Angels SB blog post on Hamilton removed

[gunnarthor]

http://deadspin.com/sociopathic-angels-blogger-posts-now-deleted-rant-about-1700641867

 

And sometimes I think the posters here go a bit too far.  This Angels fan is not a fan of Hamilton, at all.  SB Nation removed the post but deadspin posted a bit of it before hand.  I know we tend to root for uniforms before people but this guy was insane.

[Brandon Warne]

This was completely tasteless, and I hope the writer is disciplined. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I've never seen anything that inflammatory on any Twins fan site. The Internet is not the Wild West anymore.

 

Also, Hamilton gets a free lifetime pass from me, considering Hamilton tried to toss a souvenir baseball to a fan in good fun, and the fan lost his balance reaching over a railing for it and fell to his death.

[biggentleben]

SB Nation team sites have collectively gone significantly downhill, akin to what happened to ESPN forums once outside moderation was brought in (and why places like BYTO, and now TD exist).

[Hrbowski]

 

The Internet is not the Wild West anymore.

I would completely disagree with that.

[Steven Buhr]

The growth of what are essentially fan-driven networks like SB Nation and Fansided (and, arguably, TwinsDaily) has certainly blurred the lines between professinal sportswriting and fan-blogging.

 

It was probably inevitable that something would REALLY tick off one of the fans who contribute articles for one of these organizations and s/he would go off the deep end like this. Maybe I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. I guess I did assume, however, that the really big sites had some sort of editing mechanism in place to keep someone from publishing anything that would potentially be an embarrassment to the parent organization or even potentially land it in legal trouble.

 

I'd be interested in hearing/reading the take of the TD owner-operators on this.

[JB_Iowa]

Frankly, I agree with a lot of what he said although he crossed the line in some of his descriptions.

 

I think the Angels handled this badly and are getting what they deserve BUT I also think that Hamilton ISN'T taking much responsibiity for his actions.  His statements have enraged me and I don't even care much about him or the Angels.

 

The JDA seems excessively weighted in favor of the player with no way for teams to protect themselves regarding its provisions.

 

Hamilton will still end up getting an enormous salary.  He'll probably end up relapsing again and again over the course of his life.

 

And yes, the media also enables him through their coverage.

 

Call me old-fashioned and unsympathetic.  i know addiction is almost impossible to overcome but I don't think that Hamilton had to face the fans -- or himself -- and admit what has happened.

 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

what statements? 

[JB_Iowa]

 

what statements? 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/04/27/josh-hamilton-rangers-return-angels-arte-moreno/26472867/

 

I don't detect much owning up for his actions.  I see him blaming Moreno for not understanding the nature of an addict.  When I read other articles, he makes it clear he thinks Moreno knew what he was getting into under the JDA.  And maybe Moreno did but that still seems like shifting blame to me.

 

I also don't see him apologizing to the fans, his family or friends.

 

All in all, it just makes my blood boil.

[Steven Buhr]

 

 

The JDA seems excessively weighted in favor of the player with no way for teams to protect themselves regarding its provisions.

 

 

The JDA may well be weighted in favor of the player, but I don't think you can look at the JDA apart from the entire collective bargaining agreement. If the JDA is weighted in favor of the player, that's because it is a component of the overall CBA that the owners chose to care less about than they did other aspects.

 

I don't feel one bit bad for the Angels. Not one bit. Nobody held a gun to their head and made them give a contract that big to a man with a well-documented history of drug abuse and they knew damn well what the risk was, especially given that he would be leaving Arlington Texas for Los Angeles California.

 

Whatever "cost" is incurred by the team in this case simply counts against the additional benefit they get from terms of the CBA that are more beneficial to ownership - and, of course, their own stupidity.

[Seth Stohs]

We want to create community where fans are willing to comment in the Forums and create their own blogs. We don't want to temper emotion or creativity. We may not have the same lines that a main-stream-media site might be, but we all have a sense of professional pride in this site. That particular article is something that I have no doubt we would see and immediately discuss. I'm confident it would be taken down quickly.

 

Our moderators do a great job keeping tabs on things here. And we appreciate them tremendously. We're not all able to be on this site, monitoring everything all the time.

 

I have a different standard than John and that's likely different than Parker which is different than NIck's. But we do communicate well and I think we are pretty good about being fair.

 

We love opinion pieces, and we encourage them. But, in my opinion, this one went way over the line. 

 

For me, it's about just using some common sense, being fair.

[biggentleben]

As a FanSided writer, I will tell you that any post I put up goes through at least one editor before it hits our site.  I don't know that every FanSided site uses the same standards, but I know that's mine, and that used to be a requirement at SB Nation, but their team site editors over there now are pushed so hard for content that they can't keep up on even the mid-tier traffic sites, let alone the heavy-traffic ones.

[David HK]

Wow-  I'm actually kind of sad I took the time to read that.  In the words of the immortal Bugs Bunny, "what a mor-oon."  There isn't a winner in this situation, but there is a long list of people who could have handled it with more aplomb, Mr. Hamilton included.

To take on an addiction is a life-long challenge.  There is no straight line from A to B, there are many lapses and relapses along the way.  It's difficult enough, but I can't imagine having to face that challenge knowing your every move is being watched and publicized 24/7, especially by people who have no understanding, empathy or enough basic humanity to just keep their opinion to themselves or their buddies along the fekking bar.

[David HK]

Further, I've viewed fan sites of other teams on occasion, and I'm encouraged by the level of civility in the discourse here.  Cripe, plenty I've seen have been far too internet-typical; an unending stream of f-bombs, vulgar asides, and personal attacks.  Is it just Minny-nice at play?  Who knows- I'm just grateful.

[Steven Buhr]

 

We want to create community where fans are willing to comment in the Forums and create their own blogs. We don't want to temper emotion or creativity. We may not have the same lines that a main-stream-media site might be, but we all have a sense of professional pride in this site. That particular article is something that I have no doubt we would see and immediately discuss. I'm confident it would be taken down quickly.

 

Our moderators do a great job keeping tabs on things here. And we appreciate them tremendously. We're not all able to be on this site, monitoring everything all the time.

 

I have a different standard than John and that's likely different than Parker which is different than NIck's. But we do communicate well and I think we are pretty good about being fair.

 

We love opinion pieces, and we encourage them. But, in my opinion, this one went way over the line. 

 

For me, it's about just using some common sense, being fair.

I get that, Seth, and I appreciate the work you guys, as well as the editors and moderators, do, too.

 

I have no doubt that if I, or any other "contributing member" were to post something similar to the article in question, it would be removed almost instantly.

 

But, for the sake of discussion, what if it was one of the TD owners that authored something like that? I'd love to be a fly on the wall of THAT discussion!

 

I guess I'm just restating my original point - that something like this was bound to happen on one of the "fan-driven" sites that have proliferated and blurred the lines of sports "journalism." I'm really glad it wasn't this one.

[ashbury]

But, for the sake of discussion, what if it was one of the TD owners that authored something like that? I'd love to be a fly on the wall of THAT discussion!

Not one of the site owners here is a threat to uncork a post like that. And if any were, I would not be moderating here - making yours the mootest of moot questions. Chances are I speak for the other mods too, in this regard.

 

That said, the mods feel empowered to raise any topic with the owners here.

 

_{^{And vice versa.}}

[Steven Buhr]

ashburyjohn, I guess that just points out that TD has a very different business model than other sites. Here, there are "moderators" who watch vigil over content and react pretty swiftly. If something truly offensive finds its way on to the site, it would be almost immediately removed (something many of us can attest to, just in terms of forum comments).

 

The other, more "professional" sites, rely (I assume) on editors, but the volume of content, with multiple writers for each major sports franchise, perhaps is more difficult to ride herd on.

 

Anyway, it's not like fan sites are the only places with problematic content. After all, the conventional media still gladly share their press boxes and professional association memberships with the Mitch Alboms of the newspaper world.

[gunnarthor]

Just to update the story, the blogger was fired/quit from SB Nation.  He had a good bye post that was also yanked but is on reddit somewhere.  It wasn't sane but basically blamed society for being too hard on him.

 

Halos Heaven is looking for someone to replace him (he was comparable to Jesse at Twinkie Town).  And now HH is looking at themselves and seeing if they really created a bad/negative/insulting place to follow the Angels.  The results aren't good.  It's going to be a fun place so long as you know they won't take crap from you.  -sigh-

 

http://www.halosheaven.com/2015/4/30/8521333/are-we-really-that-bad