I wrote Saturday about New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy’s inexplicable and, yes, clueless, omission of Zack Greinke’s battles with Social Anxiety Disorder in his article exhorting the Yankees to trade for the Kansas City pitcher. I couldn’t understand why he would leave that issue out, so I wondered, “Guess Filip was too busy watching soccer or figure skating to pay attention to baseball.”
Whenever I write a column criticizing anybody, I always figure in the back of my mind that there’s always the chance that the person I criticized might actually write back. It hasn’t happened often (although I was hoping in the back of my mind that Derek Jeter would go off on me in his presser last week and make me famous!). But it did in the columnist’s case! Bondy wrote me a response in the comments section of Subway Squawkers:
Here’s the comment:
filipbondy said…
Well, here’s the thing, Lisa. I wish I could cover more figure skating, but the fact is I’m lucky if I get to write more than two columns on the subject per year.
Who do you like at the U.S. championships, BTW? Rachael Flatt didn’t do so hot in Beijing, as you know.
As for Greinke… You get the side out in order at the All-Star Game, strike out two, I think that’s handling pressure.
Cheers, filip
I have to tip my cap to Bondy for writing pretty much a letter-perfect response. It’s got humor, self-deprecation, and even a point behind it. While I still stand by my own points — that Bondy should have mentioned Greinke’s battles with depression when talking about trading for him, and that Greinke’s personal issues are a concern when it comes to trading for him — I do appreciate that he took the time to respond to me. I was speechless (a rare thing, I know!) when I read his response.
I can’t say I’m paying much attention to figure skating, though. This is Subway Squawkers, not Subway Skaters!
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