Couldn’t resist sharing this post from Jeff Pearlman

Writing on the Oklahoma State mess, Pearlman on his site did a terrific takedown of Jason Whitlock.

Pearlman admits he actually likes some of Whitlock’s work, but he said it wasn’t a good week for the future ESPNer, stemming from his comments about Thayer Evans and Sports Illustrated’s investigation of Oklahoma State.

Pearlman:

My favorite piece of the Whitlock diatribe comes here: “There are a brand of sports writers who love doing these investigative pieces. They are not hard to do these days in terms of so-and-so got this money under the table. We’re into this area where unnamed sources can say anything, any of these he-said, she-said stories. I don’t respect the entire brand of investigative journalism that is being done here.”

Jason Whitlock has the absolute easiest job in sports media—and he knows it. He opines. That’s it. He doesn’t report. He doesn’t dig. He doesn’t make calls or seek out information. He takes the reporting done by others, sits in front of his laptop and comes up with a take. That’s it. He’s a good writer. Is he one of the, oh, 200 most-talented sportswriters in America? Probably not. (For the record, I’m by no means placing myself on that list either) But—and this is the big part—he’s loud. And obnoxious. He presents himself as a tough guy unafraid to take a tough stand, and people buy it. They absorb his self-righteous diatribes, because—on the surface—it seems to be driven by a desire to seek out truth and justice.

Indeed, Whitlock’s comments on sports investigative reporters showed a remarkable lack of insight in the business. I’d like for him to work 10 months on an investigation and then tell me he has no respect for what they do.

Earlier in the piece, Pearlman notes that Whitlock has made bids to work for Sports Illustrated. Did that impact his view of the Oklahoma State story?

Furthermore, Whitlock talks about Evans’ loyalties, calling him a “huge, enormous, gigantic Oklahoma homer.” However, Whitlock’s past desperation to work for Sports Illustrated was no great secret. His dream of being handed the back-page column. He, of course, was never offered a job by the magazine—and was, we can assume, angry about it. Does this not (by Whitlock-think) make him the wrong guy to go off on the magazine? Is he not as biased as Evans is presumed to be?

Exactly.