Never one to mince words, former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner is now going after dorks.

It started with a Twitter response to John Clark of ̶C̶o̶m̶c̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶S̶p̶o̶r̶t̶s̶N̶e̶t̶  NBC Sports Philadelphia, who shared a story about the Phillies now having 14 analytics people on the staff:

“Sports are being drive and taken over by computer nerds and geeks who wouldn’t even know which way a jock faces!”

That prompted a couple of interesting exchanges, this one with a guy who has six followers and a profile picture of him holding a tropical pineapple drink:

I’m not sure Seth Joyner sucked “back in the day.” He was, after all, an 8th round draft pick who went to three Pro Bowls and later snagged a Super Bowl ring.

He’s a “tell it like it is” guy who I’ve found to be pretty good on 97.5 the Fanatic, both during Monday’s afternoon show and the evening remote he does with Devon Givens. I haven’t seen much of him on TV.

But he’s certainly old school in his view of the game.

Another exchange, this with PhillyVoice writer Matt Mullin:

I mean, neither of these guys is wrong. Like most things in life, the “true revelation” is somewhere in the middle. Analytics provide another tool for teams to use while also relying on tried and true methods of on-site scouting, interviews, game film, and just using your god damn eyes. We’re not playing football with a calculator. There’s a human element involved.

Is there a “smart and analytical” person in Philadelphia who “also played sports and knows how to properly wear a jock?”

Maybe.

How many Eagles beat writers played in the NFL? How many Phillies writers played Major League Baseball?  I don’t think any local writer is out there claiming to know more about the game than someone who actually played. That’s why we put guys like Joyner, Ike Reese, Jon Ritchie, and Brian Westbrook on radio and TV, so they can explain it for us.

But it doesn’t mean that all writers are unathletic geeks. It’s not just “I played the sport!” versus “you didn’t play the sport!” Some of us played sports in high school and college and still play at the recreational level. My Executive Producer at CBS 3 was an offensive lineman at Lafayette. Beasley Reece, our Sports Director, was an ex-pro who played for three different teams.

Others never played a sport in their entire life. I won’t name names; you can probably figure it out on your own. There’s another layer inside the press box that people don’t think about.

Anyhow, Joyner went back to the well when someone picked up on his response to the Colin Cowherd nonsense:

“None football people have hijacked football!”

Joyner is right about one thing; sports writers generally are huge nerds. Most are awkward and clunky and have trouble engaging in basic conversation, especially some of the men who cover women’s sports. Talk about a creep show.