OT- Michael Wilbon

[magicfan4life05]

Hey guys I was looking for some insight on Wilbon. I know he writes for the Washington Post, so I wanted to know how reliable he is with rumors/reports ?

The reason I'm asking is b/c Wilbon was on the radio saying Van Gundy might be fired if they lose to Boston.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports ... en+Mike%29

I’ve already heard the rumblings that he will be fired if they don’t win this series."

So what do you guys think ? Is he usually legit with this stuff ?

thanks! and good luck in the draft

[Hoopalotta]

Total windbag of an op-ed writer. Expect a 20 year contract extension.

[WizStorm]

Yeah ... can't remember one instance where Wilbon actually had breaking news on anything. In fact, I don't think he has any sources, completely talks out of his butt about every topic. Is very much a "style over substance" writer and is about as loose and lazy with the fact as anyone in th business.

[montestewart]

Hey guys I was looking for some insight on Wilbon. I know he writes for the Washington Post, so I wanted to know how reliable he is with rumors/reports ?

The reason I'm asking is b/c Wilbon was on the radio saying Van Gundy might be fired if they lose to Boston.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports ... en+Mike%29

I’ve already heard the rumblings that he will be fired if they don’t win this series."

So what do you guys think ? Is he usually legit with this stuff ?

thanks! and good luck in the draft

According to the article, Wilbon is apparently well respected within the NBA community. When it comes to reporting, he comes from the school of "report what you feel" rather than "report what you see and hear." His columns generally have exhibited an exuberant lack of impulse control. Still, he has a nice smile and seems like a genuinely genial fellow.

Van Gundy might be fired, but I'd wait on some other sources. The article appropriately makes the story as much about Wilbon as the source as it is about the underlying rumor.

[Rafael122]

He couldn't form an opinion on John Wall so he had to take the opinion of Magic Johnson, another guy who has probably never seen John Wall play, and write an article about it.

[Ruzious]

Like most successful columnists, he's never in doubt but usually wrong. He's just giving his opinion - he's got no inside info.

[yungal07]

He couldn't form an opinion on John Wall so he had to take the opinion of Magic Johnson, another guy who has probably never seen John Wall play, and write an article about it.

Oh he formed an opinion on Wall vs. Turner, but backed down like a little beyatch because Magic told him so. That was pretty pathetic.

The reason Wilbon has a job is because he's a nice guy and and he stays in the good graces of the Jordans and Magics of the world.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Wilbon loves to talk out of his butt. I make it a point to never read anything he ever puts out, especially after his incredibly ignorant comments after Sean Taylor's death.

[pancakes3]

i hate wilbon for being a mouthpiece for sports on a national level. i hate him even more for being an authority on NBA basketball.

i can only imagine what David Aldridge has to say on the matter.

[Higga]

He's the worlds biggest Tiger Woods dick sucker. He'll NEVER say anything negative about him ever.

Other than that he's not a bad writer.

[spaceman_E]

He does write/say some ignorant things, but I'd believe him that he's overheard people talking about this. Whether you trust the "source" or whether it was just talk is the question.

[keynote]

Contrary to most, I like Wilbon. He's a columnist, not a reporter or an "NBA Insider" a la David Aldridge. He's a *lot* better on TV broadcasts than Screamin' A. Smith, the man he replaced.

As a writer, he's not revolutionary - at least, not any more; I don't recall how his writing stacked up to other columnists 15 years ago. And, like so many other columnists-cum-multimedia personalities, his written work has suffered as his star has risen on other platforms. Of course, that's in part because he can occasionally reuse a particular take a sports story in three or four different platforms (the Magic-Wall story is a good example). As such, his columns won't feel as fresh if you've already read a recent WaPo chat, watched that day's ep of PTI, or watched the NBA halftime show on ABC.

Now, I don't always agree with Wilbon, but I also recognize that I'm not in his target audience. Wilbon writes for a readership that isn't as NBA or internet-savvy as the average RealGM poster. My dad (a Wilbon supporter and big Wizards fan) doesn't know how Larry Coon is, or what PER is. He doesn't watch the NBA Combine or NBA Summer League, or monitor multiple sports-related Twitter feeds. Wilbon provides the right level of depth and analysis for that kind of fan. For those of us who want a deeper dive, we can go to Bullets Forever, Truth About It, RealGM, etc.

[Kanyewest]

Speaking of Washington DC guys, what about Tony Kornehiser who routinely calls Arenas "poison"?

[verbal8]

As a writer, he's not revolutionary - at least, not any more; I don't recall how his writing stacked up to other columnists 15 years ago. And, like so many other columnists-cum-multimedia personalities, his written work has suffered as his star has risen on other platforms. Of course, that's in part because he can occasionally reuse a particular take a sports story in three or four different platforms (the Magic-Wall story is a good example). As such, his columns won't feel as fresh if you've already read a recent WaPo chat, watched that day's ep of PTI, or watched the NBA halftime show on ABC.

I grew up reading and enjoying Wilbon's columns. The style of his columns is still pretty good. I think his opinions have gone from occasionally outrageous and always well supported to more often outrageous and less often well supported.

[montestewart]

As a writer, he's not revolutionary - at least, not any more; I don't recall how his writing stacked up to other columnists 15 years ago. And, like so many other columnists-cum-multimedia personalities, his written work has suffered as his star has risen on other platforms. Of course, that's in part because he can occasionally reuse a particular take a sports story in three or four different platforms (the Magic-Wall story is a good example). As such, his columns won't feel as fresh if you've already read a recent WaPo chat, watched that day's ep of PTI, or watched the NBA halftime show on ABC.

I grew up reading and enjoying Wilbon's columns. The style of his columns is still pretty good. I think his opinions have gone from occasionally outrageous and always well supported to more often outrageous and less often well supported.

In comparison to these, my dislike of Wilbon's voice must seem pathological. I recall when he first arrived on the DC scene. I recall his columns, seemingly based more on a corny fantasy world than on any objective facts, and they often seemed extremely overwrought fantasies. I knew nothing about advanced statistics, and there wasn't any internet. I just thought the things he wrote read false. Maybe the years have blurred my memory, but I can't recall him ever writing anything particularly insightful. I would say the same about Kornheiser, but his lame attempts at humor put him in a much worse category. The two deserve each other, all bark and no story. They're part of the reason I stopped reading the Post.

PS: And I'm sure they're both very nice men.

[keynote]

Back during the pre-internet age, my dad used to mail me copies of the Post's sports section when I was away in college. I used to look forward to reading Wilbon and Kornheiser's columns. I preferred them to Boswell and Jenkins, at least.

It's possible that, after the advent of the internet (e.g., blogging, Simmons' ultra-long internet columns) the emergence of hip hop culture in sports (e.g., SLAM), and the paparazzi-fication of sports stories, (e.g., TMZ, Terez Owens) the art of writing a sports column has changed. Folks like Steinberg from the Sports Bog might generate more net traffic than Wilbon or Wise. Wilbon (like Reilly) is experimenting with shorter vignettes (i.e., World Wide Wilbon), but I don't get the sense that it's really paying off.

So, I think it's natural for folks like Wilbon to find new ways to leverage their brand. PTI is the best talking-head show in sports, and Wilbon does quite well on ABC/ESPN NBA broadcasts as well. He may eventually transition out of writing entirely, just like Kornheiser (who, 12-13 years ago, was writing regular sports columns and a weekly humor column).

[montestewart]

^
Boswell and Jenkins. Yikes. Don't get me started! How did the Post even have a sports section. I remember seeing on the news that Mark Whiten had a 4 HR 12 RBI game. I couldn't wait to read the box score the next day. Post sports section said it was a late game so box score would be the next day. Next day, no box score. I know that's seemingly minor, but also typical that something historical like that would never hit the pages, while they made room for the maudlin musings of their many wonderful columnists. The internet let me see just how bad Post sports reporting had become. It also made Mike Lee's reporting outlet possible, and that's more Post basketball coverage than they ever had in the paper.

[go'stags]

Boswell is a GREAT baseball writer. His Redskins writing is sometimes a little too "fluffy" for me, and when he writes about the Wizards i get the feeling the editor just told him he had to write something about them. But I'll read anything he has to say about baseball.

[no D in Hibachi]

Wilbon discussing Hedo on PTI

no consistency, out of shape, went to the club with the flu

trade him to washington right now for gilbert arenas
i loved this guy until this year
he was awful this year
if you can trade gilbert for brother hedo, you do it

worst thing is disgruntled former star
you have to get rid of him
amazing this soured so quickly
unbelievably bad pairing

What is with the local media agenda concerning Arenas? Every local guy with a mic, pen, or blog just murders the guy. Whether it’s Czabe, Wilbon, Sheehan, or Mitchell they all trash him and say how terrible he is. It’s understandable when they say lets dump him for Curry, since there is cap space incentive, but come on Wilbon! Hedo for Arenas? He’s worse than 100% of the posters on the trade thread because he actually gets paid to barf this crap up!

[montestewart]

Wilbon examines the statements of the two persons sitting to his left and his right, positions his own opinion to sit comfortably between the two, then employs stale language and delivers the opinion as if controversially breaking new ground. He's the epitome of a hack, and I never read him anymore, but I see him quoted here enough to see he's the same as he always was.

Can we trade Wilbon for Turkoglu? I'm sure the writing will be better.

Arenas is motivated by naysayers. I wish more writers would break new ground and focus on his defense. I saw him share the ball with Hughes (and Daniels, Boykins, etc. but not so successfully) and I'm not so concerned with him co-exisitng w/ Wall on offense as I am with him finding a new level of commitment on defense.