Brad Wells, who runs Stampede Blue (our Indianapolis Colts blog), has been in Miami with press credentials for the Super Bowl event. He has scored so many interviews this week that it is unbelievable. The one I want to specifically point out is the one he just ran with Sports Illustrated's Peter King.
The interview, which has been transcribed by Stampede Blue, was very entertaining to read, touching more so on topics related to sports media than the actual Super Bowl itself.
Brad: In the two days I've seen you work, you're just a regular guy. You work with precision. I'm wanting to know what you think of how bloggers think of you? Does it bother you? Does it baffle you? What?
Peter takes another sip of his Pilsner Urquell and thinks. It's a long pause before he answers.
King: When I did a bunch of these [online] chats [like the Deadspin one several months ago]…
Brad: Some negative things were said.
King: Yeah. "You’re a know-nothing, fat, piece of shit. You don’t know football. You're totally out of touch with reality. You’re an idiot. You’re gay for Favre." I… I don’t know what to say. I don’t know, I mean, all I can do is try and do my job, and do the best I can.
Wells, who has always been a Peter King-basher in all the years I've been here at SB Nation, came away from his 30-minute interview with King with the following thoughts:
I think back on all the harsh, nasty, hateful words I’ve used to describe Peter King, and I cannot help but feel the bitter tingle of shame. Do I regret writing them? No. I believe in writing as a fan, and a fan’s voice is best written unfiltered and raw. No editing. No holding back; first thoughts in your mind pushed out into the digital world. And, quite frankly, many of the other media people I’ve taken shots at over the years deserve the harsh words. Hell, some of them write their crap to solicit those words. And in meeting several of them here, it has actually made me feel better about bashing them. They deserve it because they are lazy, stuck-up, entitled douchebags.
Not Peter King.
I recommend that everyone read the transcript of the interview (links below). I've always been a big fan of King's and have always wished that he'd get more credit for the work he does.