Bill Conlin is a legendary Philly sports writer. To open the Daily News sports section is to smell the warm musk of his Ben-Gay and Old Spice. We’ll always pledge a certain deference to that — it also helps that he’s a legendary crank — but this week, Ol’ Bill has found himself in a boiling pot of hot water he may not quite understand. Having gotten into an email pissing match with a sports blogger about Jimmy Rollins‘ MVP nod, he blasted the guy, wishing aloud that good ol’ Adolf Hitler was around to dispatch our blogging bretheren. Said blogger, of course, immediately re-posted Conlin’s fondest wishes, which opened a floodgate including, most unpleasantly, an email Conlin sent to another angry correspondent in which he gloats in great detail about his salary package and condo in Florida, including photos. This is douchebaggery on the highest level, folks, and on one level it’s kind of our job here at Philebrity to celebrate that. So, um, kudos, Bill. HOWEVER, it’s more troubling to us what Conlin’s meltdown signifies: The disconnect and antipathy between MSM sports writers and sports bloggers. And in fact, the disconnect between the sports world and the online world in general. We deal with writers of every stripe here every day, and never anywhere else do we see the level of dismissal and disrespect towards new media that we see coming from the direction of the sportswriting old guard. Perhaps this is because some of the best new writing we’ve seen on blogs concerns sports, and there’s got to be a bit of defensiveness there in those old salty dogs. But really, guys: Play nice. There’s enough to go around. After all, as Conlin so eloquently put it, he’ll be retiring soon.
Deadspin: In My Day, We Had Condos In Florida And Lunch At The Palm
PhillyMag: Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 1:12 pm.