Looks like the A’s won the big trade, with Holliday and others knocking Greg Smith around. I like Greg, but it seems like he could be in for some trouble in Colorado…
From Slusser:
Travis Buck made a trip to the emergency room Sunday morning because his left ear was plugged, and after a case of vertigo last year, he was worried about a recurrence. The ear was flushed out, Buck’s equilibrium is fine, and he won’t miss any time.
Perhaps pressure from high altitudes got to him after trying out this new business:
Our pilot is VERY discreet and all flights are handled with the UTMOST confidentiality. West Georgia Regional is a relatively “quiet” airport with little traffic, so getting in and out very discreetly is no problem at all.
Apparently, links are red with the current format. boo.
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FREE KRAUT! 
T-shirt for MaEl fans
See them all here
Hmmm, why are these links red and the other ones blue?
The links are blue for me.
Well, I’m glad the links aren’t red, but I think this means I have vertigo.
You and Roy Williams.
need to cut back on the sildenafil
Links go from blue to red. They change color after you click on them.
In posts but not in comments – weird.
My html is a little rusty, but let’s see if I remember how to dump links:
Joe Posnanski started a new blogspot all about the Future of Newspapers. The most recent post is a link to a long and thoughtful essay about newspapers by NYU prof Clay Shirky.
There has been lots of interesting reaction to that Shirky essay. When I read it, I was reminded of this Jeff Fletcher response to a Dave Cameron post concerning the demise of newspaper-subsidized baseball journalism:
Shirky has this to say:
I’m not entirely sure how to think of this in terms of sports journalism.
1. There is a clear “social good” imperative for (non-sports) investigative journalism: It’s important that good reporters are out there telling us about state/local budget politics, CIA black sites, TARP fund disposition, and so on.
2. While investigative journalism is the most “valuable” thing newspapers have to offer, it’s also costly, time/labor/experience-intensive, and maybe not a great ad-seller.
3. The blogosphere is really good at niche-analysis. If you are a reasonably savvy Internet navigator and have the time to spare, you probably do not read the op-ed pages of the Post or the Times, because that stuff is, by and large, inferior to what you can find (for free) in any number of blogs or on-line journals. But reporting is another matter entirely, because of #2.
4. Okay, at this point I’m just rambling, and not talking about sports at all. Focus, dammit!
5. Right. Here are my questions about sports journalism: Will we miss it? What does it actually consist of? What do sports consumers really want from their news sources?
The cynical part of my brain wonders how vital locker room cliche transcription is to my sports fan experience, and whether it’s necessary to fly on the team plane in order to compile injury updates and anonymous front office quotes about trades that probably won’t happen.
Whereas the humble part of my brain (admittedly, this part is smaller, and gets beat up a lot) realizes that despite the abundance of fluff, team reporters do provide much of the fodder for discussions we have on this site and elsewhere (take Slusser away, and we’d only ever talk about chimp attacks and overpriced aerial romance).
So I don’t know.
I do know that (good) sports reporting requires less expertise/capital investment than, say, (good) Middle East reporting. I also know that boxscores and game recaps are a big part of what fans want from their news sources, and those are already available in a billion different places. So what’s left? Analysis, “inside info”, and player profiles/interviews? I guess the question is how valuable those inside info/player profile functions are (to fans), and whether or not they could be seamlessly executed by (unpaid?) non-professionals. I’m inclined to say “not very” and “maybe”, but really I have no idea. If all newspaper sports sections folded tomorrow, and we divvied up their press passes among the various team bloggers, what would happen?
(Postscript: I am amused by the aesthetic half-assedness of Shirky’s blog)
On the last question, what’ll happen is the fluff/profiles/injury news will come from people like Urban instead of people like Slusser. Besides occasionally needing a stiff drink (of water, naturally) to stop thinking about the conflicting interests, I think life will go on.
That is my sense as well.
I think really what we’re talking about is a shift from something we now call “journalism” to something that is very similar but that we admit out loud is “fan loyalty/enthusiasm cultivation/buzz perpetuation”.
Articles about how Player X overcame long odds to succeed or has a beautiful family or really just wants to work hard every day for the fans shape athletes into accessible, relatable guys and gals to whom we (as fans) can form personal attachments. Their function, ultimately, is to make us want to buy jerseys.
Similarly (but differently), “sourced” anonymous information – scouts who claim some pitcher has lost 5mph off his fastball, executives musing about “trade targets”, players darkly alluding to clubhouse friction, etc. – has, in my opinion anyway, precious little value, and exists mostly to manufacture the impression that Something Important is always going on (a la ESPN, which is basically TMZ without the [NSFW] naughty helicopter rides).
Anyway, that’s all marketing, not journalism. And actually, when MLB unabashedly subsidizes it (Urban), it seems like a more honest state of affairs.
Also, two format suggestions:
1: Reply links at the bottom of comments.
2: 74mk comment tracker so I can ignore the rest of you idi… informed bloggers.
The major difference between sports reporting and other types of reporting is that one deals with (and I hate to go all Gradgrind here) facts that are indisputable.
Consider:
1. Chavez went 2 for 4 today, with a single and a double. He drove in two runs and was 2 for 2 with RISP. He made three putouts from third and had no errors.
2. Nixon met with the Chinese Premier today. They discussed trade relations. It was reported that their discussion was geared toward lifting thirty year-old sanctions that the US has placed on China.
Now, what really happened in that meeting or what was truly discussed often is not reported. Moreover, even if it was, why they said or did what did would be very open to interpretation.
Regardless of how they try–Geren or Beane or Chavez–they have no plausible deniability of Chavez’s performance in the game. One of the beauties of sports (particularly baseball, IMO) is that all you really need are the stats and the analysis/argument/conversation can happen between virtually anyone.
Sports reporting is essentially superfluous, but there are several who would argue that sports themselves are superfluous.
Good points, all.
Plenty of stuff that happens on the field is open to interpretation, but as you say, “all you really need are the stats and the analysis/argument/conversation can happen between virtually anyone.” Though I guess I would add that it helps to watch the games as well.
I think a lot of the insidery reporting we call “sports journalism” is self-ratifying; sports journalists exist and collect paychecks, so by default we accord them access and a measure of authority, they produce stuff, and we all decide it’s useful even if 90% of it isn’t (or could be just as efficiently culled by non-professionals).
Nixon’s biggest mistake was … not getting the surgery earlier in his career.
1. Isn’t the subterfuge a significant part of the “Mile High” thrill/appeal? I don’t know, I’m thinking a souvenir sheet and a certificate of accomplishment might kind of deaden the experience.
2. Shysterball is linking to National Review now. Because I am a weak, flawed, incurious ideologue, I am unable to get past my head explosion to assess the merits of the argument, which concern the (possibly dubious) impact of spring training tourism on local economies in Arizona and Florida. But those of you who have attended spring training and/or possess a more mature temperament than I do and/or are interested in ballpark economics might wish to read on.
At this point, Florida can’t handle any more people in the winter. We’re full. The state will do fine without the spring training. Make it all cactus league. In fact, perhaps we could talk Arizona into taking a few of these snowbirds as well.
1. I would prefer to either do it and not get a certificate or not do it and get the certificate.
Although, more broadly, I would like to have certificates affirming that I did various things that I have done. For instance, I applied to Bob Jones University, but a lot of people don’t believe me including my dad who even fielded a call from them when they wanted the name of my pastor. Anyway, that would be a great certificate.
i always figured that you, being french, were unpastorized
how can one engage in “subterfuge” when one is not merely not below ground, but thousands of feet above it?
Subterfuge, stratosfuge, superfugees or preludenfugue, I fear you guys are overthinking it.
In contrast to Mr. Buck — could facelick girl be part of the answer for our Travis?
All of these, but no mention of a centrifuge?
That would be circular.
But I think we would all agree it is better than getting a certificate that shows you did NOT accomplish it.
You people are out of control. I tried following Kraut via email updates, but after the first 800 comments, I had to quit. Stop being so interesting!
in former soviet union, kraut tries to follow YOU
Bad monkey. There is do and there is not do. There is no try.
riposte FAIL: should have been “in former east germany, kraut tries to follow YOU”
Sorry, everyone, but I’m taken.
I’m surprised it didn’t happen in an AN game thread first.
seems like a recipe for an abusive marriage…
Entertaining follow up:
That reminds me of a great WoW video I once saw where two people were frantically having whatever-you-want-to-call-it sex and this guy made a complete joke out of the whole thing.
Point being, everything is always about sex.
I’d have sex with that comment.
If anyone wants a great movie-themed daily DLD … and I’m adding McWeeny’s blog to the blogroll, just because I can. He’s far and away the best film writer online. And, he’s a big fan of Joe vs the Volcano.
This guy posts infrequently, but when he does it’s usually interesting.
Especially this:
that’s a great link.
Too bad we don’t have sigs:
and of course:
Can we get sigs?
Avatars gone is one thing. But I like sigs.
+1. And while we are at it, can we get rid of “+1”?
Nope. Isn’t the whole idea no “getting rid” of stuff?
And as Drew promised, here’s his review of Joe vs the Volcano.
testing
Sorry, xbhaskarx, no animation goodness in the previewer.
Mile High Flights! Wow, hope they don’t hit any turbulence.
Or worse: There was a plane crash just after takeoff at San Carlos this Saturday. I flew overhead about three hours later, and the plane was still stuck in the mud at some crazy angle.
Or maybe this is just an excuse to try out my first FREE KRAUT! comment….awwwwwwww, FREE KRAUT!
anyone else feel that?
TWSS about your magnitude 4.
ok, sal, log off and turn away from your computer.
oof. I read that earlier today and winced. Fortunately for me, my son was born with the power of flight, so I let him wander off balconies all the time.
does that make you a small man in search of a balcony?
A pic of the dad can be seen here.
when xbx, mikeA and I get sick of this place, we should start a blog dedicated to free-market economics and David Lynch films, and call it Ludwig von Mise en Abyme.
This is old, and you’ve probably read it, but if you haven’t, you should, and even if you have, who knows, revisiting it may prove gratifying, though I suppose if you value cognitive efficiency it’s probably necessary (these days) to commit to a relentless winnowing of the (ever-burgeoning) online content cacophony, in which case a re-reading is out of the question and a first reading is a dicey proposition at best, given the ocean of more recent, more concise, and let’s face it more practical choices it’s queued up against. So maybe just flip a coin or something.
I’m not reading your post until you break it into a numbered list.
I would have gone with “ts;dr” myself
Heh heh. “Getting in and out”.