Dkops (Pittsburgh: 2013, credit, college)

[tclifton]

Wondering what people's thoughts are on Dejan Kovacevik's new website ( DK Pittsburgh Sports ) ? He can come off a bit condescending at times, but he's one of the better sports writers in town, and with Josh Yohe on board I think it's a real strong competitor to the 2 papers in town. I wonder if this will prompt other writers (sports or otherwise) to venture out and do it themselves?

[erieguy]

DK's website has been out for at least a year and he's as big of a homer as it gets...but he's certainly not alone and that will keep him in business. I'd much rather get info from a national source.

[tclifton]

Originally Posted by erieguy

DK's website has been out for at least a year and he's as big of a homer as it gets...but he's certainly not alone and that will keep him in business. I'd much rather get info from a national source.

Really? I'm curious in what ways you see DK as a homer? He certainly isn't a cheerleader for the local teams. I've seen him be very critical.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by TheAndyK

Really? I'm curious in what ways you see DK as a homer? He certainly isn't a cheerleader for the local teams. I've seen him be very critical.

While I haven't paid much attention to him since after he started, he defended the Bucs lineup to no end for that WC game and that was almost one of the worst lineups put out on a field.

I'd be interested in seeing some of his critical work, however.

[tclifton]

Originally Posted by erieguy

While I haven't paid much attention to him since after he started, he defended the Bucs lineup to no end for that WC game and that was almost one of the worst lineups put out on a field.

I'd be interested in seeing some of his critical work, however.

He's all over the Pens in general (except Fluery), and Johnston in particular at the moment.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by TheAndyK

He's all over the Pens in general (except Fluery), and Johnston in particular at the moment.

Nobody has much good to say about the Pens, but hearing even he's all over them surprises me. Then again, he goes along with the flow of the fans for the most part. It sells subscriptions.

[that412]

Dejan is the furthest thing from a homer. He's a talented writer who at one time was an excellent honest-to-goodness journalist, but fell into a trap of noxious self-importance and now he exists solely to pander to the HOT-TAKE crowd. He'll stir the pot every chance he gets in an effort to convince people (or maybe even himself) that he is the tail that wags the dog of the things he covers and not the other way around, all while holding himself up as a paragon of the virtuous calling of the journalistic arts.

To wit: at some point he developed a grudge against Neal Huntington and basically turned his column at the Trib into a thinly-veiled, continuous crusade to get the Pirates' front office fired. Lest we forget the Hoka Hey! total non-story and the scathing evisceration of the Russell Martin signing that was so nakedly about much more personal issues it was just pathetic. Even once it became clear that the Pirates were legitimately good and the people running them had a pretty good idea of what they're doing, he never failed to come up with some kind of backhanded compliment or go out of his way to avoid giving the team any credit.

Then there's all the times he'd publicly get into it with "bloggers," who he deemed beneath him and would actually resort to making juvenile "mom's basement" jokes. He'd even wade into P2 and Bucs Dugout occasionally just to slam Tim Williams because blogging isn't REAL journalism. Which, of course, is now hilariously ironic considering the guy currently literally makes a living by running a blog. But with super professional tweets like this:

Dejan Kovacevic @Dejan_Kovacevic 14h
Blocked pretty much anyone associated with ‪#‎Pirates‬ bloggers. All 20 or so. Which is good. Time to tweet baseball again!

It's clear he's just an overgrown child with an outsized ego. Which again, is a shame, because he's still very good with words and at one time he was able to put that talent to good use. And hey, full credit to him for finding a way to make good money off of the brand of sophomoric "reporting" he repeatedly hacks up. I just would personally not give him a dime. There's much better, more interesting, nuanced, and fair content out there, in many instances free. The only thing Dejan has over those sites is the ability to get soundbites from players (and some blog sites are even starting to catch up in that regard).

[tclifton]

Originally Posted by that412

Lest we forget the Hoka Hey! total non-story

So I've heard Hoka Hey but never knew the story. I found this article ( Kovacevic: Hoka Hey! Why change a thing? | TribLIVE ), and it certainly doesn't seem like a non-story, but I'd be interested to hear your take (as I admit I don't know a lot about it)

[erieguy]

Last I listened to DK it was almost as bad as listening to the extensions of the Bucs PR dept of Blass, Walk, and Wehner...but in DK's defense, nobody is as bad as Greg Brown.

[that412]

Originally Posted by TheAndyK

So I've heard Hoka Hey but never knew the story. I found this article ( Kovacevic: Hoka Hey! Why change a thing? | TribLIVE ), and it certainly doesn't seem like a non-story, but I'd be interested to hear your take (as I admit I don't know a lot about it)

Dozens of teams in the professional and college ranks alike have participated in some form of military-style training. The Penguins, for a local example, have been known to spend time at West Point during the preseason, and no one bats an eye. When the Pirates did it, though, it was a perfect excuse for Dejan to latch onto something silly in the wake of a supremely disappointing collapse in 2012 and shriek about it. "Look at me!" he shouts from on high. "I'm uncovering the depths of the Pirates' incompetence! When my pal Bob Nutting launches Neal Huntington out of a cannon it will be because of my exhaustive journalistic sleuthing!"

I mean, look at the whole tone of the article:

It's been nearly a month since the Pirates completed their second straight epic collapse, and so far they're off to their second straight offseason of doing nothing about it.

Not one personnel move has been made, unless you count hitting coach Gregg Ritchie quitting for a college job he'd been plotting for months.

Not one member of the front office has spoken to any change in processes.

There's been nothing at all.

Right off the bat, he makes it clear he's positively aching for heads to roll.

Then he starts harping on the SEAL training, as if it had anything to do with the Pirates Major League collapse. "Look at how corny Kyle Stark is! Surely he's totally incompetent!" Then he takes shot at Minor League Director Larry Broadway's qualifications, something he did on multiple occasions. Then he hides behind his veil of "I have INSIDE SOURCES, you know!" to make it seem like the Pirates are thoroughly toxic among the industry, with the implication being, of course, that it's all because of Neal Huntington and the culture of buffoonery he has instilled within the franchise.

I mean, I can just imagine how positively giddy it must have made him to write this line:

I'll repeat: The Pirates' development system is the laughingstock of baseball.

In reality, the only thing remotely controversial about the SEAL training was Polanco's ankle injury and whether it was caused and or/exacerbated by participating in the exercises, a case that I don't exactly consider solved through a bunch of non-quotes, especially considering the source. In the end, even that turned out to be inconsequential, and yet, here's a purportedly respected journalist desperately trying to use it to incite the masses because it makes him feel important and/or he was slighted by Neal Huntington at some point and won't ever forget that.

There's no question about it - Dejan, in the incarnation he's taken on since moving to the Trib, is certifiably a clown. Lots of people enjoy the spectacle, and that's fine. I just wouldn't indulge him, let alone pay for the privilege, if you're interested in actual trenchant sports insight.