any of that stuff. Our media reflects that.
I agree that the role of the press is properly to serve as a watchdog for the public interest. Right now the problem is that the public is actually not interested in any of that stuff. Our media reflects that.
I think there’s two sides to the same coin here, in that the public’s interest also reflects what the media provides them (us?) with. It’s sort of like the chicken and the egg argument— I’m not sure what came first, but on some level I think you have to hold both parties accountable for this transgression.
Watching CNN who, agree with it or not, would probably be considered the de facto national news source in the United States, it’s pretty plain to see how they market the show to a wide audience. All the lead ins and promo bits center around the personalities headlining the shows, and not the actual news itself. The fact that media ownership has gradually become more concentrated in ownership over the years doesn’t help either, as autonomous local news outlets have a much harder time trying to compete in order to provide the public with information that is most relevant to their daily lives.
It’s a fine line, and while I think the responsibility does ultimately lie with the people to demand more diverse and informative coverage, the MSM hasn’t done a whole lot to bring these issues to the forefront of public discussion.
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Also, great piece. Purdy is terrible. I wasn’t even aware he was still writing about the Sharks, as I haven’t seen much from him this season.
Fear The Fin: Where Selling Your Soul Is The Likely Solution
Purdy always waits until football season is over to talk about the Sharks regularly. It’s worse, though – once Warriors season is over, TIm Kawakami joins in as well.
Shudders…
Sometimes the impossible can become possible if you're AWESOME!
by ZeroIndulgence on Jan 12, 2010 5:27 PM PST up reply actions
Watching CNN who, agree with it or not, would probably be considered the de facto national news source in the United States
Oh Please
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by Dave Valentine on Jan 15, 2010 5:31 PM PST up reply actions
well they are
regardless of whether you watch them or not. I don’t know why that gets people all upset about that. FOX and MSNBC are not news. I say this as a loyal Maddow viewer. I’m fine accepting those two networks have obviously slants, be they in opposite directions. (no, I don’t want to get into a pissing contest about how CNN slants. It slants in the direct of Wolf Blitzer’s beard and occasionaly Anderson Cooper’s mirror. That’s as much as I think needs to be said on the subject.)
I wish we got the BBC stuff out here. I much prefer their coverage and not just because of the accents. The weather channel isn’t bad…>.> (don’t ever start watching it. It will suck you in and never let you go!)
I watch way too much KRON in the morning. It’s like the lowest rent news ever. Hilarious. (or, Good Day LA is worse. Much much worse)
Why am I talking about this? It has little to do with Purdy. But I’m amusing myself, so, I don’t care.
resident cartoonist @CouchTarts Lightning is seven times as hot as the surface of the sun.
That’s still not as hot as Douglas Murray. -mymclife
Personally
I’ve given up on any televised news that I can get here. I read all my news, mostly from BBC and Al Jazeera (both pretty unbiased sources, at least in print), but some from random AP/UPI feeds channeled through other sources (CNN comes up on that one a lot).
The last time I turned the TV to CNN, I couldn’t tell the difference between that, MSNBC, and FOX News anymore. They’re all glitz-hype presentations of what would be news if there was any investigative reporting or journalistic integrity there. They do cover stories, but in this way that I can only describe as a glance at the broadest of details after which they drop it for the next Real ’Merican Hero or dastardly global plot complete with shiny graphics, intense theme tunes, and a push for ratings so blatant that they come off looking like an advertisement for themselves instead of a news agency.
I’m not lamenting the decline of reporting here, but I remember watching the news when I was younger and thinking it was largely boring. The graphics-infused hyperactive reel of tidbits is so obviously crafted for the ADHD generation now that it’s impossible to get any substance from it.
As a journalist, and a print writer at that, I’m obviously concerned about the seemingly imminent demise of traditional media as we know it. Jesus, I might even have to find a new job! But you know what, we get the media we deserve, both here in the UK as well as over there in the US.
Local reporting done properly is one of the most vital tools in a democracy, but do most young people today give a crap? I’m not sure. So why should we expect them to support quality journalism? And don’t get me started on the “everything for free” culture…
Anyways, back to Purdy. I thought this was a ridiculous bit of journalism. Either just write a theoretical opinion piece about the possible conflicts for coaches operating at both franchise and national level, or just write a straight news story about how Babcock sees no conflict in his dual roles. Don’t, whatever you do, produce this mangled copy which seems to do neither with any great competence.
And you think you live in a non-traditional hockey market...
Expecting competence from any of the local sports pundits is asking for disappointment. Purdy, in particular, excels at the type of fluff, reactionary opinion pieces that all congratulate both himself and the reader for feeling whatever they’re feeling at the moment.
Sharks on a losing streak? Get mad, call for major changes, bemoan the fates for impelling you to root for such a loser franchise. Sharks win convincingly against a good team? Don’t bother containing your enthusiasm, feel sorry for every other NHL team for having to face the prospect of playing this juggernaut, go on a manic bender of wildly optimistic predictions of assured future success. It’s like spending time with a 3 year old, with a press pass.
What I loved about the article was how plainly everyone who actually knows something about hockey thought he was full of shit. It was a bravura performance of smug know-nothingness that was, dare I say?, Colbert-esque.
The most disappointing thing about Purdy and others of his ilk is that the writing is so lightweight, it feels like a high school project rather than a serious insight into the sport. No wonder print is doomed!
It’s a shame because good sports journalism can be simply outstanding, there are some soccer writers over here who are masters of the art and who can actually educate and entertain at the same time. But when it’s done badly it’s just embarrassing.
And you think you live in a non-traditional hockey market...
I’m not a journalist, and I’m sure as hell not a sports beat writer, but damn. If fluff is all that they want, then that’s all they deserve; who’s more to fault, here, though? Is it Purdy, for being a terrible writer and sucking at his job, or his editors for not seeing that and kicking his ass to the curb?
Print may be dying, but journalism is going strong in new directions. Even as newspapers and magazines see themselves beginning to falter, new technologies are developing that will allow them a niche — that whole ‘e-reader’ thing is looking pretty sweet, and if you get subscription-based content from an aggregate source … well, you’ve got a newspaper, just without the ‘paper’!
As a side note, if anyone wants thoughtless fluff pieces, I’m available to write meaningless “analysis” at very reasonable rates.
I can make snap-judgements with the best of them. Let’s team up and be the Woodward and Bernstein of nonsense sports opinion columnists.
Yeah, I’m not convinced that the world’s going to hell in a handbasket due to print newspapers declining, as alarming as it seems right now. I don’t really think there was some golden age of investigative reporting that kept shining the light of truth on the movers and shakers of our world. If anything, it seems like things were more corrupt in the past.
What’s far more worrisome is the attitude that it doesn’t matter what actually happens, it’s far more important to worry about how it’s perceived. Truthiness is some end-of-the-Roman-empire shit right there.
It’s definitely down to editors to demand higher standards, but then it can be easy to let things slide, reporters get comfortable, and bosses can come to just accept the same old drivel time and time again. Personally I’ve filed copy which I knew wasn’t up to the standards I would hope to achieve, but hey, haven’t we all taken the path of least resistance from time to time?
And you think you live in a non-traditional hockey market...
To answer your question:
Yes. Everyday!
"iaT"S FUCKINGE LIEK CONICO DO MAYO!!!!!111"
Mr. K. 5/5/2009
Ha ha, damn right my friend. I’m just amazed that this philosophy seems to be working out for me…
And you think you live in a non-traditional hockey market...
Pfft. You get up super early to watch Sharks games… Given your situation I’d tivo the games and catch them at my leisure.
I could teach classes on lazy.
Just read the article
I’m actually considering a scathing letter to the Mercury News demanding that this clown not embarrass the newspaper any longer. I have no idea how this article managed to sneak itself past editorial oversight. His inability to realize the vacuousness of his thought process is unintentionally hilarious, and the result is that Babcock essentially calls him on it. I’m required by Sharks law to detest Mike Babcock, but he just made a lifelong friend in the fight to rid the world of Purdy.
Fear the Fin: "C'mon Drew, we're going streaking!" - Randy Hahn, 12/31/09
"Say whatever the fuck you want!" - Danny Miller, 1/9/10
by Conico do Mayo Miracle on Jan 12, 2010 4:38 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
I avoid Purdy like the plague
If I recall correctly, he basically told Sharks fans to piss off when they lamented his lame use of “our beloved…” in every damn story. The guy is an ass. Bring back Chi.
"Sorry guys, I’m not going to try and hit (Douglas) Murray anymore. It doesn’t work." - Steve Ott, Dallas Stars.
by SwisherThresher on Jan 12, 2010 5:23 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Purdy – the Obamacon poster.
Fear the Fin: "C'mon Drew, we're going streaking!" - Randy Hahn, 12/31/09
"Say whatever the fuck you want!" - Danny Miller, 1/9/10
by Conico do Mayo Miracle on Jan 12, 2010 5:46 PM PST reply actions
So the question is clearly...
Who is more deserving of our scorn?
Purdy or Ratto
Team Alpha, you hit Purdy. Team Beta, focus your attention on Ratto,
Baggum n’ taggum boys.
Fear the Fin: Sharing Joe Thornton's love of wooly mammoths since 2009.
by Matthew_Taylor on Jan 17, 2010 10:54 AM PST up reply actions
I like the way you think, TCY.
Fear the Fin: "C'mon Drew, we're going streaking!" - Randy Hahn, 12/31/09
"Say whatever the fuck you want!" - Danny Miller, 1/9/10
by Conico do Mayo Miracle on Jan 17, 2010 6:06 PM PST up reply actions
What about Kawakami? Is there a Team Gamma?
"I think I realized after the second or third punch, I should have taken his helmet off sooner." - Ryane Clowe
Proud member of the "Re-Sign Marleau" Club
Fools and Sages
Back-up team for Killion?
Proud member of the "Don't Trade Marleau" club.
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by SharksFanEst.1994 on Jan 17, 2010 9:32 PM PST up reply actions
I actually thought she was decent when she wrote for the locals. Besides, I’m pretty sure she freelances for SI now.
She's okay.
I just don’t like how multi-sports columnists like her or Kawakami suddenly have to slam the Sharks when they don’t do too well because the teams they follow/write about are out of any sort of contention.
Proud member of the "Don't Trade Marleau" club.
Fear the Fin: Where Sharks Fans Aren't Like Other Sharks Fans.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on Jan 18, 2010 2:31 PM PST up reply actions
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