Smoke from LA fires seen from Dodger stadium

Before start of game v Diamondbacks 8/31/09, photos by getty

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College coaches expect and receive saint treatment--NY Post

• Expanding on Rick Pitino story, Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer among alleged saints:

NY Post: "For selective indignation and high farce, there are no people quite like big-time college coaches. Most can say/do anything because they have been conditioned to do so. Most come to expect to be surrounded by those who are expected, if not ordered, to play along, media included....

• Twenty years ago, Mike Gottfried, now an ESPN analyst, was Pitt's head coach when his star running back, the late Craig (Ironhead) Heyward, was ruled ineligible for having signed with an agent.

Sounded good. But no one had seen Heyward in a class for two consecutive semesters....

• When Jimmy Johnson, now a Fox football analyst...was the head coach at Oklahoma State, he had a star defensive lineman, Dexter Manley, who was able to matriculate every year to become a senior, a senior in college.

That was remarkable given that Manley, as he later revealed, could neither read nor write....

• More recently, Don Imus turned Rutgers women's basketball coach C.
• Vivian Stringer into an overnight saint.

The media weren't interested in the Shalica Hurns story. In 2002, Stringer recruited Hurns to RU though

• she had been thrown out of two colleges for criminal conduct.

• After stabbing, binding and for hours torturing her roommate, another RU female athlete,

Hurns was convicted of assault and tossed out of Rutgers.

• Stringer defiantly refused to accept responsibility for recruiting Hurns."...

from NY Post column by Phil Mushnick, "Righteous Rick, Brethren Living in Fantasy World," 8/30/09

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A pitch tipping story from 2001--NY Times

• As someone else said, there isn't much to this story except an attempt to stir up controversy.

Suggestion that Oakland A's team member Miguel Tejada was tipping pitches to one or more pals on opposing teams caused manager Art Howe to call a team meeting in July 2001. The NY Times says news of this has recently been uncovered:

• NY Times, Waldstein: "A series of events on the field led several players to believe that the star shortstop Miguel Tejada had been helping friends on opposing teams by tipping off pitches and by
• allowing balls they hit to get past him occasionally during games with lopsided scores.

No hard evidence has ever been produced, and to this day Tejada, now an All-Star with the Houston Astros, denies his teammates’ accusations, which have only recently been uncovered.

• But Manager Art Howe, contrary to his laissez-faire style, was forced to address the issue. He spoke first on Tejada’s behalf, trying to quell the outrage. Then Jason Giambi, the unequivocal leader and biggest star on the team, laid out the players’ concerns."....

*The Times notes star pitcher Tim Hudson was shocked at the allegations and knew nothing of such events.*

• (NY Times, continuing): "But to many players and people in baseball, the shadowy, illicit concept of tipping pitches or allowing batted balls to become hits is far worse than the use of performance-enhancing drugs because it casts doubt on the integrity of the game....

What first raised suspicion among the 2001 A’s was an early May series in Toronto. Tejada and Blue Jays third baseman Tony Batista, friends from the Dominican Republic, each put up terrific numbers. In the three-game series, Batista went 6 for 13 with a home run and 5 runs batted in, and Tejada was 4 for 10 with 9 R.B.I., including a home run in each game.

• More significant in the eyes of some of the players was an incident in the second game of the series. Tejada did not get to an easy ground ball Batista hit off reliever Mark Guthrie with the Athletics leading, 8-2. When the inning was over, A’s players fumed on the bench.

Tejada, now 35, said his teammates were skeptical because Batista dropped a foul pop-up he hit in the previous game.

• “I would never do that,” Tejada said. “I want to win. If my brother was on the other team, I would never help him.”"....

*The Times says pitcher Mark Guthrie wouldn't comment because such a thing is impossible to prove.*

• (NY Times, continuing): "If some Athletics were mildly suspicious after the 2001 series in Toronto, their concern escalated during interleague play on July 14. Tejada failed to catch what appeared to some as a soft line drive off the bat of Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Adrian Beltre in a 15-inning, 5-3 loss. Because A’s players had heard Beltre was a teammate of Tejada’s in the Dominican Winter League, their antennae went up again, and within a few days the meeting was arranged."...

The article concludes noting the A's earned a hard-fought playoff berth at the end of the 2001 season meeting the Yankees in the ALDS. They beat the Yankees at the Stadium in the first two games. In Oakland, the Yankees ended up winning game 3 by a score of 1-0 and went on to win the series.

• As the Times article notes, Tejada was awarded league MVP in 2002 by selected members of the BBWAA.

Reference: "In Baseball: Friendship or Betrayal Inside the Lines," by David Waldstein, 8/29/09, NY Times

• The year 2001 in baseball could be viewed as the year 1939 is in movies. There were too many outstanding games in that postseason to name just one winner. (framus)

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Minnesota Twins new turf at Target Field

• New Twins field grass delivered on 19 refrigerated trucks.

• New Twins Target Field. both photos 8/29, ap

Flag unfurled before exhibition game at Target Field, 4/3/10, ap Mall at Target Field, 4/2/10 ap

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Serena Williams throws 1st pitch at Yankee game 8/28

Serena Williams prepares to throw ceremonial first pitch at Chicago White Sox- New York Yankee game in the Bronx, 8/28/09. ap photo

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Andy Rios, age 13, has tools and is a Red Sox fan

Andy Rios, a relief pitcher, hit a game tying 2 run home run in the Little League World Series, 8/27/09. He is 13 years old and a Red Sox fan. photo reuters, US Sports Baseball.

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Marco Scutaro hit in head by pitch

• Marco Scutaro is examined by trainer after being hit in the head by Josh Beckett in the 4th inning, Toronto leading 3-0. Scutaro left the game. ap photo

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ESPN and Huffington Post join forces on way to 'world domination'

• And why not?

Neil Best Watchdog notes, "ESPN was so pleased with its ESPNChicago.com that it announced it will add versions for Dallas later this year and New York and Los Angeles in 2010....

• Then out of the blue last night came word that ESPNBoston.com would launch Sept. 14.

All of this naturally is of concern to locally-based media outlets,

• what with ESPN's long march toward world domination."...

On reciprocal agreement between Huffington Post and ESPN Chicago, 6/22/09, MediaBistro: "The HuffPost Chicago content will join local content from ESPN Radio 1000 and Chicago news, traffic and weather from ABC-owned TV station WLS on ESPNChicago.com.

• And the ESPNChicago.com fare will join content on topics from politics and local news to food and style on HuffPost Chicago.

"Politics, news and sports play a unique role in the identity of Chicago," ESPN vice president of digital partnerships and sales development Marc Horine said in a release. "The combination of ESPNChicago.com and the Huffington Post Chicago brings to Chicago the best news sources and most varied and passionate voices.""....

• From ESPN Chicago site:

HUFFPOST CHICAGO

• Chicago Area Unemployment Rate At 10.7 Percent
• EPA Sues Power Company Over Six Illinois Coal-Burning Plants

(World domination is so much easier than messing with local views, you know wackos and nut cases, I mean who needs them....) framus

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Jack Nicholson, Lorne Michaels, Paul McCartney at Yankee game, 8/26

Top, Jack Nicholson, Lorne Michaels, Paul McCartney, and Nancy Shevell stand during God Bless America, 7th inning, Yankee Stadium game v Texas. photo by Reuters. (Michaels introduced McCartney to baseball a few years ago). Bottom, Jack Nicholson, Lorne Michaels, and Paul McCartney at Texas-Yankee game, 8/26/09, getty photo.

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Paul McCartney at Yankee game, 8/26

Paul McCartney and friend Nancy Shevell at Rangers-Yankee game, 8/26/09 Top 2 photos by reuters, 1st after seeing Yankee homerun. Bottom getty photo.

• Lorne Michaels brought McCartney to his first baseball game a few years ago:

DailyMailUK: "McCartney was introduced to the popular American game several years before he started dating divorcee Shevell in October 2007, after his high-profile split from Mills.

• Saturday Night Live producer Michaels - who was seated next to McCartney last night - brought the Beatles legend to his first baseball game.

In a recent interview with the Boston Herald, McCartney said: 'Lorne Michaels took me to my first game years ago. It was a Yankees game, so I became a Yankees fan.'" "Batter Up: Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell put on a rare public show of affection at the baseball" 8/28/09

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'Radio is what sold me on baseball'-Hossrex

Dugout Central notes Red Sox radio's move back to WEEI. Discussion relates baseball's past growth via its

• 50,000 watt home radio stations:

1. Scott Jensen:

• "Teams make money via tv and attendance, but build the fan base
• through the radio."...

2. Hossrex:

• "Where I live, for my entire life we got 1240 KSMA, which played every Dodger game. I absolutely agree with what you said about building the fanbase through radio, because… as I’ve actually mentioned here before…

• I developed my love of the game in no small part through summer barbecues with Vinny coming through an old boombox. Sitting outside on a warm central California evening, slow cooking a tri-tip, focused on a 12th inning Pedro Guerrero at-bat. Some of my fondest memories.

More so than playing myself… and probably more even than making our bi-annual trip to Dodger Stadium (about three hours away)…

• radio is what sold me on baseball.

Then 1240 KSMA switched to 1240 KSMX (I presume because the “X” makes it sound sexy), and Dodger games disappeared in favor of Lars Larson… or Michael Reagan… or some damn show like that (I really don’t know, or care which). We get every game on television now, and I don’t mind paying $15 a year for Gameday Audio… so the Barbecues still happen, and the long broken boombox was replaced by a laptop with wireless internet…

• but it still doesn’t feel the same.

There’s something classic about baseball,

• there’s something classic about radio, and there’s

• nothing more classic than baseball on the radio."...

3. Michael Crowe:

• "Hossrex: “There’s nothing more classic than baseball on radio.”

Indeed. Back in my childhood there wasn’t any baseball in the south, so most everybody in these parts

• were Cardinal fans, simply because that’s the signal that came in strongest across the mid-south.

These days I have to hunt for the Braves on TV. They might be spread anywhere across FSS, SS, FOX, Peachtree Net, ESPN regional or even FX. Oh for the days of Braves on TBS. Thankfully local 93.9 always has them.

• Regional teams like Atlanta and St Louis owe their “nation” status in large part to radio."

4. Mike:

• "I grew up in the Hyde Park section of Boston and there was nothing better than a warm summer night and Ned Martin’s classic voice on WHDH. He was for us what Vin Scully (the greatest ever!!!!!) was to Dodger fans. I’m sure Tiger fans feel the same way about the legendary Ernie Harwell, or O’s fans love of Chuck Thompson, or the Scooter in New York.

• I’ll take any of these bygone voices over what we have today. A mix of bland sound-alikes and blatant homers who call every home run like it was a game 7 game winner."

5. GK

• "I bemoan the loss of MLB on 50,000 watt superstations.

• As a longtime Ohio resident, I loved the Tigers in the late 1980s because I could hear them almost every night, listening to Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on WJR. In 1996, it became easy to root for the Yankees despite having to hear the over-the-top antics of John Sterling on WABC. I couldn’t get KMOX out of St. Louis nearly as well, but it was a treat to hear either of Bucks (Jack or Joe) and Mike Shannon on occasion. Hearing the different teams made it very easy to follow the game, and not just the one that was in your city/region.

Sadly, I have no idea what (flagship) station those teams are on now because those teams are no longer on those 50,000 watt flame-throwers.

• At least the Reds are still on WLW. The Brennamans (Marty and Thom) and Jeff Brantley are entertaining, but it’s a shame that the Reds on the field haven’t fielded a product worth listening to since this decade started."

6. Jim:

• "I probably listen to 10 games on the radio for each that I watch on TV,

• so Joe and Dave are regulars...

Those who have mentioned that radio is a proven method of building a fan base are right.

• I learned to love baseball sitting with my grandfather while he listened to the game on a small transistor radio he carried.

As the game went on, he told me stories about the Sox from the 30’s and 40’s, transference of love for the sport and for the team.

• The Twins and Cardinals have a huge fan base throughout the mid west simply from their

• presence on WCCO and KMOX."...

I'm grateful for XM but that still leaves you with half your games without your home team radio booth. In many cases even with XM, you often don't get your pre-game and entire post game show. Sometimes you need to hear those shows. I've traveled in the car looking for Yankee games in small markets between New York city and Florida and never found one. If I was lucky enough to find a station broadcasting baseball, it was a local team, high school, etc. (framus)

• Reference: Dugout Central, "Red Sox Move back to WEEI," by Scott Jensen, 8/25/09

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Howie Carr on Red Sox radio, seeks yacht so Obama's aunt can visit him

Howie Carr joined Joe Castiglione and Dave O'Brien in the top of the 5th on Red Sox radio, noted

• "Barack is in the (Martha's) Vineyard this week." Went on to say, you know his

• Aunt Zeituni is living in the Boston projects.

We wanted to find a yacht so she could take a ride over and visit her nephew.

• Carr said he found a plumber in Tennessee who said he'd motor up to Boston on his yacht and drive Obama's aunt over to visit him.

Carr is a radio talk show host in Boston.

• (I think Carr was mainly there in observance of a radio award he's about to receive).

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New Sirius XM car dock expected this week said to include MLB and Howard

This is expected to carry MLB channels and Howard Stern which previous iPhone didn't:

• Satwave: "Just yesterday, XMfan.com reported that the iPhone/iPod Touch accessory docks would be called “SkyDocks” and they provided a picture with that name inscribed on the accessory in the diagram.
• They are also reporting that Sirius XM will be unveiling a new FM modulation technology that will be replacing the cumbersome SureConnect system. The new FM modulation technology works off of the cars electrical system and will not require an external wire to the vehicle’s antenna as the SureConnect system did.
• This technology would make the new iPhone/iPod Touch accessory docks virtually plug and play — even in vehicles without iPod integration or an audio-in auxiliary jack. Other possibilities include dock enabled boomboxes and portable accessory kits with antenna headphones." 8/20, via NY Radio Message Board, 8/22

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14th anniversary of Mariners run to the 1995 playoffs

Celebrated on Mariners radio post game by host Vinnie, took calls marking the occasion. It was 14 years ago tonight (speaking on August 24, 2009) the Mariners had a magical come from behind victory against the NY Yankees in front of 17,000+ fans in Seattle.

• August 24, 1995:

With 2 outs in the 9th, the Mariners scored 3 runs v John Wetteland including a 2 run home run by Ken Griffey. Vinnie the host was present that night and noted it was a turning point that lead the 1995 Mariners to the post season.

• (Mariners post game is often carried by Sirius XM. Perhaps it's because at 1AM eastern time no other games are waiting to use the channel. Whatever the reason, one can hear an interesting show).

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WGN as bad as ESPN...No soap in Wrigley restrooms...Comments on Trib/Cub reporting bias

• Chicago Tribune's Dan McGrath article said Tribune's ownership of the Cubs had no bearing on their reporting. Following are 4 of the best comments:

1. "The Tribune is like Radio Tokyo during the war and will continue it's propaganda coverage of the Cubs.

• Cub games are media events and a far cry from baseball.

• We have our own ESPN right here in Chicago it is called

• WGN and the Tribune.

• Jaluit (08/22/2009, 10:27 PM )...****

2. "The Trib turned Wrigley Field into a dump, their writers stayed mum until the concrete nets went up. The Trib held back tickets for some of the best seats from public sale, and scalped them from a storefront they leased 3 blocks from the park, the rival newspaper reported that.

• The soap dispensers in the Wrigley rest rooms are routinely
• out of soap, but you never read any Trib columnist protesting that for the attention of the city's health inspectors.

Pee on your hands flubbers, this Bud's for you (and the filth which surrounds you)....Tribune company is, and always has been... morally bankrupt.

• Sorryano (08/23/2009, 7:17 AM )...****

3. You undercut your own argument. You say there was no pressure, but then you say

• that Andy McPhail called you into his office to discuss an article about Jacque Jones.

Do you think the NY Times sports writer is being called into Steinbrenner's office to discuss an article critical of A-Rod? I don't think so.

• kmc666 (08/23/2009, 9:39 AM )...****

4. ...The big conflict of interest that didn't get covered, and that fans were too stupid to recognize, was between the good of the baseball club and the corporation. Guess who always won that battle folks? That's the story the Trib didn't cover.

• The Cubs have been getting less than market value for their broadcast rights
• since Trib/WGN bought the club.

• The corporate bookkeeping shell game meant greater shareholder value and less revenue for the Cubs. This has been a story for 28 years.

We only see something in the Tribune--from Rosenbloom--now. We're about to learn just how bad an owner the Tribune has been.

• Deferred salaries, deferred maintenance, deferred decisions--it's a story that somehow,

the Tribune missed until now.

• knezovich (08/23/2009, 3:55 PM )"...****

Comments to Chicago Tribune article, "Perception of bias toward Chicago Cubs will not be missed; Misconceptions of fans always a concern to Tribune Sports Editors," 8/23/09, via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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Spike Lee at Fenway Park August 22nd

• Spike Lee watches Yankees at Boston, 8/22/09, reuters photo.

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Photos to view over the winter

Mainly for Yankee fans. Bottom photo Yankee fans at Fenway Park seeking autographs during BP. Top, Melky, Teixeira, Arod, during National Anthem. both by Getty.

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Amalie Benjamin to appear on Yankee radio in 5th inning 8/22

Amalie's notes: Mike Lowell has produced well recently while under the radar; Wakefield will be first knuckleballer Victor Martinez has ever caught. She said he had looked forward to catching Wakefield at the All Star game which didn't happen. Per Sons of Sam Horn wiki, she was born in Newton, Mass., is a 2004 graduate of Northwestern, was a sports desk reporter at the NY Times 2004-2005, took over the Red Sox beat at the Globe in 2006. Listening to her presentation including how she handled the give and take of a booth situation, my guess is she probably got into Northwestern via early decision.

• John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will be joined in the booth by Boston Globe's Red Sox writer Amalie Benjamin in the top of the 5th inning today. Yankee radio occasionally invites a reporter from the opposing team to share insights.

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'Cash for Sox Clunkers'--Yankee fan sign

Sign held in support of Yankees by fan in Fenway Park, 8/21/09, photo by Getty.

• (The referenced 'Cash for Clunkers' government grants to sell small foreign cars has been canceled due to ineptitude).

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Parker Papelbon surveys the scene

Jonathan Papelbon and 8 month old daughter Parker at Fenway Park before Yankee-Red Sox game, 8/21/09. ap photo

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Strasburg doesn't sign for fan

Newly signed Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg does not sign autograph for fan as he leaves the field before Nationals game. ap photo

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Rob Dibble hopes writers will stay up late enough to see west coast games

XM 175 with Rob and Jody discuss MVP candidates with callers. Dibble points out drawbacks to candidates such as Jeter, Damon, and Teixeira include that the majority of their home runs have been hit in Yankee Stadium, diminishing their value.

• Dibble says the Angels have better MVP candidates and hopes writers will stay up late enough to catch games on the west coast. Heard today between 5:07 and 5:16pm.

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Centralized information and censorship excused

"Addressing censorship, (Journalism Professor) Fan told students that

• the government must "guide public opinion" because

• many Chinese are not well educated and

• cannot understand current events well."...

From Washington Post article by Edward Cody, "For China's Journalism Students, Censorship is a Core Concept," 12/31/07.

• Via Poynter.org/Romenesko

Randy Levine meets with Communist Chinese, 1/31/07, to promise them Yankee personnel and money. Not related to journalism item but timely. photo China Daily.

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Bob Grant returns to WABC Sundays, 12N-2P

• Welcome back, Bob:

"Starting Sept. 13, (2009) the popular Grant will be heard again on WABC every Sunday, noon-2 p.m. ...

• There's also a lot to talk about these days, he says - particularly for conservative hosts, who once again have a President they can tee off on.

"I wish I had a dollar," he says, "for everyone who's come up to me and said, 'Bob, you were right about everything that's happened.'"

• He's been doing an Internet version of talk radio lately on Ubatv.com, where he's live daily, 8-9 a.m....

WABC program director Laurie Cantillo says she invited Grant back because "many listeners missed his colorful commentary."*

• She says Grant's return also reflects her plan for more local programming on weekends - since WABC runs all syndicated hosts during daytime hours through the week."...NY Daily News, "Bob Grant set to Return to WABC for third stint,"via Radio Daily News.

*I would describe Bob first as intelligent. sm.

• First reported by NY Radio Message Board, posted here 8/13.

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Sportstalk contributes to culture today via Nascar/Obama reference

Short phrases in media can be manipulated and taken to the moon. Dissecting unscripted comments made on radio is a multi-million dollar tax exempt business today. That isn't the case with this blog. I only mention what I heard today as a cultural event.

• A sportstalker on 1010AM in Tampa this afternoon (sometime between 3:32-3:38pm) was making timely chatter with his co-host and meant no harm. It was just an example of a reference that repeated often enough takes on a life of its own. Such as having a journalism elite use it as proof that special "hate" beats must now be created.

The 2 guy talkers mentioned Nascar figures visiting the Obama White House today. One noted during Obama's 2008 campaign it was said the candidate might sponsor a car in a Nascar race. But, the talker said, the campaign canceled the idea because they were afraid Obama might be killed.

• This may be completely true, perhaps they canceled due to security concerns. I only mention it because the idea of Obama being a target-in particular on the part of those traditionally considered Nascar fans-is one that will be latched onto by some people.

At this moment in our culture, many are trying to create an atmosphere of hate, guns, and killing in the context of politics. Although it's a false one, some people stand to gain by selling the idea.

• Not to say the sportstalker was right or wrong, just an example of how unfortunate images are sometimes woven by brief mentions in mass media.

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Arod and Reggie Jackson chat before game in Oakland

Reggie Jackson and Arod chat in the dugout before Tuesday night's game v the Oakland A's. getty photo My Arod file is not large, but I came across this photo which I had forgotten about. Jeter and Giambi greet Arod after he scores in game at Fenway Park, 7/26/08. Yankees won 10-3. reuters photo.

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Tampa Bay Rays games to be seen in Gainesville on Cox Cable

"A gain for Gainesville viewers with Cox Cable. After weeks of negotiation,

• Tampa Bay Rays telecasts are finally available. The first game they showed was this past Sunday vs. Toronto,

• with 20 more telecasts to follow."...via Dave Kohl, Radio Daily News (item near end of column)

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Glenn Beck highest ratings ever--Alinsky treatment flops

The group Color of Change has recently spearheaded a campaign to silence Glenn Beck but unfortunately for them, his tv ratings on Fox are the best ever. Color of Change has been active against Fox tv in general, having called on all 2008 candidates to refuse to appear on the channel for debates (claiming Fox was against blacks).

• Van Jones, one of Obama's private czars in the White House, is a co-founder of the group Color of Change. No claim that he's still involved.

Media Bistro: "Meanwhile, "The Glenn Beck Program", which airs out of primetime at 5pmET, had its

• highest rated week ever

among Households (1,907,000) and Total Viewers (2,409,000), and second best week in the A25-54 demo (682,000)....

• Beck was #2 in his time period in both Total Viewers and the demo

• in all of cable last week...

MSNBC was 24th in primetime and 32nd in Total Day. CNN ranked 26th in prime and 23rd in Total Day." via RedState.com

• Saul Alinsky was the father of community organizing and wrote an instruction book on the topic:

• Saul Alinsky Rule #13 in Rules for Radicals:

"13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.'...

• "...any target can always say, 'Why do you center on me when there are others to blame as well?'

• When your 'freeze the target,' you disregard these

• [rational but distracting] arguments.... Then, as you zero in and freeze your target and carry out your attack, all the 'others' come out of the woodwork very soon. They become visible by their support of the target...'

• "One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other." (pps.127-134)

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Florida population decline first in 63 years

Tax revenues and population continue to drop in Florida, a state that keeps hoping to find customers for baseball games. And counting on non-existent taxes to pay for new stadiums. New figures show a decrease from April '08 to April '09 of 58,000 people. (The study did not release how many people actually moved out of Florida or are trying to). Study from University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

• (AP) 8/17/09: "Florida's population has declined for the first time in 63 years, state researchers said Monday as they blamed the recession for plunging tax revenues and a steep drop
• in new residents.

The decline — 58,000 people over the past year — is the first since large numbers of military personnel left the state in 1946 after World War II.... Florida's unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in June, the highest level since 1975.

• The state has lost 392,800 jobs during the past year, continuing a decline that began in 2007, the Agency for Workforce Innovation said.

The population estimates were produced using data from residential electric hookups, building permits and homestead exemptions, (University of Florida's Stan) Smith said. The university is expected to release details of city and county populations Wednesday.

• Florida's population is about 18.3 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau....

• The study did not measure the number of people leaving Florida....

The population drop has left empty seats in classrooms. The state's estimated public school enrollment for 2009-10 is down 28,541 from the previous school year, according to the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research."...********

• (St. Petersburg Times, 8/13/09): "Some in Florida whose economic well-being relies on the next new resident, and then the next new resident, will lament. They are cities, developers, power companies, public school systems and, yes, newspapers that need new blood in order to expand.

St. Petersburg's Progress Energy Florida, in its second-quarter report, said it lost 8,000 customers. And Miami-based Florida Power & Light reported a decline of 16,000 in the same period ended June 30.

• That's 24,000 fewer Florida households just between those two utilities.

What else is driving the moving van departures? Surely those here who are "underwater" because they owe more on their homes than they can be sold for.

• Bankers call it negative equity. It is plague in the state.

In Miami-Dade and Broward counties, 47 percent of all single-family homeowners were underwater as of June 30. In the Tampa Bay area, that percentage is lower.

• But even nationally, 23 percent, or more than one in every five, of single-family homes with mortgages are underwater, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

Discouraged by years of falling home prices and the prospect of making hefty payments on an increasingly worthless asset,

• many Florida residents are walking away from their debts. Or they are trying to hold on, often face foreclosure, then leave."..."Challenges big for Florida as Exodus no longer Anecdotal," by Robert Trigaux

Attendance at Rays games is greatly affected by these issues. In much of what I've heard, it sounds like prognosticators didn't take these factors into account and still don't. (sm)

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David Wright, Newsday back cover

Newsday back cover, August 16, 2009

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Jeter with Josh Pettitte

Derek Jeter greets Josh Pettitte walking back to the dugout, 9th inning v Mariners, 8/15/09, ap photo

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David Wright hit on head by pitch

4th inning v San Francisco Giants in New York. ap photo

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Bilked investor had 20 year affair with Madoff--book 8/25

NEW YORK – "A new book says that an investor who claims she was devastated by Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme had a two-decade affair with the disgraced financier.

• The memoir, "Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me," was written by Sheryl Weinstein, whose relationship with Madoff spanned more than 20 years while both were married, said John Murphy, a spokesman for publisher St. Martin's Press. It goes on sale Aug. 25."...AP report via Lucianne.com

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Woodstock album couple, then and now

• 

• Top, Woodstock album cover, photo snapped at event. Rhino Records, Albany Times Union. Bottom, recent photo of same couple, now married. by Bobbi Ercoline, from Albany Times Union.

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Player of the Game, Andy Pettitte

Andy named Player of the Game on Yankee radio post game. Game v Mariners, 8/14/09, he again didn't get the Win, but pitched great, 10 strikeouts in 5 scoreless innings after a 2-run first. getty photo

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte	6.0	6	2	2	1	10	0	4.09
Bruney	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.91
Hughes, P (W, 5-3)	1.0	0	0	0	2	2	0	3.44
Rivera, Ma (S, 34)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.98

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Advertisers forced to use 'Urban' radio format or risk license challenge

• Now the federal government dictates radio advertising buys. Case in point, Mini Cooper radio ad buy.

Format dictates have been standard procedure from radio advertisers for decades. The main concern was "Controversy." No matter how huge a radio show's ratings, clients had become convinced that possible 'controversial environments' were to be avoided completely. No questions, no apologies. (This was my experience in selling local radio time for 20 years. The proscription was more for shows like Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern, less for Urban formats).

• Now, all advertisers will be forced to use Urban radio formats or be threatened with license challenge. Some Urban stations carry 'talk' programming which is traditionally the environment clients feared the most (for controversy).
• They'll still be able to exclude non-Urban talk radio, but will be forced to spend on Urban Talk or see an FCC complaint.

There is a wealth of qualitative data on likely customers available to advertisers in spending their scarce ad budgets.

• In the current Mini Cooper case, with no proof whatsoever, a business decision was declared racist. Worse, instead of examining numerous qualitative aspects of the buy, history of advertisers' use and avoidance of radio formats,
• someone apologized.

Radio Ink: "August 12, 2009: The Minority Media and Telecommunication Council is ramping up its push for a compliance officer to enforce the

• broadcast nondiscrimination rule that was part of a 2008 FCC report and order on broadcast diversity.

• That rule was intended to do away with "no urban/no Spanish" dictates from advertisers or agencies that seek to exclude minority-targeted broadcasters from their campaigns.

In the letter, MMTC President David Honig asks

• FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to name a compliance officer "promptly," saying, "MMTC has calculated that minority broadcasters lose at least $200 million a year to NUDs(No Urban Dictates) and NSDs (No Spanish Dictates), compounding the financial difficulties these broadcasters face in the current economic climate.

Minority broadcasters earned these revenues, but they never collect them."

Agency E-Mail

Attached with the MMTC's letter is a copy of an e-mail, dated August 5, apparently from an employee of the agency Palisades Media in Los Angeles. The e-mail requests rates for a Mini Cooper campaign in the Boston; Houston; Washington, DC; and Baltimore markets, asking about 30s in several radio formats and adding, "No combos or urban formats."

• Honig writes, "The rule requires broadcasters renewing their licenses to certify on Form 303-S that their advertising contracts

• do not discriminate on the basis of race or gender and that they contain nondiscrimination clauses."...

Therefore, to remain in compliance with the rule,

• every radio station in the Boston, Houston, Baltimore, and Washington markets should decline to broadcast Mini Cooper spots."

Kizart Addresses The Issue

• Kizart Media Partners' Sherman Kizart obtained the original Palisades Media e-mail, and he has written to agency CEO Roger Schaffner concerning the matter, saying the directive is "crystal clear" and "minimally very disturbing and troubling.""...

Palisades Media declined to comment to Radio Ink on the matter." "MMCC Cites 'No Urban Dictate' from Mini Cooper Agency" 8/12/09

• Reference: Inside Radio, 8/14/09, "Mini USA Apologizes for NUD (No Urban Dictate)"

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Woodstock 40 years later

Top, t-shirt sales going on today near Bethel. Bottom from the original event. Photos from Times Herald Record, Middletown, New York.

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ACORN's real boss-the taxpayer-finally decides to be heard

• From Arlen Specter Pennsylvania Town Hall. Bus with professional ACORN protesters hearing 'don't come back' from their bosses--the taxpayers. August 13, via HotAirPundit via Free Republic

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Bob Grant to return to NY radio Sunday nights

Poster on NY Radio Message Board heard Bob mention the return during his internet show on UBA TV today. He'll be heard Sunday evenings on WABC radio starting September 13th.

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XM Baseball Beat regular Tony Massarotti now big time radio star

Tony Massarotti was a regular on XM's former unique program, Baseball Beat with Charley Steiner. The show has a legacy with news from Boston that

• Tony Massarotti is now a daily afternoon drive host on sports talk radio (98.5FM The Sports Hub). He remains a contributor to the Boston Globe.

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Remembering Les Paul, guitar hero

Les Paul with Paul McCartney. Mr. Paul's electric guitar hit the market in 1952 and became a staple in rock and roll bands. He was 94 and until recently played every Monday night at the Iridium in New York. ap photo

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Talk radio hosts banned from CNN.

• 

(8/11): "Exclusive: TVNewser has learned, and a CNN spokesperson confirms, that in his morning editorial meeting today, CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein

• asked his show producers to avoid booking
• talk radio hosts.

"Complex issues require world class reporting," Klein is quoted as saying, adding that talk radio hosts too often add to the noise, and that what they say is "all too predictable."

• One of CNN's longtime show hosts, Lou Dobbs, hosts a daily radio show."...

(Newser presumes host Bill Bennett won't be affected by the ban).

• (Newser, continuing): "But this means other talk radio hosts who appear regularly on CNN, probably won't in the near future including names like Stephanie Miller, Michael Medved, and Ben Ferguson."..."No More Talk Radio Hosts on CNN?"

Desperate times call for desperate measures from the (Hugo) Chavez News Network.

• Other than Lou Dobbs, the radio names mentioned are pablum to begin with, although I'm not familiar with Stephanie Miller. photo from Mark Levin Show.com during anti CNN protests in Honduras.

• via mention on Michael Savage show.

Former CNN chief Eason Jordan was forced to resign for lying. Here's another example of CNN's sickness: NY Times, 4/11/03, "The News We Kept to Ourselves," by Eason Jordan. Referenced on this blog, 12/8/08.

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Tribune Company consolidates national sports beats

Editor & Publisher, NEW YORK: "Tribune Co. is reportedly in the midst of consolidating sports coverage on national beats across its daily newspapers, much the way it has in Washington bureau reporting, according to Crain's Chicago Business....

• It notes that the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers, who covers baseball, and Shannon Ryan, on national college basketball, will continue on their beats.
• But Tribune national NFL and college football writers will give up those beats to two staffers at the Los Angeles Times.

"The L.A. Times didn't get everything they wanted, and we didn't get everything we wanted," Kellams said in the story. "We had to make some tough decisions.""...

• Reference: "Tribune Co. Consolidating National Sports Beats," by Joe Strupp, via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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Hope dims for getting ESPN to reduce coverage of Red Sox-Yankees

Neil Best notes: Sunday night's Red Sox Yankee game on ESPN was viewed by the largest national audience for an MLB game on ESPN since the June 3, 2007 Yankee Red Sox game.

• Sunday night's game was seen by 3.5% of all homes that have ESPN, 4.698 million people.
• 2007's game was seen by 5.304 million people.

The 2007 game was won by the Yankees 6-5. The score was tied going into the 9th inning at which point Arod hit a homerun making it 6-5. In the the bottom of the 9th, Mariano Rivera faced David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis (who reached on a hbp), and Mike Lowell. Ortiz hit a line drive to deep right field in an 11 pitch at bat. Manny and Mike Lowell struck out swinging.

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TV ratings for Red Sox-Yankees 4 game set

Via Neil Best: Ratings for Friday night-Saturday morning's 15 inning Red Sox Yankees game were YES Network's second highest, averaging 9.6% of area homes, and 984,000 viewers.

• (Watchdog says an April 3, 2005 Red Sox Yankees game averaged 1.2 million viewers and 11.6% of homes. (Final score 9-2 Yankees)).

Friday between 11:45 and midnight, 26% of homes with televisions in use in the NY market were tuned in.

• Sunday night's ESPN game averaged 10.3% in NY and a 12.3 in Boston.

• Thursday night's game on Channel 9 did a 9.7 in NY.

• Saturday's game on Fox did an 8.5 rating in NY.

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Boston Massacre 2009

8/09/09, getty photo

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Kate, Kurt and Goldie cheer for Arod

Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell, and Goldie Hawn cheer as Arod comes to the plate, Saturday, August 8, 2009, getty photo.

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Burnett, Aceves, Arod

Burnett in the 8th, getty Aceves, 10th, getty. ap photo, game started 8/7, finished 8/8

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Happy Hour ban in Boston includes Fenway patrons

• Citing 1984 Boston rule banning Happy Hour:

"City regulators said they plan to order the Boston Red Sox to stop offering an open bar as part of $1,000-and-up packages for some of Fenway Park’s most coveted seats.

• Daniel F. Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board, said the team will be told to “cease and desist’’ the practice but apparently will not face further sanctions, unlike other bars and restaurants that have temporarily lost their licenses for similar infractions of the state’s 25-year ban on happy hours and open bars....

Ron Bumgarner, Red Sox vice president for ticketing, said the team will do whatever is necessary to comply with the law, even if it means dropping the unlimited access to beer, wine, and cocktails and refunding money to those who already purchased the ticket packages.

• “The last thing we want to do is anything that runs in the face of Massachusetts law,’’ he said, adding the ban on open bars was “a surprise’’ to team officials.

State alcohol commission officials declined to comment but referred to the so-called happy hours regulations and disciplinary actions taken against four Boston bars in 2003 for selling tickets to New Year’s Eve parties that included open bars."

• ...from Boston Globe article, "City Regulators Say Red Sox Must End Open Bar," by Jack Sullivan, 8/8/09

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Damon and Ortiz greet before the game

Damon and Ortiz greet before Thursday night's game at the stadium. ap photo

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Timing of Boston Globe story-Boston Phoenix

Boston Phoenix, 8/6/09: "Impressive as the (Boston) Globe article was, it also raised some questions. Why did it take the Globe the better part of a year to report on a bona fide steroid scandal that was brewing in its back yard? And whether that delay was caused by chumminess or cluelessness, did it cost the Globe a rare chance to rewrite Red Sox history?...

• Now note that, in Sunday's Globe story, Jared Remy recalled swapping steroid techniques with Ortiz's former personal assistant. That's a bombshell of a claim. And if it had been unearthed after Remy's firing last fall, it could have been the catalyst for a broader, groundbreaking look at PED suspicions involving Ortiz and others....

Whenever the Globe covers the Red Sox, readers should remember that the two entities share an owner, and that

• the team's success is good for the paper.

• (The Globe's online store, for example, features 60 pages of Sox merchandise.)

As Sunday's Globe exposé and a tough Tuesday editorial show, that doesn't mean the Globe is in the tank for the team. Still, the awkward fact remains: the security-staff firings, and MLB's subsequent investigation, only became news several months after the fact — and

• only after journalists from outside the Globe's sports department got involved.

Maybe the Globe's sportswriters simply didn't know this stuff was going on. Maybe they did, but wanted to protect Jerry Remy, who's currently fighting lung cancer and is on indefinite leave. Or maybe they didn't think that digging into possible PED use by Sox stars was part of their job. Whatever caused this story to slip through, it was a costly whiff by the hometown squad."...

• from Boston Phoenix, by Adam Reilly, "Did the Globe Drop the Steroid Ball?", via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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Selig monopoly expands within Buddy system

• Deal goes to former Disney/ESPN boss Michael Eisner. And, why not?

"During the halcyon days of the baseball card boom there were many companies vying for the dollars of collectors and the revenues went through the roof. The inevitable bust killed some of those companies, Fleer and Score we hardly knew thee, and now Major League Baseball is trying to close out the remaining competition by giving the business exclusively to Topps.

• That's not how they spin it, of course. They spin it as saying that the way to revitalize the trading card business is by marketing it exclusively to kids, a party line that Topps' owner Michael Eisner is preaching as well....

The whole thing smacks of an inside deal between MLB and Eisner, who used to be part of the inner circle as the

• head of Disney. Disney, of course, once owned the Angels and owns ESPN, which has

• given the MLB a lot of cash and exposure over the years.

Topps needs a little help to bolster their bottom line, so old friend Bud Selig helps him out and everybody's happy."...

• "Giving Topps a Baseball Card Monopoly is the Wrong Decision," by Josh Alper, NBC Sports.com

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BBWAA voters: DO NOT PANIC.

As your colleague Sheldon Ocker said about Mariano Rivera in the NY Times on 11/9/05,

• "Ocker said... ''For him (Rivera) to get anybody's attention outside of New York now, he'd probably
• have to save 65 games.''

Rivera happens for this brief moment to be #1 in MLB in the BBWAA esteemed "Total Save Stat," though he's nowhere near 65 and won't be.

• His team's bullpen isn't constructed so one person will accumulate a particular stat, such as "Save Opportunities" or "Total Saves." Nor is it Rivera's job to get 65 saves. His job is to pitch whenever the team needs him near the end of games. So, not to worry.

(Reference, NY Times article by Tyler Kepner, 11/9/05, "Award Eludes Rivera; Colon Wins the Cy Young")

• Total Save stat, MLB, close of business, 8/5/09:

• 1. Mariano Rivera 31

• 2. Brian Fuentes 30

• 3. Joe Nathan 29

• 4. Huston Street 28

• 5. Heath Bell 27

Not the most meaningful stat, but for the record.

• (Certainly Jack O'Connell isn't worried. Why should he be? He selects the judges).

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NY Post scribes' outside media appearances in peril

Neil Best hears NY Post scribes are about to have outside activities curtailed including radio and television. A report says, "The New York Post reportedly has issued restrictions on its people for . . . well, everything."...

• Joel Sherman is a natural on radio so that's a real loss if true. I've heard him on XM 175 and other places. He has encyclopedic knowledge but doesn't try to strangle you with it, allows one to listen in peace. "NY Post reportedly limits journalists' freelancing."

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