Sorry for Kingmcnabbin it and posting two fanposts in one day, but I haven't seen any posts on the subject of sports journalism recently.  As far as I'm concerned, BGN is the best newspaper in Philadelphia. 

It used to be that sports writers were just that, guys who followed specific teams (like a beat writer) or worked for newspapers writing general sports articles or weekly columns.  Journalists such as Red Smith, who later became the first sportswriter to win the Pulitzer Prize, were noted for their wit, wisdom, literary style, and most importantly, firsthand knowledge of their subject.  Journalists used to travel with teams, become trusted and integral members of a local sports community, and as a result, have access to legitimate, valuable information that a literate and informed readership could enjoy.

With the advent of the cell phone, Blackberry, internet and any number of technological wonders, it seems as if the discipline and craft that goes into crafting a taut story based on solid information and quality, first-hand sources has been replaced with a desire for instantaneous "information" with little or no basis in fact.  Consequently, "writers" (it hurts my balls to affix the term "writer" to what these hacks do) such as Todd McShay hurl spurious bullshit onto the blogosphere to see what sticks.  Even legitimate writers such as Adam Scheftler have been caught up in this.  Scheftler, a once talented writer, has forsaken his soul for the tantalizing titty-twisting Twitter tripe.

95% of BGN posters provide opinions that have just as much, if not more, factual validity than the trash foisted on us by ESPN.  The recent TMZing of the McNabb trade situation is only one symptom of this much more serious disease.  None of the shit out there is true.  None of the reporters has any "sources."  They are all just making shit up.  And that sucks.  No wonder Sweden, New Zealand and POLAND (yes, Poland) beat us at reading (source: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/analysis/table03.asp). 

I wonder how many ESPN journalists it takes to screw in a lightbulb?