Know Thy (Almost) Luddites: Bob Costas

Recently we've been ranting about sports figures who have taken unnecessary swipes at the blogosphere (see Kornheiser, Tony and Cuban, Mark). Today, we half-heartedly enshrine Bob Costas on our list o' luddites -- not because of his attack, but because of his apology (in a different way than the self-condemning explanations of Kornheiser and Cuban).

Just to be clear, we still love Bob Costas with all of our heart.

Seriously, the man is an icon. We grew up idolizing him during every Olympics.

So when he made some very anti-blogger comments to a columnist in the Miami Herald, we weren't sure what to think. How could our favorite teddy bear hate us?

The Big Lead was understandably pissed. Deadspin also called him out. Being the granddaddy of them all, Deadspin caught Costas' attention. Further proof of the growing power of blogs, Costas -- Bob freakin' Costas -- spent 20 minutes on the phone pleading his case to Deadspin's Will Leitch.

Ultimately, we want to let him off the hook. Costas gets the big picture as well or better than any established MSM player. Heck, he even shows the blogoshpere some love:

I don't have any problem at all with the mainstream media being challenged or supplemented by new media. No entity has a monopoly over good writing from a valid point of view. In that sense, the more the merrier. In fact, many bloggers, on numerous subjects, sports included, are talented, humorous and bring fresh perspectives.

The limited transcription on Deadspin is actually a really good read for anybody looking for some perspective on what blogs are doing to sports media. We're convinced that Bob Costas understands the basics, likes good, and hates evil. Hooray!

So why mention this? Is there even a punchline?

When asked if he reads any blogs, Costas listed ... drumroll please ... The Onion.

Oh, Bob! We still love you. You'll always be our favorite (almost) luddite.