Raider Pride said:
Cliff Cristl is "A Football Writer"
To call him "A Damn Good Football Writer" is like ordering Corn Flakes at the Hyatt and then saying "The Hyatt has a damn good chef."
If all Cristl did was share actual numbers without evaluation, perhaps he should be doing copy in the stats section of the paper.
To call Christl a "Damn good football writer." is an insult to damn good football writers everywhere.
R.P.
Sorry to disagree. My buddy was in the Packer locker room the day Mel Jackson, former Green Bay guard, nearly beat the crap out Christl after Christl was the only reporter to ask Jackson why he was repeatedly beaten that day. The man has balls.
Good reporters/columnists say things the timid won't. Cliff also now is a columnist/blogger, which defines his role differently. Christl's blog gives snap reaction. After review on Sunday, it was clear at least three of Rodgers' passes were dropped.
"Good" writers offer insights the average fan doesn't see. Some are more creative than others, I admit Cliff isn't the most "creative". But all I want is good info. Cliff has a track record of annoying all of the Packers coaches. Bart Starr threw him off the team plane after writing the truth about the Packers sorry teams then. It changed the policy the team had at the time of allowing media on the planes. Now the media send them on their money.
Cliff has seen many, many players, coaches and wanna-be's come and go in Green Bay, and among the press corps who regularly follows the Packers, he is the one who can give a perspective back to the 70's.
You can get into trouble defending media on boards like this. The "fan" wants a cheerleader. I often think there isn't ENOUGH negative coming from the beat writers. I want to know the truth, not some sugar-coated candy wrapped version designed for good digestion. Notice what happened when Jason Wilde had the audacity(truthfully) report Al Harris was upset about his money. Even the coach *****ed at him.
The positives are nearly always self-evident. But the truth of the situation is often hid by team P.R.
Cliff's pretty good and will defend him because he's been there and done that, something others have not.