Jim Caple - Who's Not Now

It has been a couple of years since I've read anything by Jim Caple on ESPN.com's Page 2. I'm sure Jim Caple is a nice guy but he's a baseball writer who's not informative and he's a wannabe humor writer who's not funny. Sorry - that's the truth.

I only bring this up because I was reminded of why I don't read Caple after sampling his latest piece titled Shut Up, Red Sox Nation.

Caple complains that Red Sox fans have become obnoxious since winning the World Series and explains that he used to be a Red Sox fan. My question immediately after hearing Caple list his bona fides as a Red Sox fan was to ask, "What team are you a fan of now?" My guess is that once Caple became a sportswriter that he stopped being a fan and started being a critic. It seems like he stopped rooting for things and started rooting against things. He's become the anti-Peter Gammons whose love of the game and knowledge of the game are enhanced by the fact that Gammons never stopped being a fan.

Seriously - read Caple's column and ask yourself if he comes off as humorous and informative or if he just sounds mean-spirited and negative. Can you point out anything positive in Caple's article? People who are negative all the time tend to get tuned out and I guess that I've tuned Caple out.

Oh and the second part of your column where talk about Wes Littleton getting a save in the Rangers' 30-3 victory - didn't Tim Kurkjian cover that the night it happened over a week ago? Jim Caple - your baseball insight is - to use an ESPN phrase - so NOW.

Caple also commits my pet peeve of being a sportswriter who brings politics into their columns. Comments like, "If only we had that sort of foresight before invading Iraq" tick me off. Hey Jim - does this mean I should mark you down as a person who thinks Saddam Hussein should have been kept in power. What were your stances on the Oil for Food programs and enforcing the No-Fly zones? Should I mark you down as a person who supports state torture (including rape rooms) and mass graves?

I'd suggest that Caple write about sports when he's supposed to be writing about sports and leave politics to people who write about politics but what's the difference - I doubt I'll be reading anything else that Jim Caple writes.