“Irrespective of your gothic aspects, you have passed something on in
terms of your expression, mien and general comportment that is unusual
and rewarding.”
Interesting stuff vaguely pertaining to the Albert Pujols negotiations.
Are there any real journalistic standards when it comes to identifying sources and are sports reporters following those standards anymore? I always thought that some insight into how the source may have gotten the information and/or their motivations for disclosing the information was required.
I mean we hear so much of stuff like “a source within baseball” or “a source close to the negotiations” these days, which tells us nothing at all about the source or the potential reliability of their information. Aren’t they required to provide at least some sort of background on the source?
– Chris, via email.
Good question. I didn’t go to journalism school so I never learned any ethical guidelines for that type of stuff. I consulted friend of TedQuarters and one-time Award Winning SaxaCenter Program correspondent Gina, who did go to journalism school, and she said it all depends on the editor and the specific case. That seems to make sense.
From what I understand, a good deal of anonymous sources in baseball — especially when it comes to contract negotiations — are agents or employees of the agent, or as they’re better known, “sources with knowledge of the negotiations.” A couple years ago, Rich Lederer at BaseballAnalysts.com did a nice job running down the details of one apparent association.
So as Chris suggests, it’s right to be skeptical of any anonymously sourced story. Keep in mind always that the source probably has a reason for divulging the information beyond just wanting to see his words in print. Since all baseball journalists — and really all journalists, I suppose — compete for pageviews, editors are likely less motivated to pull a juicy tip out of a story even if it comes straight from an interested party.
But since we’re all here on the Internet craving information, I’m not even sure it’s a bad thing. It is what it is, as they say. The onus falls on us to sort out which journalists (and sources) are more credible and to try to determine who’s feeding what to whom. Then we digest all the information and form our own opinions.
Rich checks in from Port St. Lucie:
Somehow I missed this when it broke a couple years ago: Billy Ripken has no one to blame but himself for being known to a generation of fans as “[expletive] Face.” Also, he gave copies of his infamous Fleer card to the groomsmen in his wedding. Lots of good stuff in here.
[poll id=”17″]
Erin Andrews, who signed an endorsement deal with Reebok last month, is not the only ESPN personality or member of its “College GameDay” team to have a contract with a major shoe company.
Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have deals with Nike that Corso described as a joint arrangement that largely involves speaking engagements for the athletic shoe and apparel company.
– Richard Sandomir, New York Times.
Sandomir goes on to investigate whether the endorsement deals present conflicts of interest for the ESPN personalities. Honestly I can’t imagine it could really be that big a deal unless, while discussing highlights of Cam Newton running all over the SEC, Lee Corso started yelling, “It’s gotta be the shoes!” or something.
The big issue here is that I still have to pay for my own shoes like some sort of chump and/or sucker. I’ll have you know, Nike, that I keep a sports and sandwich blog of moderate repute and host a modestly regarded web-based baseball video series. Also, since we’re on the topic, Nike, I never wear your sneakers because they don’t fit me right. So either you make the Air Ted Bergs custom-fitted to my feet or I take my talents to Saucony.
Speaking of: Saucony, we can do this right now. I’ve been wearing your Jazz sneakers almost exclusively in all non-athletic sneaker-requiring situations since the turn of the Millenium. And now they’re hard to find at the mall and I have to order them at Zappos. That’s the type of commitment to your product that should be rewarded with an endorsement deal, I think. Just send me free sneakers and I’ll tell everyone how comfortable they are, and how they help make my size-13 feel look at least vaguely proportional to my 5’10” frame.
Same goes for you, Dr. Marten. I know your monopoly on the goth-kid market crumbled sometime in the early 1990s, but I’ve been wearing your oxfords to work since I stopped having jobs at which it was acceptable to wear Sauconys. We can make this happen. I am the host of the Baseball Show for cryin’ out loud! I WEAR YOUR SHOES WHILE I TALK TO CERRONE ON SKYPE! That’s a landmark sponsorship opportunity.
I never made a conscious decision to just keep buying the same shoes once a year every year, it just kind of happened. At some point in the late 1970s my dad apparently did the same thing.
The Westminster Kennel Club dog show is underway, rendering the AP photo wire massively entertaining. I actually covered the event for SNY.tv in 2007. It’s weird.
I look back on it and I’m not saying A.J. Burnett is the reason we didn’t win the World Series, nothing like that. But without being cocky and arrogant, I think if I would have pitched up to my par it would’ve been a lot smoother going into the postseason and we’d have had a lot better chance. I really felt, damn, they really could’ve used A.J.
– A.J. Burnett.
Burnett goes on to refer to himself in the third person twice more in the same Daily News article, for an impressive total of four. Not bad, sir.
Also of note: Burnett and his wife both find the band Disturbed worth traveling for.
There’s only one new one and it’s really not all that embarrassing in the grand scheme of embarrassing photos of Cole Hamels, but hey, baseball season’s starting and it has probably been a while since you’ve browsed our compendium of embarrassing photos of Cole Hamels.
Tedquarters 