Tom Haudricourt vs. Badger Blogger

Remember the other day when Brewers beat writer posted on his blog that there were rumors Ned Yost was about to be fired? And then the rumors turned out not to be true? Then do you remember how Tom Haudricourt slammed on the Badger Blogger for posting those comments in the first place? Well, there are people out there that are starting to think Haudricourt did this as a result of the Buzz Bissinger mess, just to show people that newspapers are still number one, and that bloggers can't be trusted.

My goodness, does there really have to be this sort of hatred between the two sides? So far, newspaper writers are the ones throwing all the jabs, and bloggers are kind of just laughing them off. But clearly, blogs are a sensitive issue to newspaper guys, and they are clearly threatened by them. My question is if Haudricourt is going to tear apart the Badger Blogger for the rumors, why post them in the first place? In fact, one of Tom's co-workers, Dan Walsh of SportsBubbler, goes even further in questioning Haudricourt's actions.

There are several reasons I have a problem with what Tom Haudricourt did. First off, one thing that is common practice in blogging, don’t quote content without citing a url. You took the time to read the post and are talking about it, link to it in your blog. It's blogging 101. Nobody is in deeper with the Brewers than Haudricourt. Nobody. So why did he rely on a political blog that he apparently had never read before for his info? His quote was "Badger Blogger, whatever that is". Here Tom, I'll tell you. Badger Blogger is a conservative political blog that occasionally dwells on other things besides politics. They've been doing it for several years and have broken political stories in the past. Was TH so afraid of being scooped that he felt he needed to mention it? OR was he trying to reinforce his own creditability and discredit blogs at the same time? Both Badger Blogger and TH sited "team sources". In the comments of his blog, TH responds, "My source was credible. Their source was not. Therefore, they had the rumor. I had the facts." Let me translate that for everyone - "I am the ONLY place you can get credible Brewers information, oh and blogs are stupid". Doug Melvin chastised him for quoting it, "I have too much respect for newspapers and news stations for them to respond to a blog for their news," said Melvin. "When they do so, they lose their credibility. I refuse to respond to blogs because anybody can put anything out there," which is entirely true. Some blogs are very very good, some are bad. Some have insider info, some don't. That quote from Melvin reminded me of how Buzz Bissinger did Bob Costas's dirty work a couple weeks ago in their attack on blogs and Deadspin.com, which I talked to Will Leitch about last week. Newspapers are dying and some are struggling to come to grips with it. Make no mistake, TH is no fool, yesterday was a calculated move to remind people he is THE source for credible information on the Brewers and all other Brewers blogs can't be trusted.

Pretty strong words for TH. Now don't get me wrong, Haudricourt does a great job of letting us know the transactions and lineups, and letting us know what's going on in the clubhouse. Just don't let your ego get in the way Tom, when in all essence, you have become a blogger yourself.