Weren't you also a KFAN sports-talk host?

Thank you for saying you were "practically the king of minor sportswriters in this town!" Key word "practically." You've got nothing on Larry Fitzgerald, Sr.

"how often do you have a non-sports writer calling a future Hall-of-Famer diva-like?"


Simmons seems to think that only sports writers can call future hall of famers 'diva-like'.

Jason - thanks for remembering my resume even better than I do. Added, with gusto!

Actually, David, my column WAS NOT A RETORT.

Do you comprehend what you read before you type such an imbecilic response?

Or, do you insult a fellow professional journalist such as me to gain favor with readers who may not take the time to read what I wrote?

Since you decided to do the latter, you leave it to me to spank you publicly for your knee-jerk and false response to my column which was in full agreement with you.

Why are you suggesting that I do not agree with you? Are you simply that foolish to think your readers will not follow up or that I will not respond myself by commenting here or making mincemeat of you on Bleacher Report or in this comment forum, or will you delete my comment?

As a sports fan myself my entire life, and as a former weekly editor and daily managing editor who wrote and still writes media-criticism and community-oriented columns, I did not ever delve into sports. I’ve written non-sports columns for more than 20 years, despite being a sports fan.

Because I did not know you, and based upon my own experience, I put myself in your place, and I simply said that you had every right to call Favre diva-like because you were writing in the context of column about media, in this case a medium and more specifically, another newspaper.

I gave you credit for noting that, although I think a Web page devoted to Favre is premature.

I also said you had every right to take on the subject.

I also said that I did not know if you were a sports fan or not, since I do not personally know you, but that it didn’t matter if you were a sports fan or not because you had every right as a media critic to call Favre what you did.

What I did say, and what your knee-jerk reaction misleads people to think, is that I was criticizing you for calling Favre diva-like.

This is false. You owe me a correction and an apology, based upon professional journalistic ethics. You are to tell the truth. The headline and the theme of this column suggest something I did not write. As a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, I know its code of ethics well, and you have fallen short.

If you doubt me, please re-read my column and read my comments defending your commentary.

Thus, David, my column was not from some rub-a-dub generic sports-writing fan. My column was written by me, a professional journalist with more years of experience than you, and it was a rational response in support of your column.

I stand by my point that about the worst insult a pro athlete can have hurled at him is to have a non-sports columnist call him diva-like.

Had you been me, my feeling would be the same. Even though you are a sports fan, it shows that in the context of the theme of your current column that Favre has even crossed over into an arena of commentary not usually associated with sports, and that you were spot-on for calling him diva-like.

As I noted in your column, I did not know if you were a sports fan, and I also said IT DIDN’T MATTER.

Your headline and some of your commentary offer a false and misleading impression of what I stated, and I expect a correction.

Your juvenile response is not becoming of you, especially when you consider my post of today, titled, "Is Favre a Latter-Day Narcissus?" (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/219506-is-favre-a-latter-day-narcissus)

Lastly, your current gig with this paper is not sports writing, at least from your profile, so you might want to update it. Still, that would not have changed my column, except to say that you also had an extensive history as a sports journalist.

Please read and comprehend before you go flying off with accusations that are ridiculous. If you followed me on Bleacher Report for the past year, you would have seen numerous columns critical of Favre.

Thank you for your consideration.

Gluekman, that's funny.

Is Lance Armstrong a "diva"?

How about Gaborik?

If the shoe fits...

I think the bigger issue here is that Brauer is insinuating that Brett is fat AND speaks French and Italian. Shocking!

David,

Here is an addendum. It's what I said in my column that you obviously did not understand.

"... How often do you have a non-sports writer calling a future Hall-of-Famer diva-like?

"It's priceless, but so telling in Favre's case."

You obviously read my headline, made a false assumption and then read my column without comprehending the meaning of what I have quoted above.

In other words, David, I was in total agreement with you about Favre being diva-like.

By the way, I have rewarded you with a new column titled: "MinnPost Columnist Proffers Knee-Jerk, False Reaction" (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/219663-minnpost-columnist-proffers-knee-jerk-false-reaction)

You might want to read it and offer a correction.

I just cannot believe you wrote what you did when I was in agreement with you. wow. Let's see if your paper will print this.

From a professional journalist who admits his mistakes, unlike you. That's called unethical and it violates journalistic ethics.

Glenn, you are starting to sound a bit diva-ish yourself.

I've never met David but I've been reading his stuff for a while. To insinuate he unethical (especially in this silly matter) is laughable.

First of all, I have been a sports fan for a very long time. I have listened to and read David Brauer for years.

I have never even heard of Glenn Franco Simmons.

Secondly, even though a Favre fan, it must be said that he is the biggest opera queen in NFL history.

He defines "diva"

Oooooo, David, you mean to admit you dared write about a sports figure now that you've reverted to fandom - and I mean a Twittering, tweeting play-by-play baseball announcer (at least)?

I wonder how many football fans are taking Simmons' tirade as a personal affront that no one but those pulling down the big bucks from that limited clique of self-important experts and sycophants, then spitting out the obvious day in and day out, are the only qualified observors of boorish divos (more than divas) like Favre and his ilk.

Fans are the most articulate of sports critics, as is clear by some of great postgame and pregame comments solicited by the professionals in this business.

Oh, how the some of high and mighty fall when their time is up. Favre is a high-priced former franchise whose name may pull some bucks for the owners, but has in recent years shown why his first retirement was a wise decision.

Hell, I even see myself as qualified to write on sports, and unlike you, I ain't earned a dime doin' it.

Tsk, tsk, SImmons - you make an ass of yourself with every paragraph.

Mr. Franco Simmons,

You should know that MinnPost is not a "paper." Thanks.

Simmons, you are making a speed bump out of a pothole.
Chill, it will all make sense over time.

So, if I get this right, Farve isn't fat enough yet, so he is not singing that it is over.

I believe Mr Franco Simmons next comment will have something to do with the dropping of trau and the potential of having something measured.

With that said, it seems to me that a professional journalist would not have written the inital attack against a fellow journalist.

Alas I am neither a sports fan, nor journalist, so I really dont care what you say about Mr. Farve. However I do care about any hack who thinks the way to get noticed is to drag a peer through the mud and then call the peer names in type. Really Mr Simmons ...SERIOUSLY.
And by the way if your such a major writer...why has no one heard of you?

I agree with Andy D... "Tsk, tsk, Simmons - you make an ass of yourself with every paragraph."

Between the columns and the comments, this has been extremely amusing.

I'm trying to figure something out, though. Is it just me, or does Simmons' writing come off as a bit juvenile? Perhaps it's just that he's a little aggravated when he's shooting off his comments and he's not proofreading himself.

Regardless, he certainly is making an ass of himself.

Isn't this nothing more than one blogger being upset with another? Glen Franco Simmons, I think you protest way too much. Who cares if you were misunderstood? You make it sound like Edward R. Murrow was just taken out of context. Frankly, I suspect you cited Brauer's comments precisely because he is higher on the (albeit still pretty low) rung of notoriety.

David, your next column should be called "Obscure blogger goes on ridiculous rant about extremely minor issue."

Mr Simmons, you gots to chill.

As someone who has spent 31 years working as (dare I say it?) a *professional* journalist, I will offer the following observations:

1) Beware of any journalist who begins his bio by telling you he graduated from college with honors;

2) Be wary of a journalist whose bio mentions that he's a 49er fan in the fourth graf, but somehow fails to mention where he's worked;

3) Question an editor -- a "word" guy, after all -- who writes the sentence, "I am married to my beautiful wife Kathleen." Punctuation issues aside, who else would he be married to but his wife?

4) That said, I am impressed by the fact he got the phrase "knocking the snot out of..." into his bio. That might be a first; I certainly haven't seen another professional journalist accomplish it.

5) Enough with the Society of Professional Journalists references already. It is a fine organization, but you don't have to be a member of the media to join. In fact, all you need to join is fill out the application (https://www.spj.org/joinapp.asp) and send in the $72 annual membership fee.

I remember reading a story years ago about Reggie Jackson and Dick Allen. Jackson had just come up to the bigs, and he was rapidly becoming known not just for his hitting but also for his brash talk. There was some instance where Jackson and Allen were in the same locker room (can't recall what it was) and Jackson was trash-talking and Allen grabs a bat, goes up to him and says, "Do your talking with this."

That story has always stuck with me because I've always felt that "professional" journalists should do their talking with their work. They don't need to remind us every 30 minutes that they are professional. Their work tells us. If Simmons truly had a beef with with what Brauer had written, he could've sent him an e-mail and said, "Here is an error in your story, please correct it."

Brauer is professional enough that if some error existed, he would've owned up to it and fixed it. He is also professional enough that he doesn't have to remind us that he is a professional.

See what you did?

Mention Brett F and his manhood and the whole online world goes nuts! One would almost think that you did that on purpose.

Ken