I’m young at heart while being an old soul. Take your ageism ....well, I like it right here. Stick around for a while.
Lets Talk About Drew Magary
- Thread starter dirtynine
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If my ageism offends you, just know that your avatar doesn't look a day over the age that you think was your peak.
That’s exactly what I was thinking about Kelly Slater. He’s only good at surfing because surfing exists as a sport and he’s white.
Rudy Pemberton is dead and that is a tragedy.
But he is dead because he had no code, he had no honour, and he had no plan. And God was watching.
But he is dead because he had no code, he had no honour, and he had no plan. And God was watching.
I’ve enjoyed Magary, but I think I’ve reached the point where I’m not really interested in what he has to write any more. I subscribed to Deadspin for the football season in part because of his WYTS and Jamberoo but I was just bored with what he wrote. I was more interested in what the fans put down.
His stuff? Yeah. Fan racism. Stuff that contradicted the things he wrote two days ago. Players are butt heads, coaches are dumb and owners are worse. I feel like it’s the same song for the last decade.
And it’s more him than me. I think he’s progressed as a writer, which is awesome. That’s great to see but, like I said in another thread, I’m just getting bored with him. Like I did with Simmons, Posnanski and Leitch. I think that they’re still good writers but IDK, how many times can you write x team sucks and they’re fans are backwards hillbillies.
Also, I don’t really give a shit about his brain injury. Maybe I need to be more empathetic but meh. I don’t want to read 250+ pages about it.
I agree with everything you said until the last paragraph. Reading him yesterday, it all felt very rehashed. He couldn't even be bothered to write about Pats-Phins. I doubt I'll read him again this season.
However, I find his writing style is different in his books than his columns. I suspect his books are better-edited and, more importantly, he can't fall into his sportswriting tropes in a book that's not about sports.
Anyway, to each his own. I'll report back once I've read it.
Edited to add: I also feel like I've developed a parasocial relationship with Magary (and Simmons), so I feel compelled to read what his experience was like even though I know logically that we don't actually know one another.
I wouldn't be surprised as time passes to see Magary unable to be creative with his old topics, much like Simmons is. Drew IMO is a vastly more talented writer, but between middle-age and the brain injury I suspect he can't summon the creativity he once did.
At least Simmons owns that he won't write again and that he's just a podcaster now.
I used to love Magary but haven't read him in at least a year and a half (or since Defector started) and I don't miss his work. I think at the time I liked his cynicism because it matched well with my young-ish person worldview, but I've gotten older and less cynical. I realized that I don't - and haven't ever - derived any pleasure out of hating people and hating things. It's a cheap drug that's easy to get addicted to, though. My sense of later era Magary is that he's really clutched onto negativity and become bitter and closed off. I feel like his lack of growth as a person holds back someone who is otherwise a really talented writer.
I wonder if he assumes that prick persona for Defector and then it seeps in over time.
The WYTS series this year was boring.
The WYTS series this year was boring.
I agree about WYTS. It may have run its course. Or he has to switch it up and not do every team every year. Or add college teams.
I guess I just dont see that much of the prick persona in his writing. Or at least its more nuanced than just being a prick about things. His answers to the "should I dump my girlfriend/disown my family" type questions are usually somewhat thoughtful.
I still think he sees still himself as part of the human race, not somehow above it.
But ultimately, writing is art. And it's all in the eye of the beholder.
I agree. The way that this country has nose dived in the last six years, I honestly don't care if you're a fan of the Colts or the Chargers or the Giants. I jsut can't muster up that much hate anymore for something so unimportant. Except if you're a Jets fan. Fuck those guys.
That's a good word for WYTS this year. Boring. Oh Miami is racist? And Boston is too? And Kansas City? No shit. We have the internet. Everywhere is racist. It's not good, guy.
I agree with this. I think that WYTS gets a ton of hits and he probably is just cranking through them knowing that his site needs them.
When he's interrested, I do like the Funbag. I have a feeling that I'm going to cancel Defector and subscribe to Craig Calcaterra.
It's inevitable. If you're producing in volume the way a columnist or blogger does--especially if the goal is more to entertain than inform--you will run out of gas.
I've said this a million times, but I saw it myself with KEYS. I basically had a really fun four year run from 2004-2007, occassionally cranked it up in 2008 and that was it. I had nothing left to say and since my livelihood didn't depend on it, I stopped. He'd probably be very well served by stopping this stuff and just writing books or whatnot now, but I bet this is too important to his marketing.
He's regular contributor to other outlets such as SFGate.com (he now has a weekly column there), and I have no doubt he could find several more outlets if he wanted to. I think he has genuine affection for, and loyalty towards, his ex Deadspin people and wants to do right by them. They're one year in at Defector and while doing well (from what I understand), the online sphere is filled with competitors and success is never far from failure. If Magary left, it would be a huge blow to their profile and future success.
Interestingly and relatedly, its Defector's one-year anniversary (birthday?). They've run a few first person accounts. The fact that they've gone almost entirely subscription only, they say, has freed them from serving advertisers (and needing clicks RIGHT NOW), and they can focus more on what readers want. (The Williams Sonoma haters guide was their most-viewed thing so far, fwiw). For his part, Magary seemed to concede that he was having trouble doing it at first.I agree. The way that this country has nose dived in the last six years, I honestly don't care if you're a fan of the Colts or the Chargers or the Giants. I jsut can't muster up that much hate anymore for something so unimportant. Except if you're a Jets fan. Fuck those guys.
That's a good word for WYTS this year. Boring. Oh Miami is racist? And Boston is too? And Kansas City? No shit. We have the internet. Everywhere is racist. It's not good, guy.
I agree with this. I think that WYTS gets a ton of hits and he probably is just cranking through them knowing that his site needs them.
When he's interrested, I do like the Funbag. I have a feeling that I'm going to cancel Defector and subscribe to Craig Calcaterra.
I dont know if its public, but I found this interesting.
https://defector.com/what-defector-staffers-learned-from-one-year-of-being-small-business-owners/
This too:
https://defector.com/one-year-of-defector/
I think my previous (and brief) life in journalism causes me to take some pleasure in successes (so far) like this and what Josh Marshall has built.
Apologies for the tangent.
I agree with all of the criticisms about WYTS--yet I still find myself enjoying at least part of every team's write up. (And I'm sure that if he simply updated the names of personnel from previous year's entries, I probably wouldn't notice and would still laugh at some of it.) I think it relates to what @John Marzano Olympic Hero said about the Jets--I still enjoy reading him tear up the teams I hate--NYJ, NYG, Ravens, Steelers, Chiefs, & Cowboys especially--and always look forward to what he says about the Patriots. At the same time, WYTS is as formulaic as '80s sitcoms, and it's hard to see him continuing to do it just because of fan service.
I think that today was the day that I reached my quote for Drew Magary. I found his Jamberoo, which I used to legitimately look forward to, so boring that I skimmed it. I mean when you have a list of emoticons that "make you mad", it might be time to hang up the column and call it a day. This is kinda George Carlin, I'm just going to yell about stuff that pisses me off and you're going to laugh because I was once funny territory he's entering (though he's not nearly as good as Carlin).
And the shit stories are getting dumb. This one guy shit his pants on the ten-mile cab ride back to his hotel room instead of going to the restaurant bathroom because, why exactly? Scat humor isn't really my thing, but this was just pointless.
I usually stay signed up for Deadspin for most of the football season (because of the Jamberoo) but I think that I'm going to sign up for Calcatara's daily newsletter instead. This is turning into Bill Simmons circa late 00s level bad.
And the shit stories are getting dumb. This one guy shit his pants on the ten-mile cab ride back to his hotel room instead of going to the restaurant bathroom because, why exactly? Scat humor isn't really my thing, but this was just pointless.
I usually stay signed up for Deadspin for most of the football season (because of the Jamberoo) but I think that I'm going to sign up for Calcatara's daily newsletter instead. This is turning into Bill Simmons circa late 00s level bad.
Magary's new book is a very quick and not unenjoyable read -- I devoured it in a few hours.
If Magary had stuck with the story of his injury and difficult recovery, I think it would've been an interesting read. A little self-indulgent, but that's fine -- it's a memoir, so self indulgence comes with the territory.
However, Magary uses portions of the last few chapters to share some epiphanies about life and death and family that are just kind of...meh. I don't think they're meaningfully deeper than what any person starts to realize about themselves and life at middle age, but he at least implies that the unique perspective he gained from his injury gave him some special insights. If Simmons had written stuff like this, Magary would've gotten months of column fodder from it.
It's entirely possible I'm being too harsh here, and the fact that he's back to writing a book after sustaining a traumatic brain injury is itself an accomplishment to be lauded. I'll be curious to hear what others think if any of you read it.
Last note - I found this passage near the beginning of the story interesting, in part because it might explain some of his animus towards Simmons:
"We knew that we had to save every dollar we earned during the kids' upbringing so that, once they turned college age, the nefarious debt lords at BIG UNIVERSITY could extinguish our life savings in half a second. I worked as a sports blogger for Deadspin at the time: a dream job in many ways, but not necessarily in salary. I made good money, but not tens of millions of dollars. So there was no dough available to fritter away on a countertop bread maker or some other perfunctory Christmas gift that adults get tired of more quickly than children do of their gifts."
In what world do you jump from "I wasn't making a dream salary" to "I made good money" to "I wasn't making tens of millions of dollars?" It's fine that you don't want to spend $200 on a a countertop bread maker, but don't say that you had to scrimp and save because you (like 99.9% of the world) weren't making tens of millions of dollars. What an odd thing to say.
If Magary had stuck with the story of his injury and difficult recovery, I think it would've been an interesting read. A little self-indulgent, but that's fine -- it's a memoir, so self indulgence comes with the territory.
However, Magary uses portions of the last few chapters to share some epiphanies about life and death and family that are just kind of...meh. I don't think they're meaningfully deeper than what any person starts to realize about themselves and life at middle age, but he at least implies that the unique perspective he gained from his injury gave him some special insights. If Simmons had written stuff like this, Magary would've gotten months of column fodder from it.
It's entirely possible I'm being too harsh here, and the fact that he's back to writing a book after sustaining a traumatic brain injury is itself an accomplishment to be lauded. I'll be curious to hear what others think if any of you read it.
Last note - I found this passage near the beginning of the story interesting, in part because it might explain some of his animus towards Simmons:
"We knew that we had to save every dollar we earned during the kids' upbringing so that, once they turned college age, the nefarious debt lords at BIG UNIVERSITY could extinguish our life savings in half a second. I worked as a sports blogger for Deadspin at the time: a dream job in many ways, but not necessarily in salary. I made good money, but not tens of millions of dollars. So there was no dough available to fritter away on a countertop bread maker or some other perfunctory Christmas gift that adults get tired of more quickly than children do of their gifts."
In what world do you jump from "I wasn't making a dream salary" to "I made good money" to "I wasn't making tens of millions of dollars?" It's fine that you don't want to spend $200 on a a countertop bread maker, but don't say that you had to scrimp and save because you (like 99.9% of the world) weren't making tens of millions of dollars. What an odd thing to say.
Even some of the luckiest in the world are bitter that they were not THE luckiest. I pity the fool that cannot feel gratitude for their good fortune.
I haven't read his book, and I don't think that I will because while I like (liked?) Magary, I don't think that his tone and writing style really translates well to book form. I read his first book ("Men with Balls") and it was literally one of the worst books that I have ever read--and at that time, I'd say that Magary was my favorite online author.
I bolded something in your original post because after I skimmed todays Jamberoo I started thinking that the Magary that I'm reading now reminds me a lot of Simmons circa 2005/2006. It's the same greatest hits and weirdo observations that are positioned as absolute truths. For example today he said that he changes his underwear and socks three times a day. Everyday. Whether he likes it or not, that's fucking weird. But, and I may be projecting here, the way that he wrote it had an air of condensation to it. Like you're the idiot if you don't think that this is a game-changing philosophy. IDK, humility was the great equalizer to his rants and that doesn't appear to be there any more. Also, more than a dozen paragraphs about why watching sports injuries are cool? Seriously?
Also his vendetta against Mac Jones is bizarre.
IDK, his writing on Defector is becoming a reason for me to let my subscription lapse.
He's writing for the old Deadspin crowd that followed him to his new digs. It's entirely unsurprising that he's shitting on Mac Jones. He is giving the people what they want.
Mac is also a pretty easy target. Dopey-looking doughy white guy playing for a franchise he and the Defector crowd despise.
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Yeah, I understand that. It's not like he had any objectivity when it came to the Pats, but it's like this guy has had five games, you don't have to be first in line to hate the guy.
Also, for a guy who's constantly freaking out about the environment and the world going to shit, it's a strange choice as he's likely having to do laundry 3X more often (or buy excess underwear and socks, which has its own footprint).
Sure he does. That's what snark is, the willingness to label everything people might like as shitty. Sometimes it's funny, other times it's exhausting. Snark is his whole deal.
Last year Defector had a Tom Brady Crud-o-Meter running the whole season, because despite what people say now they were REALLY expecting Brady to go into the toilet in Tampa. That he threw 50 TDs and won yet another Super Bowl does not provide them with any kind of self-reflection or awareness, they've simply moved on to Urban Meyer.
Someone in the comments pointed out that for a guy who had a horrific public injury that was kept secret by his family and his place of business, it's a little bizarre that he's advocating for showing and publicizing injuries.
Also someone said that between this and his emoji rant, he's been drifting into Simmons territory. That was not me.
Even if he was still churning out quality content, I struggle to see a role for a Magary/Simmons type in the 2020s.
Sports used to have columnists who would (or more often than not attempt to) take what we were seeing on the field or hearing from the clubhouse and weave in anecdotes/narratives to give the contest broader context.
In 2021 and beyond, why do I need to pay for that when I can get an almost infinite amount of free takes - of widely disparate value to be fair - just by logging on to one of several apps on my phone? And for me, I far prefer the opinions of those here versus someone like Magary who has a strong incentive to stoke controversy and is clearly not objective either.
That said, I may well be missing something valuable and if so, I would love to know about it.
Sports used to have columnists who would (or more often than not attempt to) take what we were seeing on the field or hearing from the clubhouse and weave in anecdotes/narratives to give the contest broader context.
In 2021 and beyond, why do I need to pay for that when I can get an almost infinite amount of free takes - of widely disparate value to be fair - just by logging on to one of several apps on my phone? And for me, I far prefer the opinions of those here versus someone like Magary who has a strong incentive to stoke controversy and is clearly not objective either.
That said, I may well be missing something valuable and if so, I would love to know about it.
I think context matters. His injury was not public. Nor was it part of the game or the war, or whatever is being sanitized, which I think was his point. I actualy thought *that* part of the Jamboroo was good. At this point, I only read the intros to that and the Funbag. The rest is stale.
"valuable" may be overstating it, but I find his commentaries on various aspects of life (whether his own or responding to questions) to be well-written and interesting. He's a flawed guy who admits to his flaws and so, IMO, his non-sports "takes" (for lack of a better word) have an authenticity but dont reek of exhibitionism. I agree with those here that a lot of his sports-takes are almost boilerplate at this point. Much in the same way that a good actor can carry a weak script, I think his good writing can carry some meh ideas.
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IDK. For the Deadspin community, he's a public figure and there was absolutely nothing from them for weeks after his injury. Tuesdays and Thursdays came and went, and nothing. I follow him on Twitter and people were constantly wondering where he was (I know I asked when the Jamberoo was coming out one particular week), nothing but radio silence. I get that he's only a quasi-public figure and he is entitled to his privacy, no doubt, but the way it was all handled was very bizarre. And that's fine, I wasn't looking to hold a vigil outside of whatever hospital he was in in Manhattan. But his injury voyeurism was a weird take for a person who suffered a pretty severe injury to have.
At times it felt like he was writing to fill a word count.
Also, did his injury not happen in a public at a Deadspin christmas party that they charged fans to attend? I thought it was something along those lines - I definitely remember rumors that he got too drunk and hit his head (that ended up being false, but they happened because of the secrecy)
He got hurt at an after-party that was at a rented-out karaoke bar. Not mentioned in the book is that he himself sent a tweet saying that he was injured while drunk, which was apparently not the case.
Yes - he was in a coma for 2 weeks after the injury and things looked grim.
If he gets condensation on his socks and underwear, he should change them a lot.
Dammit, I was just gonna quote that! Gonna do it anyway.
Dripping with it, you could even say.
He seems a wee bit mad about the pats and their success with Mac Jones.
https://www.sfgate.com/sports-columns/article/everyone-unfortunately-loves-mac-jones-16632047.php
https://www.sfgate.com/sports-columns/article/everyone-unfortunately-loves-mac-jones-16632047.php
That seems like a reasonable and effective take and not at all like the ravings of a sulky sports madman.
The article doesn't make any sense. Half of him is concerned that Jones is good and that he's annoyed the Patriots are back in the title picture. The other half is claiming that Jones actually isn't any good and it's only because of the good defense and BB running a dummy offense for him. It's either one or the other. Either you are mad people are praising a QB who is actually bad and will be exposed, or you are mad Jones is legit good and you have to deal with the Patriots in January again.