When Fabricated Quotes Are Taken Out Of Context

Yesterday, I mentioned in the Blogdome about how a sports talk radio show made a crucial mistake none of us seasoned sports blog readers ever do: take an Every Day Should Be Saturday post seriously. Continuing this trend, Sports Illustrated appeared to have taken a satirical riff on the NBA Draft directly from AOL's FanHouse, and used it as fact.

Ian Thomsen of SI.com used a fictitious P. Diddy quote about late-second-round draft pick Giorgos Printezis's wardrobe, and included it in his article with a straight face. I'm sure there are other examples of using quotes, some without attribution, where the underlying farcical humor is amplified because it bypasses a journalist's head. But I only have 40 minutes to write each post, and don't have the time for such superfluous "research."

What I do have time for, however, is a case study. I'm going to make up a quote, and prep all of you that it is, indeed, made up and wasn't actually said by anybody. Then we'll see if the quote hits any notes columns. Remember: The following is not a real quote. Okay, ready?

Detroit Tigers designated hitter Gary Sheffield has a theory on why Barry Bonds isn't participating in the All-Star Game. "It's because the MLB doesn't want a another black player in the Home Run Derby," Sheffield said in an interview. "Magglio Ordonez, Vladimir Guerrero, Miguel Cabrera ... all in the Derby. Why do you think that is? Baseball wants to make the Home Run Derby to be a racial issue."

Reporters, seriously, that's a completely accurate quote. Gary Sheffield said it. I verified it. Come on, this is a huge lead! Why would I lie about this? Use it!


Sports Illustrated Steals From FanHouse and Gets Punk'd [FanHouse]