To Mark Kizla of the Denver Post

[GrandeDavid]

After Game 1, this guy wrote a piece completely dismissing the Spurs...not just dismissing them, but disrespecting them. He even threw in a random shout out from the team video coordinator, which went something like "that's right, MC (M. Camby), this is a business trip!"

Now I'm not one to kick folks while they are down, but I cannot help but get a kick out of looking back at the 4 straight wins ripped off by the Spurs to make them 8-2 in playoff games against Carmelo and the Nuggets over the past few years. The Nuggets played their hearts out, and this beat writer decided to go comical. Just today he wrote a piece blasting George Karl's blasting of JR Smith. So many blasts, yet the wrongful one involved his downright underestimation of, how did Rudy T. put it, "the heart of a champion".

If you guys recall, his theme was basically that "the Spurs are gone"...something like that. All I have to say to that clown is that...he's right.

The Spurs are gone to the conference semis.

[CubanMustGo]

http://www.pete-online.us/Images/EatCrow.jpg

[BIG IRISH]

:lol

[bonesinaz]

Do you mean his underestimation of the heart of a champion?

[timvp]

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2006/0905/20060905_113246_Mark_Kiszla_Mug_New_DPO.jpg

Mike Kizler can suck on that post-article sweep.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Dear Mr Kiszla,

You look like you are about 50, so how is it that you can write so poorly and know so little about basketball?

After your SHAMEFUL performance of the last week, you should resign and find yourself a more fitting career, like cleaning toilets.

You are King of Fucktards Mr Kiszla, and I hope you are choking on your ill-advised words as we speak.

Sincerely,

Ruff

:lmao

[GrandeDavid]

Like I said, I don't ever kick people while they are down, but this guy not only had it coming, but its also in good fun. I'm glad he's not writing for the Express News or he'd create a hornets nest of Spurs haters.

[GrandeDavid]

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2006/0905/20060905_113246_Mark_Kiszla_Mug_New_DPO.jpg

Mike Kizler can suck on that post-article sweep.

L.J., well said! Witty as always, bro.

[ATXSPUR]

I thought this nuggets team was supposed to be different? I thought we were not going to pull off four straight on them.

[pad300]

After Game 1, this guy wrote a piece completely dismissing the Spurs...not just dismissing them, but disrespecting them. He even threw in a random shout out from the team video coordinator, which went something like "that's right, MC (M. Camby), this is a business trip!"

Now I'm not one to kick folks while they are down, but I cannot help but get a kick out of looking back at the 4 straight wins ripped off by the Spurs to make them 8-2 in playoff games against Carmelo and the Nuggets over the past few years. The Nuggets played their hearts out, and this beat writer decided to go comical. Just today he wrote a piece blasting George Karl's blasting of JR Smith. So many blasts, yet the wrongful one involved his downright underestimation of, how did Rudy T. put it, "the heart of a champion".

If you guys recall, his theme was basically that "the Spurs are gone"...something like that. All I have to say to that clown is that...he's right.

The Spurs are gone to the conference semis.

No, No, No

We say thank you to Mr. Kizla for the inspiring words; without them it might have taken 6 games instead of 5.

Then the team gets focused on the next series. The Spurs want 16 wins this postseason. They only have 4 so far; go get the rest of them.

GO SPURS GO

[Samr]

The dude is just doing what every beat sports writer is taught to do -- drum up an audience by keeping the stories interesting. You do this by being radical, and either agreeing with your audience to the extreme, or going against them at every turn. It is very possible to write your own counterargument, so, don't hold that against him.

I think he does a good job at doing what we Spurs fans consider a bad job. And that, right there, to write in the extreme opposition, is his job.

[Budkin]

This guy has his fucking face stuffed full of crow right now.

MARK KISZLA IS DONE

[GrandeDavid]

The dude is just doing what every beat sports writer is taught to do -- drum up an audience by keeping the stories interesting. You do this by being radical, and either agreeing with your audience to the extreme, or going against them at every turn. It is very possible to write your own counterargument, so, don't hold that against him.

I think he does a good job at doing what we Spurs fans consider a bad job. And that, right there, to write in the extreme opposition, is his job.

And I'm doing what some fun-loving sports fans do, making the author of what I perceive to be a bad article eat some crow afterward. Again, I said it wasn't personal, just entertainment, which means I would NEVER hold anything against him. Hell, I don't even KNOW the guy. I never said he SHOULDN'T have written that article, but I'm happy to throw some good fun back in his grill. :hat

[Samr]

^^^ Of of course, that's always fun. Part of why I love sport so much is the ability to "claim" a team and then talk mess when they win. I was just playing some devil's advocate here, and making sure some of the extreme fanboys aren't confusing someone's job with someone's opinion. I get really irked when people try to make things personal, that aren't.

[GrandeDavid]

Sam, you the man! I hope you are running again. I'm doing a minor surgery to repair a torn meniscus and to alleviate patellar tendinitis (all in my left knee). I should be be back running in a month...getting ready for my first triathlon after a few marathons!

Go Spurs!

[Marcus Bryant]

Man who gives a fuck? Spurs fans should be able to ignore 1st round hack jobs from opposing team's beat writers by now.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

My biggest problem with the guy is that he writes APPALLINGLY. He uses hack phrases and his internal logic is non-existent, in fact mostly contradictory. I could do a better job than he does, and that insults me. :puke

[GrandeDavid]

Exactly. I think the guy is an amateur writer, no matter how he got that gig.

[CubanMustGo]

You'll notice Mr. Kiszla is conspicuously absent from the Post sports section this morning ...

[ATRAIN]

hahaha yeah im used to the haters, I just wish I could see him in the office today.........SO WAS AI the ANSWER bitch!!!

[GhostofAlfrederickHughes]

Kizsla is now sending his resume to the American Enterprise Institute. You know, the folks who brought us "We'll be greeted as liberators" and "The war will pay for itself."

http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif

[FromWayDowntown]

Actually, I heard that Kizsla has applied to be the next Iraqi Minister of Information.

(someone should photoshop Kizsla's headshot onto a picture of Baghdad Bob talking before the War in Iraq began).

[Extra Stout]

My biggest problem with the guy is that he writes APPALLINGLY. He uses hack phrases and his internal logic is non-existent, in fact mostly contradictory. I could do a better job than he does, and that insults me. :puke
You could say the same thing about 90% of American sportswriters. It's not their job to generate Pulitzer-worthy material. It's their job to generate readership, and the pablum he generates works a lot better than good writing does.

The excellent writers tend to cover baseball.

[Samr]

Exactly. I think the guy is an amateur writer, no matter how he got that gig.

Compared to some of the bigger names (I'm looking at YOU Jay Mariotti), Kizsla really isn't that bad. Unfortunately, ESPN and related talk shows hire opinion people based upon who can yell the loudest (I'm also looking YOU Stephen "Screaming A" Smith) and not necessarily who has the best insight (don't think Rome is getting out of this alive, either). So it is only natural that lower-level journalists look to somewhat imitate these higher-ups, because the formula for success in 2007 dictates that they make noise and act radical. "Normal" and by some association "good" is not rewarded, but "controversial" and "hard-hitting" is, so what do you expect?

If you want to get noticed, as a writer but especially as a sports writer, you have to act and say and write opinions that someone, somewhere, hopefully famous or with connections will agree with. And when you do that, you are naturally going to have parties who also disagree with your opinion, and that is EXACTLY what you (as a writer) want. You want controversy. You want to create a dividing line with people on your "side" and then people firmly against it. Hopefully, they will be against your opinion enough to where they get vocal about it, because this is what creates an audience, and hopefully, eventually, good ratings as well.

If you really disagree with a writer, the exact best thing you can do is ignore them. Don't link to them. Don't respond to them. Ignore their opinion with the same aggression you had wanted to use in fighting them. Because then, eventually, they will go away. But if you do disagree with them, and let that disagreement be known, they become famous. And end up places like ESPN. Just ask Mariotti, Smith, and Rome.

[Extra Stout]

Samr, Richard Justice at the Houston Chronicle is a telling example. He used to be a very thorough and insighful writer. Now, he writes like a hack to rile people up and get hits on his blog.

I don't think he suffered brain damage; I think he or his editors figured out that appealing to the lowest common denominator is what generates readership and brings in the ad revenue.

[Borosai]

<--------------- I have been inspired...thank you.

[Samr]

I don't think he suffered brain damage; I think he or his editors figured out that appealing to the lowest common denominator is what generates readership and brings in the ad revenue.

Which is EXACTLY why the standard print/newspaper is going to slowly be overrun by the collective sports blogosphere.

These guys - the sports journalists in newspapers - are having to direct their articles to a common denominator in readership because that collective populace is what newspaper depends upon for their sales. On the internet, and by expansion the act of publishing on the internet, is able to target a smaller but more specific demographic and then cater to them. This demographic, of course, being more loyal because they were the ones who chose the opinions they read, instead of reading the columns available to them. The internet allows people to exercise free will due to the incredible availability of content.

This is, of course, is almost a complete derailment of Grande's thread, but it is at least least fodder for some good thinking. If there is enough actual opinion on this topic, I'll start another discussion in the Club.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

This is, of course, is almost a complete derailment of Grande's thread, but it is at least least fodder for some good thinking. If there is enough actual opinion on this topic, I'll start another discussion in the Club.

I'm down for a good discussion.

[Cry Havoc]

Which is EXACTLY why the standard print/newspaper is going to slowly be overrun by the collective sports blogosphere.

These guys - the sports journalists in newspapers - are having to direct their articles to a common denominator in readership because that collective populace is what newspaper depends upon for their sales. On the internet, and by expansion the act of publishing on the internet, is able to target a smaller but more specific demographic and then cater to them. This demographic, of course, being more loyal because they were the ones who chose the opinions they read, instead of reading the columns available to them. The internet allows people to exercise free will due to the incredible availability of content.

This is, of course, is almost a complete derailment of Grande's thread, but it is at least least fodder for some good thinking. If there is enough actual opinion on this topic, I'll start another discussion in the Club.

It might be a derailment, but it's a welcome one. I've been thinking the same thing for quite some time now. In faaaaaaact, there's a video out that chronicles the future downfall of the so-called "fourth estate". You might have seen it at this point.

http://idorosen.com/mirrors/robinsloan.com/epic/

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I prefered News War myself.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/

[Samr]

OK guys, thread on internet vs. print media (or New Media vs. Old Media) is here:

Print media out the door? Welcome to 2007. (http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1631883#post1631883)


Sorry for a few posts of interjection there, Grande.



Who eats more crow: Kizla, or Buck Harvey?