Oddly, when I've heard him on the radio or seen him on FSN he is not too bad. His columns, on the other hand, are painful like a root canal. I cant and wont suffer through them. He tries to be Rick Reilly and even the real version of Rick Reilly grates my nerves let alone a cheap knockoff.

This is a good observation. Souhan is on ESPN1500 every day at 2:05 pm and he's quite listenable. I think he tends toward hyperbole and bluster in the newspaper. Plus he gets to plug in multiple metaphors. He goes through metaphors like Madonna goes through condoms.

From my point of view he's smug and arrogant without any justification. He's spiteful. I've never seen him show a care about how his writing might affect his target. I dislike him because of these qualities.

 

In his defense though, he's not a journalist per se. He's a columnist.

Yeah, agreed. It's more of a "tone" think with Souhan. I never really read Barriero as a columnist, but having heard him extensively on the radio, I can't imagine it was much more extreme than that in print, as compared to him trying to drum up controversy 3-4 hours a day on the radio. Bump's negativity is too much for some people, but I'm usually a fan of his.

 

Souhan just sounds bitter. There's something about his tone that feels a little elitist, almost as if they flew in a New York Times writer who wasn't really a baseball fan and asked him to breakdown the flaws with the Twins. He's clearly experienced and "plugged in" to the issues with the team, but when you read him, you don't "hurt" with him the way you may joke with a buddy about how bad the team is, but laughing while you're talking about it. Souhan just feels like he needs to complain sometimes.