The Players' Tribune, former MLBer Derek Jeter's "publishing project," has both "met and defied expectations of what it could be" since it launched last month, according to Kavitha Davidson of BLOOMBERG VIEW. Former NBAer Jason Collins' recent post in which he announced his retirement "demonstrates the value it can add to the already crowded sports-writing space, bringing unadulterated, unfiltered perspectives by athletes whose personal experiences and heightened emotions can be tempered through the objective lens of journalism." Clippers F Blake Griffin's post relaying his personal interactions with Donald Sterling "was hugely effective at showing how the former ... Clippers owner treated his players like chattel." However, much of the content on the site "has been little more than first-person PR." The site also has "shown how giving athletes control over their own narratives can backfire." Tiger Woods this week "caused a stir with a post excoriating Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins." There is "absolutely no way any rational, literate person could mistake" Jenkins' fake interview with Woods for a real one, which is why Woods' post on the Players' Tribune "so laughably fails." Instead of "addressing any real questions ... Woods simply reminds everyone that he takes himself far too seriously." Davidson: "We can't be all too surprised that the Players' Tribune so far has been largely a glorified press-release hub, or that leaving athletes to their own lyrical devices isn't always the best idea." Sportswriters who "feared the site would threaten their access or their ability to do their jobs can rest easy; if anything, missteps ... provide even more fodder for the press" (BLOOMBERGVIEW.com, 11/19).
IN THE ROUGH: In N.Y., Karen Crouse writes Jenkins in his satirical interview with Woods "aimed for parody but succeeded only in satirizing his own writing." The Woods piece "was a character assassination using a dull knife." But Woods' rebuttal on the Players' Tribune "was a shanked shot" from a man "whose well-documented personal indiscretions have left him with little moral high ground." Because Woods’ circle "is so closed, it is hard to know where his outrage ends and the outrage of the people employed by him begins." Golfer Christina Kim yesterday said whether Woods or his agent, Excel Sports Management Partner Mark Steinberg, wrote the piece, "I liked the fact that he responded to it." She added, "I thought it showed incredible strength to be able to show that: ‘Hey, what you said caused me to feel this. This hurt me.’ I feel like that showed a lot more strength than if he hadn’t acknowledged it" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/20). L.A.-based KFWB-AM's George Wrighster said, “If you are Tiger Woods, you are low-hanging fruit; it is easy for people to take shots at you. It has to stop somewhere, and this is where Tiger drew the line. A guy that he doesn’t like and who doesn’t like him took a shot at him” (“Rome,” CBS Sports Network, 11/19).
SILENCE IS GOLDEN: ESPN's Keith Olbermann said he would give Woods a "pass on not realizing that his best response was radio science." But Olbermann asked, "Did it not occur to him that writing a reply in protest and posting a letter from his agents would serve only two purposes: One, reinforce his presumably not-totally-deserved reputation that he has as a humorless robot and … give Golf Digest umpteen million dollars in free publicity.” Now, it is the “single biggest thing to happen in golf media this year" ("Olbermann," ESPN2, 11/19). Media writer Ed Sherman wrote the pictures that ran with Jenkins' piece on Woods "went over the line," as there "was an actor portraying Woods sitting in a Perkins." There also was a photo "of the phony Woods polishing his Cadillac Escalade," the car that "had an unfortunate collision with a fire hydrant." Sherman: "Definitely low blows." Golf Digest "was reprising old, tired jokes in running those images." But did Woods "really gain by going public with his commentary?" All his rebuttal did "was call attention to a piece that nobody was talking about" (SHERMANREPORT.com, 11/19). ESPN’s Bomani Jones noted Jenkins is "breaking out five-year-old jokes" in the Golf Digest article and added, "If you’re just now still bringing that up, you’re not looking for jokes. You’re just looking to take shots at Tiger Woods while he is down.” But ESPN’s Dan Le Batard said Woods “made it worse” by responding because “nobody was going to read that Dan Jenkins column” before Woods spoke out (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN2, 11/19).
