Raising a little hell about this year’s Red Smith Award winner
Dave Kindred |
July 16, 2010 10:26 p.m.
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"Why?" he said.
"He's won the Red Smith thing now, five years after that Final Four column."
"No, leave him alone. Old news."
But another friend said, "Shouldn't somebody raise hell about this?"
Albom, the Detroit Free Press star, raised unshirted hell in 2003 when Jayson Blair was found to have made it all up while working for The New York Times. "What he doesn't get," Albom wrote of Blair, "is that journalism is not Hollywood. It's not about closing the deal. It's not about face time. It's about — simply put — telling the truth."
I paid attention, then, when Albom, an unlikely guardian of journalistic values, recently spoke up again on the practice of our craft. First he did a column on how the media had behaved poorly during the LeBronathon, reporting what he considered to be silly rumors.
"Note to journalism students," he wrote. "When we celebrate investigative reporting, it's for issues like war crimes, nursing home scandals or police corruption. It's not to report that LeBron James has opened a Twitter account."
The advice came shortly after the Associated Press Sports Editors organization did a curious thing. It gave Albom its highest honor. The Red Smith Award, named after the elegant wordsmith, recognizes lifetime achievement in sports journalism. At the Smith ceremony, Albom issued even more advice.
"Be ruthless with yourself, be compassionate with those you cover," he said, according to a transcript of his speech. "Be scared of praise, be brave about criticism. Be aware that a microphone is a funny thing, it changes people. Be sensitive that ‘on the record' is a guideline, not a trap. Be mindful that a pen is a powerful thing – and a pen plus the Internet can change a person's life forever. The image from the movie ‘Absence of Malice,' where a woman runs from lawn to lawn trying to pick up the newspapers before a damaging story can be read, should play in all our heads before we take somebody down. Be a judge, but don't be God. Be fast, but not rushed. Be humble enough to admit a mistake, and be able to sleep at night with what you've written."
All good stuff, sound and true.
Red would have said the same things, only more gracefully.
Nor would he disagree with Albom's next thoughts: "Be in love with language, be respectful of its power and be in awe of its possibilities. Be prepared. Read everything. Study other writers. Remember that, as the saying goes, a writer's brain is like a magician's hat. If you want to pull something out of it, you have to put something into it first."
A columnist at the Free Press since 1985, Albom won the APSE's column-writing contest in the big-paper category 13 times before anyone else won it twice. He is more widely recognized for his writing outside sports; his website reports that his books have sold over 28 million copies, literally around the world, printed in 42 languages.
About here, you may wonder why any sportswriter would raise hell about the APSE giving its Red Smith Award to America's most famous sportswriter – especially when Albom chose that venue to puff out his chest for all of us: "Be proud of the sports section – it's as real as any section in the paper, and it's the most read.. . . ." The award is decided by a vote of previous winners (I'm one) and past presidents of the APSE; clearly, Albom had pleased most of the voters (if not all). One past president of the APSE told me, "I have absolutely no problem with Mitch winning." Another, speaking of Albom's dominance of the column-writing contest, said, "Mitch should win it every (expletive deleted) year!"
Accepting the Smith award, Albom went on giving advice . . .
"And always, always, be mindful of who you are serving – not your ego, but your reader. I never spent much time in media hospitality suites because I saw the trap of comparing notes, trying to impress colleagues with who could write more viciously. I saw how quickly conversations degenerated into complaint sessions and where I lived, cynicism was the wrong approach. The reader of Detroit, the guys on the assembly lines, the grandfathers in Alpena, wished every day they could trade places with me. If I turned cynic, how would that serve them? So I often kept a distance. I spent more time at events than in the office, more time in my community than in press boxes or media parties, and this may have cost me over the years. People who don't know you are often the quickest to speak about you, especially if you are blessed with some success."
Note to journalism students: at some level we're all in this for the ego, or we'd be doing dentistry in Darfur. Albom's level of ego involvement might be best measured by the "Official Mitch Albom Website" at Mitchalbom.com. It lists eight categories of Mitch Albom-centric availabilities: "Books. Journalism & Sports. Film & TV. Radio & Music. Theater. Service. Discussion. Bio."
So the denial of ego made me a little itchy, as did his take on hospitality suites. I suppose it's possible that a milquetoast hack could belly up to the hot dog tray, hear snarky cracks from the next guy over, and find himself transformed into a vampire of cynicism lusting for LeBron's blood. It's just never happened in my presence. That said, it's still the "old news," as my friend put it, that's the most bothersome.
In April of 2005, not long after tarring and feathering Jayson Blair, Albom was forced to write a note of apology to Free Press readers. He had committed a column in which he described events that never happened. Subsequently, he was suspended briefly while his newspaper did an in-house investigation. Four Free Press reporters worked through 600 Albom columns to determine if he made a habit of deceiving readers. The investigation reported "no pattern of deception." It did show Albom guilty of lifting quotes from other sources without attribution. One reporter told Editor & Publisher magazine that Albom not only lifted quotes, he changed them to livelier versions of their former selves.
All this began on April 1, 2005, the day before Michigan State's basketball team would play in the NCAA's Final Four. It was a Friday, the deadline for an Albom column that would run in the Sunday paper. He wrote about all the fun a kid's college years can be. Under the headline "Longing for Another Slice of Dorm Pizza," the column began:
ST. LOUIS – In the audience Saturday at the Final Four, among the 46,000 hoop junkies, sales executives, movie producers, parents, contest winners, beer guzzlers, hip-hop stars and lucky locals who knew somebody who knew somebody, there were two former stars for Michigan State, Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson.
They sat in the stands, in their MSU clothing, and rooted on their alma mater. They were teammates in the magical 2000 season, when the Spartans won it all. Both now play in the NBA, Richardson for Golden State, Cleaves for Seattle.
And both made it a point to fly in from wherever they were in their professional schedule just to sit together Saturday. Richardson, who earns millions, flew by private plane. Cleaves, who's on his fourth team in five years, bought a ticket and flew commercial.
They sat in the stands, in their MSU clothing, and rooted on their alma mater. They were teammates in the magical 2000 season, when the Spartans won it all. Both now play in the NBA, Richardson for Golden State, Cleaves for Seattle.
And both made it a point to fly in from wherever they were in their professional schedule just to sit together Saturday. Richardson, who earns millions, flew by private plane. Cleaves, who's on his fourth team in five years, bought a ticket and flew commercial.
Trouble was, neither Cleaves nor Richardson made it to the game. Not in their MSU clothing. Not rooting for the dear old Spartans. Not by plane, train, or riverboat had they been delivered to St. Louis. They'd told Albom early in the week that they'd be there, then they changed their minds.
That meant Albom had written as fact on Friday a Sunday column leading with events of Saturday that never happened.
Note to journalism students: This is known as fiction. It can get you expelled.
i think Albom is actually the worst kind of journalist. Ego doesnt even begin to describe him. And frankly, shuffling the corpse of his late "mentor" just to sell some books never impressed me. Albom is a hypocrit, a liar and worst of all, has managed to outlive the memories of most readers who have many more important things in their lives to be mindful of instead of his phony column on the Spartan stars (makes you wonder how much of "Maury" was concocted.
. But the internet never forgets and I hope columns like these are written every time anyone mentions Albom in good standing. Keep it up. (but change your comment format, man it's tough to type in this box)
No wrath for the worst sports book in the last 20 years: Albom's clearly embellished to the point of fiction book on the "Fab Five" at Michigan? How could a man who supposedly followed the team everywhere for a year have missed one of the single most corrupt programs in NCAA history – a team that no longer exists according to the university and all record books? How could he miss the expensive cars, thousands of dollars in cash flowing into their pockets weekly, and the numerous other hallmarks of dirty players and teams? That book alone should forever mark him as nothing but a shill willing to say or write anything to sell something. He doesn't give a rats ass about integrity, because he has none.
Kudos on saying what needed to be said. The man is a hack in the truest sense.
Well, when I was a medical student in Detroit in 1991, my group (the Jewish Medical Students Association) tried to get Mitch Albom to speak to us–both as a Jewish professional in the area and as a "humanist" writer. We could not even get a direct line to Mr. Albom. Rather, he had his agent return calls.
Then he and his agent had the gall to try to charge us UP FRONT, $10,000.00 to speak to us (as his speaking fee). We were medical students down the street from his Freep office. We don't have money to spend on that. Not even if it was 500.00
For a guy who speaks about being humble, he sure does not act the part when given a chance. Granted this was 19 years ago, but this was before Tuesdays with Morrie, before WJR fame, before ESPN sports reporters. This was "Mitch Albom, the famed Free Press AP award winning sportswriter", and he should have known better and given us an hour of his time. It would have made a huge difference to 500 medical students. But, sorry to say, his stupid charge got in the way. And I have not forgotten what a selfish, hypocritical man he is.
http://articles.dailypress.com/1992-11-06/sports/9211060267_1_hiv-magic-johnson-unprotected-heterosexual
“Dave Kindred, a columnist for The Sporting News, publicly called for Johnson to come clean about how he contracted the virus, even though Johnson has repeatedly said it was through unprotected heterosexual activity. Kindred’s hysterical column was the first wave of criticism that drove Johnson into retirement.”
http://books.google.com/books?id=5R8ScR4I_hgC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=%22Dave+Kindred%22+Magic+Johnson+Sporting+News&source=bl&ots=-MjwWUYKFF&sig=fx8E2YmseGBcEdkDHpwslMRtN8U&hl=en&ei=XmtGTNfjKJnonQesnrGvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=%22Dave%20Kindred%22%20Magic%20Johnson%20Sporting%20News&f=false
Separately, the name-dropping, while endlessly entertaining, is starting to get repetitive. Time to give it a rest, knee-pad wearers.
I tolerated his writing for years… until I read "Tuesday's with Morrie" on my ex-wife's urging, saying it would change my life. The only thing it changed was my estimation of Albom from a formulaic writer (with rough raw copy) to a complete hypocrite. The final point of that book is to stop and smell the roses, spend time with those you love most, focus on your family, be humble … and yet he's on ESPN talk shows, his daily radio show, in Hollywood, etc. etc. etc. He is a franchise, not a newspaper writer.
Thanks for this column. Long time Michigan residents who've had to suffer through Mitch's melodramatic style of journalism appreciate the fact that others feel the same way.
I'd be more peeved at the idiots, like the past president and other guy, who thought Albom should be a slam dunk for the APSE. Did they also flush their journalistic ethics down the toilet just because a guy sells fiction books?
Jason Whotlock says it best
http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2010/07/20/whitlock-on-the-newspaper-industry-letting-myth-albom-preach-was-the-equivalent-of-the-band-playing-while-the-titantic-took-on-water/
As long as you brought it up, Clay.
What Dave wrote as regards Magic was incorrect.
What Mitch wrote as regards the Michigan State players was A LIE.
Thank you for playing.
It's the equivalent of giving Barry Bonds the MVP when his head is exploding from 'roids. Red Smith's editor once told him "Quit Godicizing those jocks." Which is why I got out the business, because guys like Albom are in the business of Godicizing these clowns, then wonder why they turn out so narcissistic.
"What Dave wrote as regards Magic was incorrect.
What Mitch wrote as regards the Michigan State players was A LIE."
Both, however, were based on incorrect assumptions. It made for a better column to claim that the MSU players were there, and it made for a better column to insist that Magic could not have been infected through heterosexual sex.
Point of fact: An actual lie would be Albom knowing that none of that happened and then insisting it happened anyway. He filed the column in advance, so unless he was told before filing that the players were not going to attend, he would not have known the truth.
For there to be a lie, someone must know the truth and then say or write something different.
Also, it appears I have a comment locked up in moderation, so I'll try just copying the links:
http://articles.dailypress.com/1992-11-06/sports/9211060267_1_hiv-magic-johnson-unprotected-heterosexual
“Dave Kindred, a columnist for The Sporting News, publicly called for Johnson to come clean about how he contracted the virus, even though Johnson has repeatedly said it was through unprotected heterosexual activity. Kindred’s hysterical column was the first wave of criticism that drove Johnson into retirement.”
http://books.google.com/books?id=5R8ScR4I_hgC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=%22Dave+Kindred%22+Magic+Johnson+Sporting+News&source=bl&ots=-MjwWUYKFF&sig=fx8E2YmseGBcEdkDHpwslMRtN8U&hl=en&ei=XmtGTNfjKJnonQesnrGvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=%22Dave%20Kindred%22%20Magic%20Johnson%20Sporting%20News&f=false
Ah, but Mr. Pierce:
Both are embarrassing to the profession.
I've only managed to get through about half of these comments, but man, you guys care too much about this.
I'm just starting out in journalism — graduated this spring — so I'm a little in the dark about opinions of Mitch Albom and the politics surrounding these awards. What strikes me the most about this whole discussion is how much all of you seem to care about one guy winning one award.
Maybe you're a little old to this whole Internet thing, but you'll NEVER convince someone you're right in a comments section (and yes, I'm being a total hypocrite by doing that right now. Step 1: I admit I have a problem…).
So let's just move on. Don't we have better things to do than bitch about this guy?
I seem to have a comment locked in moderation, too (several days now).
Odd way to run a media-related, university website.
It would appear that Dave Kindred's column has served as an opportunity for everyone who has ever had a beef with Mitch Albom personally, or about his ethics, or about his writing style, or about his success, to literally take a dump on him.
That may not have been Kindred's intent (likely not), but it as been the result. And APSE, which honored Albom with its highest award, has been party to all this.
All I can say is I hope I'm never so honored.
Steve, no one literally took a dump on him, as far as I know. That would be rude.
And if this were a case of professional jealousy at work, as you've so wrongly suggested, you'd see the knives come out every time someone won the Red Smith. You don't see that — you've never seen that before, in fact — because no one has a bad thing to say about Jim Murray or Mary Garber or W.C. Heinz. This award, until this year, was reserved for the giants of our profession. That's why you (nor I) won't ever have to worry about being so honored, and that's why we're upset.
And Zach, get out now. Good journalists care. That you already don't tells me exactly how far you're going to go.
"As long as you brought it up, Clay.
What Dave wrote as regards Magic was incorrect.
What Mitch wrote as regards the Michigan State players was A LIE.
Thank you for playing."
Oh, the cliche about "thanks for playing" drenched as it always is in sarcasm before a triumphant storm-off? Never, ever gets old! But if you don't mind, I'd like to play a little more.
Here's Kindred, from Thomas Bonk via LA Times: "He said unprotected heterosexual sex did it," Kindred wrote. "Numbers say that's unlikely. One study says the odds are one in 500 even if a man uses no condom and his partner already has the virus. . . . A man is hundreds of times more likely to acquire HIV by homosexual contact or by using dirty hypodermic needles.
(Dave? If you're out there, I'd love to know your source for the above information which every doctor with a brain might just take issue with.)
And more: "It is forgivable for a man to hide such activity–if no one else is hurt by his behavior. But it is reprehensible if a man serving his self-interest helps create a frightening lie that causes research money to be diverted from more critical fields."
Yes, Charles, Kindred was "incorrect". He assumed something that wasn't true which led to his being "incorrect." His assumption was based on (ahem) bovine scatology which led to him being "incorrect." Which makes him "incorrect" morally and "incorrect" professionally. But at least he didn't lie.
And Knilands? Not for nothing but *if* you think my praise for Pierce constitutes knee-pad wearing than I don't want to be anywhere near your perverted imagination and would add that you can go straight to the home of Hades, do not pass Go.
You are far from the only one offering some testimonial to a name before tossing a dart.
“Oh, the cliche about “thanks for playing” drenched as it always is in sarcasm before a triumphant storm-off? Never, ever gets old!”
That was awesome, BTW. I refer to the “thanks for playing” statements as Internet victory laps. They’re pretty common these days. Here, the Kindred supporters are running them, even though they haven’t really won anything. Albom still has the award. Nothing has changed.
In today’s sports journalism world, we have too many lap-runners and too few meet-winners. The lap-runners sit on the warm bus and wait for the meet-winners to do the work. Then, long after the victorious teams have left, the lap-runners come out and stumble around the track. It makes them feel better, but it changes nothing.
Finally, the “see you in hell” cliche is tired and needs to rest. I prefer: “See you on the other side, Ray.”
Dear Robert,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylvUGJIi_w
Peace,
Clay
Kindred was not incorrect in the estimation of the odds of female to male transmission of HIV. It is a much less prevalent form of transmission and at the time of Magic's infection an extremely rare event. Kindred was writing in response to rumors circulating at the time and to my understanding part of the purpose in writing the article was if the rumors were accurate Johnson was continuing to stigmatize gay and bisexual men by his insistence he had contracted HIV through heterosexual activity. That being said, Kindred also wrote this in response to the comments, which are valid criticism, generated by this article.
If I could take back anything I've ever written, it would be those three or four paragraphs at the end of the Johnson-comeback column. Not that they were a lie. Not that they were fiction. Not that they were incorrect in their use of the day's data. Not that I didn't believe what I wrote. But they had no place in a basketball column. More important, they were insensitive to Johnson's circumstances. They also offended colleagues I respected, among them some who had friends dead of AIDS.
http://sportsjournalism.org/sports-media-news/a-look-back-at-a-careers-worth-of-hatpins-in-the-eyeballs/
Clay –
In this business, the difference between being incorrect, even garishly so, and telling a deliberate falsehood is all the difference in the world.
Thank you for playing again.
Coming in the year 2026:
Dave Kindred smooths any ruffled feathers from the "Steroid Era," long after the accused players have retired.
I hope I am alive to see that one.
#71–You're right. And with that, there's no need for me to play anymore.
Be well.
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