Updated Aug. 21
After several weeks of defending myself from political attacks -- one week I'm a liberal pansy, the next a right-wing wacko -- Hate Mail is back to its normal self.
Lots of insults. Some sexual innuendo. And another reader challenging me to a fight.
I'd say it's like Groundhog Day, but Bill Murray is a self-absorbed clown with pockmarks all over his face. So instead I'll just say ... here we go.
From: TH-NYC
Olympic carpetbagging was the last article I will read on CBSSports.com. Way to represent your company, redneck. I'll go back to reading writers who enjoy sports and competition more than themselves.
Not fair. With the exception of two times a week -- three, tops -- I enjoy sports more than I enjoy myself.
From: Nick C.
Come on. Do you have any sense of national pride? And you call yourself an American. It's certainly going to be difficult for me to respect anything you ever write in the future.
Your wife manages to respect you on a daily basis, so anything is possible.
From: Scott
North Carolina State wasn't the only ACC school that passed on Paul Johnson. Why do you have such a hard-on for the 'Pack?
Hard-on for the 'Pack? I won't tolerate that sort of language here. Not unless I'm the one writing it.
From: Greg
If you put more thought into your Hate Mail responses, maybe you'd get less of it. I don't have a lame insult to send your way, except to say that a lot of your responses come off as, "I know you are, but what am I?" If that's the effect you're going for, cool, I guess.
If talking trash were a sport -- say, baseball -- you'd be hitting .170. And I'd be chasing the Triple (bleeping) Crown.
From: James
Yet another anti-North Carolina State story from you. What a surprise. I notice you failed to say anything negative about Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill. You seem to go out of you way to badmouth State and State fans. Thanks a lot. I sure would like to meet you face-to-face.
Google my name and "Krzyzewski." Or my name and "Dick Baddour." Or my name and "Dean Smith." As for your last sentence, my mentally challenged friend ... no, you would not.
From: Chris
Who is your boss?
Good question. Climb as high up the ladder as I have, and it gets tough to tell. It must be so much easier to be you, Chris, and to instinctively know that your boss is whoever's operating the drive-through window.
From: David
While your vocabulary may have been misguided and harsh, I agreed with your Olympic article. I don't want to root for someone from another country, and I don't want to root against my own. Someone needed to come out and say what fans like me are thinking, and you did it. Thank you.
And thank you ... for calling my vocabulary misguided and harsh.
From: Steve
Many people are blasting you for your Olympic article, and I don't understand why. Granted some of your words may have been a little harsh, but they were on point.
Good grief. You're the second person to tell me (A) the opinion was correct but (B) the words were too harsh. Which means (C) I'm good. Very, very good.
From: Glenn
So let me get this straight: A group of grown men thinks it's a good idea to play more football, but you don't want that to happen because you're worried about a few extra bumps and bruises? Each individual in America can make their own decisions without the government -- or Gregg Doyel -- making them for us.
See what happens when I show my caring side? I get crap from Glenn. I'm a lot like Heath Ledger's take on The Joker -- spewing my chaos, yes, but only because I've been scarred by the inhumanity around me.
From: Will
I recently started the Fire Gregg Doyel thread on the message board after your article about Tampa Bay and Barry Bonds. Just wanted to say, I was a little out of line for calling for your job just because you stated your opinion. However, I think you need to make your writing a little less aggressive. I know it's not a journalist's responsibility to make anyone like him, but I hope you can at least try to be a little less controversial. Disregard this e-mail if you want, but I hope you won't.
It's too late for me to change, Will, and anyway, demanding my dismissal was a strong move by you. Showed guts. Showed fire. Showed your complete ignorance of my skill level, but hey ... you're not perfect.
From: Sam
I can't decide who's worse -- you or Prisco. Neither of you knows anything about the sports you cover, and the readers at CBSSports.com hate you.
He's worse, and I'll tell you why. Readers hate us, true, but readers fear me. They just giggle at Prisco.
From: James R.
I lose so much respect for CBSSports.com every time they publish your trash. As a former college athlete, I love watching kids go out there and compete no matter what the sport. These Olympians put everything out there as you sit in your cubicle and make snarky comments. Creating witty titles for your articles is the only thing you do well.
Slow down, stud. "As a former college athlete ..." You swam, dude. You swam. And you swam at Clarion, which is a Division II school. And furthermore, I don't write the titles, so there. Wait, that doesn't help my cause. Never mind about the titles.
From: Young Desu
Way to go, Gregg. They don't get it, do they? You got the JOB because you GET their attention. If everyone is writing about the same thing, we'd only need one password and pin. Keep up the good work!
Basically I'm the only thing keeping the United States from becoming a socialist republic.
From: Mike P.
You are a left-wing communist (wimp) who supports right-wing terrorist groups while wearing a confederate flag and playing banjo. I guess that about sums up the sentiment of most. I, on the other hand, think you and I share the same sense of humor. "Olympic Carpetbagging" was a classic. Why write a generic article when there are opportunities for brashness and hilarity at every turn? Keep it up.
And don't forget about my contribution to the geo-political health and future of our great nation.
From: Sean
You're just an a--hole. Your opinion is just that, your opinion. But being an a--hole, that's not my opinion, it's a fact. You're an a--hole, a--hole.
Slow down. I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
From: Ian
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.
But then Hate Mail would become Lame Mail. (And as an aside, Ian, my goodness what a self-righteous wimp you are. Let me guess ... Eagle scout?)
From: Lee LaPointe
If you've ever been right about anything, you are SO right about the unwatchable-ness of the Olympics. It has become an unrecognizable spectacle.
I resent the first word of your e-mail.
From: jeff beasley
ur an idoit
Sigh. I left your note unedited. This is what I deal with, people.
From: Scott
I really don't understand why CBS continues to pay you to litter its site, which I used to enjoy, but I'm finding your moronic viewpoint to be more and more annoying with each article. These days I have been sticking with ESPN and only come back to CBS when I am really bored.
No problem. Some of my steadiest readership comes from people who are really bored with ESPN.
From: Chris Podbregar
Awful article.
Horrible e-mail. And worse name. The kids must have had a field day with "Podbregar" in elementary school. But how you must have turned the tables in college -- if you went to Wisconsin, considering your name is an anagram for "Rich Pro Badgers".
From: Denny Barr
Just wondering when the article blasting UNC and their athletic director for not hiring Paul Johnson the same year will come out. Exact same situation, same year, 25 miles down the road. I'll hold my breath.
Exhale please. Drawling country boy Paul Johnson is the right fit for N.C. State -- not a fit for the more elitist folks at UNC. And furthermore, Butch Davis was a sensational hire by UNC. You want to argue any more of this point, Denny, or are you starting to feel as stupid as your co-workers know you to be?
From: Steven Armstrong
Will UNC "rue the day" as well? Personally, I think every athletics director who has hired a football coach in the last three years in any BCS conference is holding his breath that Paul Johnson fails. As for your comments about Sidney Lowe and Herb Sendek -- uneducated!
What is it with the typical response from N.C. State, dragging North Carolina into the conversation? Believe me, when I rip into UNC, their fans don't drag N.C. State into it. They don't even acknowledge N.C. State. And based on your last sentence, I'm starting to understand why.
From: Brett Faulkner
I know you don't do requests, but someone must lead the charge against maple bats in the majors. It's going to take someone getting impaled for anything to change. Please, please, please Gregg, start screaming from the rooftops. If you don't, I will hunt you down at your gym, and I will get in your face, and, and, and ... beg you to write this.
Aww. I guess I could write about it now. But it would be so much more fun to write after someone gets impaled. As long as that someone isn't me.
From: CT Hoosier
You've been a real downer this week, but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying Olympic boxing, weightlifting and handball. Especially handball -- I'd like to play that game recreationally, if possible.
That's another one of my problems with the Summer Olympics. Too many games that would work in fourth-grade P.E.
From: Joe V.
You need to shave your chin. It will make it easier to keep your mouth closed. Whenever you open it, it seems nothing but ignorance comes out. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and shave the billy goat beard.
Maybe you're trying to look like everyone around you -- looked you up at your Jersey law firm, Joe, and saw your picture -- but not everybody lacks the guts to show some individuality. Nice hair, by the way. I bet it's the same as your dad, and his dad, and his dad ...
