Monday, August 22, 2011

10 comments The Top 219 Reasons Bleacher Report Getting Credit for Being a Quality Site is the End of the World

I noticed in the "Time" magazine I received in the mail last week, and Ivn pointed out in the comments, that "Time" has named Bleacher Report one of the Top 50 best websites of 2011. This goes to prove "Time" just randomly picks sites and doesn't actually look at the content on said sites. Here's what they had to say about the site that is the biggest joke among sports websites.

(I was going to write about something different today, but I started a rant about Bleacher Report before I wrote that previous post and then I found a terrible article to cover while I was ranting.)

At Bleacher Report, the sports reporting isn't performed by a tiny staff of full-time journalists — it's done by thousands of fan-contributors, which is why it feels so deep and so passionate.

That's also why Bleacher Report articles feel so factually inaccurate, terribly researched, thrown-together, half-assed, overly-long, amateurish, and annoyingly fluff-based.

The standard of quality is markedly higher than at some community-created news hubs, where "citizen journalist" can be a synonym for "poorly paid amateur."

Holy shit. I feel like every compliment towards Bleacher Report should be a criticism of Bleacher Report. Then the brainless wonders at Bleacher Report name SB Nation as one of the 50 best sites and compares it to Bleacher Report. They are similar, except many SB Nation writers have actual writing skill that exceeds the ability to put a list together and use Wikipedia, both of which are the only two requirements it seems for Bleacher Report writers.

Like a sports-themed variant of the Huffington Post, the site has a penchant for wacky lists and sideshows.

They are wacky lists and sideshows because they are shit and drivel. The Huffington Post should sue "Time" for this statement in comparing them to Bleacher Report.

Many of them, like "50 Bold Predictions for the Rest of the MLB Season," are nicely done, not just fluffy filler.

Out of the 3500 posts and lists put up per day, I am sure 10-12 of them are not complete shit. Right now, on the front page are the following "columns..."

"The Biggest Phonies in NFL History."

"5 Teams Terrelle Pryor Could Start For Right Now."

"35 Most-Played out Sports Expressions."

Don't give me this crap about it being a quality shit. It is a group of lists thrown together that have very little factual basis and are purely opinion-based statements that are many times poorly researched.

This article was written before the supplemental draft today. I know you are dying to know which 5 teams (plus the Raiders! The team that actually drafted him) Terrelle Pryor could start for right now. I wasn't going to link the article, which was clearly written just to draw negative attention, but here are the list of teams...

and here is the link. (begrudingly I give it)

Buffalo, Washington, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, and Oakland.

Now that I have spoiled the ending let's see WHY Terrelle Pryor, who was a 3rd round supplemental pick, is better than the starter for 6 NFL teams right now.

There are a few teams that are pretty excited that Terrelle Pryor has been cleared to enter into the NFL supplemental draft.

I am sure a lot of teams are excited to get a chance to draft a physically developmental quarterback with a late round pick. I have a feeling they aren't as excited at the thought of him being their starter this year.

It’s interesting to note that it seems as if the NFL will honor the NCAA’s original decision with Pryor, and he will be suspended for the first five games of the season once he signs a contract.

Oh no! What NFL team will have to do without their 3rd string quarterback for the first 5 weeks?

Let me be clear. This article/slideshow is stupid for two reasons.

1. Terrelle Pryor is a developmental quarterback. There isn’t an NFL team he is ready to step in and be the starter for. Of course, this is my opinion, so feel free to disagree.

2. What isn’t my opinion is that even if Terrelle Pryor could step in and be the starter for an NFL team, how the hell he is going to do this as a rookie AND as a quarterback who only has the playbook for a few weeks? That’s some serious studying and moving up the depth chart in a short period of time. So he couldn’t start for any NFL team right now because he doesn’t know the playbook. Of course with any Bleacher Report article you have to understand this isn’t a fact-based slideshow, but merely the incoherent ramblings of a person who has done 15 minutes of research without actually thinking in-depth about the details of what he/she is writing about.

The truth of the matter is that once Pryor rides out his suspension, he will be a viable starting option for a team desperate for quarterback help.

So we are assuming Pryor will have a 5 game suspension? I guess I don’t understand the definition of “right now.” I’ve always thought it meant “right now” as in “right this very fucking minute.” Apparently the new definition is “sometime in the future.”

If it weren’t for the suspension, I think these teams would be lining up to draft him as their starter right now.

Really? If it weren’t for the 5 game short-term suspension, teams would be lining up to draft a quarterback who could be their starter for the next 10 years? So I am to be convinced an NFL team would not draft a guy who could start THIS VERY YEAR AND IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE because of a potential 5 game suspension?

Does the author ever watch the NFL? Teams will draft a quarterback in the 1st round and sit him for an entire year before playing that quarterback. Yet the author wants me to believe a team wouldn’t draft a quarterback even with a 3rd round pick and sit that quarterback for 5 games? Bullshit. This is partly why Bleacher Report has no business on any list naming the best websites on the Interwebs.

Buffalo Bills

Is anybody really that comfortable with the Bills' quarterback situation?

Yes, I am comfortable with the Bills’ quarterback situation in the short term. There are plenty of quality QB’s coming out of college next year. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 3000 yards, 57.8% completion percentage, 23 TD’s and 15 INT’s last year. Terrelle Pryor would never put up similar numbers unless the NFL played a 24 game schedule this year.

In the long term, I am not happy with the Bills situation, but in the short term, Terrelle Pryor isn't the Bills answer any more than Ryan Fitzpatrick is.

While Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't horrible, I wouldn't count on him to be a winning quarterback.

Which could be partially because he is an average quarterback on a terrible team. Put Peyton Manning on the Bills and he isn’t a winning quarterback.

The Bills need some excitement and playmaking ability around their team,

No, they need talent at several positions on the roster and a quarterback who has talent and is a leader. Excitement doesn’t mean much without actual talent.

Pryor would be an instant shot in the arm for the organization, and would make 2011 intriguing for Buffalo at the very least.

If Pryor started for the Bills this year practices would be very interesting. Games would be horrific and probably chase away the remaining Buffalo Bills fans. Anyone who suggests Pryor is an upgrade in the short-term over Ryan Fitzpatrick needs their head examined.

Seattle Seahawks

I think Seattle has what it takes to be a playoff team.

What a bold prediction! It's almost like the Seahawks didn't make the playoffs last year.

This statement doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot considering the Seahawks play in a weak division and made the playoffs last year…and won game in the playoffs.

I think the Colts will contend for a playoff spot this year. How’s that for bold?

That being said, i'm not sure if Tarvaris Jackson can really be the guy to lead them to the Promised Land

So the Seahawks have what it takes to be a playoff team, except they don’t. Also, we capitalize “I’m” in a sentence. Give a rousing cheer for Bleacher Report’s editing department everyone! Remember it’s a Top 50 website according to "Time" magazine.

Terrelle Pryor is a step up from Jackson.

Terrelle Pryor is NOT a step up from Jackson in the short term. There I fixed this sentence.

The mediocrity of Tarvaris Jackson doesn’t mean Terrelle Pryor would be any less mediocre.

They are similar in playing style, but he is just a better version of Jackson.

Translation: They are both African-American quarterbacks, but Terrelle Pryor is younger.

Not to knock Terrelle Pryor, but he isn’t ready to start in the NFL right now. Few rookies are and I haven’t seen anything at Ohio State that says Pryor could run an NFL offense right now. To indicate Pryor could run an NFL offense shows a poor grasp of how complicated an NFL offense is. There are questions whether any of the 1st round picks this year could handle their team’s offense as a starter this year and many of them have had the playbook since early May, much less have only had the playbook for two months like Pryor would if he started the sixth game after five games of being suspended this year.

Miami Dolphins

Chad Henne looks like he forgot how to play the position, and Matt Moore looks like he's in way over his head any time he steps out onto the field.

Matt Moore hadn’t stepped on the field since being injured early last season until the first preseason game with the Dolphins when he went 11 for 18 with two touchdowns and an interception against the Falcons. Apparently that is him “way over his head.” I bet some teams wish they had a backup who was as over his head as Moore showed he was in that game. Also, Henne looked great against Carolina on Friday night. Of course, I realize it was against Carolina.

At least with Pryor the Dolphins would regain back some of that swagger they have been missing.

Swagger is important. We all know under the new CBA that NFL teams don’t win games solely based on how many points they score in a game versus how many they give up, but also based on the Swagger Quotient. A team can be awarded a Swagger Quotient during the game on a scale of 0-1.

For example, if the Dolphins scored 20 points in their first preseason game with Henne and Moore at quarterback that is only a Swagger Quotient of .316, which means they only really earned 6.32 points. While if they had scored 20 points with Terrelle Pryor and Chad Henne their Swagger Quotient would have skyrocketed to .569, which meant they actually scored 11.38 points. That's why swagger is important.

They would also be getting a quarterback with as much talent as both of their current options combined.

This guy has a very high opinion of Terrelle Pryor doesn’t he? Sort of delusional opinions in my opinion. Of course anyone who thinks Terrelle Pryor could be drafted by a team and then start 5 weeks later by earning the starting quarterback job already has some delusions even the most advanced scientific breakthroughs probably couldn’t cure.

Washington Redskins

I could see Pryor fit in with the Redskins. Of course he couldn’t start for them right now, but since when has a Bleacher Report title 100% accurately depicted the content within the article/slideshow?

That's kind of like choosing between broccoli or cauliflower for a four-year-old.

KIDS HATE VEGETABLES! We can’t say we didn’t learn something from this article/slideshow.

The Redskins are looking for a spark on offense and Pryor would be a perfect fit now and into the future.

Pryor isn’t a starter in the NFL right now. I am not sure even the most ardent Ohio State fan would disagree with me.

San Francisco 49ers

Alex Smith is not a legitimate option for the 49ers moving into the future, and it's about time their coach and fans realized that.

Yeah! Jim Harbaugh and the front office of the 49ers better understand Alex Smith isn’t a viable option in the future and you need to provide him competition…like the quarterback the 49ers drafted in the 2nd round in this last draft. Why don’t you go draft a quarterback early in the draft…like you did in this year’s draft. You shouldn’t continue relying on Smith, you have to make a decision to choose another quarterback…like you did this year in the 2011 NFL Draft. Harbaugh should have gotten a quarterback he could develop and would fit the offense he wants to run…which is why he drafted Colin Kaepernick.

While Colin Kaepernick does show some potential, I feel Pryor would be able to come in and produce right away for the 49ers.

It’s official. The author of this article/slideshow is the only person in the world who thinks Colin Kaepernick is a developmental starter, while Terrelle Pryor is ready to start from Day 1 in the NFL. What kind of drugs cause a person to believe Terrelle Pryor is ready to start in the NFL right now?

So the author complains the 49ers need to move on from Alex Smith, which is what they did by drafting Kaepernick, then says Kaepernick shows “potential” which I am not sure what that means, but he thinks Terrelle Pryor is ready to start and apparently Kaepernick doesn't show enough potential to wait on this potential for a season or so, while Pryor is not developmental at all in the author's opinion. This is despite the fact if you asked 100 NFL scouts to describe Pryor, at least 50% of them would use some derivation of the word “developmental” or “long-term” to describe when he will become a great NFL quarterback…if he ever does.

In fact, he is the better long-term option as well.

I’m starting to believe this column has been written solely to get a reaction. I, of course, am always willing to react.

Oakland Raiders

Don't take this the wrong way, but Pryor fits the Raiders mold as far as personality and swagger is concerned.

(whispers) "He's black and athletic. The Raiders like that type of thing."

There is that "swagger" word again.

He is also a perfect fit on the field

You mean the Raiders will base the evaluation of Pryor's skill solely on his athletic potential and not whether he will be a good NFL player or actually has the talent currently to be a good NFL player?

I kid of course. The Raiders have drafted fairly well recently. Maybe the pick of Pryor will pay off in the near future, but not "right now," meaning this very season.

I think Al Davis would actually prefer to see Pryor at the helm instead of Jason Campbell or Kyle Boller.

And because Al Davis wants it, then that means it is clearly the best possible decision for the future of the Oakland Raiders. As the drafting of JaMarcus Russell and pretty much the entire way the Raiders organization is run by Davis will attest to.

No matter if Al Davis wants to see Pryor quarterbacking his team or not, it doesn't mean it is the best move for the Raiders, nor does it mean Pryor is ready to run the team.

Raider nation would accept him even with his streaky past

I think it is fair to say if a quarterback gets drafted and then immediately steps in as a quality starter for a team then that fan base will accept that quarterback no matter his past.

and I think he would actually blossom into a solid NFL quarterback in Oakland.

He would “blossom” into a solid NFL quarterback? What about him being the starter for Oakland “right now?” There’s no blossoming allowed if he is going to be the starter from Game 6 of the season. See, if you write an article saying a quarterback coming out of college could start for an NFL team “right now,” then that quarterback should have blossomed enough already to be the best quarterback on the roster.

As usual with Bleacher Report, there’s a disconnect between the title of an article/slideshow and the actual content contained within. If you write an article saying a quarterback can start for 6 NFL teams you better understand there isn’t a hell of a lot of room for blossoming. He’s got to start “right now” for those teams. “Right now” indicates the present, at least in the English language that I use to communicate.

Terrelle Pryor could be an NFL starter at some point in his career, but he isn’t ready to start in the immediate future. Come on, get real.

Bleacher Report is one of the Top 50 sites of any type on the Internet. “Time” needs to do better research and actually read the sites they promote.

10 comments:

rich said...

like "50 Bold Predictions for the Rest of the MLB Season," are nicely done

I just took a look at that and it wasn't terrible, but almost everything on the list wasn't "bold" it was "no shit."

Verlander will win the Cy Young? Damn, going on a limb there.

ARod will get taunted? Glad I read that here or I'd never have known.

The article says that Ben Zobrist should be in the top 5 for MVP voting... because of his 35 doubles.

They also say that Ubaldo will push Cleveland over the top and then says that the pitching staff will falter... which seems to contradict the first point.

Then of course, the funniest of them all Kershaw "should be the easy choice" for NL Cy Young. I have no problem with Kershaw winning, but "easy choice" is fucking retarded.

Even the example of "nicely done" is so full of plot holes that a random baseball fan could poke holes in half the arguments without looking up anything on the internet.

I think Seattle has what it takes to be a playoff team.

They play in the NFC West, a HS team from a special needs school could win that division.

They are similar in playing style, but he is just a better version of Jackson.

My question is how is Pryor a better version of Jackson? They're both freak athletes who can't throw the ball. How would Pryor be an upgrade?

They would also be getting a quarterback with as much talent as both of their current options combined.

I know Pryor was a big deal coming out of HS and the whole "where will he go" was the storyline that summer, but... did he really show all that much pro potential in college? When I see Pryor, I see a less talented version of Vince Young, who was downright awful in Tennessee.

Funny how that worked out for Houston: pass on Bush and Young, while taking Mario, getting blasted for it, then having Williams become a good player while Bush and Young are on their second teams.

The other thing is: if I'm any one of the teams listed, I'd rather go into the year with what I have and draft a guy who can actually be a QB next year.

ivn said...

the funny thing is that Pryor isn't exactly a "perfect fit" on the field for the Raiders. I can't remember for the life of me where I read it, but one sportswriter pointed out that Al Davis loves big, strong-armed pocket passers. Pryor is one of those three, but he isn't a pocket passer and doesn't exactly have a rocket arm.

also, when was the last time the Dolphins had any "swagger"? was it when Jimmy Johnson was coaching? was it that fluke year when no one was expecting the Wildcat? I can't remember anyone referring to the Dolphins having "swagger" at any point during the last dozen or so years at least.

Arjun Chandrasekhar said...

this slideshow is a joke; literally nobody (except terelle pryor and his family) thinks pryor won't need some development time, but the author seems to believe that pryor not only can start right away but be elite right away. what. the. fuck. at the very least put something in there defending your opinion if you're going to go that far against the grain, but to just assume pryor is some all-world propect is rather inane.

i would not be surprised if this list was simply written by a troll looking for traffic and readership/comments in any form; from some of the things ive seen on bleacher report that would probably be par for the course

Imojust said...

OMFG!! September Creep!

Bengoodfella said...

Rich, I didn't even read that one to be honest with you. Perhaps I should have. I would have jumped all over that Cleveland/Ubaldo contradiction though.

See Pryor is an upgrade over Jackson b/c he is younger and taller...that's a/b it. He is not a better option in Miami right now than Moore or Henne. In fact, he isn't a better option right now for any team. I agree with what you say, go into this year with what you have...and the draft is loaded w/ QB's next year. Granted, what you have this year stinks, but Pyror isn't even close to being ready right now so he can't even provide help in the short term.

Ivn, see that's why the Dolphins need swagger b/c they haven't had any! Once they get it, then they are Super Bowl bound.

When you think about it, Russell and Campbell do fit that description that Oakland likes and Pryor isn't a pocket guy. That's a good point.

Arjun, I think that is one of my favorite parts of the slideshow. The author doesn't explain why Pryor is ready right now, he just assumes we all know of the great capabilities Pryor has that would immediately make him an NFL starter. It probably is just a way to get traffic and I fell for it. You would think when making a controversial statement like this, the first thing to do would explain why Pryor could start now in the NFL other than "he has swagger and a lot of skills."

Imo, that made me laugh.

Arjun Chandrasekhar said...

if pryor is really as good as the author seems to believe - a guy who is already capable of starting and leading a team to the playoffs and yet still possessing tons of upside - then i'm pretty sure every single team would be lining up to draft him, and there's absolutely no chance he wouldve lasted until the third round; shit, i mean i bet carolina would told cam netwon to take a hike and snagged pryor if pryor was such a sure thing like the author claims. it's one thing to think pryor may have the tools/potential to be good but wtf? does he understand just how rare a commodity an elite quarterback is, and just how far from being one pryor is?

Bengoodfella said...

Arjun, I think what you say is true. Pryor has potential, possibly not even at the quarterback position by the way, but if he was anything more than a developmental quarterback other teams would be all over him.

Rookie quarterbacks who are ready to start in the NFL number maybe 1-2 per year and I just don't believe Pryor is one of those guys. Starting 6 games into his career. That's a high standard to reach for Pryor.

Pat said...

https://twitter.com/#!/darrenrovell/status/106427888273858560

Really?

Bengoodfella said...

Pat, that's a lot of money for Bleacher Report. I guess it is a pretty big money maker. They put out enough articles/slideshows, that's for sure.

Sports News said...

yes they must focus on Article after the Submission of Users.They must done the Corrective Action and also decrease their Article Posting limit but to High quality measures on it.