How to deal with guys like Barrett Sallee

It’s the time of the year for predictions. Who’s going to win the conference, who’s going to be all-conference, who’s going to be in the national playoff; you know the drill. Every jack leg writer and blogger is now offering his predictions for the upcoming season.

And what does it all mean? Well, actually nothing, as these are merely someone’s opinion of how they think things will pan out. They have zero impact on the actual outcome. So why does it bother fans so much when their team “gets no respect” from writers and pundits leading into the season?

Well, it’s human nature. We all want our team to be highly thought of. It gives us something to look forward to in the absence of real games being played. It also tends to be somewhat of an indicator as to how the season may turn out. The writers don’t get it right all the time and in some cases they miss very badly, but GENERALLY they give us an idea of what can be reasonably expected for a particular team.

Leading up to the 2015 season, Mississippi State fans have been understandably annoyed at the predictions of a low finish in the SEC West. The Bulldogs return the best and most experienced QB in the league, a genuine Heisman Trophy contender, and that by itself would seem to warrant more regard from the so-called experts than it has. Yet the Bulldogs are consistently picked near the bottom of the SEC West by most pundits.

One writer in particular seems to draw the ire of Bulldog fans. Barrett Sallee, lead SEC writer for Bleacher Report, hasn’t had many kind words for the Bulldogs or head coach Dan Mullen over the years. This year is no exception. And to make matters worse, he’s practically orgasmic when talking about Ole Miss and their head coach, Hugh Freeze.

Much like Freeze, Sallee is active on Twitter and cannot seem to resist the opportunity to respond to anyone who mentions his name. And fans usually take the bait, engaging him in long Twitter spats where he engages in mocking & taunting behavior that, in my opinion, is really unbecoming for a professional writer. Sallee cannot resist doing this, however, because in his mind he’s very clever and must demonstrate for all to see that his intellect is superior to those of the fans who read his material.

Let’s face it – being a sportswriter is not rocket science. It’s not a profession that makes the world a better place, such as medicine, nursing and engineering. One can hardly equate sports writing as a profession to that of a teacher, soldier, firefighter, policeman or EMT. This is not to put down any of the fine people I know who write sports for a living. But I find arrogance that comes from someone in the media, particularly those in the sports media, to be extremely off-putting.

Want to fight back against guys like Sallee? Getting into an argument with them on Twitter isn’t the way to do it. This will ultimately lead to more Twitter followers for him and more page views on his site. No, the best way to exact some revenge against guys like this is to NOT read their stuff. DON’T click on their site. DON’T follow them on Twitter. Turn off your favorite sports talk program when they appear as a guest. That’s how you make a statement against these folks.

Granted, unless thousands of people actually do this, it’s unlikely to make a significant dent in the numbers. But it’s the way I fight back.  If I don’t like someone’s column, I don’t click on it. If I don’t like someone’s radio show, I don’t listen. Terrestrial radio needs listeners; bloggers and podcasters need clicks to measure their success. So I grant my audience only to those outlets that I enjoy.

Speaking of which, it’s 11 am CDT on Saturday, which means it’s time for one of my favorite shows, the Cigar Dave Show. Long ash salutations to all of you and enjoy your weekend.