This might be part of the problem

I wanted to let some of the dust settle before I ventured into this, but one of the major problems with the blogging world was cast into sharp focus for me this week as stories rolled out Tuesday morning.

Tuesday was April Fool's Day, of course.

It was also the day that the Ernie Banks typo was found on the statue, but given the false starts
throughout the day, it was hard to tell if the story was legit or not. Don't get me wrong, I love a good prank as much as anyone.. if not more... but given the amount of strange stories that are floating around anyways with bloggers taking a bigger chunk role in the public's attention, it's pretty easy for things to get out of hand.

Here's the funny thing - when I woke up that morning, I made a point to remind myself that it was April 1 when I saw my alarm clock, so I was well-prepared for the front page of Boston Dirt Dogs, which told me that Roger Clemens was ready to head back to Boston for the year to finish out his career.

At the bottom of their story, they politely reminded the reader to check their calendar and I shook my head while I sipped my coffee, wondering how dumb they thought I was. That was a bad question.

As the day progressed, there were plenty of missteps as blogs grabbed headlines and rushed to be first to post links and offer commentary - just as they do every other day of the year - only, some of those were jokes that were taken too seriously.

The world didn't end, no one was hurt, but the results made me think. Despite my belief that blogs provide a vital viewpoint in today's discussions of sports, politics and other facets of our lives, there is a major blind spot that is a result of that lack of official access.

I can't jump on the phone with the Cubs front office to verify if Kosuke Fukudome has been deported over a simple paperwork mistake, which leaves me to either run with a story because someone else has it or wait around and look uninformed or lazy.

I tend to be more cautious than I would like to be in order to avoid some of those mistakes - and I make plenty of my own to begin with, including two major ones this week alone - but this is apparently the tradeoff with the surge of web-based media.

Do I wish that it was easier to verify stories, regardless of how awesome they might sound when I see them on Ballhype? Sure I do.

Am I willing to trade that in favor of goofy stories about Ken Griffey Jr. throwing his jock at fans that are actually true? Not quite yet.

(Image from: Rosenblumtv.wordpress.com)

The freedom of the blog

(Note: I shelved this post for a few weeks as I tried to clarify some thoughts and clean up the overall post for readability issues. The times lines might be a little off on some references, but the meat of the post is unchanged.)

I'll try to keep this short, as it's been covered before and pretty well, but I've had three reminders in seven days that the blogs I read and writers I respect are still seen as some sort of outsider movement, hellbent on forcing their views on other without any research or sense of responsibility, all while throwing the rules of grammar to the wind (um, guilty) and spilling Cheetos into their laptop keyboards.

First was this posting at Goatriders of the Apocalypse, which noticed a new linking policy for the Chicago Sun-Times on Feb. 26. Given the problems at the paper, I'll go the cynical route and assume this is the free way to expand online content while the paper circles the drain.

A few weeks ago, Deadspin brought it to my attention that Bob Costas doesn't like me very much and thinks I'm an idiot. I'm firmly in the camp that thought Costas of all people "got it" and is now very disappointed that it appears he doesn't.

Finally - and oddly enough, the piece of this puzzle that started everything - was a conversation with a friend of my wife's regarding blogging and the blog culture as we were killing time last weekend.

She mentioned that an ex of hers had worked for one of the wire services and we started talking about the pros and cons of traditional reporting versus blogging.

Honestly, I don't mind the blogger side of things as much as I thought I would. Aside from the pay scales (nearly free versus free), the envy of other males (especially your wife or girlfriend's exes) and on-site, immediate access, the positives tend to pile up on the blog side.

I like being able to sink or swim on my own here and not having to go back to the locker room in a few days and defend myself because bruised egos don't want to answer questions after a loss. While the overall experience is positive, there is always someone who gets rubbed the wrong way by something you wrote, even if it's true. If a player hasn't had a goal in five games (a fact) that doesn't make it any easier to deal with when some knucklehead is writing about it in the paper, right?

We talked about the difference in approach between bloggers and reporters and the freedom that comes from not relying on access or being defined by it. Much of what the traditional media is based on is just that - access. When you flip through your local news at night, if one channel has the head coach and the other has the special teams coach, who do you place more faith in? Exactly, it's a popularity contest without anyone really noticing.

In my case access is the furthest thing from my mind and it allows for a lot more leeway. Sure, it allows for bigger, more embarrassing falls, but it's a fair trade.

Additionally, removing that access takes away the stonewall factor that the traditional media is subject to. Let's say I watch the same game on TV or from the stands that a reporter is also covering. We're both bright people when it comes to sports and we both see that the quarterback is off (and that stats obviously bear this out, as the completion percentage is just disgusting) and the reason for that is that his throwing motion is out of whack.

After the game, the reporter catches the head coach and they ask about what was going on with the player during the game. Is he hurt? Was their a problem with his equipment? Here are the numbers, what gives?

In some cases, that head coach is looking to play down an injury or a bad performance to keep other teams off balance or to save his player's ego and either way, it makes for a bad situation for the reporter. The options at this point are to run with the story as it has been neutralized by the coaching staff ("Coach X denied that injuries played a factor in the 10-point loss Saturday, despite his quarterback going 2-for-18 in the second half...") or to raise the red flags and prepare for a possible confrontation in the near future ("After the Knights' quarterback finished the game in noticeable pain, Coach X denied that injuries played a factor in the 10-point loss Saturday despite a 2-for-18 showing in the second half...").

Blogging, while it lacks traditional access, also lacks the traditional punishments by players or coaches revoking access. This an overlooked facet of the sports world, moreso than politics or other beats - while reporters can cry foul in the name of public good when a politician refuses to comment on their actions, sports aren't really governed by the same rules.

Cause a problem, get a flat quote - cause enough problems and don't expect much in some extreme cases. I think this is where some of the traditional reporters get antsy - they don't see the traditional checks and balances in place and view that as a lack of standards.

In reality, how is anything that a blogger speculates on any better or worse than a reporter fighting for access and forced to piece together stories some nights that have weak support from players and coaches? Worse still, how is the quality impacted by a reporter on thin ice who is trying not to piss anyone else off for a few days?

At least the bloggers don't have to fight for parking and risk a speeding ticket getting back to the office in order to hit a deadline.

Many hands make light work

Let's file this under "the Internet can be a dangerous place for a multitude of reasons."

A week or so ago, a friend sent along word that a new sports site was out of beta - Bleacher Report.

The idea is pretty simple. Take sports written by bloggers and fans and create a massive, open-ended site that allows people to make all sorts of changes to the original postings. The end result should be a well-edited, fact-checked monster collaboration, right?

Well, sorta.

I'll admit that I'm only ankle deep in the site at this point, but so far I'm not very enthusiastic about the whole experience after my first foray into the Bleacher Report world.

I'll quote here from the Tech Crunch write up:

Perhaps the most innovative thing about Bleacher Report is its built-in community editing system. Writers who published to Bleacher Report actually give an extensive amount of control over their articles to other members. The community serves as a collective editor that works not only to correct grammatical and spelling errors but to improve the prose more generally. Nothing is strictly out of bounds, including article headlines, but the original writers do have the power to revert changes made by the community. According to the site’s founders, this group editing system has been a very popular feature during the beta period.

There's the rub. While most bloggers enjoy the total control they have on their individual blogs and posts, it's a strange feeling to see those posts take on lives of their own and get mildly warped from multiple changes made by multiple users.

In my case, it was a quick post that was essentially a set of links from USA Today that was a quick and dirty write up of teams to watch out of the gate in spring training.

I think most bloggers fall into the same category I do when it comes to protecting online content - we know firsthand how awful it is to have someone else rip you off and feel the need to obsessively cite sources. In the case of my post, it quickly had a graphic added, tags for content and unknown changes to grammar, spelling, etc.

What got me was changes made to the headline and what I assume is part of the coding for the site which summarizes the stories by saying "User X breaks down the favorites heading into 2008."

That rubbed me the wrong way, as even by stretching the truth, I don't feel that linking to someone else and paraphrasing their work makes the content any more yours.

One of the great things about the current state of blogs is that it allows for original content and for commentary and discovery. Take a solid mega-blog like Deadspin and you'll see this type of mix that is staking out territory and laying groundwork for the next wave of media expansion.

There's a school of thought that in 10 or 15 years there won't be traditional newspapers or online news sources as the primary gatekeepers for the information people receive on a daily basis. Instead, people will subscribe - possibly for a fee - to online editors who would aggregate the information that they find interesting and pass it along down the line to readers.

In this case, there is a solid division between those who create content and those who compile it and present it to readers. The major reason that I'm hesitant to buy into the Bleacher Report concept is because the addition of outside influences make it too easy to start twisting the meaning of what the original author had in mind. Additionally, I feel that separation between author and editor makes it too convenient to start giving credit where it isn't due.

While community editing is nice for spell checking and cleaning up tricky grammatical passages, I'm not impressed by the end result.

I'll hold back on a final judgment until the site has a few months to find its feet.

Oh, the hilarity

While checking in on the Drunk Jays Fans and their complaint that there were blogs listed as Blue Jays blogs without any actual Blue Jays content, I stumbled across this interesting bit of trivia.

Frankie has a top 10 Cubs blog.

He also is ranked top five for his Sox, but still pretty funny to anyone who has read more than four paragraphs when he talks about baseball.

Just outstanding all around.

What an unfortunate, albeit fitting, nickname

By now, most baseball fans are well aware of Pat Neshek's web site - it was linked here and recently appeared on Deadspin.com but for as much fun as the whole campaign is, I'd like to point you to two alternate dates.

The first is Sunday, May 27, where it's revealed that Dennys Reyes nickname is "Big Sweat" which is possible one of the best nicknames for a fat guy in baseball since "El Guapo" and we all know how I feel about El Guapo, don't we?

Long story, short, the gentleman at the right is Reyes and aside from sharing a name with a greasy family restaurant chain, Big Sweat is a fantastic front-line nickname.

The running joke in our little corner of the Dome - OK, well, the two season seats we own - is that you have a Dennys, a (Glen) Perkins and Juan Rincon (at right) looks like the live action version of the Big Boy.

All of this in a state that lacks for breakfast restaurants.

We just need an IHOP now - International House of Pitchers or a one-legged DH, either way - to complete the matching sets.

Next, scoll on down to Monday May 7, and silently curse the lack of links on Perkins site. When you have that much gold in one place, you really need to be able to pick and choose where you land.

I always suspected that people were all kinds of stupid, but to try and get another player to grab autographs from the stars for you? How cheap is that?

I'd also bet dollars to donuts that there was more than one letter just like that one sent to other members in the clubhouse. Wow.

It's bad enough to ask for a signed ball, but to have 10 balls personalized from two of the team's biggest stars and to do so in an exasperated tone? That takes stones.

I have to wonder now - what does, "Everything's coming up Malmo?" even mean?

(Images from TwinsBaseball.com)

Out with the old...

For those who didn't see the news on the RSS feed from The Mothership, one of my favorite Twins blogs is done (hopefully just for now) as Batgirl is going to take time out for her young family.

I find this to be much more sincere than when I here it from some athlete or disgraced politician.

In its place on the links section will be a new site - I can't call it a blog, but that's where it'll be for now - Ballhype.

Very cool concept, very addicting, very likely the reason I'll eventually be fired.

Not that they don't have an acceptable case right now, just the reason it'll get pushed over the top.

In case you missed all the hoopla

It's been big news in the Deadspin.com mini-universe this weekend, but Colin Cowherd of ESPN essentially assassinated TheBigLead.com where his listeners all swarmed over and smashed the little server to bits in a matter of moments.

The Big Lead is up and running again on a more robust server and isn't blinking when it comes to the Worldwide Leader or Cowherd's stupidity.

There was a lot of talk being thrown around regarding legal actions against Cowherd and ESPN was forced to weigh in via its freshly-minted ombudsman (who is, in fact, a woman) but in all, Cowherd gets a slap on the wrist and is told not to do it again.

It should be noted that this isn't the first time Cowherd has been in hot water with the bloggers, as he directly lifted content from a Michigan sports blog, read it on the air and then refused to apologize when he was called out on it.

While other sports broadcasters can see where all this Internet mumbo jumbo is going, paying attention and dropping "You're with me, Leather" references on SportsCenter and beyond, Cowherd is the poster boy for big media agoraphobia, lashing out against defenseless sites and basically reliving high school, only as the jock this time.

So, until bloggers as a whole are given a bit more respect from big media outlets and are seen as something more than a diversion for frustrated wash-outs and hack writers, those with axes to grind and everyone's favorite stereotype, the blogger in his mother's basement (Woo-hoo, pass the Cheetos and let me know when my new Star Wars action figures get here, Ma!) expect more run-ins like this one, as well as more outright plagarism from cretins like Cowherd.

Let's face it, if you put something good out there into cyberspace, there's a chance that someone will be waiting to rip it off as soon as it's posted. The real kicker is that the smaller your blog is, the less likely anyone is to notice, even if you're screaming bloody murder the whole time.

I think that's one of the nicest things about the Deadspin community - the fact that bloggers and commenters of all stripes really got upset about this and e-mailed and called nearly everyone at ESPN with a published address or phone number and generally just getting cranky about the whole thing.

So, while I'd still love to see Cowherd have to defend himself against actual charges in court, it's nice to know he's pissed off his bosses this week and will hopefully be that much closer to working the morning drive in Fort Wayne, Ind.

For me, it's not so important where he's stealing material from or what kind of creepy stunts he's pulling by crashing defenseless sites, but the fact that he's becoming more and more well known for those types of character issues.

You hear his name once in the whole M-Zone fiasco - and if you don't think outright, indefensible plagarism isn't a major, major problem on ESPN's radar, you're crazy - and you think "Hmm... interesting." You hear about his latest problem with being a jackass and it really starts to set off red flags.

Personally, when I hear the name Colin Cowherd from now on, my first reaction won't be "Oh, ESPN, right?" it will be "Shrutebag."

(Image from DataPimp.com)