Dumbass: The Bleacher Report
It's been far too long since someone deserved a Dumbass post. Today's recipient... The Bleacher Report
We all know, except on that extremely rare occasion, that the Bleacher Report sucks. If you don't believe me, ask google. It's pretty much fact at this point. But lately, I've been noticing something even more pathetic than that which already is. The theft of RSS content.
It wasn't more than a day after I moved to Cheesehead TV that I started noticing my articles appearing on the Bleacher Report. Although I had an account there, I had not used it in over nine months, and had never used it as a member of Cheesehead TV. Yet miraculously, somehow my content started to show up there. I bitched and moaned as usual and pretty much emailed or chewed out every single person I could get a hold of. The last thing I wanted was my name, and the Bleacher Report, appearing anywhere together outside of this article. Their response was that it was my fault. Somehow I had unknowingly added my RSS feed to my account and given them permission to publish it, all without ever having to log in. Amazing how far the technology has come these days.
After going ape shit, the Bleacher Report did delete my account at my request, but still stuck to their story that it was my error. I let it rest... until now.
I just got done doing a google search for any breaking Packers news when I ran across this:
Bleacher Report steals content
Now I'll guarantee you that Brian Carriveau did not do this, much like I did not. Brian also has no idea I'm writing this so if any of you Bleacher Report thieves have anything to say you can take it up with me. The bottom line is that the Bleacher Report is crooked, and has been in some way, shape, or form since its inception. Now, they sink to a new low as they assimilate content from real bloggers and throw it on their site as their own.
Times must be rough when a multi-million dollar corporation has to go around ripping off the little guys to get that extra buck and those shiny press passes. If you ask me it's just downright unconscionable. It's high time that the networks and the leagues start to realize that all the Bleacher Report consists of is a bunch of hacks with a minute splash of talent to make it shiny. If the money men really want the real news, and press passes in the hands of the people that deserve them, washing their hands clean of the good ol' BR would be a great place to start.
You're not fooling anyone either, dumbasses.
Comments (17)
July 20, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Damn it Alex the two posers/rapers/pizza delivery guys where supposed to get your first Dumbass award.
I guess bleacher report will do(Kicking dirt)...was looking forward to the bros coming out of the hood and threatening to pop your @#.
On Topic some people just never learn...maybe the bleacher should get the first Gary the dog lift my leg award for general piss poor journalism ?
July 21, 2010 at 12:48 am
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/422530-pass-coverage-proves-problematic
Seriously WTF is wrong with that type of websites...
Alex Tallitsch
July 21, 2010 at 01:46 am
Nice find.
July 21, 2010 at 12:56 am
As a blogger, I don't rant much, so savor this.
At my school, the above is called PLAGIARISM. If you do it once, you fail the assignment. If you do it again, you fail the class or get expelled from the school. Obviously these guys missed something in freshman English class.
As a blogger myself, I have a new appreciation for the amount of time and effort it takes per post, and Brian's stuff goes above and beyond most other analysis out there. My guess is he can spend up to an hour, with research and writing, on those posts.
My hits recently have been obnoxiously high, and I've been trying to find the source. Well, here it is. Never would have guessed it. I do feel guilty for profiting in some way off of this. My apologies to Brian and CHTV.
Go Pack Go!
Alex Tallitsch
July 21, 2010 at 01:48 am
Where are your hits coming from?
July 21, 2010 at 03:35 am
In the real world, where there are consequences, it's not just called plagiarism. It's called copywright infringement.
Honestly, pardon my legal terms, sue their asses.
July 21, 2010 at 02:05 am
Brian linked me in the PDL once a long time ago. This time, he linked me and the hits doubled.
I can't tell where they come from, the counter I have just adds them up. I have to use logic and reason. However, I do get enough stats to tell me that this time is a different crowd. I assume they come from BR.
July 21, 2010 at 04:07 am
You know what pisses me off more than anything else? If you go to the bottom of that Daily Links article, it says "Copyright 2010 BLEACHER REPORT All Rights Reserved"
Give me a fucking break.
Alex Tallitsch
July 21, 2010 at 10:50 am
I love it when you're angry.
July 21, 2010 at 10:28 pm
I just deleted my account at BR. Thanks Packers Lounge! Now lets dig some ditches
July 22, 2010 at 04:24 pm
Guys,
Please take the time to read this.
Much appreciated,
BR Team
http://blog.bleacherreport.com/2010/07/22/brs-blog-syndication-process/
Alex Tallitsch
July 22, 2010 at 06:33 pm
Sorry, not buying it. None of my articles show up for 8 months, and then I come here and they miraculously appear. That's not even mentioning Carriveau. Nice try, please try again.
July 22, 2010 at 04:57 pm
They do present themselves well, which is half the battle at getting hits. Sure their content is elementary, but you could say the same about a lot of sports outlets. I do like their interface. I know CHTV doesn't have the professional resources as a web-developing agency, but efforts to make the interface more sheek and glossy a la Bleacher Report. Honestly, you're content is more interesting (therefore, better) than many professional sites.And not that CHTV's presentation isn't already top-notch, just there's always room for improvement to put yourselves over the top.
With that said, unconscionable is appropriate language. I normally only click on their articles because you can get through them in less than 2 minutes-- kinda like a USA today article. They're easy on the eyes and they're lists/rankings are mildly fun to navigate through. Won't be really hard to avoid them as they don't really say much
July 22, 2010 at 06:45 pm
This same bullshit happened to us on the Yardbarker.com
They said by having an RSS feed we were giving liscense for other sites to "scrape" our content.
Yeah? Scrape? Really? I call it fucking stealing.
July 23, 2010 at 06:42 am
From Wikipedia: "Free online tools are becoming available to help identify plagiarism,[11] and there is a range of approaches that attempt to limit online copying, such as disabling right clicking and placing warning banners regarding copyrights on web pages. Instances of plagiarism that involve copyright violation may be addressed by the rightful content owners sending a DMCA removal notice to the offending site-owner, or to the ISP that is hosting the offending site."
July 23, 2010 at 07:02 pm
Those DICKS did the same thing to us - saying it was our fault for allowing the RSS feeds or whatever. They said they would stop going forward, but who knows? Crooked is right.
July 23, 2010 at 07:05 pm
RAWR! I'm angry again. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry, Internet content thieves!