I'd bet that his Paterno access was revoked, so now he's going to go offline and bang out the first draft of his book.Pos on twitter:
Not sure what going underground means, but good luck to him, hope he is able to sort through this mess.
I'd bet that his Paterno access was revoked, so now he's going to go offline and bang out the first draft of his book.Pos on twitter:
Not sure what going underground means, but good luck to him, hope he is able to sort through this mess.
I'm not sure if you're being facetious or not, but I think that his credentials took a mammoth hit in this mess. I've heard other sports writers (like Gerry Callahan for example) just rip into him and that's a shame. I don't think that he's ever going to remove this stink from his work and that sucks.Joe Pos is the real victim here.
You captured my feelings perfectly, JMOH.What I do care about is getting daily musings from a guy who has likes his life, wasn't completely disillusioned with the sports world and could write with the best of them. I think that this has been taken from us. And it sucks.
This is a good post and it's all true, but I'm just really disappointed by how he's handled all of this. A real sense of "woe is me" coming from him and I find it slightly irritating.I'm not sure if you're being facetious or not, but I think that his credentials took a mammoth hit in this mess. I've heard other sports writers (like Gerry Callahan for example) just rip into him and that's a shame. I don't think that he's ever going to remove this stink from his work and that sucks.
Do I agree with what he said? Or what he's written? No, I don't. But at the same time, I love 99% percent of what he's written and I want him to keep writing. His Blog hasn't been updated since November 9 (he did something on the death of Joe Frasier) and that sucks. Obviously I care about kids getting raped and that is the real crime and the real victims here, but I don't give a shit about college football and I care even less about whether Penn State plays another down. What I do care about is getting daily musings from a guy who has likes his life, wasn't completely disillusioned with the sports world and could write with the best of them. I think that this has been taken from us. And it sucks.
Poz is in the belly of the beast right now. I'm sure he fell victim to Joe's aura and saw himself as the writer who was going to do the definitive book on Paterno. He spent so much time around Penn State people this year that he may have committed the worst sin a writer/reporter can commit. He got too involved with the story, instead of keeping the distance a writer needs to maintain perspective.This is a good post and it's all true, but I'm just really disappointed by how he's handled all of this. A real sense of "woe is me" coming from him and I find it slightly irritating.
Maybe that's unfair, but I can't shake this sense of being annoyed by how he's handled himself since all of this stuff broke.
He took an extreme position in a horrible situation when emotions were highest. I get that he was just trying to put a counter opinion out there, but he could have done that without staking such a strong claim towards Paterno. It wasn't disgusting the way he was fired, it was disgusting the way Sandusky was allowed around campus despite what was known and Paterno had to answer for that. It didn't appear Paterno deserved any defense. Poz could have said, "I'm overwhelmed and want to see how the facts shake out before I can comment on whether Paterno deserves our scorn." Instead he said, "He doesn't deserve scorn."This is a good post and it's all true, but I'm just really disappointed by how he's handled all of this. A real sense of "woe is me" coming from him and I find it slightly irritating.
Maybe that's unfair, but I can't shake this sense of being annoyed by his response to all of this.
I agree with you about this and I've been trying to wrap my head around his response and I'm while I can never claim to be inside the head of a person I've never met, I've tried to place myself in his shoes. It's been written a couple of times in this thread that Posnanski was charged with doing a book about a guy who (on the surface) was the football coaching equivalent to him. In other words, Paterno and Posnanski are men in an industry filled with miserable pricks who often do the wrong things. Those two stood out as guys who weren't dirty, loved their job and did things the right way.This is a good post and it's all true, but I'm just really disappointed by how he's handled all of this. A real sense of "woe is me" coming from him and I find it slightly irritating.
Maybe that's unfair, but I can't shake this sense of being annoyed by his response to all of this.
I also think a big part of it, like Deadspin mentioned, is just the frustration of a writer having his huge project fall apart. He can't get all of his book deal money I assume until he actually produces the book, and he can't really finish the book and have it sell until we figure out the entirety of Parerno's involvement, which will take a long time. That would cause a lot of frustration.I'm sure it's made him completely reevaluate his life and the truths that he holds to be sacred. I mean, if he can be wrong about Paterno, what else is he wrong about? I can see why he's so vexed.
It seems severe to say that Posnanski is "swinging like a drunk" in response to the scandal because he has written much less in the last two weeks about the topic of the moment than he usually does about such topics. Posnanski's longer essay about Paterno clearly missed the mark and included misguided sympathy for Paterno and Pos should be criticized for expressing that point of view. But I don't think his reputation is permanently sullied and I don't think his judgement is no longer trustworthy. I think it is telling that Posnanski has not written more since his criticized essay and that he has not stepped out to vehemently defend that point of view. I wonder if he feels that he erred with that essay and will not weigh in again until he has gained more persepctive.While I doubt that Posnanski would ever really say it, deep down I think that the Paterno book he was writing about was really about Joe Posnanski. Which sounds kind of corny, I admit, but to me seems the only reason why Posnanski is taking all of this so damn personally and why this normally, level-headed man is swinging like a drunk in a crowded bar fight.
Good thoughts.I agree with you about this and I've been trying to wrap my head around his response and I'm while I can never claim to be inside the head of a person I've never met, I've tried to place myself in his shoes. It's been written a couple of times in this thread that Posnanski was charged with doing a book about a guy who (on the surface) was the football coaching equivalent to him. In other words, Paterno and Posnanski are men in an industry filled with miserable pricks who often do the wrong things. Those two stood out as guys who weren't dirty, loved their job and did things the right way.
While I doubt that Posnanski would ever really say it, deep down I think that the Paterno book he was writing about was really about Joe Posnanski. Which sounds kind of corny, I admit, but to me seems the only reason why Posnanski is taking all of this so damn personally and why this normally, level-headed man is swinging like a drunk in a crowded bar fight. This book was going to be about the triumph of ideals and true sport, sort of like a bio of a more famous Buck O'Neil. All of a sudden this scandal, probably the worst scandal to ever effect a college sports team, comes out of nowhere and it's like an H-bomb not only on Posnanski's work but his entire life. This book was going to make Joe Posnanski, KC writer, SI writer into JOE POSNANSKI -- chronicler of the gods. It was his life's project on a person he obviously admires thoroughly and now it's fucked up, not directly because of Joe Paterno but because of his defensive coordinator and friend.
I'm sure it's made him completely reevaluate his life and the truths that he holds to be sacred. I mean, if he can be wrong about Paterno, what else is he wrong about? I can see why he's so vexed.
Imagine the thought of having to revise an entire manuscript or even realizing you have to scrap it entirely? For any writer that prospect has to be about the worst thing a person can face. For that reason alone, I think this whole clusterfuck is not mainly a personal response from Posnanski, but more of a professionalone. As Rev says, what complicates the whole matter is that the things that the first version of the book were probably going to celebrate -- details of Paterno's biography that Posnanski likely shares with JoePa, like their Catholicism and working-class white ethnic backgrounds -- must now be approached with ambivalence and treated as a moral quandary.Good thoughts.
This last, part, I think, is key. I actually think Poz can write an amazing book about Paterno. In fact, the subject matter and the issues to be grappled with are terribly, terribly important and speak to core elements of human being--getting the book right is significantly more important now, in fact.
The project is going to be much, much more emotionally and psychically draining to do right, though, whereas the old project was going to be spiritually uplifting and gratifying for Poz.
Poz's joy ride turned into a heavy burden, a responsibility with which he is now saddled.
Jim, I'm not picking on you or trying to quote you out of context, but as much as I like him, I can see Posnanski shrinking from the moment. This might be a bit strong, so let me see if I can back up a bit. I read "The Machine" about two years ago and while I thought that it was an ok book (I was expecting a bit more from it I guess after reading "The Soul of Baseball"), I thought that it really elevated Pete Rose as the hero of the story and kind of made Johnny Bench seem like a bit of an asshole*.I don’t see Posnanski shrinking from the moment.
Pos strikes me -- unlike Shank, et al -- as a guy who doesn't go into book projects motivated much by the money. I think he truly believed there was a great story here to be told about a legendary giant in the sport and that he was to be the chronicler of that Olympus-like figure. I still think he drank some of the Kool Aid while in State College (way more than he should have or wants to admit) and so the news rattled him like someone who just woke up from a weird dream. I still have faith he will come to his senses at some point and see this as a tremendous opportunity to do an important book, not just a popular one.I also think a big part of it, like Deadspin mentioned, is just the frustration of a writer having his huge project fall apart. He can't get all of his book deal money I assume until he actually produces the book, and he can't really finish the book and have it sell until we figure out the entirety of Parerno's involvement, which will take a long time. That would cause a lot of frustration.
That's the knee jerk criticism that's lobbed by pro-PSUers -- that the media is unfairly whipping up public sentiment against St. Joe because he's so well-known and successful. Frankly, if the prospect of a child sexual predator freely roaming your campus and community for 30-40 years and the people who knew of his criminal proclivities and had the power to do something about it did little to nothing ISN'T a time for torches and pitchforks, I don't know what the hell is.The deadspin take on Posnanski seems like an accurate one to me--writers DO get cranky when the story goes wide and carefully-laid plans go by the boards. Understandable but disappointing, because I see Joe as both a writer and a reporter -- and as a reporter in this case, he has blinked. Implicit in his statements is the sense that the only light shed thus far is of the torch-and-pitchfork variety. And that's a cop-out, quite frankly.
Was he really that far along? 'Cause if he was, here's what I'd want to know ---Imagine the thought of having to revise an entire manuscript or even realizing you have to scrap it entirely?
Respect level has plummeted.So when he said he was going underground, he really meant it, huh?
He's started posting again on his SI blog, his latest piece on Pujols is solid:Respect level has plummeted.
The Joeblog site seems to be nearly dead now. He is posting most to all of his stuff on his SI blog.So when he said he was going underground, he really meant it, huh?
So he's probably only doing what he's contractually obligated to do.The Joeblog site seems to be nearly dead now. He is posting most to all of his stuff on his SI blog.
SI Blog
Joe Pos stepped in front of a bus crash and tried to stop it and the bus ran him over. Really sucks.
Well, if the bus is filled with child molesters, you're better off letting it crash.Joe Pos stepped in front of a bus crash and tried to stop it and the bus ran him over. Really sucks.
I'm not saying he's right, he should have taken his own advice and not rushed to any kind of judgement. He said he wasn't going to rush to judgement and then he rushed to it and took a pretty aggressive stance. Joe Paterno deserved NO defense, even a half hearted one. And he should have been tossed out like he was.Well, if the bus is filled with child molesters, you're better off letting it crash.
I agree. But I'm not sad or anything, I don't think he's sitting somewhere depressed or forlorn, I think he's just busy writing the book. He'll be back.I think it's harsh and premature to say you've lost respect for him. He's earned the benefit of the doubt while he researches and writes the book. The whole thing just saddens me. Joe's blog was a mandatory daily check-in for me. Even more than Simmons he showed what's possible in sportswriting on the Internet. It's depressing to see it fall apart.
I think he's both depressed and writing the book. His last few posts feel depressed to me. Or at least not as heartfelt and honest, like he's holding something back because he's depressed about how this whole thing happened. He is a sensitive guy and I bet the scathing comments directed at him hurt him. A lot.I agree. But I'm not sad or anything, I don't think he's sitting somewhere depressed or forlorn, I think he's just busy writing the book. He'll be back.
I think the most obvious reason for depression, and what is mirrored in the Albert Pujols post, is that he has now seen some of the inhumanity to achieving greatness. What happened at Penn State should depress people and the closer you are to it, the more depressing it is. He got extremely close and so what happened is depressing. I don't think he gives a shit about what people said about him. He had a pretty good idea on how people would respond. I think he was writing a book about a person and a sports program that had achieved something more and it turned out that it had not. Pos wants to see the beautiful side of sports and the ugly presents itself.I think he's both depressed and writing the book. His last few posts feel depressed to me. Or at least not as heartfelt and honest, like he's holding something back because he's depressed about how this whole thing happened. He is a sensitive guy and I bet the scathing comments directed at him hurt him. A lot.
I think you nail it here. Really, when all is said and done, this Sandusky thing is a football scandal, and, in a large sense, a university sports scandal. When Penn State officials -- and JoePa -- were faced with a choice between protecting the image and reputation of Penn State football and Penn State university, or to protect the victim of a child rapist, they chose football and a brand image.I think the most obvious reason for depression, and what is mirrored in the Albert Pujols post, is that he has now seen some of the inhumanity to achieving greatness. What happened at Penn State should depress people and the closer you are to it, the more depressing it is. He got extremely close and so what happened is depressing. I don't think he gives a shit about what people said about him. He had a pretty good idea on how people would respond. I think he was writing a book about a person and a sports program that had achieved something more and it turned out that it had not. Pos wants to see the beautiful side of sports and the ugly presents itself.
Seriously, as a fan of sports, how can it not be depressing that underneath every great sports story is dirty bullshit?
Great post. If Pos writes a book about JoPa and State U looking at redemption it could very well be the end of his sports writing career. Considering how many awful sportswriters there are in the world, that bums me out, because I think Pos is one of the best sports writers who's ever lived. But there would be no coming back from that.I think you nail it here. Really, when all is said and done, this Sandusky thing is a football scandal, and, in a large sense, a university sports scandal. When Penn State officials -- and JoePa -- were faced with a choice between protecting the image and reputation of Penn State football and Penn State university, or to protect the victim of a child rapist, they chose football and a brand image.
Pos is absolutely the wrong guy to write that story. The thing that makes Joe so great is his unbridled affection for sport -- to him it's something redemptive, bigger than the people that engage in it. He's a mensch, empathetic, and naturally looks for the good in people and is great at profiling good men. Buck O'Neil. Dan Quisenberry. H*ll, his "The Quisenberry Tree" made me cry. He's great at lifting us all up, giving us something beautiful to admire. Hope. Dreams.He's unabashedly romantic, but not cliche. Which is great, especially in these cynical, sarcastic times.
But Penn State doesn't need someone looking for redemption in the story. We need someone to burn it all down. To tell us flatly and plainly that we all value sport too much, and that there's serious problems with our major college sports programs, and we enable them. I don't Posnanski can do that.
I don't know about that. It has already affected his writing, though. I think the Twitter thing really affected him. He was always pretty open in his writing - I think the vitriol startled him, and it made him crawl him into a shell, which is very un-Posnanski-like. But being a writer, like a being a person, is an ongoing process. Posnanski will come out on the other side. But, as what?If Pos writes a book about JoPa and State U looking at redemption it could very well be the end of his sports writing career. Considering how many awful sportswriters there are in the world, that bums me out, because I think Pos is one of the best sports writers who's ever lived. But there would be no coming back from that.
Twitter SUCKS in that regard. People you don't know can talk shit and send it right into your in box. It doesn't take much for someone to be an asshole. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands and it has to be chilling.I don't know about that. It has already affected his writing, though. I think the Twitter thing really affected him. He was always pretty open in his writing - I think the vitriol startled him, and it made him crawl him into a shell, which is very un-Posnanski-like. But being a writer, like a being a person, is an ongoing process. Posnanski will come out on the other side. But, as what?
I feel bad for Posnanski in all this.
Seriously, as a fan of sports, how can it not be depressing that underneath every great sports story is dirty bullshit?
Good piece.Good piece here about Bill Cowher - SI.com - The Coach Who Wouldn't Coach.
As Mark Twain said, "rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated". So there is hope that Poz is back on track despite what some of us on here might think.Nothing like the Hall of Fame ballot and an MVP debate to get Poz back on track. His most recent posts on these subjects have seen him getting back into form.
Baseball will bring Poz back from the brink. I imagine his publisher told him to finish the Paterno book as soon as possible to get it published while the iron is still hot. That's why he is underground. They probably gave him a big bonus to finish it sooner than his original deadline. And when he's done, it should be time for baseball season.Nothing like the Hall of Fame ballot and an MVP debate to get Poz back on track. His most recent posts on these subjects have seen him getting back into form.