It's rather heartbreaking to know that a writer who can produce a piece like this can turn around an produce a piece like this -- and not see (after an email exchange) the disconnect.

Ben responds.

Haters like Jeff Pearlman of SI.com have made their case before so his article in SI.com today is nothing original, nothing new. You could substitute the writer’s byline with dozens of others who have said the same exact thing over and over again. Maybe not to the extent of comparing the WNBA succeeding to “dogs speaking fluent Spanish” like Pearlman does, but it’s happened before. And it’s tired. And ignorant. And, unfortunately, not surprising.