MEET CELEBS, GET FAME & FORTUNE--JUST DON'T VOTE FOR THE YANKEE.

YOU WANT TO BE FAMOUS? EASY. JUST FAIL TO VOTE JETER #1--FAME & FORTUNE FOLLOW HERE: THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST DAY IN SOME LESSER KNOWN BBWAA MEMBERS' LIVES. (There's precedent for this statement). Would John Harper have an excuse to publicize himself today in the NY Daily News were it not for this media created subject? No. It's a free flying excuse to tout HIMSELF AND SOME OTHER PHONY VOTERS WHO OFFER NO PROOF WHATSOEVER FOR THEIR STATEMENTS. You're just supposed to take their word for it.

• Mr. Harper, the issue is news organizations that still permit employees to vote on baseball awards. It's an ethically unjustifiable practice, period, on many levels. You try to drum up publicity power for yourself and others who otherwise wouldn't have it. (That only works if fans are stupid). Their "opinions" ARE NOT THE ISSUE. THERE'S NO PROOF OF OVERSIGHT AND PLENTY OF PROOF OF INCOMPETENCE. SINCE THEY WON'T POLICE THEMSELVES, NEWS ORGANIZATIONS MUST DO SO IMMEDIATELY.

Harper's set-up and thesis just stoke prejudice. He titles his article "Writers Block," then proceeds to jumble and contradict himself throughout.

• "The question, amidst all of the fallout over the American League MVP vote on Tuesday, is simple: Can anyone outside of New York ever fully appreciate what Derek Jeter means to the Yankees?

The simple answer is no. But that's the nature of baseball. Statistically-oriented as the sport may be, you often can't get a complete picture of a player's value, for better or worse, without seeing him play on an everyday basis over 162 games.

But that doesn't mean Justin Morneau wasn't a deserving MVP winner."

• THAT'S NOT THE POINT HARPER.

"As a slugger on a team of punch-hitters, his impact in having a huge year for the AL-Central winning Twins was obvious.

Yet it's no secret that many people around baseball have some level of contempt for the Yankees, seeing their huge payroll as an unfair advantage toward making the playoffs for 12 straight seasons."

• HARPER, HAVE YOU ASKED THEM HOW THEY LIKE THE $100 million IN REVENUE SHARING AND LUXURY TAX THE YANKEES GAVE THEM THIS YEAR? I didn't think so. OR ABOUT PLAYERS THAT REFUSE TO PLAY IN NY FOR ANY PRICE BECAUSE OF THE ADDED PRESSURE? No, I guess not.

"Since Jeter has become the symbol of the Yankees, you have to ask: are people around the country sick of hearing that it takes some sort of special training to appreciate the Yankee shortstop's nuances, and if so, is the MVP vote proof of a backlash to what they dismiss as New York hype?

In general, baseball writers deserve more credit than that."

• HARPER, YOU PROCEED TO CONTRADICT YOUR OWN STATEMENT WITH THE EXAMPLE OF A BUFFOON WHO VOTED JETER #6, SHOWED HIS IGNORANCE TO A LARGE RADIO & TV AUDIENCE, BUT IS ECSTATIC BECAUSE HE'S NOW AN INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITY, IN A VOTE THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED FOR ANY REASON. HE IS IN A SPECIAL WRITERS' HALL OF FAME. HOW CAN YOU DENY THAT?

"The vast majority does its homework and takes these votes very seriously. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times proved to be an all-too visible exception when he went on the Mike & The Mad Dog radio show on Tuesday to explain voting Jeter 6th on his MVP ballot, and came off as badly uninformed on the merits of Jeter's season.

Joe Christenson, who covers the Twins for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and voted for winner Justin Morneau over Jeter, offers a more reasonable take on the subject."

• SORRY, HARPER, YOU'RE ABOUT TO GO DOWN IN FLAMES FOR BRINGING THIS GUY UP AS SOME KIND OF PROOF FOR YOURSELF.

"He admits that talk of Jeter being overrated is practically a fact of life in the Midwest, yet says it's demeaning to think that baseball writers can't see past such talk.

"I'd be lying to say there's not an anti-Jeter sentiment in the Midwest," Christenson said yesterday. "It's there. But the fallacy here is that the writers would allow that type of feeling among fans get in the way of their voting for the MVP.""

• JOHN HARPER, YOU DIDN'T DO YOUR HOMEWORK. JOE CHRISTENSEN WAS INTERVIEWED ON XM 175 ON SEPT. 19, 2006 ON THE SUBJECT OF THE MVP VOTE. I QUOTED HIS WORDS IN MY SUMMARY OF THAT INTERVIEW ON THIS BLOG:
• 'Then Christensen explains to Charley why a player on the Twins deserves the MVP award. Obviously, the Twins have more than 1 player in contention for this. But, in conversation, Charley says to him, "Well, I offer you Derek Jeter," and gives a few reasons why. But, Christensen, A HALLOWED AWARDS VOTER ONLY BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE DON'T COMPLAIN, SAYS,
• No to Jeter, because he's on a "team of rich guys getting it done." SO, HERE'S YOUR OBJECTIVE, UNBIASED VOTER--BUT, NOW, HIS GREATEST REASON NOT TO VOTE FOR JETER, HE SAYS TO CHARLEY,

"WELL, THEY HAVE MARIANO RIVERA, LIKE YOU SAID." (said Christensen to minimize Jeter's contribution. Right.)

• Christensen, who a minute ago ignored Rivera, changed his mind and agreed with Charley about his worth, now uses the guy's presence on the team AS A REASON NOT TO VOTE FOR JETER.'
• SO HARPER, YOU FAILED TO POINT OUT CHRISTENSEN'S OWN RECENT COMMENTS TO HIM. HE SAID IT WOULD BE A 'FALLACY' TO ASCRIBE CERTAIN BEHAVIORS TO HIM, BUT HE JUST PUBLICLY ADMITTED THEM.

"We're the ones who make a mockery of guys who don't play the game right. More than anybody, we appreciate a guy like Jeter, and the way he plays the game. But it's not like he got beat by some joke of MVP pick. Morneau was a legitimate pick.""

• HARPER, THAT'S NOT THE POINT. YOU PROVE YOU'RE A TOOL. NO ONE SAID THE MINNEAPOLIS GUY WAS NO GOOD. YOU JUST DROPPED THE BALL.

"Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, who also voted Morneau and Jeter 1-2, expresses similar appreciation for Jeter's play but said he couldn't overlook Morneau's impact on a down-to-the-wire race for a playoff spot. Noting that Morneau hit .348 in September, Gonzales said he waited until after the final game to vote."

• WOW! HE GIVES EXTRA CREDIT FOR DOWN TO THE WIRE PERFORMANCE? EXCUSE ME, WHICH WRITER GAVE 'IN THE STRETCH' OR DOWN TO THE WIRE CREDIT TO MARIANO RIVERA IN 2005, WHEN THE TEAM FINISHED DEAD EVEN WITH BOSTON? ZERO, AND IF YOU'D MENTIONED SUCH A CONCEPT, YOU WOULD'VE BEEN TOLD IT'S NOT ALLOWED TO BE USED.

"To me, Jeter is a special player," said Gonzales. "I just think Morneau sustained a higher level of production.""

• HARPER, YOU'RE BIASED AND LAZY YOURSELF, YOU DROPPED THE BALL AGAIN. NO FOLLOW THROUGH ON THIS 'SUSTAINED' HIGH LEVEL.

What also hurts Jeter may not be a New York backlash as much as the perception the Yankees can't lose with their star-studded lineup. Indeed, while voters found Alex Rodriguez's huge numbers last year too much to ignore in voting him the MVP, Jeter's relatively low power numbers made it easier for voters to justify someone like Morneau."

• SO HARPER'S NOW CHANGING HIS ARGUMENT SAYING JETER WAS OVERLOOKED.

"You know he's valuable," Christenson said of Jeter, "but even with the injuries the Yankees had, there was still a ton of talent on that team.""

• RIGHT, JOE. SEE AGAIN YOUR WORDS ON YOUR 9/19/06 INTERVIEW ON XM. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACT TO THIS CELEBRITY.

"Here, again, you come back to the question of needing to see players on a daily basis. In Jeter's case, he held the Yankees together when Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and Robinson Cano were out with injuries and A-Rod was going weeks without a big hit.

And, no, I'm not flip-flopping here."

• YES YOU ARE FLIP FLOPPING HARPER. YOU'RE USING THIS SPACE TO PUSH YOUR AGENDA, NOW YOU'RE ABOUT TO BRING UP AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SUBJECT, WHICH YOU NEVER MENTIONED WITH ANY OF THE OTHER GUYS YOU PUBLICIZE IN THIS ARTICLE FOR NOT HAVING VOTED JETER #1.

"As I wrote in a column after the Tigers series, I still believe Jeter's indifference toward A-Rod this season was unbecoming of a captain and created a negative energy around the Yankees that hurt them when they needed to rally around one another in October. But that doesn't change what he did on the field.

When the votes were due at the end of the regular season, I would have voted for Jeter."

• OH, SURE, HARPER. FROM THIS ARTICLE ALONE, YOU SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF CLEAR THINKING OR THOROUGH, UNBIASED REPORTING. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE YOU NOW?

"However, it's worth noting that only one of the two writers voting from the New York chapter voted Jeter over Morneau."

• NO SURPRISE, HARPER. I WOULD'VE BET MONEY ANY VOTER FROM THE STAR LEDGER WOULD'VE CANNED JETER FROM #1. EVER HEAR A GUY NAMED DAN GRAZIANO SPILL HIS GUTS ABOUT JETER (WORKS FOR THE STAR LEDGER)? NO, I GUESS YOU HAVEN'T.

"So maybe there's no getting around the subjective nature of the voting."

• OH, SO WHAT YOUR PAL CHRISTENSEN SAID WASN'T TRUE? THAT MAYBE HE REALLY ISN'T CAPABLE OF BEING UNBIASED AND YOU JUST WASTED ALL OUR TIME WITH A PUFF PIECE WITH NO THESIS.

"Some people think Jeter would be just another shortstop if he weren't a Yankee. Yet in Boston, of all places, many of the writers think Jeter is peerless."

• HARPER, AGAIN YOU FALL APART. OF THE BOSTON VOTERS, ONLY 1 VOTED JETER #1.

"Of course, in a related story, they also hate A-Rod. But anyway ..."

• PURE FILLER, HARPER. BASEBALL WRITERS ARE OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTIVE OF A-ROD.

""To me Jeter is as close to a perfect ballplayer as you're going to get," said Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald. "He can do anything you need to help win a game.

"But you have to remember, I've seen an awful lot of Jeter the last few years. If you don't get to see a player all the time, you have to focus on the numbers. If you do that, it's hard for Jeter to win the MVP."

This vote was proof: appreciation for Jeter only goes so far." Article from NY Daily News, 11/22/06

• This article was proof: this voting system must end immediately. And you can forget Arod's vote. The voters chose him long before he went to the Yankees, and regularly use him as a lame excuse to prove they're not biased against Yankees. Weak and malleable people accept this and shut-up. They'll accept anything. This excuse is supposed to allow them to keep rejecting Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. Period. NOT IF THE VOTE IS CANCELLED.

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