Bigger Jerk Than Phillips? Deadspin's AJ Daulerio

In the shadows of the Steve Phillips controversy is the reaction at Deadspin, where editor AJ Daulerio, having missed out on the scoop, appears to emptied his in-box in airing years’ worth of anonymous tips about ESPN’s seamy side. That, in turn, got its own reaction from the sports blogosphere at large, where common themes ranged from blasting Daulerio for foregoing journalistic ethics entirely to don’t-take-us-down-with-you. A sampling:

• “Daulerio’s an embarrassment,” Brian Cook writes on MGoBlog (normally given over to University of Michigan sports, but making an exception here). “As someone who runs a sports blog for a living his wanton flouting of common decency makes me look like an asshole by proxy, and I don’t appreciate it.”
• “It is sad that you had to stoop to this level. Oh sure, your stories got lots of hits, hits that sites like mine and others that try to do things above board would kill for,” adds Christopher Byrne at Eye on Sports Media. “Well guess what, AJ? I can live with the traffic we get, because at least I can look at my children with a straight face and say I did the right thing.”
• “This became about trashing ESPN because their PR folks wouldn’t confirm a rumor,” Chris Littmann chides at the Sporting News. “It isn’t an appropriate reason to empty out your email inbox with everything you’ve ever been told about ESPN.”
• “It’s just a sad state of affairs over there for a blog that used to be one funny dick joke after another,” piles on the Stupid Sports Blog, “and now it’s run by a guy who has a vendetta against ESPN because the New York Post did its job better than him.”

(More Deadspin stories.)