New media vs old media is yesterday’s news as everyone is now teaming up to attack the aggregate media. First, it was JJ Redick and Stephen A. Smith, now it’s Brian Windhorst taking swipes at us aggregators.
Last week, Windhorst went viral for his cryptic, yet highly captivating commentary on the Utah Jazz following their trade with the Brooklyn Nets, swapping Royce O’Neale for a first-round pick. During his two-minute spiel, Windhorst had everyone on the edge of their seats as he asserted his belief that Utah was up to something. But he offered more questions than answers in his commentary, leaving everyone thoroughly entertained and completely confused.
Hours later, the Jazz traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. So why didn’t Windhorst just report that Utah was close to dealing Gobert? Because of that gosh darn aggregate media.
“Look, I knew the Jazz were pretty close to trading Rudy Gobert,” Windhorst said on the latest episode of his podcast The Hoop Collective. “To be honest with you, part of what I was doing was trying to avoid aggregation. Because if I come out and go ‘I think the Jazz are going to trade Rudy Gobert today,’ then everything on the internet is ‘Windhorst Report: Jazz trade Gobert.’ And then maybe they don’t trade him.”
Windy blamed his need to be cryptic during viral Utah Jazz video on aggregators pic.twitter.com/qHOaYDcxAw
— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) July 6, 2022
“In this world of aggregation, I have to get more creative, because you get pinned down on sometimes four words,” Windhorst continued. “You say 700 words and you get pinned down to four words, and I will continue to get pinned down to four words because it’s what I do, but I have to get creative and avoid aggregation and so that was me avoiding aggregation in a setting where I had some time on national television.”
700 words? Is that all Windhorst uttered during his moment of dramatic theater Friday morning? He spoke for two minutes, never once mentioned Gobert, and was celebrated on social media after the trade was announced.
Someone as media savvy as Windhorst should be able to navigate reporting that Utah could be looking to deal their $200-million center without being misquoted or misrepresented by aggregators. I don’t think we’re all that bad.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com