Disagree totally about Buddy. Did he champion Mike Ditka? Absolutely. Was he wrong? Absolutely. (And incidentally I dropped my season tickets when the Saints hired Saints.) Was he a personality? Yes. But he also considered himself a serious member of the news media who said and wrote what he believed because he believed that was the right thing to do. He was not one, like so many sportswriters generations ago in the tabloid newspapers or today, who said or wrote the controversial because it sold newspapers or generated clicks. Yes, he wore a bag over his head on the air. The bag wearing was entertainment. But the message sent by the bag wearing was powerful and honest.
Call Mike Detillier and Ken Trahan on their radio show today and ask what they thought of Diliberto's integrity as a sports journalist. Were Pete Finney alive, I would say ask him as well.
And what hard questions to ask and how they should be asked is an art. I concede that sometimes it is a waste of time to ask certain questions. In fact, given the non-responsive cliches offered by so many in sports to so many questions, the utility of asking any questions to a losing coach is small. But reporters do need quotes for their stories. They are in a sense representatives of the fans and can ask questions the fans would like to ask. And sometimes the absurdly vacuous answer given to a challenging question is revealing.