I have no real opinion on news papers. I would say that 85% of the news papers I have bought were because I need something to wrap glasses and dishes in. I have never been the type of person to derive a great deal of pleasure from their crisp smell, their crinkling sounds as I turn their pages, or the way in you can flip back and forth b/w the various sections any way you want. I have simply never been that guy.
I find it regretable that so many papers are folding and laying off tons of workers, mostly b/c I am in constant fear for one of my friends job. With all that said, the wonderful Joe Posnanski has created another great blog. This on is all about the down fall of news papers.
For a primer on this blog I suggest you check out these two posts from his normal blog.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Check!?! Check!?!
Been lazy and have not been writing all. Actually, the strange part is I tend to write more when I am lazy. I have actually just been doing stuff lately. However let's move past all of that and talk about the best baseball writer going. His name is Joe Posnanski He writes for Kansas City Star and has hands down one the best and most engaging blogs going. I rarely believe in people who I don't know. In fact you might say it's a rule I developed as a kid.
I grew up loving sports. I played baseball, basketball, did karate*, and skateboarded. I never had hero's in any of these arena's though. There were people who I thought were really good, and seemed to excel above all others, but I never thought, man I wanna be like that guy. My parents were plenty of inspiration.** I never felt like I need to look up to anyone else. Their story was plenty good enough to dream about (and still is). However when I read Posnankski he makes me think about things I normally don't.
See when it comes to baseball, I am stats guy. I am not great or brilliant at this by any means, but I understand them for the most part. I see the game through them, and use them as my baseline for figuring out how good I think a player is***. However, I have a healthy love for talent evaluation, and the more subtle parts of the game. Every spring I love reading the stories about the "Greenest grass you'll ever see" and stories about, "The Crack of the bat as the first pitch is thrown."
That stuff is amazing and does what sports are suppose to do. They are suppose to make you forget about everything else, and just enjoy the game. Not sit there and calculate the chances of X, Y and Z happening, and that's what Posnanski brings to the table.
For the last few years it seems like 75% of the baseball stories are about steroids. I find this maddening because I couldn't care less who did what when and where. I am fine with the testing that is done now, but I believe we should really be doing blood testing. All I really want to do is sit back and marvel and watch players doing amazing and extraoridnarie things that I can not do. I think Posnanski nails a bit of that them in this column. Even if you don't care a lick about baseball, it's a great read.
Oh and check out his blog. There is TONS of none baseball stuff there that is just fun.
*I have never figured out a good way to say that I use to do karate. I mean trained for like 8 or 9 years. I can't remember exactly at this point. To say I trained isn't even slightly accurate, but to over play it is even more annoying. There needs to be a word for something that was truly meaningful and life changing that you were really good at but don't want talk about. I am sure the word exists, but I just don't know it.
**That's right a kind word about my parents. Take a deep breathe.
***Most likely it's a hold over from collecting baseball cards.
I grew up loving sports. I played baseball, basketball, did karate*, and skateboarded. I never had hero's in any of these arena's though. There were people who I thought were really good, and seemed to excel above all others, but I never thought, man I wanna be like that guy. My parents were plenty of inspiration.** I never felt like I need to look up to anyone else. Their story was plenty good enough to dream about (and still is). However when I read Posnankski he makes me think about things I normally don't.
See when it comes to baseball, I am stats guy. I am not great or brilliant at this by any means, but I understand them for the most part. I see the game through them, and use them as my baseline for figuring out how good I think a player is***. However, I have a healthy love for talent evaluation, and the more subtle parts of the game. Every spring I love reading the stories about the "Greenest grass you'll ever see" and stories about, "The Crack of the bat as the first pitch is thrown."
That stuff is amazing and does what sports are suppose to do. They are suppose to make you forget about everything else, and just enjoy the game. Not sit there and calculate the chances of X, Y and Z happening, and that's what Posnanski brings to the table.
For the last few years it seems like 75% of the baseball stories are about steroids. I find this maddening because I couldn't care less who did what when and where. I am fine with the testing that is done now, but I believe we should really be doing blood testing. All I really want to do is sit back and marvel and watch players doing amazing and extraoridnarie things that I can not do. I think Posnanski nails a bit of that them in this column. Even if you don't care a lick about baseball, it's a great read.
Oh and check out his blog. There is TONS of none baseball stuff there that is just fun.
*I have never figured out a good way to say that I use to do karate. I mean trained for like 8 or 9 years. I can't remember exactly at this point. To say I trained isn't even slightly accurate, but to over play it is even more annoying. There needs to be a word for something that was truly meaningful and life changing that you were really good at but don't want talk about. I am sure the word exists, but I just don't know it.
**That's right a kind word about my parents. Take a deep breathe.
***Most likely it's a hold over from collecting baseball cards.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Fuck Richard Florida
We have this list to be proud of. I am certain my friend Fearlessvk is very proud today.
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