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Off Topic OT: Deadspin

hank34x

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Jun 3, 2006
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So, for probably 10 years I've read Deadspin. I'm not a fanboy...always found Will Leitch just a little emo-sanctimonious. (He's a good writer, but I've always struggled with some things like his relationship with Robert Ebert. I know he was ultimately contrite about his actions, but just still seemed slime ball/lousy nonetheless). I actually enjoyed a good portion of AJ Daulario's work after Leitch left, but often felt dirty afterwards (and, probably with good reason). And, as much as I attempt to be agnostic politically, I often struggled with how the Gawker network coerced its views on its readers. (I'm sure many here never go near Deadspin because of its political leanings, and that is fine).
But, I still have a good amount of respect for Leitch and what he did to challenge what was generally stale sports coverage in the early to mid-00s. Post-Daulario, I thought there was a parade of some pretty good writers (such as Tommy Craggs) and that the site was about as close to being legitimate and impactful as it ever was going to be. I mean, you would never get this on ESPN. In general, Deadspin could always give a quick snarky morsel of what was going on in the sports world (with some occasional good features and writing from guys like Craggs and Drew Magery) and I appreciated that.
But today...man. Wow. I know the Hogan trial affected the trajectory of all the old Gawker sites. But, it appears Deadspin has been fully encapsulated a marketing strategy of targeting a specific segmented market to try to maximize click views. And it appears a good portion of that market is E Sports. Video Games.
I took a look at the last 19 stories on the site. There was a VERY good reflection on "Homer at Bat". (Which...looking it up wouldn't you know it...was ran 5 frickin years ago). But here were 3 other stories:

"Double KO Leads To Do-Over In Tekken 7 Match"
"These Five Americans Moved to Japan for Street Fighter 3, Which is 20 Years Old"
"Punk Wins Street Fighter V Eleague Invitational In Climactic Runback"

And this is pretty much the ratio of these stories. If you're looking to find the latest LaVar Ball hijinks, you have to wade through at least a couple of stories like above.

I mean...is this legitimate? Is coverage of video game tournaments a real thing? Is this ironic coverage, or a true indication of how things are and what is to come? I know the gamer world is a big one. But is it so big that it is merging with coverage of legitimate sports? Or is Deadspin (and whoever really runs it now) just doing a post Hulk Hogan FU to everyone with this?
 
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