If you ask me, this whole throwdown with Crashburn Alley is going to have a chilling effect on the willingness of mainstream journalists to insult their readers.
Should Bill Conlin be allowed the right to private correspondence? Sure. But when the columnist receives a message from a blogger challenging the former’s take on a particular issue, should Conlin really be surprised when his reply is made public? If Conlin’s email is meant to be private, why does the Daily News provide his address?
Just in case there was any mistake (and I don’t think there was), Conlin would like to make it crystal clear : ADOLF HITLER WAS A BAD BAD MAN AND BILL HAS NO QUARREL WITH ALL THE JEWISH PEOPLE. NONE. HOORAY FOR THE JEWS, ETC.
As editor of the Temple University News in 1960-61, I received death threats from the White Citizens Council after writing an editorial denouncing Gerald L. K. Smith and his anti-black and anti-Semitic hate-mongering newspaper œThe Cross and the Flag. I was one of the most outspoken critics of Marge Schott™s blatant anti-Semitism to the point some of my columns had to be toned down. Ditto my stand on Al Campanis, a friend, by the way, and Jimmy The Greek Snyder. I also had a long and close relationship with the late, great Dick Schaap, who wrote about my impact on The Sports Reporters at length in his autobiography, œFlashing Before My Eyes.”
Though I’m not sure why it was necessary for Conlin to cite any of the above examples, one question remains unanswered : does he have any pals who are Jewish Sabermatricians?