Dear Scoop Jackson,

So I heard that you’ve been ‘jocking’ other people’s intellectual property in your column. Well, while I hate to sound like one of the money-hungry monsters at the RIAA, this is wrong. Not only is stealing intellectual property wrong, it’s also a sign of being a poor writer. Considering that’s what you get paid to do, well, that doesn’t show well for you.

Listen, I don’t hate you, but I’m also not a fan. You’re no Whitlock, and you’re damn sure not a Ralph Wiley. I think you try a little too hard to cram in hip-hop and sports references that you think most people won’t get, but hey. That’s your style. It’s not my fault that it comes across about as forceful and unwanted as Kobe Bryant hitting on a white girl in Colorado.

Sure, your editors (who you claim took out the link in the first place) added an incorrect link to YAYsports, but that’s not enough. You stole an entire character. You stole the name, you stole the gimmick, you stole the premise. Let’s just shorten that rant up and say “You stole.” I’m sure, since you’re black, you will say that you’re used to being looked at as a thief and criminal (I had to beat Scoop to the race-card punch on this one). Of course this time, you deserve to be looked at as a thief, because that’s what you did.

I’m sure it’s really hard to write one column a week. Maybe I don’t understand the pressure that’s placed on you being one of only 5 of 16 writers on Page 2 that happens to be African-American. Maybe I don’t understand what it’s like to be hated for feuding with everybody’s favorite ex-Page 2 writer, Jason Whitlock.

Here’s one thing I do understand. Plagiarism is theft (and this, obviously, is not a case of satire). It’s wrong to do it in school, and it’s definitely wrong to do it on the job. I’m not saying you should be fired, but… yeah, you probably should be fired, considering you did this deliberately, and have admitted as much to Deadspin.

I’m not in charge of a multi-billion-dollar sports enterprise, nor am I in charge of anything, but I’ll tell you this. If one of my writers here at SportsBastards was deliberately stealing from another writer, I’d pull the article and shit-can him/her faster than you can say “Bojangles.” I’d do this because if I was that writer, I’d be pissed off someone stole from me, and I’d want heads to roll.

I guess I just have a little more respect for other writers than you do, Scoop. Really, it’s kind of sad. I’m sure you had to struggle to get to Page 2, and now you’re just stepping all over the ‘little guy’ when you used to be that ‘little guy’ once upon a time. Really classy, ESPN. An incorrect non-link won’t make this problem go away.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go work on my talking football character who I ingeniously have named "Burnt Sienna Prolate Spheroidie." (Thanks for helping me figure out the shape of a football, Luis. Well, other than using the phrase 'football-shaped'.)

Cheers,


Ron