Do you watch Breaking Bad, the popular AMC show whose third season premieres this week? And did you watch The Wire, which many people consider the best television series in recent memory? If you answered “no” to both questions, then I’m right there with you. Consequently I will not be moved by reading Chuck Klosterman’s essay for Grantland.com about why Breaking Bad is better than The Wire. Such is not the case for Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports, who has spent the morning Twitter sniping against Klosterman and his conclusions, even writing, “Klosterman’s next Grantland attention grab: “Why Judas was better than Jesus.”
Coming from a sportswriter like Whitlock, who prides himself on being a contrarian, the irony is rather thick.
Among Whitlock’s tweets about Klosterman’s article:
“I weep for America that that shit was written by a respected thinker. And I really like Breaking Bad.”
“I will block people for pretending to agree with Klosterman. #imnotjoking if u r that stupid, i don’t want to be connected to you.”
Let’s keep in mind that this is one sportswriter calling out another sportswriter for writing an essay about why he prefers one fictional drama series to another. If you’re a sportswriter and you haven’t expanded your brand to include a widespread knowledge of hip, cool shows, you need to get cracking, snappy.
Klosterman once wrote that he’d unabashedly never read any of the Harry Potter books, and would thus have a large gap in his pop culture knowledge when others were quoting or referencing the popular series. Others have the same relationship to Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell.