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Friday, October 31, 2008

A sign of hope--football season is half over.

How great is that! If football season is half over--and that's what they're saying--baseball will be here soon. Phil Allard's turning point is the day after the World Series ends. It marks the countdown to spring training.

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Corruption deepens in Communist Chinese food chain

"Chinese regulators are widening their investigation into contaminated food amid growing signs that the toxic industrial chemical melamine has leached into the nation's animal feed supplies, posing health risks to consumers.... China is also one of the world's largest exporters of food and food ingredients, including meats, seafood, beverages
  • and vitamins.

Melamine was banned as an animal feed additive in China in July 2007. And last year, United States regulators put tough restrictions on the amount of melamine allowed in food products.

But interviews on Friday, and over the past year, with several Chinese chemical dealers who sell melamine suggests that

  • melamine scrap, the substantially cheaper waste left over after producing melamine,

"I heard some melamine dealers still sell to animal feed producers," said Qin Huaizhen, manager at the Gaocheng Kaishun Chemical Co. in city of Shijiazhuang,

  • though he insisted he has never sold melamine to animal feed producers. "In Shandong province many animal feed manufacturers buy melamine scrap."

Two other melamine dealers in east and south China said that

Some food-safety experts are perplexed as to how melamine was allowed to seep into China's food supplies after melamine-tainted animal feed exports from China were blamed last year

  • touching off international trade and food safety disputes between the two countries."...
No baseball player should be forced to travel to or play in Communist China for obvious reasons. (sm)

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WFAN's Mark Chernoff adds duties

"Mark Chernoff, Vice President of Sports Programming, CBS Radio

  • has been named Vice President of Programming for
via Radio Daily News
  • Get those tapes over to 'Chernie'...

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Not busting it to first base in the World Series

(NY Post, Phil Mushnick):"How many of us, blessed with the ability and coaching to play major league baseball, wouldn't run reasonably hard to first base?
  • who might have made it to first, second or third but
  • In the World Series."

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

A-rod, Madonna met at Seinfeld's

The meeting took place on October 21, per The Sun: "A Hamptons source said: “A-Rod arrived at the airport by helicopter and was whisked away in one of Seinfeld’s Porsches.

“It is believed they all went to Seinfeld’s mansion for a discreet party for a few hours, before they all left separately.”

The meeting was on October 21, six days after The Sun revealed Madonna and Guy, 40, were to divorce. Madonna took a break from her world tour."...via Newsday blog

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Brad Penny throws punch at Hollywood club-goer

"TMZ has video of Brad Penny at the Key Club in West Hollywood, taking a swing on the sidewalk at some well-heeled clubgoer....
  • Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Penny threw the punch left-handed, so the National League will once again soon be enjoying the comfort that is his arrow-straight 88-mph BP fastball. That is though only if he re-signs with the team. But if it’s up to GM Ned Colletti, he’ll no doubt receive an enormous raise."

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Google cancels afternoon tea at NYC offices amid tough times

"Google is going on a diet when it comes to spending on a smorgasbord of food perks for employees living high on the hog in its New York office.

  • The online search giant issued a memo to its Big Apple workforce earlier this week noting slimmed-down cafeteria hours and food selection as part of an effort "to find areas where efficiency can be improved."

The move, first reported by the tech blog ValleyWag, comes as Google has seen its stock sink more than 48 percent, or $333.48 per share this year. ...

However, the company said there still may be "occasional surprise 'snack attacks' in the future" - similar to what employees get in Google's Mountain View, Calif. offices.

  • The company also is creating new rules for feeding guests and
  • discouraging employees from taking meals to go."...
  • via MichaelSavage.com
  • photo NY Post

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Burwell added to St. Louis FM sportstalk, 1/1/09 start

"Sports/Talk 101.1 adds to its staff with nationally recognized sports writer and broadcaster Bryan Burwell (who) has been added to the station’s lineup... Bonneville's and St. Louis' Sports/Talk 101.1 goes on the air January 1." via Radio Daily News

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Baseball expert instructs political media about use of polls

"Too often, (Nate) Silver told me, polls are used to provide a "veneer of science" to media narratives.
  • Whether in baseball or politics, "the basic problem is that
There simply isn't enough skepticism of polls, Silver said -- especially exit polls, which often miss the mark. That's why he believes journalists when they do report the results of a poll, they should strive to place them in context with other surveys.

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Media knows it's a mob but thinks it doesn't matter (Babe Ruth's daughter would disagree)

The brethren in politics live in a bubble as they often do in baseball reporting (for good reason). 'Slate' maintains 'opinion is not bias' and anyone who disagrees is just wrong.
  • They have 4 mob cohorts to excuse their orientation:
  • "young" in age,
  • friends of people who advise Obama, and finally
  • the fact that they are "journalists."
If that is not enough, they say nothing can be done about this set of allegiances: Most of our staff and contributors live in extremely Democratic cities on the East and West Coast.
  • (It's worth noting that our lone McCain voter, Deputy Managing Editor Rachael Larimore, lives in Ohio.)
Slate's voters tend to skew young, and all polls show younger voters favoring the Democrat.
  • Also, a significant number of former Slate contributors...
  • are now advising Obama.
It's understandable that our affection for them and respect for their views may be accruing to Obama. (He's taking Jason and Austan's advice on the economy? Then he must be pretty smart.)
  • And, finally,
  • to quote (former Slate editor Michael) Kinsley:
'No doubt t is true that most journalists vote Democratic, just as most business executives (including most media owners) vote Republican, though neither tendency is as pronounced as their respective critics believe.
  • This is a natural result of the sort of people who are attracted to various careers....
unless conservative press critics would like to see the media institute a political quota system, favoring conservatives over better-qualified liberals (affirmative action for opponents of affirmative action).
  • says nothing one way or another about their tendency to be biased.

It does suggest that when political bias does creep in, it is more likely to tilt liberal than conservative. But there are so many

  • other pressures and prejudices built into the news—including occasional overcompensation for fear of appearing biased—

that raw political bias plays a fairly small role. …Of course it is not easy to persuade folks of this, and many will never believe it. No doubt it is easier just to

  • keep your political opinions secret and imply that you don't have any.

But that absurdity or dishonesty itself undermines your credibility. Or it ought to."*******

(Yes, there are other 'groups' in other walks of life that influence things, but none as great as this. Even mentioning the subject of news peoples' 'fandom' elicits immediate ridicule. One might charge that Republicans and/or conservatives (2 different entities) have their own media groups.

  • That would be a bad analogy however, as the so-called Republican/media elites are very critical of the Republican ticket. You can read all about it in democrat press and sites). sm
P.S. On the power of mobs, Babe Ruth's daughter:

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Australia to implement internet blocking, no opt-out for users

"AUSTRALIA will join (Communist) China in implementing mandatory censoring of the internet under plans put forward by the Federal Government.

  • The revelations emerge as US tech giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and a coalition of human rights and other groups unveiled a code of conduct aimed at safeguarding online freedom of speech and privacy.
The government has declared it will not let internet users opt out of the proposed national internet filter."...via Drudge Report

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October Phest

Back cover Newsday, 10/30/08

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Huffington Post writer stabbed ex-partner 220 times with screwdriver

It's wise to be cautious around members of the media. And their employers, considering this one still feels lucky to have the brutal murderer on their team (last paragraph). The outlet is quite an influential one, too:

After committing the gruesome crime, Carol Anne Berger, an election correspondent for the Huffington Post, reported her former flame missing, then fatally shot herself a day later, police told the Web site....

Kalish had been stabbed with a Phillips-head screwdriver 220 times, he said, with wounds concentrated in the back of her head, back, arms and face. A blow to Kalish's neck likely killed her, Chapman told the Web site.

  • Burger and Kalish recently had hired an attorney to sell their house and split the revenue. Kalish had met another woman and spent hours absorbed in cyber-dates with her new companion, PalmBeachPost.com reported.

"We are all very lucky to have Carol Anne be part of the Off the Bus family," a Huffington Post statement read, referring to the Web site's special election section. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of Carol Anne Berger and Jessica Kalish."

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Top newspaper daily circulation, 1998-2008

Increases 2008-1998
  • USA Today (M-Thur.) 2,293,310 (2008) 1,653,428 (1998)
  • Wall St. Journal 2,011,999 (2008) 1,740,450 (1998)
  • New York Post 625,421 (2008) 437,467 (1998)
Decreases 2008-1998
  • New York Times 1,000,665 (2008) 1,066,658 (1998)
  • Los Angeles Times 739,147 (2008) 1,067,540 (1998)
  • New York Daily News 632,595 (2008) 723,143 (1998)
  • Washington Post 622,714 (2008) 759,122 (1998)
  • Chicago Tribune (W-F) 516,032 (2008) 673,508 (1998)
  • Houston Chronicle (M-Sat.) 448,271 (2008) 550,763 (1998)
  • Newsday 377,517 (2008) 572,444 (1998)
SOURCE: Editor & Publisher, 10/28/08; 1998 figures are for the 6 months ending Sept., 1998 which was "before ABC dictated that all papers must report a Monday-Friday average." "Publishers were allowed to pencil in daily averages of their choice. On this list all averages are Monday-Friday unless otherwise noted." 2008 figures are the six month period ending Sept. 2008. All figures are ABC.
  • via SportsBusinessDaily, Daily Stat

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Is your media partner going bust? Seminar Thursday...

"With many media companies wondering how they’ll be affected by the outcome of Interep’s bankruptcy court hearing on Thursday morning, "Bring your questions and we will answer as many of them as time will allow." via RadioDailyNews

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Mark Cuban backs BailoutSleuth.com

Cubs bidder Mark Cuban backs a blog shedding light on the taxpayer/bank bailout, BailoutSleuth.com. So far, it has aimed to find out what has been blacked out by Hank Paulson on current documents. People interested in sunlight approve. That probably would not include Selig, Du Puy, Reinsdorf, et al.

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With help from the media, language is used to defeat a nation.

  • And it's all happening so quietly and sweetly...how bad could it be?
"The 2001 audio tape of Barack Obama describing the Constitution as a document of "negative liberties" reveals an utterly Orwellian Obama....
  • Only in our age of collective thinking and untidy language
  • could such a thing as "positive liberty" be conceived.
  • The state power to coerce is not liberty.
Notions like "positive liberty" are part of the web of thought control by language manipulation which Orwell described in 1984. ... These unguarded remarks by Obama display a mind trapped in a reality in which words are phantoms....
  • Government does some things which reduce our private rights and yet which increase the common good.
Politics is all about where the boundary between broad notions of promoting the general welfare by state coercion and preserving liberty should be.
  • Politicians on the Left have often argued that liberty should be reined in more tightly so that "the people" can live better.
But implying that more state power somehow increases liberty is beyond mere Leftism.
True charity is always a free act. That does not make the moral duty of charity any less, but it means that it is a function of liberty. But it seems as if Obama's mind cannot grasp this sort of distinction.
Is the Orwellian character of Obama's mind a surprise? No. He is a man young enough to have grown up in a The subliminal contradictions of popular entertainment, the indoctrinary quality of his education, the pandemic use of "politically correct" language, the nonexistence in Obama's universe of
  • which numb his conscience --
almost every single aspect of the life of Barack Obama dovetails into someone for whom the word "liberties" has no authentic meaning.
  • This is the newness of Obama in our history. Leftists like George McGovern and Jimmy Carter lived real lives. Both served in the military. Both seemed to have been genuinely religious. Both worked in private business. Both came from states that were conservative, and so they had to defend their political philosophies. Barack
Obama, by contrast, has lived a life of utter sameness. There are no bumps or rough edges or hints of individuality at all.
  • It is not just his life, so marinated in rote theory, that makes Obama unique. He is an early prototype of a new creature in our lives: Orwell's children, if you will. These are the people who can honestly believe that September 11th was an "inside job" or that the CIA invented crack cocaine to hurt blacks. This is the generation
which has grown up with no intellectual or cultural system of checks and balances.
  • Iron and dull control of education, destruction of the nuclear family, disappearance of religion in public life, degradation of art and entertainment into tasteless mush, and, most of all, the politicization of everything in life -- these forces have created
a new sort of human being, a person who lacks from life any tools of discernment or devices to describe life
There is something about Obama, many of us sense, which is different from any other politician. Socialism is inadequate to explain Obama. He is both more and less than that. The Left with all its odd menagerie of causes and claims is not enough either. Obama is part of that but part of something more disturbing.
  • He is someone who can say "negative liberties" unaware that
from American Thinker, Bruce Walker, via Lucianne.com
  • P.S. The 2001 tape referenced at the open of this article was minimized or ignored by big media. (sm)
Also--this approach assumes workers will continue to produce at current levels.
  • Not happening. I would work as little as possible, produce as little as possible. Why should I do more since it will be taken away?
  • That's already happening to a large degree, but anymore who would be dumb enough to agree to slavery?
  • How are they going to make me work more? Beat me, starve me? Fine, go ahead. (sm)

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Interep still in business while organizing

(Mediaweek): "Interep spent Monday (Oct. 27) letting advertisers, agencies and the stations it represents know that it hasn't shut its doors yet and is still conducting business. A trustee, attorney Kenneth Silverman, is working with CEO David Kennedy and executive management to preserve as much value in the company as possible, which could lead to a sale of all or part of the company. Meanwhile, all employees of Interep still have a job and for now, there are still two national radio rep firms.
  • "The trustee has determined that it is in the best interests of the debtors' estates to continue the operations of the debtors and has arranged for ongoing funding of the trustee's operations," Silverman wrote in a letter sent to Interep's clients Monday afternoon (Oct. 27)....
On Friday, Interep filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to convert its bankruptcy Chapter 11 status to Chapter 7 liquidation in order to pay off the company's debtors.... This article is an UPDATE to my post on 10/25/08 saying Interep would begin layoffs this week.

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Selig does not act like a man

Commenter notes about Selig with which I agree: He's not a man, he's something else.
  • It's become the thing to do these days to portray him as a saint- if one wants to be part of the crowd.
  • Or if one is just tired. But it's not accurate and ignores history.
"Selig: FOX Network's B*tch
FlashjeffBlog on Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:14 pm
I had to chuckle when I read Bud Selig's answer about how much of a role FOX played in his decision about Saturday night's mess. "Not much", he said. What a steaming load of crap that was!
  • Selig is FOX's b*tch and everyone knows it. As long as the network pours boatloads of money into MLB's coffers, Selig will remain the dutiful slave and do whatever FOX tells him to. Start World Series games at 10 p.m.? Sure thing, boss! Play games in driving rainstorms? No prob, boss! Demonstrate through your half-assed decisions that money counts and fans don't? Be glad to, boss!
Selig disgusts me on every level imaginable.
  • allowed a television network to pervert the sport he's supposedly in charge of beyond repair.
And last night was perhaps his crowning acheivement in terms of total and complete incompetence." The late and greatly missed Doug Pappas would probably agree with FlashJeff. (sm)

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McCain stands up for rights of World Series

"No one will delay the World Series for an infomercial when I'm president." John McCain,
  • from his speech earlier today, audio played back on the Rush Limbaugh radio program, approximately 2:42 pm ET. McCain showing a bit of spirit late in the campaign.
October 15 announcement of World Series delay due to infomercial.

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Yankees 1996 home opener in snow

top photo from the Record, above photo from ap. Above, Andy Pettitte pitches 1996 home opener in snow, April 9, 1996, photo Newsday, Bereswill

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Thoughts while gearing up for GM meetings next week--Ken Davidoff

If a team isn't going to the post season, it may be a good deal. Krod's humanity has repeatedly shown up under the brightest lights, with the excellent exception of his debut year. Not to say he won't be worth what anyone wants to pay him. "Constant Charlie One opposing scout said with a chuckle: "Charlie Manuel writes out a lineup on Opening Day, and he makes 161 copies of it."

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Monday, October 27, 2008

Huizenga: I'D RATHER GIVE MY PROFITS TO CHARITY THAN OBAMA

"Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga said Sunday no date has been set for selling up to 45 percent more of the team to Stephen Ross, but the presidential election is among the issues weighing on his decision. "He wants to double the capital gains tax, or almost double it," Huizenga said. "I'd
  • than to him."" via the Drudge Report
(Hope Huizenga is prepared for the mob of J-schoolers of all ages who will ridicule him as a hater and racist. Their hate speech is accepted every day under the guise
  • of tolerance and compassion). sm

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Tampa Bay Rays post season run a winner for St. Pete Times

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Explaining news media bias for the democrat candidate

  • One columnist's theory: newspaper editors are biased toward Obama, motivated by concern for their own careers:
"In other words, you are facing career catastrophe -- and desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if you have to risk everything on a single Hail Mary play. Even if you have to compromise the principles that got you here.
  • After all, newspapers and network news are doomed anyway -- all that counts is keeping them on life support until you can retire.

And then the opportunity presents itself -- an attractive young candidate whose politics

  • but more important, he offers the prospect of a transformed Washington with the power to fix

With luck, this monolithic, single-party government

  • be beholden to people like you in the traditional media for getting it there.

And besides, you tell yourself, it's all for the good of the country …"

This is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

Michael S. Malone, columnist (Portion appears at end of article). via the Drudge Report.
  • Many are concerned about future job security and act accordingly. In baseball reporting it's similar to politics. You only have to keep one thing in mind: will ESPN like what I'm doing. (sm)

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A-rod in new Guitar Hero commercial

via NYYfans.com

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Another example of Yankees managerial vacuum: Felix Lopez

Newsday: "Felix Lopez, son-in-law of George Steinbrenner, continues
  • to capitalize
where Hal Steinbrenner is busy running baseball operations with Brian Cashman Lopez organized Barack Obama's usage of Steinbrenner Field as a campaign stop last Monday. Obama appeared alongside a number of Rays players, who were less than 24 hours removed from their thrilling ALCS victory over the Red Sox. Not surprising--the Yankees are easy to take advantage of. Especially when it's media-related.

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Rays advantage at Tropicana Field

Blyleven, nbc.com: "There is a definite home-field advantage for the Rays, who know opponents struggle with the lighting at Tropicana Field. They are not used to having to try and track fly balls
  • against the background of a fiberglass roof where you can’t take your eyes off the ball. In an open-air stadium when the ball is hit in the gap an outfielder can take a look at where he is going and then look up and lock in on the flight of the ball.
But that’s not the case at Tropicana Field where over the years the baggy roof has become
  • almost the same color as the baseball and so an outfielder can’t take his eyes off the ball.
The Rays’ outfielders have an advantage since they are much more familiar than are their opposing counterparts with dealing with this element as they play 81 games in the dome each season. It’s not easy on them either but it’s tougher on their opponents." (10/15/08)

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'Polls' used to make 'news' are purposely biased

From Rasmussen Reports: "For polling data released during the week of October 26-November 1, 2008, the partisan weighting targets will be
  • and 27.2% unaffiliated.
For the preceding week, the partisan weighting targets were 39.7% Democratic, 33.0% Republican, and 27.3% unaffiliated."...
  • When 'polls' are skewed toward 1 political party or entity, the 'results' usually favor that party/view. eg, 'Palin is no good' can be expected if a poll skews toward democrats.
  • Therefore, it does not mean 'Palin is no good,' it means
  • they survey more democrats. (sm) via Lucianne.com

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On advice to lower the volume on WFAN's morning show

(NY Post, Mushnick): "WFAN's station manager, Mark Chernoff, recently responded to a complaint about the vulgar content of the Craig Carton-Boomer Esiason morning drive show with a defense of the program as one "meant to appeal first and foremost to 25-54 year old males."

Brilliant solution.

But Chernoff's claim of a 25-54 target audience seems disingenuous, too. Carton and Esiason, as heard Thursday and Friday, could not have been targeting adult listeners when they had tons of naughty hilarity making fun of the last name of Arkansas QB, Casey Dick. Yep, that's what passes for adult sports fan entertainment on that show.

  • Esiason, Friday, signed off with this clever line: "My testicles are swollen."
  • Certainly, the male target audience of this pathetic show can't possibly be any older than third or fourth-graders."

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Phillies pitching coach says his guys change speeds better than Red Sox

(10/21/08, Boston Globe): "Phillies pitching coach and former Bridgewater-Raynham High School pitching great (Rich) Dubee said... "We have to get ahead in the count.
  • A lot of those home runs were balls that were up in the middle of the plate. They made a lot of mistakes. Good hitters hit mistakes, and that's what the Rays did.
Hopefully we'll avoid getting in the middle of the plate, and we'll get ahead in the count, and hopefully be able from Extra Bases

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The global game of manicures and pedicures

"Each January, global financial titans and their entourages gathered in the Alpine hamlet(of Davos, Switzerland). Disaster was imminent, but in globalism no one is responsible! Cool. The last person on anyone's mind was the taxpayer. As in baseball, the fan is last on the list of global concerns. Either that, or so-called leaders are criminally insane and need to be locked up. (sm)

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Saturday, October 25, 2008

A-rod marketing value tarnished by off the field reports--Ken Davidoff

Ken says the World Baseball Classic, Inc. won't be breaking down A-rod's door this year if he keeps them hanging. Don't expect another call from Selig begging him to join: Moreover, Team USA can employ the very capable duo of the David Wright and Evan Longoria at third base, while Team Dominican Republic has Adrian Beltre and, just as important, high-profile guys like David Ortiz and Albert Pujols."... (Newsday): "...there's a push for Davey Johnson, who served as manager Buck Martinez's bench coach last time, to take over the managing responsibilities. Joe Kerrigan is sneaky--look out:
  • (Newsday): "The Pirates' hiring of Joe Kerrigan as their pitching coach raised some eyebrows. "Didn't they ask around about this guy?" one industry insider asked. While Kerrigan is regarded as intelligent,
End of the line for Rich Monteleone:
  • (Newsday): "Rich Monteleone, let go by the Yankees as their special pitching instructor, has been informed by the club that he won't get a job at their minor-league complex. Before his elevation to bullpen coach in 2002, he worked with the Yankees' minor-league pitchers."

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Obama Campaign cuts off WFTV after normal interview with Joe Biden

"WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday...

"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.

West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.

  • "I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning

  • "This cancellation is non-negotiable, and
  • further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election,"
  • wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director
  • for the Obama campaign.

McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."

  • I'll wait to see how the NY Times and Washington Post handle this media slight by the Obama Thought Police. (sm)

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Radio Ad Sales firm Interep goes bust--Crain's NY

CBS Radio now without national sales rep: According to the Web site Radio-Info.com, layoffs will begin next week at the New York-based company and a court-appointed trustee will be charged with selling the firm or its assets....
  • “We’re looking for alternate representation strategies,” a CBS Radio spokeswoman said.
The sole remaining national radio sales rep firm, (is) Katz Media Group,"...via RadioDailyNews

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Friday, October 24, 2008

How the NY Times can save itself: SELL THE RED SOX

"The New York Times (NYT) is now running on fumes. S&P has downgraded the company's debt to junk, and Moodys is about to do the same. The stock has fallen to $10 $9, and is being propped up primarily Given the ongoing decline of print advertising, management now has to take emergency steps to avoid defaulting on the company's $1.1 billion of debt. SAI and 24/7 Wall Street have put together a seven-part rescue plan:
  • 1. Sell the stake in the building. The New York Times recently moved into a spectacular new Times Square headquarters...
  • 2. Try to sell the Boston Globe and Red Sox stake. Probably a few hundred million of value left in the Globe, at least for a while. Newspaper assets are hard to sell these days, but the Globe is a famous, valuable franchise. It might fetch $300-$400 million. (Jack Welch approached NYT about buying the Globe in October 2006. He is one of the few people who could raise the money.)
  • $150 million."...
"The Times said it is looking for ways to reduce its debt, but said it is a difficult time to make asset sales."
  • ***Not true of course, Pinchy, in the case of the Red Sox!!! They could sell that in 2 seconds to any remaining fraternity brothers of Bud Selig. (sm)

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Governor Sarah Palin drops puck at St. Louis Blues game

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40% of newsroom staff to depart NJ Star-Ledger

"The Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey said about 40% of its newsroom staff will depart in a buyout wave, among the steepest cuts in the continued downsizing of the newspaper industry....

Departures will be staggered between now and the end of the year, Mr. Willse said in an interview."...via Romenesko

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Surviver of 2006 Royals credential yank, Rhonda Moss leaves KCSP radio

10/20/08: "Rhonda Moss, considered by many to be one of the top sports reporters in Kansas City, has been let go following cutbacks at Entercom Communications' Sports Talk station KCSP 610, according to sources."...

Bob Fescoe of WHB and Rhonda Moss of KCSP, competing sports-talk radio stations in Kansas City, said they were informed by public relations director Aaron Babcock that their credentials were taken away....

  • At the news conference Thursday, the two grilled owner David Glass on the way he handled the dismissal of former general manager Allard Baird.

Moss has covered the Royals for KCSP for almost three years. Also during the news conference,

Moss said she called Major League Baseball and was told nothing could be done."...

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Chris Russo-Person of the Day, Radio Daily News

Chris "Mad Dog" Russo - Sirius Sports Person of the Day,

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Adding up buzz on Mike Francesa's new partner-Neil Best

Neil Best says no confirmation but leading the buzz to join Mike Francesa is Joe Benigno. Joe would be my first and only choice. He is a true radio talent. I hope the try-outs end soon.

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Selig hopes Moores' divorce won't lower Padres payroll

The Moores' and Padres' finances are secret. 'Bud' Selig suggests each of the Moores may want to keep enough money that the Padres' payroll could suffer. I'll disregard that threat until I see the books of the Moores, Padres, and Seligs:
  • "I don't think John or Becky want it to affect the Padres.
They both love the Padres," he said. The Moores even fought about access to the owner's box at Petco Park last season. "Somebody once told me that you think you've seen everything, but you haven't. That falls under that classification," Selig said."
  • (item at end of article)
Using national media in this manner is so helpful. (sm)

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Disposable diapers report hushed up--green lobby on ice

The carbon offsets lobby was briefly angered by UK news that disposable nappies are kinder to the environment than washing and reusing cloth diapers.
  • Their discomfort was easily resolved. The results of the study have been hushed up by authorities!
"A government report that found old-fashioned reusable nappies damage the environment more than disposables has been

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has instructed civil servants

This is how things are done today. Censorship. Major League Baseball is a supporter of the global carbon offset agenda. 10/19/08, TimesOnlineUK

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Don't make NY Times' Bill Keller mad whatever you do.

From Huffington Post, 10/7/08 by Rachel Sklar
  • Whatever you say. Fine. (sm)

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

For World Series Manager Maddon, 'Joe the Plumber' is family

(NY Times): "But he (Joe Maddon) does follow politics keenly, in particular the hullabaloo over Joe the Plumber and whom he is supposed to represent.....
  • or how people view Joe the Plumber. He would have been honored by it. He never read into things wrong.”He added: “But for me, to hear that phrase
does indicate hard-working. It indicates honest. It indicates respectful. Maddon, a blue-collar Pennsylvanian now earning about mid-six-figures in Florida, doesn’t have his dad’s aversion to discussing politics. He is a registered Republican, he said, in large part because (How mean-spirited--for a working person). sm (joke) photo by Europeon Pressphoto Agency

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On Tampa Bay Rays team vote, Monday media appearance

(NY Times): "David Price found himself Price, a 23-year-old rookie with just eight major league appearances, How did that evolve, who called the meeting, who was present, and why would a team vote as one about a public political endorsement to be exploited by media? The team is of course entitled to do whatever it wants. I am also free not to buy tickets or merchandise supporting them. I do recall Curt Schilling's political endorsement a few years ago and it might have been handled more graciously. But he was one person, and Red Sox ownership campaigned for and contributed to the other candidate.
  • but it's unlikely management will be bent out of shape.

Principal owner Stu Sternberg wrote a $2,000 check to Obama in April, and

(What player would dare disagree with such a crowd?)
  • Fernando Perez is a product of elite educational institutions Columbia University and the Peddie School--which cost a small fortune to attend. With that background, it's understandable that Perez, a very new, young player, would choose to make a spectacular public endorsement using the selling points "change" and a "new direction." Then again, a block of Rays' players was in on the endorsement as well as Rays' ownership.
(St. Petersburg Times): "Barack Obama has political stars fanning across Florida on his behalf this week,

"What an exciting day for Tampa Bay," outfielder Fernando Perez told thousands

  • of Obama supporters at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the morning after winning the pennant.

joined on stage by teammates Carl Crawford, Cliff Floyd, Jonny Gomes, Edwin Jackson and David Price, who introduced the Democratic nominee."

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Joba's mother looks just like Joba

  • picture of Joba's mother Jackie Standley, Joba from Newsday

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Lorne Michaels on Sarah Palin: 'She was characterized so quickly by the media.'

Lorne Michaels words about Sarah Palin: "I think Palin will continue to be underestimated for a while.
  • I watched the way she connected with people, and she's powerful.
Her politics aren't my politics. But you can see that she's a very powerful, very disciplined, incredibly gracious woman. Tina's Sarah Palin is not the real Sarah Palin. She was fresh casting. The fact that no one knew anything about her, the fact that the audience got to go with her from Wasilla to Minneapolis.
  • She got a really tough welcome.
So when she introduced herself that way at the convention, people went, oh, I see. She gave a great performance."....

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NY Times admits its writer intentionally lied

"The "Corrections" column of the New York Times today contains an extraordinary admission that one of its writers deliberately misrepresented a study and misquoted a source:
  • "An article in the Itineraries pages last Tuesday reported about the increasing stress on business travelers, and cited the findings of "Stress in America," an annual survey of the American Psychological Association. That survey found that economic factors were the leading causes of stress levels in 2008,
  • nor did participants in the survey say they felt most vulnerable to stress "in the office and on a business trip"....
Gawker notes that the writer in question, Paul Burnham Finney, is a freelancer. AT contributor David Paulin wonders
  • he suspects quite a lot, given the number of layoffs."
via Lucianne.com

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