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Date Posted: 18:08:55 12/30/11 Fri
Author: Oh My
Subject: Fly Like An Ego

Gotta love this. Trib's Dejan Kovacevic asks blog readers to pick their favorite columns by him. Yes, unleash the love on him one more time. He is shameless:

Could use a little help. I'm supposed to whittle down what I think are the better columns I've done from 2011, and I got the list down to six. For those of you who can call reading these, I'd ask that you rank them 1 through 3. That's all. Those of you who haven't, by all means, don't feel compelled.

And don't be nice here. I'm not looking for nice. It's just that what a writer likes in his or her own work often isn't the same as what a reader likes.

Here they are :

Oct. 26, 2011: Put away Sharpie and shake hands

Nov. 22, 2011: Crosby 'magnifique' right away

Nov. 9, 2011: At Penn State, they all must go

Dec. 9, 2011: Big Ben makes big stand

Nov. 23, 2011: Baseball sticks it to Pirates

July 18, 2011: Pirates' fans merit salute

I appreciate this.

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Replies:

[> Re: -- Dejan Kovacevic, 18:48:33 12/30/11 Fri [1]

Assuming this isn't intended as a cheap shot -- and I know that's not a safe assumption -- it's a very unfair way to paint what that blog entry was.

By and large, the commenters on this blog, and other blogs I've had previously, tend to be made up of a group of regulars, people who read and contribute daily. I can't imagine it's a very large number. These things seldom are, no matter how high the actual comment count. So, if this were some bizarre exercise in vanity -- hardly my personality, anyway -- it would be missing the goal big-time.

Moreover, because the group isn't that big, I've gotten to know a lot of those commenters through frequent communication and, in a few cases, meeting them in person. Asking those people to take a look at those handful of columns that most probably already read, for me, is like asking a roomful of friends to do so. As noted, the things I like might not be the same things a reader likes. Their perspective helped. At least one column I really liked, no one else seemed to like.

Obviously, this is being done for contests. I've never been wild about contests (getting into daily baseball writing is no way to build up contest winners), but they're part of the business, and they're not optional. Most every newspaper, including both at which I've worked, find them to be very important.

As the comments section below this blog entry shows, a good number of readers seemed to take this in the spirit intended. I'm sorry you clearly didn't.

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[> [> Re: -- Amen, 21:53:36 12/30/11 Fri [1]

I've never met Dejan, I have no idea what he's like in person. But it's obvious he ws TOLD to come up with a list.

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[> [> [> Re: -- Ray Barone, 15:18:18 01/03/12 Tue [1]

OK, he was TOLD to come up with a list. Was he TOLD to put it up to a vote of readers which, coincidentally, would bring more applause from the cult of followers?

>I've never met Dejan, I have no idea what he's like in
>person. But it's obvious he ws TOLD to come up with a
>list.

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[> [> [> [> Re: -- Or...., 20:53:17 01/03/12 Tue [1]

>OK, he was TOLD to come up with a list. Was he TOLD to
>put it up to a vote of readers which, coincidentally,
>would bring more applause from the cult of followers?
>
>>I've never met Dejan, I have no idea what he's like in
>>person. But it's obvious he ws TOLD to come up with a
>>list.

Or...maybe he put it to the readers to pick his best work because they would give an indication of what was well-received instead of him selecting his personal favorites.

Writers have their personal favorite pieces, and often those favorites aren't the award-winners or the ones that resonate the most with readers. And if the goal of entering a contest is to win, you might want the ones that carry a little weight with the readership. Because odds are, they'll carry that same weight with the voters.

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[> [> Re: -- A Regular, 08:54:54 01/03/12 Tue [1]

Looks like we've got a new Dennis Roddy on our hands.

Personally, I like Dejan's qualifier ... "if you remember reading the articles ..." which seems to imply that the readers--assuming there are any--were drunk while reading.


>Assuming this isn't intended as a cheap shot -- and I
>know that's not a safe assumption -- it's a very
>unfair way to paint what that blog entry was.
>
>By and large, the commenters on this blog, and other
>blogs I've had previously, tend to be made up of a
>group of regulars, people who read and contribute
>daily. I can't imagine it's a very large number. These
>things seldom are, no matter how high the actual
>comment count. So, if this were some bizarre exercise
>in vanity -- hardly my personality, anyway -- it would
>be missing the goal big-time.
>
>Moreover, because the group isn't that big, I've
>gotten to know a lot of those commenters through
>frequent communication and, in a few cases, meeting
>them in person. Asking those people to take a look at
>those handful of columns that most probably already
>read, for me, is like asking a roomful of friends to
>do so. As noted, the things I like might not be the
>same things a reader likes. Their perspective helped.
>At least one column I really liked, no one else seemed
>to like.
>
>Obviously, this is being done for contests. I've never
>been wild about contests (getting into daily baseball
>writing is no way to build up contest winners), but
>they're part of the business, and they're not
>optional. Most every newspaper, including both at
>which I've worked, find them to be very important.
>
>As the comments section below this blog entry shows, a
>good number of readers seemed to take this in the
>spirit intended. I'm sorry you clearly didn't.

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[> [> [> Re: -- Less Than Zero, 16:20:54 01/03/12 Tue [1]

What follows are my favorite Dejan columns:




>Looks like we've got a new Dennis Roddy on our hands.
>
>Personally, I like Dejan's qualifier ... "if you
>remember reading the articles ..." which seems to
>imply that the readers--assuming there are any--were
>drunk while reading.
>
>
>>Assuming this isn't intended as a cheap shot -- and I
>>know that's not a safe assumption -- it's a very
>>unfair way to paint what that blog entry was.
>>
>>By and large, the commenters on this blog, and other
>>blogs I've had previously, tend to be made up of a
>>group of regulars, people who read and contribute
>>daily. I can't imagine it's a very large number. These
>>things seldom are, no matter how high the actual
>>comment count. So, if this were some bizarre exercise
>>in vanity -- hardly my personality, anyway -- it would
>>be missing the goal big-time.
>>
>>Moreover, because the group isn't that big, I've
>>gotten to know a lot of those commenters through
>>frequent communication and, in a few cases, meeting
>>them in person. Asking those people to take a look at
>>those handful of columns that most probably already
>>read, for me, is like asking a roomful of friends to
>>do so. As noted, the things I like might not be the
>>same things a reader likes. Their perspective helped.
>>At least one column I really liked, no one else seemed
>>to like.
>>
>>Obviously, this is being done for contests. I've never
>>been wild about contests (getting into daily baseball
>>writing is no way to build up contest winners), but
>>they're part of the business, and they're not
>>optional. Most every newspaper, including both at
>>which I've worked, find them to be very important.
>>
>>As the comments section below this blog entry shows, a
>>good number of readers seemed to take this in the
>>spirit intended. I'm sorry you clearly didn't.

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[> [> [> [> Re: -- Bob, 05:19:13 01/04/12 Wed [1]

>What follows are my favorite Dejan columns:



Yes, I liked those very much. These are mine:

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[> Re: Fly Like An Ego -- Felicia, 17:34:24 01/03/12 Tue [1]

Dejan was a lot more likable as a dogged beat reporter than as a pontificating opinion-eer. Not that I've read a single column since he left the P-G; I've heard enough of him on the radio to know I'm not interested.

>Gotta love this. Trib's Dejan Kovacevic asks blog
>readers to pick their favorite columns by him. Yes,
>unleash the love on him one more time. He is shameless:
>
>Could use a little help. I'm supposed to whittle
>down what I think are the better columns I've done
>from 2011, and I got the list down to six. For those
>of you who can call reading these, I'd ask that you
>rank them 1 through 3. That's all. Those of you who
>haven't, by all means, don't feel compelled.
>
>And don't be nice here. I'm not looking for nice. It's
>just that what a writer likes in his or her own work
>often isn't the same as what a reader likes.
>
>Here they are :
>
>Oct. 26, 2011: Put away Sharpie and shake hands
>
>Nov. 22, 2011: Crosby 'magnifique' right away
>
>Nov. 9, 2011: At Penn State, they all must go
>
>Dec. 9, 2011: Big Ben makes big stand
>
>Nov. 23, 2011: Baseball sticks it to Pirates
>
>July 18, 2011: Pirates' fans merit salute
>
>I appreciate this.

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[> [> Re: Fly Like An Ego -- Laughable, 20:56:40 01/03/12 Tue [1]

>Dejan was a lot more likable as a dogged beat reporter
>than as a pontificating opinion-eer. Not that I've
>read a single column since he left the P-G; I've heard
>enough of him on the radio to know I'm not interested.

Way to torpedo any validity to your argument by admitting you haven't read his columns. Do you always pass judgement like that? Do you base your evaluations of music and movies by the quality of the entertainer's interviews?

Seems pretty worthless.

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[> [> [> Re: Fly Like An Ego -- Why, yes I do, 06:21:55 01/04/12 Wed [1]

I have decided I wouldn't like someone's work from listening or watching an interview with him. I think that's valid, especially in this situation, where Dejan is likely to opine the same way on the radio as he would in the paper. It is the same topic. That's not so worthless.


>>Dejan was a lot more likable as a dogged beat reporter
>>than as a pontificating opinion-eer. Not that I've
>>read a single column since he left the P-G; I've heard
>>enough of him on the radio to know I'm not interested.
>
>Way to torpedo any validity to your argument by
>admitting you haven't read his columns. Do you always
>pass judgement like that? Do you base your evaluations
>of music and movies by the quality of the
>entertainer's interviews?
>
>Seems pretty worthless.

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[> [> [> Re: Fly Like An Ego -- Felicia, 12:58:13 01/04/12 Wed [1]

The entertainer analogy makes my brain hurt, but I'll put it this way:

If I heard someone on the radio who's pretentious, humorless, offers few compelling opinions and fails to converse in a way that suggests he's a talented writer or even a reasonably interesting person, then, no, I wouldn't bother reading his columns.

And I don't.

>>Dejan was a lot more likable as a dogged beat reporter
>>than as a pontificating opinion-eer. Not that I've
>>read a single column since he left the P-G; I've heard
>>enough of him on the radio to know I'm not interested.
>
>Way to torpedo any validity to your argument by
>admitting you haven't read his columns. Do you always
>pass judgement like that? Do you base your evaluations
>of music and movies by the quality of the
>entertainer's interviews?
>
>Seems pretty worthless.

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