He's the paler, younger-looking fellow on the right.
Leitch had an appearance on Bob Costas' HBO show, Costas Now, which examined the evolution of sports media, a subject which obviously includes blogs. During his "panel" discussion, he was bombarded with challenges to the credibility and general worth of blogs by Buzz Bissinger, a member of the sports MSM, and writer of the book Friday Night Lights (which was the inspiration for a great movie and a great TV show).
Leitch's responses weren't particularly enlightening, hell if you ask me, he came off as kind of a weasel. But as his written account and response to what took place suggests, they didn't have to be. Bissinger came off as angry and narrow-minded, someone who could not look at these two mediums (blogs and the MSM) as co-existing sources of information and entertainment. No, instead blogs presented a threat not only to the journalism industry, but to the well-being of the (young) American psyche.
One of the better points Leitch attempted to make was that the average Deadspin (or insert blog of choice) reader or in general the average blogger, like myself, isn't as dumb as these guys think we are. We know that snapshots of athletes getting drunk on the weekend don't represent the entire spectrum of that player's life; and we know how to separate comical, sometimes cruel, commentary from what actually took place.
Leitch, of a new generation that understands where media is likely headed in the future, has always fought for bloggers and their right to have a voice. This voice doesn't have to be heard, but if people are listening, then who are they to censor us.
That's why my friends and I do this. Because apparently someone out there is listening. I don't find my voice particularly enlightening, I don't feel like I have anything important to say, but as long as this site keeps getting hits, and we keep getting feedback, I will keep doing this. (Yes, I am that much of an attention whore. As if me changing my facebook status 6 times in one day was not enough of a sign that I'm one of those "hey! look at me!" guys.)
Even if everyone stopped caring, and my pointless midday posts about the Padres and GTA IV drove the quality of the site into the shitter, I would still be doing this, relying on my trusty compadres to comment on all of each other's crap.
I will always view blogs as different kinds of windows to the real world. The real world could be the basketball game on TV, and the window is Deadspin. The real world could be my life and this is your window. Everyone on the net can look through whatever window they want (unfortunately sometimes), and hopefully they "step outside" once in a while. The great thing about blogs is that you get to choose what window to look through or who's voice you want to hear. That's the future of media, and frankly, that's where we are today.
- Unrestricted free agent running back, Michael Turner, signed with the Falcons today for a 6 year deal. There was no way we would've been able to hold on the Burner (ok, I admit that's his real nickname, it's not Tailwind) as a backup for LT, but I certainly wish him luck and will keep an eye on his career away from the Chargers. Also, I'm looking forward to a full feature over at Walking Contradiction with analysis of all the latest moves that went down since NFL Free Agency started.
- /start sexist rant I'm watching the Nuggets-Rockets game on ESPN right now and a woman is doing the color commentary. She seems to be doing a good job, making quality contributions to the guy who's doing the play-by-play, but this is honestly throwing me off. Every time I glance at my computer screen to work on this entry, I think there's ice skating going on in the background. /end blatant sexism
Finally...
-I plan on going to a Jay-Z concert in April because it's gonna be at a venue in IRVINE of all places. If you didn't know, he's my favorite rapper, and this is something I can't miss. Hit me up if you wanna go, I'm buying $80 tickets within the next day or two, and it looks like the tentative list includes Adonis and Alexand.
In my childhood I spent many of my afternoons in the arcade. I guess you could even call the local arcade your old "stomping ground." In elementary school I'd go with my older brother to Nickel City, and with no more than five bucks split between the both of us, we roamed around and did things like take on the role of pilots in giant robot vehicles that fought each other, took a trip to the world of Jurassic Park and shot down dinosaurs, played that weird Japanese baseball game with 2 buttons, and so on. I remember the excitement that rushed through me every time I went; the flashing lights and crazy sounds, the way a person became an icon by beating opponent after opponent in Street Fighter, the way someone made their mark in our little world by achieving a high score unbeatable by the rest of our suburb, it really was something else. I remember coming to the arcade when they would get a new game in, and it'd be crowded, and stacks of coins would be laid up against the screen which symbolized your place in line, and so much more. Then there'd be the ticket games where we'd trade our money for paper, which we'd in turn use to get candy or other weird toys, and that's pretty much the closest thing to a child's casino.
As we got older certain games received more attention. Games became more advanced like Gauntlet where you could save your character. DDR kept us in shape as we stomped on arrows to loud ass music. People got into crazier fighting games like Marvel Vs. Capcom, and they'd spend countless hours coming up with new character combinations and strategies.
Someone sent me an GQ article once in which they talked about the way men spend time with each other. It stated that men bond through sports, video games, and then going out to eat, and that is in fact so true. Going to the arcade used to be such a cool thing to do, but for whatever reason it's not as appealing anymore.
So who knows, maybe when we're all 21 the idea of going to an arcade won't be so ridiculous anymore. Maybe that feeling of the past can be resurrected and fill us with a sense of happiness that we once experienced. While it won't be the prime activity that it once was, it'll still be something to do. But it's strange to think about the younger generation. What will our kids do during their younger years if arcades are dead? Stay at home and play video games? Something about that concept just isn't as exciting. Maybe some new "cool" thing to do will emerge that can give our kids the same feeling that we had when we were children. Something where they can witness the previously unseen, and be in an environment where their schoolmates would be there too. I know some of my little cousins spend a grip of time at home just playing video games, many of them playing computer games where they dive into the internet and play with other kids online (or old people), or using Xbox Live to play with their friends and stuff, but for whatever reason to me that's not as exciting as waiting in line for your turn to see if you can take down the king of the hill in Street Fighter.
