But how could I deny that I possess these hands and this body, and withal escape being classed with persons in a state of insanity, whose brains are so disordered and clouded by dark bilious vapors....
--Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation I
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Holding at 1. Arizona managed to beat Jeff Suppan and the Birdinals, while the Cubs took the last game of their series with Cincinnati.
Len on 09.19.04 @ 07:13 PM CST
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Greymatter Forums
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Replies: 4 comments
on Monday, September 20th, 2004 at 9:47 AM CST, Roboto said
In unrelated baseball news, have you been following the Rob Neyer story, about how he posted a blistering review of a new baseball book (coincidentally similar to his own Feeding the Green Monster)? I thought it was funny to finally see "free" Neyer content on espn.com. Of course, it was his written statement on the matter.
on Monday, September 20th, 2004 at 10:14 AM CST, Len Cleavelin said
This one? (opens in new window).
Hadn't seen it til you called my attention to it. I assume that his anonymous review was posted at amazon.com? If they've not yanked it yet I should go take a look. Thanks for the head's up!
on Monday, September 20th, 2004 at 10:35 AM CST, Roboto said
Yeah, it's pretty funny. He posted a very petty explanation on his personal website, http://www.robneyer.com/OneDayFenway.html, in which he explains that he was merely posting a negative review on amazon.com under a "pen name" but that the "real story" is how the author's friends allegedly submitted fake positive reviews.
I enjoy Neyer's ability to analyze a baseball game. I was very disappointed in his Green Monster book, because it, written in the first person, was tedious and he came off as a pompous jerk. Then, I got ticked off that his columns went to "insider" status on espn.
This whole situation makes him look very petty, especially how his website addresses every single person who has written on this topic and asserts that they have it all wrong, but he's relatively not at fault. Interesting situation.
on Monday, September 20th, 2004 at 6:26 PM CST, Len Cleavelin said
Oh Jebus. (Yes, I just read Neyer's apologia on his website.)
There are certain situations where the Amazon customer review process breaks down (you see similar review wars regarding, e.g., Christian apologetic works and atheist/agnostic "apologetic" works, where representatives of both sides come out of the woodwork to give diametrically opposed reviews to te same book; see, e.g. the Amazon reviews of Young and Edis, Why Intelligent Design Fails). In these situations, there's no point in playing "dueling reviews"; it never works and I think any reasonably savvy reader would see through it.
Neyer has broken The First Rule: he has taken himself Way Too Seriously.