Lee Russakoff: Interviewed the first week of June, 2010
Position: Comcast.net Sports Senior Writer/Producer
Born: 1975, Philadelphia
Education: Emory ’97 Political Science; Temple Law ‘00
Career: White and Williams LLP 2000-2003, Phillyosophy.com (own blog) 2003-2005, Comcast 2005 -
Personal: Married; Son, Julian
Favorite restaurant (home): Village Whiskey, Philadelphia. “I’m not a foie gras kind of guy. But the Whiskey King burger at VW may be the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. Bacon, blue cheese and foie gras. Blew my mind.”
Favorite restaurant (away): Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, Atlanta. “If you spend any time in Atlanta, and don’t go to Fat Matt’s, you should be ashamed. Best ribs you will ever have. Nothing else comes close.”
Favorite hotel: The Flatotel, New York. “NYC is known for its exorbitant prices. But the Flatotel is a hidden gem right there in midtown. Huge rooms for a reasonable price. Can’t beat it.”

Lee Russakoff, posted on Comcast.net Sports, Friday, June 4, 2010:
        I have one question for all you “Purity of the Game” people:
        How you like me now?
        I ask because baseball doesn’t feel so “pure” today. I ask because I’ve been hounding MLB to install instant replay for the better part of the decade, only to hear guys like Bud Selig champion the “human element” of the sport. I ask because Armando Galarraga had a perfect game stolen from him last night by a bad call, and it isn’t the umpire’s fault … it’s yours.
        With two outs in the ninth, having already retired 26 straight Indians, Galarraga enticed Jason Donald to weakly tap a ball to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Galarraga covered, received the toss from Cabrera and beat Donald by a full step.
        Perfect game. Hoo-ray.
        Except no. Never happened. Why? Because first base umpire Jim Joyce blew the call. Joyce was in the right position, he saw the play clearly and still blew the call. Joyce thought Donald beat the throw and called him safe. Donald was out.
        Galarraga, to his credit, only smiled. The rest of the world went ballistic.
        Change the call. It’s not fair. Burn Jim Joyce at the stake.
        But baseball shouldn’t change the call. This isn’t about what’s fair. And it isn’t about Jim Joyce.
        We can’t blame a human being for making a human error. That’s idiotic.
        No, the blame for the larceny of Galarraga falls at the feet of one group of people: baseball purists.
        It’s the baseball purists who make the insane argument that somehow human error is part of baseball’s charm. Really? Ask Galarraga today how charming human error is. Or more poignantly, ask Jim Joyce.
        Bad calls aren’t charming. They’re just bad. We’ve had the technology to fix them for years. But have refused to do so because … well, frankly I have no idea.
        Now is not the time for replay in baseball. The time was 10 years ago.
        If baseball wasn’t littered with stubborn, anti-progressive mules, Galarraga would have his perfect game today. Instead, we’re left with this ridiculous debate.
        Should we get the call right or should we get it fast?
        There’s no charm in being wrong. There’s no value in the fallibility of man. We live in a world that allows us to watch live games and replays of blown calls on our iPhones, but we can’t use that technology to right wrongs on the field of play?
        Baseball has already admitted to itself that replay is the way to go. When it decided to add the limited replay on home run calls, baseball joined the rest of the sane world in emphasizing the importance of being right. Unless, somehow MLB thinks it’s only important to get some calls right, it’s nonsensical to argue for the current system.
        I know we human beings hate change. But enough is enough.
        During the 2009 World Series, after two blown calls in what became a playoff known for blown calls, Selig said:
        ”Times change, but I’m still in favor of keeping the human element as a part of it.”
        I’d love to get a quote from him today …
        Getting the call right in a reasonable amount of time is not only possible, but it’s become commonplace for every sport but baseball.
        The NFL, NBA and NHL all use replay. Tennis uses replay. Hell, horse racing has been using replay for decades.
        Adopt the NHL model. If you watched Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final last night, you saw two questionable goals go to replay. The league reviewed both calls – each in less than two minutes – and got both right. As a result, professional hockey is athrill with an exciting series free of controversy.
        Contrast that with the state of America’s pastime today. The sport is in chaos. An umpire and a pitcher have been wronged. And baseball is actually considering going back and overturning a call on the field, an unprecedented action that pushes the sport down a steep slippery slope.
        It’s all so silly. A quick offsite replay for close plays (NOT BALLS AND STRIKES) is extraordinarily easy to implement and could be done in such a way that would not slow down the game at all.
        Think about it, managers come out and argue all these close plays anyway. As I’ve written multiple times before, why not do away with managers crossing the white lines and replace all that actually wasted time – time that never results in anything changing – with replay time to ensure baseball gets it right.
        This is not a complicated problem. The problem is that simple men are trying to make it complicated. Bud Selig and the rest of baseball’s donkeys (copyright ZooWithRoy.com) need to join the rest of us in 2010.
        The time for MLB replay was 10 years ago. But now will have to do.

Q. You wrote “There’s no value in the fallibility of man.” First time I’ve read that in a sports column – can you expand on it – what does it mean?

A. I like this. We’re starting in the deep end.

There’s this argument among baseball purists that somehow the umpires’ fallibility adds to the charm of the game; that being wrong can be a good thing.

It’s nonsense.

Sure, umpire error has always been a part of the game. But up until 1947, segregation had always been a part of the game. Just because something has always been, it does not necessarily follow that it always should be.

No one is perfect. No one can ever be perfect. But to use that as an excuse to not try to be perfect is inexcusable.

As a society, we should always be striving for perfection in everything we do. Improvement, progress, technology … these are not the enemy. Fear of change, fear of the unknown … these impulses – while extremely human – can lead humanity down dark paths.

Let’s be the best we can be. Let’s be enlightened. Let’s do our best to be right - even if we can’t always be.

Q. I can see where there’s no value in the fallibility of umpiring decisions absent instant replay. What role does hyperbole play in the fallibility of sports media?

A. That’s a fantastic question. One of the sports media’s main failings is the misuse of hyperbole.

When used as a rhetorical device, hyperbole is great. If used correctly, it can add humor, emotion and depth to your writing. But that’s not what you’re asking. You’re asking about the rampant misuse of hyperbole in today’s media.

As a sports columnist, the goal is to describe, analyze or critique the moment poignantly and accurately. But as human beings ourselves, sometimes the writer can get caught up in that moment and hyperbolize to make an impact. And that pressure is compounded by the world in which we write. People now literally have millions of options.

You want to stand out. You want to be different. You want to take controversy head on. To be successful you need to do all three. Misusing hyperbole is often a shortcut … it’s often a way to make a name for yourself – and to move the click needle for your boss – without much research or thought. I’m not absolving myself from this trap. I’m sure if you went back through my work you would find plenty of examples.

The problem is there is no accountability. I can say Jim Joyce made the worst call in the history of baseball, and then turn around next week and rip Joe West for the worst call in the history of baseball. No one I work for would care if I’m being fair or accurate or reasonable … as long as my column gets the eyeballs every week, I’m home free.

In this blog world, the lines between professional and amateur, between opinion and fact, haven’t been blurred – they’ve been erased. And as a result - along with a variety of other reasons - the press as a whole is no longer trusted.

Q. How does one make a name in sports media today? How competitive is it?

A. It’s extremely competitive. You see newspapers firing good writers all around you and you see this shift to online. The industry is downsizing. The emergence of bloggers and rewriters has made content creation less profitable. After all, why pay someone to cover a team, when you can pay someone significantly less to blog about the guys covering the team?

It’s not an easy profession to break into. But the way I look at it, it shouldn’t be. A lot of writers forget how lucky we actually are. We cover sports for a living. How incredible is that? Someone actually pays me to watch games and give my opinion on issues like MLB replay. Things I was doing in my spare time seven years ago. Things I would do – and have done – for free. It’s not easy to break in. It’s not easy to stay. But nothing great is easy.

As for making a name for yourself; my only advice would be to find your own voice, trust it, and never, never, never, never give in - that last part I stole from Churchill.

Q. Tell us about your job - what are your responsibilities, time demands and journalistic and creative challenges?

A. My job is to manage the sports team at Comcast.net, schedule event coverage, create and produce content - blog posts, columns, podcasts - and content packages, monitor analytics, and keep the site’s unique visitors and page views on an uptick.

The problem is we are a very small team - four-to-five guys - fighting in a very large ocean - national sports media. So I’m challenged to find ways we can survive despite being completely outmanned.

Q. Why should a sports fan go to your website instead of others - sell us on comcast.net sports.

A. As for why someone should choose Comcast.net Sports, that’s been a question I’ve been challenging my bosses here with since I first started. My answer to you and my plan for them is to be personality driven.

The days of the game story are over. There’s just no money in writing the who, what, where, when, why and how anymore. In today’s world, your audience already either saw the game or saw the highlights. With limited manpower and an even more limited budget, I’d be crazy to invest in telling my readers what they already know.

So instead, the idea is to tell them what it means. My plan for Comcast.net Sports is for it to be a place where fans come for breaking news … but more importantly stay for thought-provoking, intelligent, emotion-evoking analysis. So I’m our national slice of life, over-arching issue guy. Chris Young writes for us on MMA and boxing. Vito Forlenza has our college beat. Jordan Raanan writes on the NFL. We just brought on an NBA blogger.

I try to task these guys with writing for the fans. Don’t tell me the Padres beat the Phillies on two Adrian Gonzalez home runs, tell me: What’s wrong with the Phillies bats? Is Chase Utley hurt? Are the Phillies not hitting because they can’t steal signs anymore? Did Cole Hamels get psyched out by his potential no-hitter? And how the heck are the Padres still winning this late in the season?

Add in the potential to team up with Comcast’s regional sports websites, and I think Comcast.net Sports could be a real player in the sports media in the near future. Are we there yet? No. But I think we’ll get there.

In the meantime, come to Comcast.net to read me every week. I promise to do my best to make you laugh, make you cry or just make you mad. What fun is sports writing – or any writing for that matter – if it doesn’t make you feel something?

Q. What are your hours like?

A. I put a ton of time into my job, by choice. I love what I do. I want to be the best I can be at it. For me, it’s a 24-7 job because I make it that. I could come in 9-5, build slideshows, make my numbers and go home. But that’s not what I want my job to be. It’s not what I want my site to be. I want to be on top of every sporting event. I want my guys to be on top of everything.

If I’m not physically on and editing the site, I’m thinking about it. I’m a firm believer that you make your own success.

I used to be a lawyer. I used to dread heading into work every day. I used to complain about the extended hours and long for a 9-5 job. Now that I have a job in sports, I love what I do. I can’t get enough of it. I wouldn’t want to do it 9-5. Sports and writing are both absolute passions for me. They are my escapes, I’m most comfortable when I’m immersed in either … or both.

I’m also a bit older, and I think I understand that if you want to be successful, overtime is a must. There are natural talents at everything, but no matter how much talent you have, if you’re getting outworked every day, you aren’t going to be successful – period. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. But now I embrace it.

Q. Sports media sounds like an eat-or-be-eaten jungle – why is it a desirable job?

A. As for why being in the sports media is desirable – of course it’s a tough field. Of course it’s an eat-or-be-eaten jungle. But I watch sports and write about what I see for a living. Right now, I’m watching Alexi Lalas break down Edson Buddle’s hot streak … and I’m doing my job. Someone paid me to go to the World Series. Someone pays me to go the Stanley Cup Finals. Someone pays me to go watch UFC events. Someone actually paid me to go to Vegas and enter a poker tournament.

Are you kidding me? Many of the biggest moments of my life have come while I was at work. How many people get to say that? How many people get to love what they do? Money is nice. Free time is great. But we spend a minimum of half of our waking lives at our jobs. The lure of spending that work time doing things I love to do in my free time makes the gig pretty desirable.

Q. How can you be absolutely certain there is no value in the fallibility of man?

Ha. Well, being a fallible human being myself, I can’t be absolutely certain about anything. But while I believe much can be learned from missteps, and while I’d go as far as to say one cannot succeed until he has failed and learned to overcome that failure, the actual misstep is not something to value.

Many use the fact that we can’t always be right as an excuse to be content with being wrong. We should never be content with being wrong. We should always be trying to correct errors. You’re not living if you aren’t aspiring to better yourself.

Perfection is unattainable, but the never-ending aspiration for perfection … that’s something every one of us can do.

(SMG thanks Lee Russakoff for his cooperation)