Buzz Bissinger, the talented author (Friday Night Lights), was so full of vitriol that it seemed his head might pull a Scanners during a segment of HBO's Costas Now that debuted Tuesday night. The discussion of sports blogs featured Will Leitch, founder of the popular Deadspin site, and Browns receiver Braylon Edwards, who had to wonder what he had gotten into.

There are lots of valid criticisms to be made of sports blogs and the blogging culture, but Bissinger's message was obscured by how he delivered his sputtering attack on Leitch with such as "The quality of the writing is despicable. ... You're sort of like Jimmy Olsen on Percocet [which I thought was a pretty funny line]. ... You say you don't want to be in the press box because facts get in the way. ... You're going to dumb us down." Check out the whole segment here. (Warning: strong language. It's HBO.)

Costas presented a much more reasonable approach, opening the door to a discussion of how the crass tone and traffic in innuendo among some blogs could be said to demean athletes and sports and lower the level of fandom to the gutter. Leitch certainly maintained a civil tone and appeared ready to engage in such a debate. Too bad that's not what we got.