You know what’s happening, right? A year or two ago, all these sports blogs you read while surfing the net at work were fun and cute and a neat exercise in writing, where random people with keyboards – all together now, say it loud and say it proud, FROM MOM’S BASEMENT – could opine on the merits of Tommy Tuberville’s fourth quarter playcalling, the Rick Reilly-Dan Patrick swap, and who bears a closer resemblance to Sideshow Bob, the 6th man on the Cavs or one of the Lopez twins at Stanford.

Then, somewhere along the line, a blogger or 200 asked for media credentials and it was like, ‘whoa, hold the email, you want what?’ and some bloggers got mad and felt rejected and the Establishment was like, ‘these people are just angry jerkoffs’ and fun and cute was summarily replaced with mean and bitter. Today, a journalism idol of ours, Bob Costas, delivers the coup de grace – bloggers are idiots.

But it’s one thing if somebody just sets up a blog from their mother’s basement in Albuquerque and they are who they are, and they’re a pathetic get-a-life loser, but now that pathetic get-a-life loser can piggyback onto someone who actually has some level of professional accountability and they can be comment No. 17 on Dan Le Batard’s column or Bernie Miklasz’ column in St. Louis. That, in most cases, grants a forum to somebody who has no particular insight or responsibility. Most of it is a combination of ignorance or invective.”

What bothers Costas — and he’s not alone — is Internet and talk radio commentary that “confuses simple mean-spiritedness and stupidity with edginess. Just because I can call someone a name doesn’t mean I’m insightful or tough and edgy. It means I’m an idiot.

“It’s just a high-tech place for idiots to do what they used to do on bar stools or in school yards, if they were school yard bullies, or on men’s room walls in gas stations. That doesn’t mean that anyone with half a brain should respect it.”

Disappointing stuff, Bob. Would your SI Newshouse professors feel the same way? How about you put away the broad brush and we call it even and pretend like this never happened? Also, if blogs anger you so, we humbly advise you to treat blogs the way we treat Jay Mariotti/Scoop Jackson columns – don’t read ‘em. As for the credentials issue, it seems like such a tired and boring discussion. The organization makes a decision, and bloggers will deal with it. Some teams – the New York Islanders – will embrace the idea, and happily give bloggers access. Others – the Dallas Mavericks – feel otherwise. Why is this still a federal case?

Sports bloggers weave a tangled web (Miami Herald)