John Mclain,hall Of Fame Voter,discusses Art Monk

[Coff]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

I think he lost some credibility with this statement:

"I learned at an early age what Redskins fans were really like: the worst of the worst. Good for absolutely nothing. They can't be trusted. They were so ignorant they couldn't spell "class" if you spotted them the "c-l-a-s." The class and dignity that Cowboys fans always showed was foreign to Redskins fans. I mean, Richard Nixon was a Redskins fans."

"Worst of the worst"?! As if there is such a thing in pro sports fandom. Each team has as many obnoxious fans as every other one. To say that fans who follow a particular team are worse than others is absurd. Too bad for him, he had a good blog going until that.

That sort of unsubstantiated, subjective vitriol is pathetic coming from a reporter, especially one trusted to vote for the Hall of Fame. He sounds like child, and an ignorant one at that. That kind of centric understanding of reality, that "our fans our the best, and there's are the worst" attitude is utterly ridiculous, and the fact that he would propagate it in a discussion about a player's legacy is almost unfathomable. It really irks me when journalists rise to the ranks of austerity, not through integrity, insight and skill, but through contentious and obnoxious reporting for the sole purpose of raising ire and causing emotion. It's far too prevalent in sports reporting, and has in fact come to dominate it. If you can't defend your local team like a local idiot, it's pretty hard to make a name for yourself. Well, Mclain hasn't had a problem doing that.

Incidently (and I could be wrong here) but was Nixon really a Skins fan? Granted, he called a play in SB VII, but didn't he have season tix for the Giants?