What is this spew of garbage that has infiltrated the Post sports department? It wasn't Steve Gartner. Not diehard Steelers fan and former Post sports editor Jason Fazzone.
In a school where the journalism department has been awarded as one of the finest in the country and the world, we have writers such as Matt O'Donnell writing about Cleveland fans being obnoxious rather than dissecting LeBron James and the Cavaliers' fantastic season and giving it a clear and concise overview.
See, Matt, real reporters gather the facts, study both sides of an argument and make a clear decision through writing and considerable thought. I thought that's what Scripps taught the future writers of America.
I see you have aspirations of being a columnist, judging by your overly opinionated article with little insight or creativity. I just didn't think you had aspirations of being a columnist for Cracked magazine. Your article SHOULD be about whether LeBron James is a worthy winner of the MVP award. It would be one thing if you wrote an article discussing whether Dwayne Wade or Kobe Bryant deserved the award more than James. That's what sports reporters do. Yes, even the columnists.
See, any two-year-old sissy can throw a fit and say that they hate this city and they hate that city. If you do hate Cleveland and its fans, why don't you walk around campus wearing a shirt that says I hate Cleveland and its fans
but you wouldn't have the cojones to do that, would you, Mr. Senior Studying Journalism. You would rather just write an article in a newspaper bashing a group of people, sit back and wait for the criticism to come in from that particular group, and then you can sit there and laugh, feeling you accomplished something.
Everything in your piece was neither insightful nor even relevant to you or me. Yes, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire, before you were born. Maybe Grady Sizemore will reach the success Pedro Cerranto and Rick Vaughn had in Major League, a movie that came out when you were in Pampers. Yes, Art Modell did find the city of Baltimore to be a better option for his franchise, but when the city of Cleveland gives the Cavs AND the Indians new playing facilities and then tells Modell that he needs to stick with old, decrepit Municipal Stadium, I think even you would go with Baltimore too.
Clearly you were going for some cheap laughs. And from the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh crowd, you might get a few. I could always write some article talking about how Cincinnati is so pathetic ... ya know what? I won't even go there. Because as another person experienced in the world of sports journalism, I know that stereotypes and small cracks belong in the tabloids.
And you shudder to think what will happen in your last six weeks here? I shudder to think who will hire you with writing like that. I hope you have better articles to show with a little more thought-provoking ideas and information. Please tell me you do, because Scripps will be backing you as you leave here, and hopefully you have critiqued your writing skills so it is not biased or lackluster. Good luck.
Nathan Keys is a senior studying sports management. 4
Opinion
