Idiot Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For SCIC
In this country, no level of stupidity ever surprises me. But today I was actually shocked by stupidity. Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com sportswriter Don Seeholzer actually reported that Sir Charles in Charge is Charles Barkley’s blog (post has been removed after the fact, but here’s a PDF…Update: nevermind, they’ve made the same mistake twice!), despite all the signs to the contrary. Forget the SCIC About page which lists the names of five bloggers — zero with the initials C.B. Forget the disclaimer at the bottom of the same page, which reads…
“This site is also not affiliated with Charles Barkley in any way.”
Forget that the referenced post was titled “Uncontested Shots – NBA News, Notes, and Observations From a Self-Described B-Ball Geek,” with “By Andrew Ungvari” listed right underneath the post title in bold font. Forget that Barkley himself has talked about being a caveman technologically. Forget how much money it would take for the FanSided.com Sports Network to get the Chuckster to blog.
Throw all of that out the window, baby. If the site is named after Sir Charles, it must be Sir Charles’ site! Simple logic.
Sorry, Don Seeholzer, but I see holes in your journalism. Sorry, couldn’t resist. But, seriously, how did you miss all of those signs? Furthermore, why not drop the owners of the site an e-mail just to cover your ass and do a little fact-checking? And what about the editors? Does Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com even have editors? Are they working today? If so, are they sober?
I am just blown away that this monumental eff-up got as far as it did. Check it out for yourself (we’ve grabbed a snapshot because we knew they’d take it down after our post)…
Say what you will about bloggers, but I’ve never seen a reputable blogger make a mistake like this one. In fact, it’s been my experience that bloggers go the extra mile when it comes to research. Most bloggers also do a great job of identifying and linking sources, which was obviously not the case here. All this is worth noting because the mainstream media blasts the practices and standards of bloggers on a regular basis.
If Barkely did blog for this site, he’d only have one word to say about your journalism, Seeholzer — “turrible.”
Well, at least he got your name right…
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 amAwesome! I’ve never been prouder of Charles Barkley’s official basketball blog. Errrr, Sir Charles In Charge.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:28 amUn. Believable.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:24 amI’m actually a little offended that anyone would think that Barkley is as articulate as I am.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:54 amI guess you can fool some of the idiots all of the time….or something like that….
Nice work there Seeholzer! Good thing nobody is paying you to write this stuff. God forbid you should actually do a little digging. I mean honestly, couldn’t you stop for one second and ask,”I wonder why Kenny and Ernie never said anything about this blog on TNT?”
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:45 amWell seriously it doesnt get much more obvious than the Posted by: which is located directly under the title.
Also I think a fair deal of common sense has to come into play here. I would think any sports writer would be able to discern if a blog was written by Charles Barkley or not.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:16 am[...] Apparently if you name your website after a celebrity it’s only a matter of time before some hack journalist assumes the said celebrity actually controls the content on the blog. It’s some combination of old, lazy and stupid. On a positive note, it increases the validity of sports blogs by decreasing the same in mainstream journalism. So a word of warning: This blog isn’t actually run by Charles Barkley: <sircharlesincharge> [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:51 amThat made my morning
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pmThis is just another glaring example of why the St. Paul Pioneer Press gets spanked by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The Pioneer Press is the JV of Minnesota print media. Based on the above, it doesn’t look like that is about to change anytime soon. Seeholzer is a clown, but his mistake further helps to legitimize sports blogging. I thank Mr Seeholzer for a job poorly done.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:56 pm[...] Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For “Sir Charles In Charge“ [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:56 pmThat’s unbelievable – but I would like to say that you are my favorite basketball player turned broadcaster ever!
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:18 pm[...] Idiot Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For SCIC [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:19 pm[...] Charles In Charge had a sportswriter think that Barkley was actually doing the writing on the [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm[...] + Reporter mistakes blog named after Charles Barkley for an actual Charles Barkley blog. {Sir Charles In Charge.} [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:25 pmSounds like Charles Barkley called Don Seeholzer to explain why he was killing the city’s homeless after reading the story Seeholzer did about the kid in the wheelchair who couldn’t get into a baseball game.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:30 pmSo wait…this isn’t Charles Barkley’s Blog? This is a great thing for all Sports Bloggers. It’s not hard to check sources Seeholzer! Pathetic!
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:58 pmMichael,
Solid Wire reference.
Wally Fish,
Second the comment on the Strib vs PP. It’s only 2009, you’d think the Pioneer Press could find someone who can make a website that’s at least somewhat navigable.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm[...] Sportswriter Thinks Charles Barkley Blogs For FanSided! (Sir Charles in Charge) [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:35 pmAwesome. Someone needs to tell Seeholzer about Joe Morgan’s blog, and fast!
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:39 pmMr. Seeholzer,
There are always two sides to every story and while I’m very tight with Sir Charles (wink, wink) I would certainly be willing to conduct a fair and balanced interview with you at your convenience.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:52 amPlease let me know if you are interested. Thanks
[...] has had some major problems recently, as even yesterday their editors somehow did not look through Don Seeholzer’s write up about how “Charles Barkley thought that Del Harris would be a good fit for our coaching spot. [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:11 am[...] piece by Sir Charles in Charge is a must read, showing how sometimes people do dumb things without realizing it. Want to know more, check out the [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm[...] has had some major problems recently, as even yesterday their editors somehow did not look through Don Seeholzer’s write up about how “Charles Barkley thought that Del Harris would be a good fit for our coaching spot. [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 pm[...] Idiot Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For SCIC [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:13 pm[...] Last night it became official. The Kansas City Royals have signed Nicaraguan 3B prospect Cheslor Cuthbert to a signing bonus between $1 million and $1.5 million. I have seen differing reports on the actual bonus. A commenter from Nicaragua, on a Baseball America blog, claimed the bonus was $1.5 million. Dick Kaegel’s MLB.com article claims the bonus was $1.35 million but who knows how accurate that number is. Kaegel also claims that Baseball America had him “ranked 7th among the top 25 Latin America prospects.” The fact of the matter is that he was not ranked as the seventh best prospect. Baseball America’s top-25 list clearly states at the top of the article, “the players below from Latin America are ranked based on their expected signing bonuses, not their projected talent. In fact, that is important enough that it bears repeating: The rankings are not an attempt to gauge the talent, but a way to forecast the market.” Some more misleading reporting by the “established” media, but nothing outdoes this journalistic blunder. [...]
July 5th, 2009 at 12:30 am