Why According to some Turntable extremists Pitch Control and Direct Drive is Sacrilege?

'extremists' answers your own question. I usually cross to the other side of the street.

In 70x the best most talented engineers worked in analog electronic industry.
Today best engineers work in Hi-Tech. Most of modern audio engineers are morons.
Modern main stream hi-end went far away from live music sound to virtual synthetic sound that doesn’t exist in real live. 

Dual solved the "direct drive" problems back in 1975 with the 701, just as Harry Pearson was "finding" it in the Technics turntables at the time.

@lewm wrote:

" I would point out that the modern trend in the most advanced belt-drive designs is to have an outboard motor controller. A subset of those devices incorporate a feedback mechanism that transmits platter speed errors back to the controller which then sends a message to the motor to correct the error. In addition, we have the recent outboard devices, like the Phoenix Engineering pieces, that set up a feedback mechanism for platter speed control and can be added to even older belt-driven or idler-drive turntables to improve speed stability. So, it hardly seems logical to disparage direct-drive turntables for incorporating a quartz-locked feedback mechanism that makes speed corrections. (Does Fremer realize this?)"

I’m afraid you don’t really know what your’e writing about. The Eagle-Roadrunner combo, which I use, takes a measure of speed, and therefore corrections to a 20 pound platter, about once every three revolutions. It takes several more revolutions for the correction(s) to have full effect.  A very smooth process.  This is very different than the continuous and instantaneous micro corrections made to a relatively light DD platter. As I wrote above, it is possible to design even a direct drive with corrections to avoid the the discernible micro corrections and sound good; it has been done for generations. And yes, Fremer realizes this!

And it is also very possible that some people cannot hear the differences. It happens all the time in audio.

Fremer is a salesmen, he is not an engineer.

For most of audiophiles "DD sound" associated with Technics 1200.
One friend of mine who had tens of vintage DD, ID and BD turntables in his home called Technics 1200 the worst DD turntable ever made.
"Digital" sound of some DD turntables came from "cogging effect" of multi-pole core electrical engines but not from speed adjustment. Coreless motor DD with descent speed controller and light platter sounds very "analog".
Belt drive lover have to knew that vinyl lacquer cutting for vinyl is done on DD turntable.
So guys, in any case you listen hated DD.