Anti-Rajas vs. Jody

A while back, a couple of readers gave me some friendly advice: Stop reading the comments section of my stories.
I’ll admit I struggle to adhere to that counsel. Reading comments is something between self-torture and a guilty pleasure. Heck, part of me is just happy people click on the story and/or comment sections, so I’m interested to see what’s being bantered about (often none of it pertaining to the actual story I wrote).
Really, it isn’t unusual for writers to get hammered by readers, and that time I went in to explain why I’d written something that had been blasted.
That disapproving comment was a child’s Pop-It compared to the powder keg that exploded inside of the Raja Bell article I wrote earlier this week.
Jazz Fan Enemy No. 1:

Jazz Fan Enemy No. 1a:

It’s apparent that for various reasons Bell has filled the Jazz-player-fans-love-to-hate role previously filled by the likes of Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Jarron Collins, etc.
Because of the amount of negative feedback I received from this article — both at deseretnews.com, on Twitter (@DJJazzyJody) and elsewhere — I figured I’d give background to what went into the controversial 400-word notebook topper that lit our, um, passionate readers’ fuses.
The series of events that led up to the article “Raja not scoring, but helping in other areas”(a headline I did not write, by the way):
— Bell struggles big-time on offense, only making 5 of first 17 shots.
— Jazz offense is sluggish to begin the season and games (with Bell starting).
— Several opponents, including Kobe Bryant, beat Bell for numerous buckets. Fans notice.
— Jody asks Tyrone Corbin on Saturday if the coach is “comfortable” with Bell in the starting lineup.
— Jody then asks Bell to assess his play to begin 2011-12.
— 35-year-old NBA player opens up, admits his offense is off and his touches are limited.
— Corbin and Bell vehemently defend the veteran’s defense, contradicting some fans’ accusations that Bell is basically the new Boozer.
— Jody tops his Jazz notebook with a non-opinionated story including the above info without sharing his opinion. Did I mention no opinion from the writer was involved in the non-opinionated story?
— KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!
— Readers grab 21st Century version of pitchforks, tar and feathers, and storm the comment section with, um, passionate reactions against Bell and the reporter who “allegedly” defended him (even though that never actually happened):
“Jody, I usually enjoy your stories, but … How about some real reporting on how poor this team is.” (But then I’d have to write about the first three horrible road losses and talk about an odious offense and a deficient defense and, oh wait, I have. Huh.)
“A very poor position from Jody. Good Grief! … Come on Jody…write something good.” (There were 99 other articles – yes, we counted – that I’ve written in the past 30 days. Hopefully “something good” was in at least one of them.)
“Quit making excuses for Raja.” (OK. I prefer making excuses for myself anyway.)
“Wow, the desnews spin machine is going full bore.” (What until I write my Jimmer for NBA Defensive Player of the Year article. Spin, baby.)
“This is really pathetic. A writer has to write such a stupid article to explain to all the angry fans why we have a shooting guard who can’t shoot, and tell us that he is good on defense when opposing shooting guards are torching us.” (The writer reported what the coach and player said. How stupid is that!? Last time I make that mistake.)
“Jody, After reading this article, I have to say you know absolutely nothing about basketball.” (Voila! The misunderstanding! This was a football article.)
“Mr. Genessy, is writing an article that is effectively an apology for Raja Bell’s ineffective play on both ends of the court really the best you can do? … Did someone put you up to writing this, or did you choose to mitigate probably the worst coaching decision currently about this Jazz team (starting Bell) all by yourself? … merely an apologist’s view (intended or not) for Bell … I would expect better from a journalist.” (I apologize that you misread my article.)
“when Jody writes articles like this, it offends our intelligence.” (So let’s offend him!!!)
“Jody, I used to have respect for your articles but I must admit with this lastest “masterpiece” you are really out of touch with reality. … If you want to regain any credibility you should admit that you were wrong.” (Wrong for reporting what Corbin and Bell said?)
Twitter: “Aww now you’re part of the problem too. I liked you. I did.” (I still do.)
“That might be the worst article I’ve ever seen! Worthless. smh” (Oops. Similar insult. Different worst article ever.)
“great article. Got some reasonable answers to some questions I’ve been super eager to hear. Very well done.” (WHAT IS THAT POSITIVE RESPONSE DOING IN HERE!?! Mom, you blog!?)
Not sure what this blog will accomplish, if anything. Heck, I should give a prize for anybody who reads this far down. Guess because I value what people think of my work, I felt like I had to defend myself for supposedly defending Raja. Something I didn’t do, by the way. Corbin and Bell did that. I only reported it.
Hmmm… Maybe I should heed those readers’ advice after all.