Michael Wilbon apologizes for instigating D.C. sports media beef

Michael Wilbon apologized for provoking a public feud with former Washington Post colleague Dan Steinberg this week after the popular sports blogger criticized Wilbon's comments about D.C. being a "terrible" sports town.

The whole affair started with a dictated column by Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser that appeared in a D.C.-themed issue of ESPN The Magazine. Wilbon took shots at Washington's status as a sports town and seemed to relish in the criticism.

Steinberg commented on Wilbon's anti-D.C. glee and the fireworks began. Here's how it played out. (All of Wilbon's comments, with the exception of the opening magazine excerpt, are from his Facebook page. Steinberg's appeared on his D.C. Sports Bog.)

Wilbon: "[Washington] doesn't compare. No, it's terrible. It's not even close to New York, Philly, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, LA. It's last….It's because people don't call this home, really. They still call somewhere else home. I've been here 32 years, and I still barely call it home."

Steinberg: "I'll never understand why he seems to go out of his way to antagonize the fans and readers who helped turn him into a national star. Is D.C. the greatest sports town in the world? Clearly not. Is it worthy of repeated trashing? I don't see why that would be the case."

Wilbon: "It's annoying as hell that a couple of colleagues, Dan Steinberg of The Post and Bram Weinstein of ESPN, felt the need to whine like little babies because I didn't speak a company line that agrees with their hypersensitive feelings. [...] Steinberg occupies a position that is very dear to those of us who've held it over the years: sports columnist at The Post. If all he wants to do is be popular--and I think Dan is better than that--then the readers of The Washington Post sports section won't be very well served. Telling readers how great they are as sports fans was never one of my priorities.

Steinberg: "I think it's great that Wilbon is still willing to speak truth to power between rounds at Columbia, celebrity roasts and expense-account lunches with Earvin. My only counter would be that it's cool to speak truth to power when the power is a team owner, or a sports network, or a washed-up quarterback living on past accomplishments. Flaming ordinary sports fans in your town for not being passionate enough strikes me as a less noble journalistic mission. [...]

"Millions of people live in this area. Many of them don't care about sports. Many of them weren't born here, and aren't interested in the local teams, and call somewhere else home. And you know what? That's not my audience. I'm okay with that. A huge number of the people who read this blog grew up in Montgomery County or Southern Maryland, in Fairfax County or Prince William, went to Walter Johnson or W.T. Woodson or Hylton, to Gonzaga or Bishop Ireton or Good Counsel. They still live here, and actually like it here, and think of their local sports teams as a crucial part of their civic identity in a diffuse area where it isn't always easy to have one."

Wilbon: "I've seen increasingly how impressed Dan Steinberg is with himself and his non-column. [...] Then again, it's fair to wonder about the judgement of someone who would show up looking like a slovenly bum at a memorial service for the late Mr. Abe Pollin. If you're going to wrap yourself in D.C. Sports patriotism, Dan, have the decency to come to a public service honoring the patriarch of D.C. Sports (while representing The Post, no less) in a professional manner. Then again, I'm sure you'll find some excuse for that, too."

Wilbon later apologized for criticizing Steinberg's appearance. He said Friday on ESPN980 that he was misquoted in the ESPN The Magazine post (which was written based on a recorded conversation between him and Tony Kornheiser).

"This is all completely stupid, but it wasn't a funeral," Steinberg tweeted Friday. "[The Pollin memorial] was a program at Verizon Center. I have no idea what I was wearing."

Get all that? Not that such a one-sided fight needs judging, but given that I'm a non-columnist and often impressed with myself, it'd be a disappointment to Wilbon's blogger stereotype if I didn't weigh in with an uninformed opinion.

Disclosure No. 1: I'm a lifelong Washingtonian who grew up as a fan of the Redskins, Bullets, Capitals and, eventually, the Nationals.

Disclosure No. 2: The Washington Post columns of Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser and Thomas Boswell were a part of my daily reading routine from the time I was in kindergarten. I've never met Wilbon, but I've always heard good things about him from folks I know in sports media.

Disclosure No. 3: Though we're not texting each other or hanging out on the weekends, I consider Steinberg a friend. I also happen to think he's the best sports blogger on the planet. Differing opinions are respected, but wrong. No one does it better.

With all that out of the way: Steinberg's posts were the blog equivalent of Hit 'Em Up. Wilbon was Ja Rule. If this had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped on Wednesday.

Wilbon did two thing that are baffling given his talent, experience and status: He didn't expect any blowback from ripping the town where he lives and works and then he continued sniping after he realized he was wrong. It was bizarre that he kept going at Steinberg, as if jokes about playing golf and cuddling up with Magic Johnson were egregiously over the line. You'd think being friends with the caustic Kornheiser for decades would have helped Wilbon get a thicker skin.

The irony of Wilbon complaining that Steinberg and Weinstein (who called Wilbon a sports carpetbagger for his ties to Chicago, Washington and Phoenix) were whining like little babies and hypersensitive in a post in which he was far whinier and acutely hypersensitive was almost surely lost on him. As was the fact that he talks about toeing a company line while getting angry with D.C. media personalities who don't take his words and strike them on tablets presented from the top of Mt. Pleasant.

To his credit, Wilbon eventually came to that realization. He wrote a thoughtful, sincere apology for his actions and posted it Friday night.

I'd never had any contentiousness with The Post's Dan Steinberg nor ESPN's Bram Weinstein before this. In fact, we've all enjoyed not just professional relationships but really good ones. To whatever extent those are damaged, I apologize.

Although I don't agree with the things they said about me, their criticism of my comments to the Magazine are totally fair. They did what I've done for years and years as a columnist: they righteously skewered a public figure who said something dumb.

Wilbon also apologized for calling D.C. terrible (or being misquoted on it), which he didn't need to do. If that's his opinion, have at it. The entire concept of what makes a great sports town is greatly flawed in the first place. Like most sports cities, D.C. is great at supporting a winner and not so great when the teams are bad. And in case you haven't noticed, it's been bad for nearly 20 years.