Kudos to Chad Ford at ESPN.com
Update: I am pushing this up, because it has been reported that Chad Ford is leaving ESPN. The abuse that I am seeing him get today is extremely immature, largely a combination of jealousy and ignorance.
Around this time of year with all of the rumors flying about, sportswriters like Chad Ford take a lot of abuse. But in my humble opinion, Chad Ford is one of the best sportswriters out there. I don't think anyone works harder than he does. He travels all over the country - all over the world - for his stories. I have seen him working and he is constantly talking to people, either in person or on the phone. He understands the collective bargaining agreement as well as any sportswriter (and a lot of front office personnel), and he has started to include advanced statistics from 82games.com and John Hollinger in his articles. And he has a law degree, to boot.
I think we all underappeciate how difficult it would be to be in his shoes - to let the public know what he knows without overstepping. I think he does a very good job at that. In my humble opinion, I think we should thank our lucky stars that it is Chad Ford (and not someone else) that is in the "insider" position at ESPN.com.
P.S. I like Marc Stein a lot too, but it is Chad Ford who gets most of the abuse on message boards at this time of the year.
Last updated: 1:30 PM, July 27, 2005
posted by Dan Rosenbaum at 2:31 PM
3 Comments:
Ford was in an uncomfortable spot to be sure.
But it didn't take long to realize his "rumors" were either idle speculation on his part -or- the whisperings he received from agents. Ford published these whisperings because they were good for business, but often they hurt his credibility when they proved untrue. (The motivations of sports agents haven't proven to be the purest of stock).
I appreciate his efforts and his knowledge of the CBA, but I would much rather read someone like David Aldridge.
the reason why he gets a lot of abuse is because they are charging money to read him! come one thats just greedy,
I'll jump in to defend Chad, because I think the guy has done a great job, despite the fact I disagree with his opinions on many occasions....
People rip on Chad because of his "opinions" But guess what...that was 50% of his job...to give opinions...think up deals...toss out concepts...stir up debate and discussion.
The other 50% was to be a public go-between/clearing house between NBA teams and player agents....and he did a great job there too....did he get "spun"? All the time....but he was a must read for everyone in the NBA.
ESPN is going to have a hard time replacing a guy who knew the league, knew the CBA, was a prolific writer, and worked as hard as he did.
For those of you that hate the guy, think of all the entertainment value he provided these message boards with, as we discussed his ideas and opinions....
Chad was an extremely knowledgable blowhard...unlike Screamin A. or Vescey, who are just blowhards....And I'll take Chad any day over bland and boring, "I don't want to offend anyone" David Aldridge.
With what that guy did with NBAtalk.com and later Insider, he's the 21st century internet version of Howard Cosell.
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