To mark the 14th anniversary of 9/11, ESPN has released “First Pitch,” a short documentary about President George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch in an October 2001 World Series game. Pop culture site Grantland posted a nice piece — featuring an interview with Bush — to accompany it.
And, well, that really sticks in Deadspin’s craw:
Why is ESPN doing George W. Bush's dirty work for him? http://t.co/pgCDr2Xott
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) September 11, 2015
More:
The ill-conceived remembrance is by now as much a 9/11 anniversary tradition as the insensitively branded 9/11 memorial tweet, but even by the degraded standards of the remember-when genre, today’s contributions by ESPN and Grantland are really out there.
…
This isn’t about the author [of the Grantland piece], though, so much as it is about Grantland and ESPN as institutions. The machinations that went into pulling First Pitch together were always going to leave someone—whether from Grantland or elsewhere in the ESPN empire—in the unenviable position of writing a story about George W. Bush without straightforwardly acknowledging that the man belongs in a prison. Undercutting Bush’s faux-heroic bloviating with the faintest of whispers may be the best anyone in such a position can do; not getting into that position at all would be better; and what does the difference matter anyway? ESPN had a story to tell, and it’s not the kind of corporation to let something like the moral issues involved in being deferential to a war criminal get in the way of getting people misty on 9/11.
There’s a word for this …
@Deadspin pic.twitter.com/3WXjhpYRbv
— #OH_Robb (@OH_Robb) September 11, 2015
That’s the one!
https://twitter.com/ThatElJefe/status/642426073435766785
BUTTHURT MUCH? RT @Deadspin Why is ESPN doing George W. Bush's dirty work for him?
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 11, 2015
Understand @deadspin has a responsibility to its gang of Gawker psuedo-intellectuals but this is some epic butthurt http://t.co/FXqWS6IzGV
— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) September 11, 2015
Yeah, it’s pretty epic, all right.
@RBPundit @Deadspin Some people enjoy bitterness. Nothing is inspirational to them.
— Becky Kevoian (@BobsFunGirl) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin I like deadspin, but this article is complete BS. Espn is the last company that would care about a republican.
— JR (@Detsportsluv9) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin This is shameful stuff…writings like these make you all look terribly petty and cynical.
— Joel Hoover (@JoelHoover) September 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/Frusso15/status/642430596128604165
https://twitter.com/SonnyBunch/status/642424987232673792
@Deadspin lost a lot of respect for you guys on this one.
— Tyler Hannay (@tylerhannay) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin You are pathetic.
— Sandie (@SandieBellz) September 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/Thorrison/status/642425613807185921
https://twitter.com/Thorrison/status/642425999943200768
https://twitter.com/mjcampo/status/642431449430233088
https://twitter.com/hankcoates/status/642425966573264896
@Deadspin horrible article. The guy who wrote it just comes off like a dick
— ? (@kingtravisdavid) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin absolute trash article.
— Willis (@WZA_rmijo) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin What a clown article. Show some respect.
— memp600 (@memp600) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin slow news day? How disrespectful and distasteful.
— Bweet Da Dee™ (@TDigital) September 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/Biggg_Den/status/642419635854307328
@Deadspin what a clown article…totally pathetic. #unfollow
— Five Star Tigers (@fivestartigers) September 11, 2015
https://twitter.com/BParker17/status/642432215050121216
https://twitter.com/MarkMizzouSteel/status/642420188588167169
@Deadspin I don't show my disgust on the internet often because it's usually pretty pointless, but this is pretty awful. Pathetic.
— Allee (@Allee8890) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin honestly.. You really bring up politics today. That moment was special. Very disrespectful
— Tyler Sherman (@TheRealKehoe) September 11, 2015
@Deadspin horrible. You guys can't even put aside politics for a second.
— Jim Thomas (@Jt856) September 11, 2015
i dunno Deadspin. kinda just saw it as a cool behind the scenes look at a moment that still gives me the chills… http://t.co/URZD91PFLS
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) September 11, 2015
Because that’s what it was. For so many Americans. Shame Deadspin’s too blinded by Bush Derangement to understand that.
But whatever. It’s their problem.
Dear @Deadspin : thanks for making sure everybody watches "The Pitch." Love, @espn
— Dan Isett (@DanIsett) September 11, 2015
Good work, Deadspin!
And readers, if you haven’t watched “First Pitch” yet, we highly recommend it. You can view it here.
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Related:
‘Backfiring so hilariously’! Deadspin beclowns themselves in Cory Gardner hit piece
‘That’s sh*tty of us’: Does Deadspin’s mea culpa over Cory Gardner mess cut it?
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