Media Beef: Barstool's Kevin Clancy and Yahoo's Jeff Passan

Yahoo’s Jeff Passan wrote about Major League Baseball’s social media policy after Rob Friedman’s popular @pitchingninja Twitter account was suspended. Included in the tick-tock is this passage:

" During Noah Syndergaard’s last start for the New York Mets, he threw a 97-mph fastball that moved with such ferocity Friedman deemed it the “Black Magic Sinker.” It drew thousands of retweets, including one from Kevin Clancy, a Barstool podcaster. When Clancy took the GIF and posted it himself without attribution, Friedman called him out. Clancy clapped back, calling Friedman a “Big Fat crybaby” who was hypocritical because he himself had taken the material in the same manner. The army of Barstool fans drew attention to Friedman, and his fans sniped at Clancy in return, and within seven hours, @PitchingNinja was down. The outcry continued Tuesday. A deluge of messages hit Clancy, who tweeted: “I have never in my life seen more grown men cry about not being able to see pitching GIFs anymore.” "

Clancy took umbrage with Passan not reaching out for comment. What followed was a pointed discussion on ethics in GIF-ing journalism.

For some context, Passan was referencing this story from January. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the exchange continued.

All things considered, a very entertaining beef.

Looking at the rosy side of things here, it’s possible that everyone involved comes out of this with a victory. Passan’s arguments will resonate with the anti-Barstool crowd and his piece likely got more eyeballs as a result. Clancy scored points with his base. Neutral observers were amused and secondary content (this post) was created. Plus, Passan reports @pitchingninja should be back to posting soon.

Always look for the positive.