36 replies to this topic

[JBill]

Anyone else read GQ's profile on Deadspin editor AJ Daulerio? Interesting and depressing. I miss the Leitch Deadspin days, but I still check out the site everyday and enjoy it, even though it's pretty much sports TMZ now.

Among the highlights:
-Daulerio willing to go to jail over Brett Favre's penis
-He and Leitch are close friends, but don't discuss Deadspin anymore
-Sean Salisbury's son begged him to go easy on his father
-Daulerio was on his 11th straight night out drinking
-He's recently started seeing a therapist

GQ

[Foulkey Reese]

Perhaps Daulerio's darkest moment came last spring, when he posted a video of an obviously drunk college girl having sex in a bathroom stall at a sports bar in Bloomington, Indiana. At the time, he was thinking of it as part of a series on fans having sex in bathrooms. (In the fall of 2009, he'd posted a clip of a couple getting it on in a stall at the new Cowboys Stadium.) On May 11, a few days after the video went up, Daulerio received an e-mail from a woman imploring him to take it down. "I know the people in it and it is extreemly [sic] hurtful. please, this is completely unfair," she wrote. In separate responses, both Daulerio and Darbyshire, the Gawker lawyer, refused to comply. "Best advice I can give you right now: do not make a big deal out of this because, as you can tell, the footage is blurry and you are not identified by name," Daulerio wrote, assuming the e-mailer was the girl herself.

For the rest of the afternoon, Daulerio and the woman traded five e-mails. Finally, before handing the matter off to Darbyshire, Daulerio wrote, "It's not getting taken down. I've said that. And it's not a very serious matter. It is a dumb mistake you (or whomever) made while drunk in college. Happens to the best of us."

That makes it unlikely that I'll ever visit the site again.

[ManhattanRedSox]

He thinks he is the Julian Assange of the sports world

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Daulerio seems like an asshole. Not because of what he runs, it's because on a few occasions he runs a story and then wants to take it back (Salisbury, the girl in the stall). It's the not learning and doing the same stupid things over and over again. And Frank Deford pretty much nailed it with this quote:

"It isn't a question of whether or not he should have done the story. It's a story," says Frank Deford, who's been writing for Sports Illustrated since 1962. "But aren't there better stories to do? Do we really want to know about Brett Favre trying to get laid? Wouldn't you rather spend your time delving into the evils of college athletics, or drugs and sports?"

Because that's all the whole Brett Favre thing is about; an athlete trying to get laid. It's boring.

[Dehere]

He is a scumbag. It's disgraceful that credible media outlets treat him and Deadspin with any respect at all. They're not clever, interesting, or subversive.

[Average Reds]

That makes it unlikely that I'll ever visit the site again.

Read through the GQ profile, and reading about this incident in context is even worse than your quote implies.

I have to say that I agree with you about visiting the site again.

[URI]

You guys take the sports media very seriously. Very, very seriously.

[TheoShmeo]

Daulerio seems like an asshole. Not because of what he runs, it's because on a few occasions he runs a story and then wants to take it back (Salisbury, the girl in the stall). It's the not learning and doing the same stupid things over and over again. And Frank Deford pretty much nailed it with this quote:



Because that's all the whole Brett Favre thing is about; an athlete trying to get laid. It's boring.

I'm neither a Favre hater nor a Deadspin fan but I disagree with you and Deford. I mean, sure, the story is ultimately about an athlete trying to get laid. But it's more than that given the "aw shucks, all American guy, football icon" guy image that Favre has cultivated over the years.

If, for example, anyone on the Pats other than Brady had done what Favre did, I'd also agree with Deford's characterization. When a personality as large as Brady or Favre is the perpetrator, it's a story when they send a picture of their junk to a team employee.

Edited by TheoShmeo, 26 January 2011 - 11:18 AM.

[Corsi]

Best aspect of Deadspin are the commenters; they're consistently witty.

[TheGazelle]

Best aspect of Deadspin are the commenters; they're consistently witty.

Ehh, I don't know about consistently - I find the very hit-or-miss. Some of them are very good (I specifically remember some great lines during the Tiger Woods stuff), but I feel like lot of the guys there are just trying to one-up the next guy with absurdist references that flop.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I'm neither a Favre hater nor a Deadspin fan but I disagree with you and Deford. I mean, sure, the story is ultimately about an athlete trying to get laid. But it's more than that given the "aw shucks, all American guy, football icon" guy image that Favre has cultivated over the years.

But were you surprised about that Brett Favre chases tail? Aside from being monumentally stupid about it, I'm not sure how this is really a big deal. It seems to me that it's more about labeling Favre fans as morons, more than exposing some sort of wrong or enlightening the masses. Jenn Sterger didn't want this to go any farther than a conversation (which I also have a big problem with, BTW) and actually asked Dauliero to not run the piece.

I'm not going to go so far as to say that I'll never read Deadspin again, because I click on the site at least two or three times a day, there's a lot of good content over there. But Dauliero reminds me of the sports journalist version of Joe Francis. Sure, some of the stuff that he does is pretty cool; but ultimately he's just a douche bag that can't be trusted.

Edit: I was a big fan of the Will Leitch version of Deadspin. I think that while it was less salacious, it offered much more.

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Most of the time I find ESPN and their ballwashing more despicable than deadspin. It took them three days for them to stop telling me how Elin Woods rescued her husband from his car accident and now all I keep hearing from Merril Hoge is how Ben Roethlisberger is a changed man. And speaking of Favre, I'd much rather read about how he tried to molest a few massage therapists than hear Tom Jackson and Trent Dilfer talk ad nauseam about how number four is just a good old boy gunslinger who plays for the love of the game.

[TheoShmeo]

But were you surprised about that Brett Favre chases tail? Aside from being monumentally stupid about it, I'm not sure how this is really a big deal.

You're right, I was not surprised that he chases tail. But that he did so in such a clumsy fashion, and that he so brazenly subjected himself to the risk of so easily being exposed, did surprise me. A lot, actually. I've been married and faithful for almost 25 years so maybe I'm just uninformed; but do any sane men send pictures of their cock to women as part of the chase?

This story is not a big deal to me, either. But a lot of legitimate news stories don't interest me. Given who he is and what he did...I think its news.

[Average Reds]

You guys take the sports media very seriously. Very, very seriously.

I know that the reaction seems out of proportion. At the same time, the incident that Foulkey cited ends with Daulerio talking first to the father of the girl in question and then to the corporate lawyer, who decided to take the video down:

Daulerio now says he wishes he hadn't run the video. "It wasn't funny," he says. "It was possibly rape. I was trying to kind of put it in that same category [as the Dallas video]. I didn't really look at the thing close enough to realize there's maybe something a little more sinister going on here and a little more disturbing."

So to summarize, he posted a video that he now thinks might have been of a women being raped in a bathroom. And even though he eventually took the video down, it went viral and is now out there forever. And his perspective seems to be "Oops. My bad."

Like others here, I was a big fan of the Leitch version of Deadspin. This guy strikes me as a miserable scumbag.

[CJM]

You guys take the sports media very seriously. Very, very seriously.

In this case, I think it's a matter of sports media taking itself far too seriously. Drunk girl is caught in a compromising position where, at best, she's making an impaired and stupid decision or, at worst, being raped. In the light of day, girl implores editor to not run "story" of her getting fucked in bathroom. Girl's father also implores. Editor's response: "tough shit". That wasn't news, and wasn't even masquerading as news like the Favre thing. It's an instantly regretted decision being broadcast to the world because some self-important prick decided to take a stance.

Edited by CJM, 26 January 2011 - 12:51 PM.

[dirtynine]

Preface to say that I'm losing my appetite for internet snark - probably just from getting older, or burned out on online culture, or... I don't know what. Many things (condescending commenters, oh-so-witty entendres, intentional misspellings, retro-fads, doctored meme photos, more crap with bacon on it and whatever else) that used to read as clever and amusing to me now just seem sort of fatigued and pointless. Like that "Charlie Brown is a Loser" piece referenced in the article. It was just sad. Good or bad, right or wrong, it just didn't need to be. Deadspin is getting worse in that regard, and the commenters over there are the absolute height of what I find just useless and misdirected about much of online culture right now. Deadspin was never a noble enterprise, but under AJ it really wallows. I wish no ill will on Daulario but really, and I'm trying not to take this all too seriously, but for god's sake, does he really think he's doing anything meaningful with his life?

[JBill]

I'm not going to go so far as to say that I'll never read Deadspin again, because I click on the site at least two or three times a day, there's a lot of good content over there. But Dauliero reminds me of the sports journalist version of Joe Francis. Sure, some of the stuff that he does is pretty cool; but ultimately he's just a douche bag that can't be trusted.

Edit: I was a big fan of the Will Leitch version of Deadspin. I think that while it was less salacious, it offered much more.

Whitlock was tweeting the other day about this article, how Leitch is no better, and that at least Daulerio is honest about being a scumbag. According to Whitlock, since Leitch hired Daulerio, and he let him publish questionable stuff on the site (like the post about reading over Stuart Scott's shoulder while he was texting some woman) that to now act like he is above Deadspin sleaze because he's gone mainstream is the height of hypocrisy.

I see his point, Leitch's Deadspin wasn't pure and innocent, but I still think Daulerio crosses lines all the time that the old Deadspin wouldn't. Some of this stuff, including the girl in the bathroom, has absolutely nothing to do with sports or sports media.

But I agree that some of the content is still very good. I like a couple of the regular writers, and some of their contributing ones (Nate Jackson is great). I also had no problem with the Favre story.

[Dehere]

Whitlock is wrong. Daulerio is worse than Leitch.

Leitch positioned himself as anti-establishment for just long enough to get hired by the establishment, an offer he accepted enthusiastically. Maybe that makes him a bit of a hypocrite but, you know, so what? That's a career path that people follow all the time; some out of calculation, some because it just intuitively feels like it's working. I don't think Leitch is much of a writer, but he seems like a decent enough guy who somehow hit on a novel way to advance his career.

Daulerio is a character assassin who often targets people who are not public figures. He's a bully who ruins people's lives for personal profit.

[Alternate34]

The Favre story could go under sexual harassment reporting, which is relevant and potentially newsworthy.

Video taping a girl having sex in a bathroom goes under being a god damned pervert.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Like that "Charlie Brown is a Loser" piece referenced in the article. It was just sad. Good or bad, right or wrong, it just didn't need to be.

I like the author of the piece, Drew Magary, a lot. He's pretty funny and seems to be an honest writer, which is something that I enjoy.

However, the Charlie Brown essay was not only boring (Lucy is a cunt! Ha, ha! Take that Charles Schultz!) but it seemed to me that it was written in order to provoke a response. Sort of become an infamous Internet column. Almost as if Magary wanted people to pass this column around, mouth agape saying, "Can you believe what he wrote?" An iconoclast is fine, but one that does it falsely is just lame.

As far as Leitch goes, I could be wrong, but I never saw him that way. He at least seemed to enjoy the on-field activity and it's not surprising to me that Whitlock said that because IIRC, Deadspin has had a cottage industry showing unflattering pictures of Jason Whitlock. The one piece the Leitch wrote that I really enjoyed was his apology to Roger Ebert where he did exactly what you said Dehere:

Leitch positioned himself as anti-establishment for just long enough to get hired by the establishment, an offer he accepted enthusiastically.

Good read

[8slim]

Preface to say that I'm losing my appetite for internet snark - probably just from getting older, or burned out on online culture, or... I don't know what. Many things (condescending commenters, oh-so-witty entendres, intentional misspellings, retro-fads, doctored meme photos, more crap with bacon on it and whatever else) that used to read as clever and amusing to me now just seem sort of fatigued and pointless. Like that "Charlie Brown is a Loser" piece referenced in the article. It was just sad. Good or bad, right or wrong, it just didn't need to be. Deadspin is getting worse in that regard, and the commenters over there are the absolute height of what I find just useless and misdirected about much of online culture right now. Deadspin was never a noble enterprise, but under AJ it really wallows. I wish no ill will on Daulario but really, and I'm trying not to take this all too seriously, but for god's sake, does he really think he's doing anything meaningful with his life?

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

[Double Jeopardy]

Because that's all the whole Brett Favre thing is about; an athlete trying to get laid. It's boring.

Tiger Woods was trying to pick up girls. As the only wedding vows he made were to Elin whatever "relationships" he had with other consenting adults are none of my business, and all the reporting done about those is gossip.

Now, sending unsolicited nude pictures to a fellow colleague constitutes sexual harassment. While he may not have been her official superior within the company, someone of his stature sending photos like those (after a spurned advance, mind you) to a female colleague creates a hostile work environment. I'd call it newsworthy.

Mind you this is the same team that sexually harassed a female television reporter, only to have the likes of Gerry Callahan stand up for the Jets!

I find it interested that a website like Deadspin has material that points out the misogyny in sports/culture/life yet posts a potentially obscene video such as the Indiana bathroom.

[8slim]

The one piece the Leitch wrote that I really enjoyed was his apology to Roger Ebert where he did exactly what you said Dehere:


Good read

That's a fantastic piece, thanks for posting that.

And in keeping with the spirit of the thread, I'd bet my life that Daulerio could never, ever, ever write something like that. Ever.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I have no idea what you're trying to say in your post, Double Jeopardy. None.

[Double Jeopardy]

I have no idea what you're trying to say in your post, Double Jeopardy. None.

I am saying that it's dishonest to say he was simply "trying to get laid". Tiger Woods' sown oats or Greg Oden sending a picture to his girlfriend are one thing, but what Favre did is punishable by law.

Deford mentions the boogie men in sports, and chalks Favre's actions up to "boys will be boys." There is a pattern of misogyny and violence towards women in sports (just as there is in the world) and I am glad that the folks at Deadspin brought it to light.

[AquaNarc]

Whitlock was tweeting the other day about this article, how Leitch is no better, and that at least Daulerio is honest about being a scumbag. According to Whitlock, since Leitch hired Daulerio, and he let him publish questionable stuff on the site (like the post about reading over Stuart Scott's shoulder while he was texting some woman) that to now act like he is above Deadspin sleaze because he's gone mainstream is the height of hypocrisy.

I see his point, Leitch's Deadspin wasn't pure and innocent, but I still think Daulerio crosses lines all the time that the old Deadspin wouldn't. Some of this stuff, including the girl in the bathroom, has absolutely nothing to do with sports or sports media.

But I agree that some of the content is still very good. I like a couple of the regular writers, and some of their contributing ones (Nate Jackson is great). I also had no problem with the Favre story.

The day Jason Whitlock gets off his soapbox will be the day AJ Daulerio quits drinking and converts to Hinduism.

[Corsi]

It's columns like these that make Deadspin enjoyable: http://deadspin.com/...cent-puck-tease

[Gravistar]

The Favre story could go under sexual harassment reporting, which is relevant and potentially newsworthy.

Video taping a girl having sex in a bathroom goes under being a god damned pervert.

Alternate makes this point the best in this thread, and this is the reason why Deford sounds like he's stepped out of the chauvinistic Mad Men era. A profile piece on Deadspin isn't really about sports media per se, but about reporting on celebrity's private lives (which is why GQ would write the article -- and why Deadspin is part of the Gawker media network in the first place).

The question for me is did Daulerio post the Favre story in an attempt to be socially responsible, or did he do it for presumably the same reasons he posted the bathroom sex pics - i.e. for page views. Obviously we can't know, but in one instance the result appears responsible, and in the other irresponsible.

There's also the huge ethical consideration of what counts as justice: if a woman gets raped and a journalist has evidence to convict or expose the rapist, but she doesn't want the fact she's raped to be made public, what should that journalist do?

EDIT: Also, the series on dead wrestlers on Deadspin is insanely good. Whomever that writer is needs to write a book.

Edited by Gravistar, 27 January 2011 - 07:08 PM.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

The Favre story could go under sexual harassment reporting, which is relevant and potentially newsworthy.

I don't agree with this statement. If Jen Sterger reported this to the NFL or the NY Jets front office, then it would be harassment. She didn't. She made an off-handed remark to a Daulerio that he pursued. And if accounts are to be believe, she had this information for over a year and her and her friends would look at the pics and listen to the VMs and laugh. This doesn't sound to me as if she's cowering in the corner somewhere afraid to show her face.

One person's sexual harassment is another's awkward attempt at sexing up a pretty lady, so let's save the pitch forks and fainting couches for another time.

Deford mentions the boogie men in sports, and chalks Favre's actions up to "boys will be boys." There is a pattern of misogyny and violence towards women in sports (just as there is in the world) and I am glad that the folks at Deadspin brought it to light.

You have got to be fucking kidding me--I mean, your post has to be sarcastic, right? Have you read Deadspin in the last year or so? Just about every article is tinged with misogyny and violence. And Daulerio's motives weren't noble; he wasn't saving Sterger's reputation or defending her from Favre or even taking up her mantle, he was looking to get Deadspin into the mainstream, increase hits on his page and rile the feathers of Favre supporters.*

* And this in itself, isn't wrong, journalistic history is full of stories of sensationalism. And while I don't necessarily agree with what he did, Daulerio did show a lot of journalistic chops by chasing down the story and presenting it in a way where the story's integrity was never question.His integrity? Much in question. **

** BTW, does Daulerio come off as needy high school kid in this piece? I've been drinking for 11 straight nights, I pulled bong hits before the Today Show came to interview me, the police gave me an escort because I was so hammered. We're all proud and impressed AJ, kudos.

There is a lot to like about Deadspin, but the editor seems to be a real tool.

[shlincoln]

EDIT: Also, the series on dead wrestlers on Deadspin is insanely good. Whomever that writer is needs to write a book.

Agreed, I'm not even a wrestling fan, and those are my favorite reads on Deadspin.

[Alternate34]

I don't agree with this statement. If Jen Sterger reported this to the NFL or the NY Jets front office, then it would be harassment. She didn't. She made an off-handed remark to a Daulerio that he pursued. And if accounts are to be believe, she had this information for over a year and her and her friends would look at the pics and listen to the VMs and laugh. This doesn't sound to me as if she's cowering in the corner somewhere afraid to show her face.

One person's sexual harassment is another's awkward attempt at sexing up a pretty lady, so let's save the pitch forks and fainting couches for another time.

I totally agree that the guy is a total tool. I don't think that the Favre pictures were done because he had some dedication to justice or women's rights. The bathroom sex obsession shows him to be world class pervert and idiot. His motive is page clicks.

However, the grey area you're talking about isn't really that grey. An awkward attempt at sexing up a lady is often sexual harassment. If a reporter believed that Favre sent pictures of his cock unsolicited to another Jets employee, there really is very little to suggest that sexual harassment occurred. Ethically, reporting it without Sterger's consent is a problem. But are you really suggesting there is a fuzzy area when sending pictures of you cock without request? I will be sure to think twice about viewing PMs from you.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I don't think that's the case though. I may be misremembering, but from what I remember about the story is that Favre got her number from another Jets' employee. The employee got the number from Sterger herself and before he sexted her the pics, they had some sort of previous communication. It's not as if Favre got her number and started sending her pics of his cock.

But are you really suggesting there is a fuzzy area when sending pictures of you cock without request? I will be sure to think twice about viewing PMs from you.

Of course not, but if they were in the midst of a flirty back-and-forth, then it might be just Favre stupidly taking it to the next level.

And like I said earlier, from all reports it doesn't seem that Sterger was even bothered by Favre's activities. So, I'm not sure how it can be technically harassment if she wasn't harassed (if that makes sense).

[PBDWake]

I don't agree with this statement. If Jen Sterger reported this to the NFL or the NY Jets front office, then it would be harassment. She didn't. She made an off-handed remark to a Daulerio that he pursued. And if accounts are to be believe, she had this information for over a year and her and her friends would look at the pics and listen to the VMs and laugh. This doesn't sound to me as if she's cowering in the corner somewhere afraid to show her face.

One person's sexual harassment is another's awkward attempt at sexing up a pretty lady, so let's save the pitch forks and fainting couches for another time.

Disagree with this statement, JMOH.

However, before we get into it, I don't believe there was one iota of benevolence in Deadspin's reporting on it. It was whoring for page views. They didn't do it to be noble.

Now, getting back to my point. Just because something is unreported doesn't mean that it's not sexual harassment, and you don't need to be cowering in a corner to be harassed. While Jenn Sterger may not be the ideal test case, if a news outlet knew that Brett Favre was making continued unwanted advances, to the point of sending pictures of his junk after being rejected, I feel like it should be reported. If he's doing it to less visible, more replaceable people, like massage therapists, personal trainers, interns, aides, ticket counters, whatever... these are all people who could have been legitamately harassed, but too afraid for their job to come forward. If you file a complaint, and you're a small cog in the big Jets wheel, do you expect them to sign with you over the newly acquired, major star in the media market? And, at the time, who would have believed it in the MSM? At the time, he was still mostly a golden child. We saw, as a result of the reporting, 2 more people come forward. If their stories are found to be true, then the report was ultimately a good thing. Would I have released the images? Hell no. I wouldn't have even named Jenn Sterger by name, especially if she hadn't consented. Maybe I'd send the voicemails out, but that's it.

[Lose Remerswaal]

Deadspin links back here with their "10 worst people in sports" column, in the section about Daulerio (see "Character Assassin" link

[Dehere]

Wow. I called Daulerio a character assassin here and it turned out to be the nicest thing anybody linked in that paragraph said about him.

[Orange Julia]

somewhat related is this Atlantic series about Men v Women in sports journalism/fandome. Daulerio is mentioned a few times ...

http://www.theatlant...orts-fan/70592/

[HomeBrew1901]

Daulerio is being interviewed by Andrea Kramer on Real Sports on HBO, what a scumbag. Not a lot more revealed in that interview than in GQ but she does interview Sean Salisbury which was kind of sad.

Edit: Guy actually blames posting the video of the girl in Indianapolis that "may have been raped in hindsight" on a brainfart. Words can't describe what I think of that guy.

Edited by HomeBrew1901, 15 February 2011 - 10:31 PM.