Pour Some Sugar On Me -- The "Dear Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban..." Edition

Was it the usual antiquated tripe about how “unprofessional” and “irresponsible” bloggers are?

Ken, you are showing a hell of a lot of class here. Czabe has LONG been a person who I’ve not been able to stand — I could argue that it was he who drove me out of the country, but I suppose I’d be exaggerating a bit… Just a little bit… I hear from “sources” that Andy has grown to be a douche who just hangs up on people, as you’ve mentioned… Do they not realize that their fans are, well, Redskins fans? People like you and me, and others who simply enjoy the game? For all the time they have been dismissing the Redskins for years now, who do they think they were playing to?

Fortunately, I live far away, and I don’t have to put up with them. I do know that I DO get a lot of excellent information from you guys (and the folks you mention, like Rich Tandler), and I make it a daily event to come to your page. Does Czabe even have a page? If Czabe has a webpage and no one visits it, does it exist? Keep up the good work…

That means you are on to something! Keep up the great work guys!! As a blue collar guy, that doesn’t have a Phd, y’alls opinion means more to me than anybody at the Post or radio show ever could.

Czab is pretty funny sometimes, but I don’t go out of my way to listen to him, Rome, Patrick or anyone else. But, I enjoy the crap out of reading most of the posts here in Hogs Haven. The well written and thoughtful fan perspective that we can interact with is really becoming part of the game for me more so than other “media”. It’s about fans sharing the same highs and lows that we all have. I value the perspective that you guys have over that of any talk guy or any writer simply because you aren’t objective and you can dissect most any Redskins situation, strategy or occurrence with great knowledge and detail. If I really want to hear ten minutes about the skins and then break away to an interview with LeBron James, I know where to go to get that.

The opinions, stories, and ideas I find here on SB Nation, especially Hogs Haven, keep bringing me back to this site over and over again. Ken and all the rest of you guys are really interesting, and many times, hilarious to read.

I will never forget a story I read on here a while back , ( I think it was Ken- forgive me if it was one of the others) about his worst ever moments at FedEx .

The one about the look on his dad’s face when he had to tell him he didn’t have any beer for the tailgate was priceless. Stuff like that you don’t get on the radio. Because the radio guys don’t even attend the games.

ESPECIALLY from Steve Czaban, who routinely brags about how he refuses to go to games, or if he does go to one, he always leaves early so he can beat traffic. The guy isn’t even a real sports fan. He is just a radio guy who lost his passion for sports a long time ago. I guess it happens to people , but this guy shouldn’t have a show anymore because he lacks a real love for sports.

The only reason I even listen to his show from time to time is to listen to Andy Pollin, who I somewhat enjoy.

I was a season ticket holder until this spring , I have a wedding to pay for and I am not a wealthy man by any means. Sometimes choices have to be made. But you can guarantee I will still make at least 3 or 4 games this year… if I have to sell the shirt off my back to root for the Skins and ( gasp ) McNabb.

I don’t know what the future holds for you, Ken. However , I sincerely wish you the best in your endeavors. I enjoy your posts very much.

I don’t post on this site all that often, and when I do it is usually just a quick opinion on someone else’s take. This issue bothers me , though.

Ignore Czaban, and anyone else who tries to stop your shining. Do your thing, brother. When the “powers that be” (as Czaban so often says) come calling asking you to do a radio or tv show, just remember not to tread on the little guy when you are at the top of the hill.

http://www.hogshaven.com/2010/6/8/1507598/on-dc-sports-radio

Nicely done, sir. Although the thought of you playing the part of Clinton Portis to Czaban’s Brian Mitchell in a white-boy radio feud is awesome enough for me to wish you didn’t take the high road.

wasn’t any substance to your postings and this blog. The fact that they did means they recognize an important voice in the sports community that threatened them into childish dismissals.

While you might have had the class to not rip them apart, I think those of us that value this site and your work for it should voice our opinions to them. If there is one thing I hate, it’s the people who have degrees who feel that they a smarter or entitled, and to me that’s what this stinks of. Let’s all email them and voice our displeasure at their opinion of “Oh he’s just a fan, why should we listen to him.” Correct me if I am wrong, but is that their target demographic? The fan?

that I have a degree in Journalism and never really bothered to use it (did my thing in the wonderful world of software instead). What’s really annoying is these media types who are simply arrogant jerks who feel that they are somehow better than – to paraphrase – just us fans. They say the medium is the message, and the message I’m getting is that talk radio is a lot of coprolitic crapulence.*

*fossilized dung-like self indulgence

They’re on Dans station no?

Maybe there corporate masters are telling them to be mean to the nasty guys who criticise them

:)

While working in Falls Church with a 45 minute commute, I gave these guys the time of day for about six months. I’d like that time back if I had a chance to take it. I honestly haven’t listened to Danny’s network (other than catching the occasional Tech game) in over a year. Andy and Czabe are just insufferable, arrogant pricks.

So, I’m tooling around town, listening to the show yesterday. When they started talking about SBNation, I had to pull over to hear what they had to say, and I was actually thinking about calling in. That, because they ‘appeared’ to know almost nothing about the blog, and I thought I could provide some clarity for the listeners about local SB connected sites, like HH, and the great work that is accomplished therein.

I was thinking about mentioning my true love for HH, simply from the standpoint that it provides me with a way to stay in touch with the team when nothing is being printed in the papers. Or, that news about the team often surfaces here hours before it becomes ‘news’ on CNN, FOX, and other corporate ‘news’ programming. Or, that many of the posts here come from fans who are so much more informed about the present and past ’Skins teams than almost anyone on radio today (excluding, of course, former players like Sonny and BMitch). Or, that HH fits my personal needs (100% Redskins, 90% of the time) much more than do shows on ESPN980. I was thinking about mentioning Ken and Kevin, and the work they do here.

Then, one of them says, "Oh, I got this article from a local site linked with SBNation. It’s written by a ‘Ken Merin-go-lo’ ". He then talks, not about the content of the article, the writing style, or the above-average grasp of correct English that Ken usually displays, but about “Ken’s Bio”. He was appalled that nowhere within said document was any reference to having “studied journalism, or even ever being published”.

Now, I’m all ears, and starting to get ranckled (is that a word?). Then, he starts comparing his perceived lacking, in Ken’s bio, with a “journalist who has obviously earned his stripes”, namely Thom Loverro. Next thing you know, Loverro’s on the line, talking, of course, about himself as is usual. They ramble for a bit, and then either Andy or Steve says, “Oh wait, we have Ken Merin-go-lo on the other line”. So, they drop Loverro, and Ken comes on.

I’m sure you remember the conversation much better than I, Ken, so I won’t go into it here. I just wanted to drop a note of support for you and the other guys around here, since I heard the show yesterday first-hand, and haven’t read anything yet from anyone else herein who’s said that they did as well. Your comments/answers were clear, well-spoken, and they came off as being knowledgeable about the subjects at hand. We all know how easily it is—whether right or wrong—to dismiss the opinion of a caller when they speak in broken English, or when they can’t put two successive ideas together in a coherent fashion. You didn’t come off like that, as was evident from the extent of time that they let you speak, without interruption.

They did, however, finally hang up on you, and tried to make little what you were saying, with a comment something like “Oh, that could have gone on all day if I didn’t hang up on him”. WTF?

Anyway kudos to you, I’m glad you called in. I also agree with the comment above about him (Steve or Andy) being a bit disgruntled and perchance trying to defend his territory by his attitude toward SBNation. But honestly, don’t try to tell me that Sheehan or the others don’t check in here before they do their show most days. Maybe not the Sport’s Reporters (Steve and Andy’s show), but that’s just because their show is mostly about flippant remarks—variously sports related—meant to ease the listener’s commute home; not about anything in depth.

They should realize this, and let the true ‘reporters’ continue on here at HH doing what we all value the most—talk about the Redskins.

at the above addy for espn980!

because I drive home in the morning. Either way, I probably wouldn’t have been listening to it anyway. Czaban has become such a blow hard lately that I just can’t take him. I’m sure he believes he deserves his own zip code, or at least a star on the Walk of Fame. And Pollin will always be “Andy Polley” to me – Flavor Flav to Tony Kornheiser’s Chuck D. You know, the annoying voice in the background that is always dying to be heard.

Anyway, there is no doubt that this site gives much more info and much better analysis. It’s “For the People, By the People.” Which is the best part about it. I love how “journalists” love to pull the First Amendment card when they’re writing something, but they look down on others for writing. Funny, I don’t recall ever being taught the part about the 1st Amendment only being applicable if the person has a journalism degree.

As you all know, I tend to get a little hot headed sometimes. If I was in DC drivin home, and heard these guys bashing Ken, Kev and HH, I would have wanted to drive to the station and throw down.

I love this community of fans, and am damn proud to consider myself part of it. I consider this the best place to get info, share thoughts, and discuss all things Redskins. Since I do not live near DC, this arena is my sounding board.

Ken and Kev, I have read every article you have posted since I joined this site, and I can say it has always been a pleasure to hear your perspective on things. I view you both to be great writers, and only aspire one day to be even considered half as good as you guys are. Keep up the awesome work as always. You have my support, as well as the support of so many around the country(hell, even around the world). The entertainment value you guys bring to us Redskins fans, is what keeps me coming back each and every day.

…I was going to make a couple of points but they only devoted one segment to the SBNation topic.
1) There’s a lot of real helpful analysis in SBNation. Japers’ Rink especially was very, very helpful in bringing me from nothing to halfway decent on hockey when I started following the capitals. There’s not so much actual news there, but there is a lot of statistical stuff by people who do statistical stuff for a living in other fields. I don’t really need but so much SBNation on Redskins because it’s all Redskins as much as possible on most DC media. I’m exploring around here for a little bit just to see what the interest is in some of the Skins’ fans building more bridges to the Natmosphere now that Strasburg’s around and the team is improving.
2) The gamethread technology is probably the bread and butter of the site. There’s a lot of other people who are trying to capture eyeballs with live blogging, but these are journalists moonlighting into live blogging not people used to hosting gamethreads and building memes, rituals, and culture for those threads. Likewise, the profile concept makes it easier to tell whether you’re dealing with knuckleheads than just random guys posting on Natsjournal or Nats Insider.
3) Baseball and hockey especially lack informed commentary. We don’t really expect hours and hours of coverage. You’re a business and there are more Redskins fans we get it. But we’d like to be able to point to somebody on the air who comes from hockey or baseball first and then moves on to other sports. The loss of Al Koken on 980 was especially tragic. We’d also like predictable coverage on those sports. If we knew baseball was going to be covered at a certain time and with caller feedback I’d be more likely to turn it on. On the flip side, I know the John Thompson show is going to have a heavy basketball old school bias and when I turn that on, I know what I’m getting. JT is getting a little too comfortable for me but every now and then I’ll turn on.
4) Lastly, SBNation has to be responsive to its members in order to succeed. Paradoxically, I am rather concerned about it’s ability to be responsive now that they appear to have concocted this national model and editors and the like. I’m going to try spending more time on other DC sites for awhile and not just hopping to the more vibrant baseball sites across the country, but I don’t know how it works. I felt that the Meetup/Launch was well-intentioned but completely ignorant about what I wanted as a baseball fan on the day of the MLB draft and the day before the Strasburg start.