By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
August 17, 2016
You have to hand it to Mitch “Condescending Baggins” Albom. No matter how awful the optics of a situation happen to be, he just plugs ahead like he is royalty in some third world country. The rules for the rest of the journalism community don’t apply to the Keebler Elf.
And as embarrassment after embarrassment pile up, Albom doesn’t seem to care how it comes across to the sports fans in Detroit who elevated him to a prominent position so he could become a famous novella writer for the menopausal masses.
His dossier includes the following:
Writing a book chronicling Chris Webber nearing homelessness when in actuality he was living off hundreds of thousands of Ed Martin’s laundered cash.
Writing a column on Friday night about a basketball game that would occur 48 hours later on Sunday that referenced Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson witnessing an MSU/North Carolina game in person that they failed to attend.
An accusation from an NHL.com writer that Albom plagiarized his work.
And who could forget Albom writing those insipid “Doctor Football” articles to meet his submission quota with the Free Press? Well, not the national football writers, who bombed Frodo on Twitter for further decimating whatever was left of his legacy ….
Shit has gotten so bad for Mitch Albom “The Sportswriter” that even when he does something noble for charity, it STILL compromises him journalistically and proves why he should not be a SPORTS columnist for the Freep any longer.
About a year ago, I chronicled the ethical issue the Free Press continues to ignore to this day. Albom is a columnist who primarily covers the Lions for the paper. The team’s starting quarterback is Matthew Stafford. And Stafford and Albom are GOOD FRIENDS.
Stafford appears EXCLUSIVELY on Albom’s WJR radio program. It’s the only live radio interview that Stafford gives to the media.
And then last year, Stafford wrote a SEVEN-FIGURE check to Albom’s charity to help build a recreation center in Detroit for inner-city youths.
Now, I commend Stafford for donating a million dollars to Albom’s charity. Hell, I applaud Albom for all of his various charitable endeavors, from his local work in the Motor City to his great work in Haiti.
But that’s NOT the issue at hand. It’s the compromised position his friendship and alliances with the Lions’ star QB place him in vis–à–vis his ability to do HIS JOB covering the guy.
And as I pointed out last season, the Lions own paid propagandist Tim Twentyman is tougher on Stafford than his pal Frodo is!!!!! A man who ostensibly gets a company car from Martha Ford in addition to a paycheck.
And things got even worse earlier this week when Albom struck a deal with the Ford Family to sell his Detroit Water Ice at Ford Field this season. You might remember that Albom opened up a flavored ice joint at Campus Martius about a year ago. Now he is expanding to the home of a franchise he covers.
Once again, the profits will go to Albom’s S.A.Y. Detroit charity, which is beside the point. Do you think there is another JOURNALIST in this country who has a CONCESSION stand at a stadium when that person sits in the press box for his vocation?
(Photos from MLive.com)
It’s fucking outrageous. And NOBODY says a word about this ridiculous conflict of interest. Probably because the only other Freep options to cover the team are a plagiarist (Drew Sharp) and a guy — and I am not making this up — who a couple of years ago had to ask a fellow journalist what Tom Lewand’s job title was with the Lions.
That imbecile in question is Jeff Seidel.
This does set a dangerous precedent though. How long before Kyle Meinke is selling high-end cat paraphernalia at a Ford Field kiosk?
The Bill McAllister Man Groomer Shop at Comerica Park?
I am sure we can expect a Helene St. James House of Scarves at the new Little Caesars Arena.
What the fuck is WRONG with this town????
Retire, Mitch. Dedicate all of your time to raising funds for underprivileged children, saving Port-au-Prince with Wyclef Jean and writing death-obsessed supernatural novels.
You’ve become an embarrassment to your original profession.
(You can follow the writer of this piece on Twitter @JeffMossDSR. Also, you can join in on the discussion of this article on Facebook by clicking here.)
