An interesting concession appeared on Monday’s sports page.
Jason Whitlock has yet to watch a game in which Royals manager Trey Hillman suffered a loss.
Now, either Whitlock should go to more games because he's proven to be a powerful talisman -- or he doesn't actually watch the Kansas City Royals, one of two professional franchises in a town where he's a major sports columnist.
Judging by the columns appearing in Sunday and Monday’s sports pages, I'm guessing it's the latter.
Sports columnists in the Star supposedly provide access and wisdom accumulated over the course of their careers. Meanwhile, bloggers provide (hopefully) an entertaining view from a fan’s perspective. (Much ink, both virtual and actual, has been spilled in the last month over the role of blogging in today’s sporting media after the Buzz Bissinger-Will Leitch exchange on HBO.) There is a role for both in today’s media environment. But Jason Whitlock, on the rare occurrence when forced to write from the K, provides neither – he is neither a fan of the Royals nor does he provide any insight on the inner workings of the club.
Whitlock has his strengths as a columnist. He is a skilled provocateur who attempts to engage his audience in important discussions concerning race. He is knowledgeable about football and, rare among sports insiders, he is not shy. His access does not prevent him from expressing unpopular opinions.
About baseball, however? He doesn't watch the games. He has no interest in anything occurring behind the scenes or on the field. The space wasted by his columns could have been devoted to Sam Mellinger, who provided two insightful blog posts (not appearing in the sports page) on Jose Guillen and David Glass.
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I think the last nostalgic Frenchman may have been Charles DeGaulle.
I got this from my Google search: http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.a...
Yes. A Bee Gees album.
I went to Wikipaedia thinking surely there would be an entry for *Nostalgic Frenchmen*. There is not, but somehow I wound up on the Scottish page. The articles are not that funny, but the subheaders on the main page are hilarious http://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/... Someone really needs to make an entry for Nostalgic Frenchmen.
I'd like to bring Paul and Gus together:
we can all agree that Jason shouldn't write about baseball and that picture, irrespective of where it was taken, depicts a local sports columnist taking a nap on a couch.
Gus, thanks and I can see where that reads like I'm sticking up for Whitlock. I actually agree with Chris completely. His baseball columns are laughable. But in my opinion, the local baseball coverage is not much better, and at times off the unintentional comedy scale.
And I made that up about Oprah's couch. It's probably the reception area at a hotel during the NBA All-Star Game. Or the good folks at Blonde let him sleep off a Gates lunch in their VIP room. The possibilities are endless, and I actually don't want to know the real story.
Speaking of insiderness, is that really him sleeping on Orpah's couch? That's hilarious. I think Paul's pretty funny and informed but i don't get why you're sticking up for Whitlock. His last two columns have been useless, and he clearly doesnt care or know much about the Royals. Suggesting he not write about things he doesn't care about or know about is perfectly fair.
Bloggers don't provide access, huh? Well then how were you able to obtain a private photo of Jason napping in Oprah's green room? You are so modest, Chris Rasmussen. I'm sure sportsradioland will be jump on your bandwagon and demand that only Bob Dutton write about baseball from now on. Because he really has it covered from every angle.
And we really don't need more than one opiner on the Royals either. JoPo has that covered. I so look forward to his preseason Royals World Series prediction and inevitable "Where'd the Magic Go?" lament of May 1. And Joe's interviews with scouts are incredibly insightful. Like the one last season where he conveyed the scouting wisdowm that the Royals do not have one player on their roster with above average speed. Forget that Teahen and German are obviously above average. But ever hear of Joey Gathright? Joe goes to the park, roots for our boys, and gets the inside scoop. So leave it to Bob and Joe. Hey, sounds like a Top 40 hit...
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