🔤 The problem with spelling out your grudges
Two stories show the danger of writing your resentments down, and in one case, publishing them for the world to see
As a sports reporter, you will occasionally encounter athletes who are something less than polite.
Most are fine.
Some are bona fide jerks with a strong streak of high-school bully.
The same pattern holds true in the larger world, I suppose. The difference is that as a reporter, you have a pretty clear path to striking back: You can write about what a jerk so-and-so was.
That’s exactly what sports writer Jeff Pearlman did in 2008 with Will Clark, a former Major League Baseball player. But hearing him talk about how he now views that story shows that acting on a grudge usually leads to regret.
🖊️ The fleeting satisfaction of the poisoned pen
In 2008, sports writer Jeff Pearlman published the sort of broadside attack that I'd always imagined writing about my stepfather. The way Jeff feels about that piece now is particularly telling.
📙 Throw the book at her
Amy Zanelli, a district court judge in Pennsylvania, kept a literal book of grudges in her office.
This has become part of a professional problem for her, as she has been charged with violating the state’s rules of conduct for district judges.
According to the charging documents, Judge Zanelli “possessed what she termed a ‘Book of Grudges’ in her office, which had the appearance of an ancient leatherbound tome with papyrus pages.”
First of all, shout-out to whoever wrote this document because “leatherbound tome with papyrus pages” is flat-out lyrical.
Now, I must confess that I possess a 5-by-7 notebook that has “PETTY VENDETTAS” printed in shiny gold on the cover. However, I’m not a district court judge.
Justice is supposed to be blind, right? Not seething with anger.
The judge had allegedly made some entries in the book, including referring to one local attorney as “just a dick.”
Other issues spelled out in the charging papers included a calendar with sexually explicit jokes, her use of profanity and unauthorized absences. There was also an instance in which Judge Zanelli ordered a defendant, who was representing himself, out of the courtroom during testimony. In fact, she moved his chair into the hallway, told him to sit, and then denied him the chance to cross-examine the witness.
There has been no resolution to the charges, and Zanelli continues to sit as a judge in the Bethlehem area.