Now serving Herd audio!
For those who live under a rock (or not near the sports blogosphere), Braylon Edwards was a guest on HBO’s Bob Costas Now last week, with the topic being media. Of course, most of the argument was between Deadspin’s Will Leitch and journalist Buzz Bissinger, with Edwards unable to get a word in edgewise. You can view the video in its entirety on Deadspin.
Of course, my opinion will side with the bloggers on this one. Costas clearly sides with Bissinger (and, as the purportedly unbiased moderator of the panel, shows a lot of unprofessional bias for a supposed mainstream media member), and believes that blogging is worthless. Bissinger thinks blogs are dedicated to cruelty and journalistic dishonesty (without exception), and mainstream media are teh awesomez. Of course, Bissinger has difficulty differentiating between the actual writers of a blog and the commenters (without realizing that newspaper websites also have room for comments at the end of comments, with the same material in the responses). Bissinger also hypocritically slams blogs for being (again, without exception) mean-spirited and vulgar, while calling Leitch “full of shit,” along with various other expletive-riddled (and juvenile) insults.
I think there are good and bad examples of blogs, just like there are good and bad examples of mainstream journalism. MGoBlog creates quality material on a consistent basis, better than most newspapers I have seen. On the other hand, take the Ann Arbor News series for example. What was merited about a four-day investigative series that unearthed exactly… nothing. What wasn’t mean-spirited or vindictive about that? You can’t cull from one sample of blogs, and one sample of mainstream media, and say that, because the blog example is worse than the MSM example, all blogs suk and all newspapers rool. Leitch also raises a good point, stating that blogs are a meritocracy. If a blog is crap, people will stop reading it. If a newspaper columnist published something that is crap, the institution of the paper will still deliver that crap message to the public.
Back to Braylon. He came off as stating that blogs and media each serve a role, and that athletes have a responsibility to behave if they don’t want to appear in the news. He was overshadowed by the other participants in the panel, but came off representing the University of Michigan well.
Next? Braylon was a guest today on The Herd on ESPN Radio. He mainly talked about the appearance on Costas Now, but managed to get a few words in about the glory of Michigan and Michigan football (though he didn’t take Colin’s bait and call OSU a truck driving school). Most importantly, he said nothing in the NFL is better than scoring a touchdown against an OSU guy. (Interesting side note: he mentions that he is friends with Cris Carter, whose son is a 2009 recruit considering UM). Audio is now available at the top of the post.
Don’t stop him now! Edwards then took the opportunity to participate in an ESPN chat. Only a couple things of note for Michigan fans:
Justin (Ohio): Whats up Braylon? How awkward was it on stage with Bissinger and Leitch on Costas Now last week?SportsNation Braylon Edwards: It was very awkward. I am not used to be able to curse on live TV. So hearing those F bombs was pretty funny.
Jason (Indiana): Braylon, I was wondering do you still follow Michigan or watch any of their games?
SportsNation Braylon Edwards: Yes, all the time. Once Michigan, always Michigan.
Jared Kent West Union IA: As a Michigan Man I just wanted to thank you for being acting like a man and staying down to earth and being a “Pros Pro” What are your thoughts on the new MICHIGAN regime.
SportsNation Braylon Edwards: I am already mad that Rich Rod because he gave the No.1 jersey to someone other than a WR, which is breaking tradition. But I think he is a great coach and will lead Michigan to a turnaround.
StevenJ (CHI): do college rivalries carry over into the nfl? do you get a little more geeked up playing against former ohio state players?
SportsNation Braylon Edwards: Very much so. I am not sure how it is with other school rivalries, but the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry does carry over and I cannot wait to play Nate Clements, Dante Witten, and AJ Hawk.
Interesting to hear that the #1 jersey has apparently been offered to an incoming freshman. I hadn’t heard anything on the matter, and would be surprised if Braylon was just misinformed.
Keep up the good work representing the University of Michigan well, Braylon.
Posted under Blog News
Tags: braylon edwards, Football, NFL who cares
FWIW, I’m not an insider and don’t know the current events except what I read though this site, MGoBlog and MSC. But I recall there was discussion regarding Stonum being offered the #1 during his recruitment (or was it during a TV interview?) and he did not understand the significance. Someone took him aside and explained it. Was anyone wearing it during the spring game?
Googling ‘stonum number 1 jersey’ brings up several hits.
He specifically says that it’s not a receiver (which rules out Stonum, who wore #22 during the spring). Apparently, he told Mike Tirico that it was an incoming defensive back.
thanks for posting that Tim, i had a really bad day at work and i had a panic attack, that video really helped me understand that not everybody’s gonna understand and some of those folks aren’t gonna be polite about it. The way Leitch handled that was great considering how much Bilssinger was on him, and i understand Bilssinger’s POV as a sports journalist myself but he could have been a bit nicer about it than that. I thought Leitch was the bigger man there.
Braylon was also on NFL Live yesterday discussing how certain players actions reflect the NFL (he made sure to point out both positive and negative). He also talked with them about the AFC North.
He was also on today, leading me to believe he might be on all week.
Does anyone know who the supposed freshman DB is that was offered the no.1 Jersey?
mike, I’ve heard some things (the voracity of which is unverified), and I’ll be posting about it tomorrow.
I think BooBoo Cissoko is going to be the recipient of the #1 Jersey.