SB Nation User Blog: wcooley

The New Media and Quotes

wcooley — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:23:44 -0000

Much has been made of the way the "new media" (blogs, internet sites, etc.) is covering sports. In a somewhat ironic turn, new media mavens often argue that they are doing a better job of covering teams because they LACK access; arguing that the old media (newspapers, broadcasters, cable outlets) was so close to teams and leagues that their journalism was compromised.

In some respects I agree with this sentiment. (However, not for A section, news journalism, where reporters at the scene are still needed. Take, for instance, the recent debunking by journalists in Iraq of John McCain's claim that Americans were safe walking the Baghdad streets). Broadcasters often now get their paychecks from teams directly, cable outlets such as ESPN are mortified of offending professional sports teams and leagues, and mainstream journalists like Rick Reilly and Dan Patrick enjoy cozy relationships with athletes and coaches and save their vitriol for cheerleaders and deer hunters. Beat writers have long been too close to the teams they are supposed to cover. Drinking with, apologizing for, and becoming friends or sycophants for the likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Billy Martin was part of these scribes' daily life.

The quotes taken from athletes, coaches, and management by old media types show the limitations of this "buddy" journalism. Subjects spouted cliches and platitudes for decades, with no little or no follow-up questioning or pressing from sports journalists. Readers are often forced to read between the lines. In these examples, new media types are right: access is highly overrated unless you are enlightened by the phrase "one game at a time."

Yet some new media bloggers overanalyze quotations from managers and players even though they argue that what they say is usually meaningless. Take for instance, the usually-stellar Twins blogger and new media exponent Aaron Gleeman's approach to Ron Gardenhire. Gardenhire is not an intellectual; he is a career baseball man with little formal education. Most of what he says in interviews and press conferences is not interesting or insightful. Yet he has carved out an impressive career for himself as the skipper of the Twins, at least in the regular season. Even though Gleeman brags of NOT having media access to the Twins, he often disects quotes from Gardenhire, frequently with a barely disguised agenda.

For instance, in May and June there was much debate both in the blogosphere and, presumably, within the Twins organization, over what to do with Juan Rincon. Rincon was struggling mightily, and appeared to be on the downside of a otherwise solid (if chemically enhanced) career. On June 12, Gleeman used a quote from Gardenhire: "He's done a lot of great things here so you keep running him out there. He has a track record of getting people out. He's struggled lately, but he's continuing to work." Gleeman jumped all over Gardenhire, taking issue with the word "lately" and then demonstrating, in typically thorough Gleeman fashion, that Rincon's slide was 3-4 years in the making. But Gleeman's not out to simply edifiy readers on Rincon's performance, but rather to make Gardenhire look dumb, concluding, "There's nothing "lately" about his struggles."

In effect, Gleeman has taken a throwaway quote and made it in to evidence of managerial incompetence. Gleeman's agenda is even more clear when you consider Gardenhire's alternatives. Since the Twins rely on the media to promote their product, they insist that the manager speak to the media. Also, the Twins were trying to deal Rincon. Was Gardenhire supposed to say, "Rincon stinks, and he has for some time. You should see his stats."? Of course not.

I enjoy the new media. Sometimes I participate in it. But it also has its flaws. Somewhere, journalists need to strike a balance between being so cozy with Micky Mantle that it covers up all his late night carousing, and ethical enough that they do not make Matt Leinart drinking with co-eds "news." When a manager makes a offhand, innocuous remark, should it be used as an example that he is unqualified?

All Hail the Triumph of the Blogosphere

wcooley — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:20:21 -0000

Thanks be to God for the decline of the newspaper industry and the rise of the blogosphere. As the guy who plays Mose Schrute said on the recent Costas Now, our democracy is much better off with many voices contributing. And Balls Deep is right; access is so overrated when we now have the internet. After all, it usually just corrupts the journalist.

I appreciate the fact that I have learned so much more about the war in Iraq with AaronGleeman.com’s embedded reporting from the Green Zone. And it is admirable that Deadspin too time out from gossiping about journalists and athletes to allocate resources to reporting on Tibet and the Beijing Olympics.

Even the Huffington Post interrupted its fact-checking to send a reporter to an otherwise mundane zoning meeting to break the news that agri-business received clearance to install more Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations close to groundwater, rivers and lakes in rural Minnesota.

Newspapers are a thing of the past. Access is important, but only when it is taking cell-phone pictures of Matt Leinart chugging beers with co-eds. Other than that I want my journalists to be regular guys like me: sitting on the couch eating nachos and making snarky comments. Our democracy depends on this “gut feeling” rather than expertise (or travel budgets). Look at our current commander-in-chief. There’s a guy who goes with his gut.

Snapper Ball

wcooley — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:41:00 -0000

Yesterday I made the annual trip to Peoria to catch the "prospects" for our Beloit Snappers, low-A team for the Minnesota Twins.

Thanks to Roger's excellent minor-league reports I actually felt I had some familiarity with the Snapper players. And true to Minnesota Twins' organizational form, the pitchers were much more impressive than the hitters. In fact, I doubt I've ever been to a game where more batting averages for both teams hung around the Mendoza Line (or should we call it the "Punto Line"?) There was one extra-base hit - an opposite field double - and more broken bats than hard-hit balls.

The Snappers "mashed" their way to a 2-1 win with six hits, two of which were bunt singles by third-basemen Garret Olson (.219 ba) and first-baseman Matt Betsill (.189 ba). In true Twins fashion, the Designated Place-Holder (I can't really call him a "Hitter") was Daniel Berg (.205 ba, 3hr in 293 ab's). The Twins line-up also featured Chris Cates (.173 ba) and Danny Santiesteban (.208 ba). Yeesh. Also, for the second straight year, second round draft picks Paul Kelly and Drew Thompson were out of the line-up with injuries. So it comes as little surprise that Peoria pitching had gone 15 innings against the Snappers without allowing a hit until Joe Benson singled in the second inning.

The good news is that Benson was 2-4 with a run scored and Chris Parmalee hit the ball hard in three at-bats and made a nice running catch in right. More bad news is that Benson is hitting .242 and Parmalee .236. But as Roger has pointed out, these guys are young and full of promise.

As expected, the Snapper pitching was sharp. Alex Burnett, a 12th-rounder from 2005, improved to 9-7 by going 5 2/3 innings, with 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts. Aaron Craig from Rochester, MN was impressive in middle relief, and Anthony Slama'd the door shut with a two inning save, with five of his outs coming by strikeout. He was gassing it right by the Chiefs. (According to the Chief scoreboard all pitchers were between 97 and 99 on the radar gun, even their curveballs. Is this more bush-league fun for the kids?)

But, again, my enthusiasm for the Snapper pitching was tempered by the fact that the Chiefs' "prospects" included no draft picks higher than the fourth round. I assume this was not the cream of the Cubs' crop.

Chris Cates made some sterling plays as shortstop, but honestly, there are bigger players at Williamsport. If the Twins are going to draft and play a 5'3" guy they could at least get him some pants that fit.

Poll

Does Terry Ryan know what a DH is?

Dung Heap?

4 votes

David Hortiz?

6 votes

No, he is a baseball purist

7 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

Terry Ryan is Crabby

wcooley — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:53:56 -0000

Did TR wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

In case any of you missed it since it was in the mainstream media, Patrick Reusse called Terry Ryan "stubborn" on Monday. Reusse compared the injuries that the A's and the Twins have suffered through already this year and then contrasted the moves that the A's made compared to the stand-pat Twins and their punchless, painful-to-watch offense.

In today's StarTrib, TR appeared to be a little irritated that anyone would question his wisdom, basically going so far as to say that the Twins should expect to win every game 2-1 even with Fat Sid in the rotation.

"It's pitching and defense," Ryan said. "If we had played defense the last couple of games we would have been all right. We didn't. We didn't play defense down in Tampa Bay, and it hurt us. We didn't play defense on Sunday. It hurt us."

Terry, which games were you watching? The Red Sox series was the ultimate in offensive futility.

Regarding the Twins power outage:

"I don't care about home runs," Ryan said. "I care about run production. If we'd get a single here and there with runners in scoring position we would have won a couple games. We had all kinds of chances to win games the other day and we just didn't get a single."

Does TR think this is the deadball era? And this from the man who justified the signing of Tony Fatista and all of his limitations because "we need somebody to hit the ball over the fence." Now, apparently, home runs do not matter and the Twins will slap, bunt and scrap their way to 2-3 runs per game. Somehow Ozzie Guillen fooled TR into buying into this "paranyah" crap.

Terry doesn't sound "stubborn" here at all. He sounds delusional. And if you don't like it he will take his ball and bat and go home.

Poll

Why is Terry so crabby?

Have you seen the Twins play this year?

16 votes

Matt Moses, B.J. Garbe, Jason Kubel, Matt LeCroy, Henry Sanchez

17 votes

Gout

9 votes

He didn't get his oatmeal for breakfast

2 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

Yankee tickets

wcooley — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:00:11 -0000

This may not be the appropriate forum for this, but I need some advice from TwinsNation. I will be in NYC on June 8 and I was hoping to take in the Yankee/Pirates game that evening. Much to my chagrin, the tickets are already sold out. What should my next move be? Try to buy them on the street that evening? Go through ticket brokers? Ebay?

Help a brother out. Anybody have any experience with this type situation? I am looking for two moderately priced tickets in a section that allows for the consumption of beer.

If nothing else, this gets your mind off the punchless wonders for a minute or two.

Poll

Was the Borat movie funny?

Yes

13 votes

No

15 votes

28 votes | Poll has closed

What is right and wrong with baseball

wcooley — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:27:01 -0000

Maybe I'm late to the party and everyone has already seen this, but if not this website has some interesting takes on the state of the game.

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=534&Itemid=41

I've added a couple of my own, feel free to add yours.

right- Still the cheapest ticket in pro sports

wrong- Ticket prices at Fenway

right- The international influx of talent, the WBC

wrong- Not enough kids, especially urban kids, playing the game. I honestly think the best hope might be East Indian and Pakistani immigrants converting from cricket, but everyone from the Indian sub-continent I've talked to said that this is a longshot.

right- Anna Benson

wrong- Jessica Biel

right- Seven different World Series winners in seven years, parity without the pathetic mediocrity of the "Any Given Sunday" NFL

wrong- A awful play in this year's postseason. The Twins looked like frightened seventh-graders. The World Series was decided by the Tigers' inability to throw the ball to make force outs. As my wife said, it was "gross."

right- The American League

wrong- The National League

Poll

Best jock sniffer?

Morganna

2 votes

Annie Savoy

3 votes

Anna Benson

28 votes

Jessica Biel

11 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

The Stadium

wcooley — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 13:20:19 -0000

This article in the NY Times on the amenities at Turner Field was an interesting inside look at the business of stadium revenue. It might be a good preview of what is to come at the Twins new venue (Best Buy Stadium?). Here's hoping that the Twins remember that baseball is still one of the last big-time sports events that a working-class family can afford. Even at a new stadium there still should be a good amount of seats that are around $10, especially since it is a taxpayer-financed public works project.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/business/yourmoney/22stadium.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=al l

TR on Hartman

wcooley — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:45:18 -0000

Terry Ryan was on the Chad Hartman Show on KFAN yesterday. Ryan was blunt about things as usual. These are my impressions from the segment, although if you think you have a different take feel free to add.

TR gave the distinct impression that he was going to spend ZERO dollars on offense this winter on the free agent market. He said he was happy with the offense this year and sounded a bit gun-shy over the Batista experiment and not landing Frank Thomas, which he characterized as "my fault." He said something to the effect of "we finally got to 800 runs and that's where we need to be."
When Hartman pressed him on this, saying that he thought that the Twins still needed to add a #3 hitter, Ryan reminded him that Mauer is only 23 and is expected to grow into that role. Interesting that Mauer won a batting title this year and both Ryan and Hartman sounded somewhat disappointed in his production. The impression that I got is that Ryan expects Mauer to be the "big bat" that many are looking for.
It sounded like Ryan would bring back Silva, saying that Carlos is "someone that Rick Anderson can work with."
Ryan said all loose change would be spent on starting pitching. He did not sound very confident in the young starters being ready, and stressed that the Twins identity is pitching and defense. He also stated that many of his moves will hinge on whether Liriano shows progress this fall.
He was unsure on bringing back Rondell White.

See the poll to register your opinion on the Twins' postseason

Poll

What did you take away from the Twins' postseason "performance"?

The Twins were in the postseason?

10 votes

Erin Andrews is too thin

5 votes

Ron Gardenhire is the new Bobby Cox, aka "Dr. Strangemove"

3 votes

There is not enough Grain Belt in the fridge to make me forget this series

20 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

Coming Clean

wcooley — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:52:21 -0000

I get a lot wrong. Or, at least, when I am wrong, I am way wrong. In two instances, my friends have not allowed me to forget how wrong I was. Remember in 1997, when President Clinton launched an attack on suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan? He said that his information indicated Osama bin Laden and his top associates were meeting at a training camp when the U.S. fired their missles. But the attacks came on the same day that Miss Monica Lewinsky wrapped up her testimony before a grand jury investigating whether Clinton lied under oath about their, um, meetings. I was sure this was a "wag the dog" scenario, and announced that "we have nothing to fear from Osama bin Laden."

My second worst prediction came in 1998, when I argued that Ryan Leaf would be a "much better" NFL quarterback than Peyton Manning. How was I supposed to know that Leaf had a five-cent head to go with that $11.25 million signing-bonus arm?

Just this year, in regards to the Twins, I posted in a diary that Justin Morneau might not ever live up to his potential, right before he got hotter than Hades. I also advocated that Twins start dumping players and give up on 2006, right before they went on a 51-20 tear and are now in the lead for the wild card. And just recently I passionately advocated the Kyle Lohse trade, right before the Twins rotation collapsed leaving them to rely on Garza, Bonser, Silva and "Bailing Twine" Brad Radke.

One thing that bothers me about many Twins blogs is that they always remind readers about what they were right about, but almost never mention where they were wrong. Sometimes I think we forget that when we are wrong, nobody cares, but when somebody like Terry Ryan is wrong, it is a very public mistake.

That felt good in a sensitive, modern-man sort of way. Now you'll have to excuse me, I have to go take a duke.

Educate Me

wcooley — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:53:54 -0000

Javy Lopez was traded from the Baltimore Orioles to Boston today for for a player to be named and a cash gift from Petey Angelos. This allows the Red Sox to replace injured catcher Jason Varitek with a former All-Star. The question is, why didn't the Twins or another team in playoff contention block this move since it came after the trade deadline?

The way I understand trades after the deadline is that the player to be traded has to clear waivers, and each team is given a chance to claim players from the bottom up. Since the Twins have a lower winning percentage than the Sox, shouldn't they have claimed Lopez to block him from improving the Red Sox?

On the other hand, is it possible that if the Twins would have claimed Lopez the Orioles could have said, "Fine, take him," and saddled the Twins with the rest of his $9 million contract? Or can the Twins say "just kidding, we really didn't want him, we just wanted to make sure he didn't go to the Red Sox" and then he goes back to the Orioles or becomes a free agent?

Or, is it possible that Ryan thinks that at 35, Lopez is nowhere near the player that put up a .328 ba with 43 home runs and 109 RBIs in his best year in Atlanta, and will not improve any team, no matter where he ends up, so there is no need to block him?

Lopez is currently hitting .265 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 279 at-bats and has only caught in only 21 of the Orioles' 109 games. His OBP is .314, slugging .412. Obviously the Red Sox think he will help them, so shouldn't Terry Ryan think the same?

Educate me, please.