If John McClain had a decent team to cover in Houston, this thread would be moot. He's a good writer who hates watching bad football, which is all the Texans have ever played.
I remember something similar when he got on a national talk show. Almost barfed in the car. As for McClain, I never liked him when he talked on the radio. And I generally find him annoying. But it's fairly mild dislike. Haven't read the chronicle in ages though, so I'm not sure how his writings are these days.
The Texans are looking more and more like the Oilers every day. Must resist urge to really care....MUST RESIST !! DD
Justice: no one here is confused about who he is. Too concerned about taking snarky snipes at commentators, freely misinterpreting them to do so. Gets an okay amount of locker room information to pass on, but displays very little insight. Solomon: apologist. Decent understanding of the game and its nuances. Like Justice, doesn't get that this city of sick of mediocrity purgatory. I HIGHLY disagree - insight is one of the last things I would attribute to McClain. McClain is and has been trading on his Oiler heydays at the Chronicle. At this point, they tase him to get him out of his diabetic comas, let him know the game result, and he either babbles (win) or has an overboard rant (losses). His report cards are the epitome of the bipolar reactions we joke about in the GARM. If it's a loss, everyone fails. If it's a win, everyone gets A's. It's sloppy, lazy journalism. How damning is it that the best football writer on Chron.com is a blogging lawyer (TexansChick)? And she's really good. Actually breaks the game down beyond the obvious and box score, points out specific screw ups or genius moves, writes an enjoyable column. Personally, it's my belief that the professional media is suffering from a forced conflict of interest. If they bury/call out specific individuals, really put them in the crosshairs, they alienate themselves from the locker room and front office. No one wants to pal with "the enemy". The Beat writers and columnists make their living off of locker room inside scoops, so they stay vague and apologetic and varnish up the truth. Justice is by far the worst at this. But you see it all over, including ESPN. Bloggers don't worry about that. You just need to find one that can talk intelligently on the subject and can dissect the plays. Evan
Justice is by far the worst! I can't even figure out his purpose at the Chron. He seems to pick whatever he wants to write about and it never includes any real information just his own opinion. I refuse to read what he writes. McClain does have some valuable information at times. He's as frustrated as every other Texan fan at this point.
Perhaps insightful was the wrong word. I just think he has more of a grip on what is going on with the team than Justice, Solomon, or any of these other hacks. Part of it is because the team allows him to more-so than anyone else. Kubiak trusts him because he grew up reading him. It doesn't make him a great writer, just the best of the worst. Totally agree on TexansChick (Steph Stradley). She was calling out Richard Smith long before it became popular to do so.
Exactamundo. I don't mind his writing so much. Maybe because I never read it? But his radio segments give me an instant urge to quickly change the channel. And I follow that urge. "So, John, what did you think of the game yesterday?" "I'm The General, I covered this and I covered that and I was in this movie and I know this actor and I have a hall of fame vote and I'm a movie star and I have a hall of fame vote and I covered this and I covered that and I'm The General and I have my own theme song and I have a hall of fame vote and I covered every nfl game in history and that coach is a jerk and a punk because he doesn't show me the proper respect for being The General with my own theme music and my hall of fame vote and my acting pedigree and I've been in movies and I'm getting handjobs from my bimbo assistant and eating buffets in NFL pressboxes with my hall of fame vote......"
Pretty much agree with what everyone is saying about McClain. However, I can't say I that I wouldn't let my emotions get to me if I had to cover this joke of a franchise for 8 years either. It's like they find new ways to rip our hearts out each and every week.
Anyone ever noticed how P-whipped Mclain seems to by his wife? When they start talking movies on the radio or whatever, he says he hasn't seen this or that movie because he's out of town and can't watch movies without his wife?
Maybe it's because I know so very little about football, but McClain just doesn't bother me. The "old fart telling stories" schtick doesn't bother because he *is* an old fart telling stories.
the entire chronicle is annoying. It's pretty much an embarrassment that a "paper" like this represents a world class city like Houston.
I like McClain. He's a good writer and knows the game very well. I enjoy his blogs, and yes, he HAS ripped his friend the DC before. He did so in one of the videos a few weeks ago. He's also a genuinely friendly guy who's very good around people. He's not s jerk like Justice or most columnists/writers at the Chron. McClain's the best beat writer at the Chron, with Sam Khan Jr. a close 2nd. Steve Thompson (UH writer) is also very good. That's about it as good writing goes at the Chron.
He did this after the titans game I remember listening to him on 610 and he was saying I cant really say anything bad about how they played since they did get the win when clearly our defense was horrible giving up those long runs to chris johnson. He says that if the team loses we can complain but when they win not so much. I dont really get this guy sometimes
