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Is Golf Observer’s Sal Johnson living in an alternate universe?

He writes about golf bloggers

One form of coverage that will grow in ’09 is blogs. Some of them are very good but most of them are very incomplete and poorly done. A Golfblog is nothing more than an individual that writes about golf.

First I will give Sal credit for not bloggers who write about golf aren’t living in their mother ‘s basement. We’ll leave such witty comments to the like of Bob Costas.

On the other hand what is the third sentence supposed to be a golf blog is a website not an individual. A golf blogger is an individual with an opinion about golf.

There are some good ones like Waggleroom.Com, Jay Flemma.Com, Geoff Shackelford.Com and The Golf Watch but the main problem is control of these blogs.

I’m not a real big fan of Geoff but that’s just me. Till today I never heard of Jay Flemma or Golf Watch. How can Sal not mention The Constructivist at Mostly Harmless or Hound Dog’s blog? They are the two of the best blogs out there focused on any of the tours.

Since most of them aren’t owned by a company or have advertisers to answer to a good many of them are free to be very critical and sometimes have a fair amount of unfair reporting.

Sal can you cite one example of unfair reporting? If it is just someone’s opinion that’s not reporting.

By the way, should advertiser concerns dictate what is and isn’t reported? If it does, then what does that say about the reporting?

Since these blogs are written in their homes instead of being at an event most of these blogs are based on what others have written, transcripts that are easily accessible on the web and frankly are unfair because they are reporting news that they aren’t on the scene to report.

Sal totally loses it with this sentence. First, after stating bloggers do unfair reporting he then comes back and says they aren’t reporting because they aren’t on scene to report!

One of the reasons golf bloggers can’t report on scene, is because the pro golf tours won’t credential us. I’ve been credentialed twice, I’ve also been turned down more times.

The intellectual fallacy Sal is using is the ‘chickenhawk argument’ used so often by critics of the Iraq war. They attack another person’s view, saying they aren’t entitled to an opinion because they aren’t in the military or served at the front. If ‘credentials’ were required for stating opinions on any subject matter, then few voices would be heard. I could also point out that Sal has shown himself to be ill informed on the definitions of blog and blogger. How dare he then right about golf bloggers then! He obviously doesn’t know anything about the subject and be muzzled.(Turn off the sarcasm)

It is a very weak argument, which is really intended to deflect attention from the golf blogger’s opinion and onto the golf blogger instead.

Golf reporters report every day on events they don’t see in person. There is over 100 players in most tournaments, the reporter can’t be everywhere to see every shot. They have to rely on someone else(The player) to tell them what happened.

Last year at the Stanford International, the press that followed players on Sunday all went out with the last group of Annika Sorenstam-Paula Creamer-Momoko Ueda. The next to last group which featured one player two shots back(Young Kim) and another three shots back(Cristie Kerr) had just one member of the media out with them. Me.

Kim made back to back double bogeys on holes 7 and 8 after pulling into a tie for the lead. She rallied to finish third one shot out of the playoff. No one but me reported on what caused Kim to blow up like she did. Because Kim didn’t do a press conference afterwards and none of the media was interested in seeking out that info.

I guess advertisers require reporters to not report the full story of a tournament.

Also bloggers sometimes don’t credit were they get their information from and a lot of illegally “borrowed” images and some case video are on their sites. So with the addition of more blogging that is fueled by viewer reactions and done off the web and TV, look for a wild west style of reporting that will gear itself more toward the negative and tabloid style of reporting.

I guess there are bloggers who don’t link to other people’s work. My practice is to link to anyone who I borrow from. I’m also generous with links to other golf bloggers if we happen to be writing on the same topic. Since I discovered Ryan, The Constructivist and Hound Dog, I’ve lost count how many times I have linked to them.

Sal again mixes up stating opinions and reporting. A reporter is supposed to tell the facts. A opinion writer puts into words what he thinks on a subject. Facts are optional.

Hopefully more of these blogs will come under control of other publication companies that buy them or advertisers that will demand more traditional ways of reporting the news.

Again bloggers rarely report, they state opinions. Someone hit Sal over the head with a wet noodle till he finally grasps that fact.

I write for several blogs. Outside the Beltway’s and Wizbang’s sports blogs. Both take advertising revenue. What a shocker and even more shocking is the advertisers don’t dictate what is or isn’t written at these places. The blog owners don’t tell me= Don’t write about this because it may upset a advertiser.

OTB Sports is owned by my friend James Joyner. He isn’t putting the blogs he created up for sale so far as I know. James can take away my writing privileges at the blog as his right.

If blogs are consolidated and purchased by the mainstream media, isn’t fewer voices even if they are incorrect sometimes, something to cheer for?

Sal is also failing to see that fewer people read newspapers every day but more people read news off the internet. What most consider traditional reporting, is a dying art. Few bloggers are reporters, we are mostly people with opinions. Just like anyone else, its a free world and we can state them.

 

Cleveland Browns name ballboyEric Mangini head coach

He replaces the recently fired Romeo Crennel. From ESPN-

Eric Mangini, who began his NFL career as a ballboy for the Browns, was introduced as Cleveland’s 12th full-time coach on Thursday, less than two weeks after he was fired by the New York Jets.

After Bill Belichick failed in Cleveland, and Romeo Crennel failed in Cleveland, what could the Browns possibly expect from Eric Mangini? The disciples of Bill Belichick haven’t exactly fared well in the NFL.

The 37-year-old Mangini signed a four-year deal with the Browns, who are rebuilding once again following a 4-12 season that ended with the firings of coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage.

*****

Mangini began shagging balls with the Browns in 1994 under then-coach Bill Belichick, who liked the kid’s work ethic and quickly promoted him to a public relations assistant before adding him to the scouting department. Now Mangini’s taking over the job from Crennel, one of his best friends in the game.

*****

Mangini had a tumultuous three years in New York. When he arrived, Mangini inherited a 4-12 team and led them to 10 wins in his first season, prompting New York’s tabloids to dub him “Mangenius.” By the end of his run in the NFL’s largest market, he was being called moody, dour and controlling.

He went 23-25 with one playoff loss in three seasons with the Jets, who started 8-3 this season but lost four of their last five games and missed the playoffs.

Bill Belichick Assistants haven’t had a exemplary record as head coaches in the NFL.
Years W-L Playoff
Romeo Crennel 4 24-40 0-0
Eric Mangini 3 23-25 0-1
Nick Saban 2 15-17 0-0
Al Groh 1 9-7 0-0
Combined win pct: .444

Mangini may have more talent(Brady Quinn) to work with in Cleveland than he did in New York and won’t have the Big Apple media circus to deal with either. Still I’m predicting the Browns to be in the market for another head coach in no more than four years.

 

Cowboys Cut Pacman

The Pacman Jones experiment is over in Dallas.

After just one season with the team, the Cowboys are cutting ties with Adam “Pacman” Jones, releasing the cornerback late Wednesday afternoon.

Jones, who joined the Cowboys last spring through a trade with the Titans, seemed to make as many off-the-field headlines as he did with his play.  Even with three years remaining on Jones’ contract, the Cowboys apparently felt the need to move on from the often-troubled cornerback, who served a six-game NFL suspension this season for his involvement in a scuffle with his own personal bodyguard at a Dallas hotel back in early October.

Although the Cowboys inherited Jones’ original contract with the Titans, which expires after the 2011 season, they will not take a salary cap hit, considering his bonus hit Tennessee’s books last season when he was dealt to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick in 2008. The trade also included the Cowboys giving Tennessee a sixth-round pick in 2009. However, because of Jones’ suspension, it not only nullified that pick, which goes back to Dallas, but the Titans then had to give the Cowboys an additional fifth-round pick next season.

This guy’s a tremendous athlete and some other team will almost surely sign him. But the Cowboys have too many knuckleheads and not enough discipline. Pacman had to go.

DMN’s Jean-Jacques Taylor agrees.

[T]he Cowboys are a better team without him. Sometimes, subtraction – not addition – is the key to improvement.

But let’s not act like Jones was this team’s biggest problem, because he wasn’t. We should consider getting rid of Jones the start of an off-season of change.

So is letting a guy like Tank Johnson, as overrated as they come, seek his fortune in free agency. Few things are worse than an average player who thinks he’s an All-Pro.

If we’re honest, ridding the team of [former special teams coach Bruce] Read and Jones required no sacrifice. Or sleepless nights. Or any angst. They were easy decisions.

For the Cowboys to become an elite team again, they will have to make much tougher decisions.

Like whether to release Terrell Owens, because there’s not a player or coach on this team with a strong enough personality to bring out the best in him while limiting his charismatic influence in the locker room. And whether it’s better to release Greg Ellis if he can’t handle Anthony Spencer’s increased role without griping.

And whether Jerry should fire Phillips now and hire Mike Shanahan instead of wasting a year hoping against hope that the 61-year-old coach with a reputation for being a softie can become a drill sergeant.

Agreed all around. T.O. is the wildcard, in that he’s not only a productive player but would represent a major cap hit if he were cut. Certainly, though, it’s something that needs to be strongly considered.

 

Ottawa Senator Jarkko Ruutu suspended two games for bite

It is not known if his victim will need a rabies shot. From AP-

The NHL acted swiftly after what happened in the first period of Buffalo’s 4-2 home win. Peters started the skirmish by shoving the palm of his glove into Ruutu’s face and pushing him into the boards at the Senators’ bench.

Ruutu responded by chomping down on Peters’ glove, catching his teeth on the player’s thumb, which is not padded. The force of Ruutu’s bite broke the skin and drew blood on the Peters’ right thumb. As Peters pulled away in pain, his glove was ripped off by Ruutu’s bite.

Peters was penalized for sparking the skirmish. Ruutu was not penalized.

Biting isn’t some kind of penalty? Only in the NHL.

Here’s the video of the incident

To be honest two games is a slap on the wrist, even with the lost salary. Suspend him for a couple of months. This behavior doesn’t belong in pro sports.

 
 


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