Bloggers REALLY hate the Globe

And they're just taking the bait this time.

Dan Shaughnessy, the hated columnist du jour (du decade? du lifetime?), published a mock chat session on Curt Schilling's blog in the paper yesterday. Schilling, of course, fired back (has anyone so thick ever been so thin-skinned?) and was joined by the multitudes who are just happy their bloody-socked hero is typing RIGHT TO THEM, WOW!

Nobody is in the right here. Shaughnessy makes his point, but then proceeds to massivly over-make it, and is clearly only looking for a response. Equally self-centered Schilling provides it, calling the columnist a nickname invented by the same Wicked Sawx Dude! types Shaughnessy mocks. And the others (not that FJM -- a great read -- is necessarily among them) are just feeding the egos of a few guys who couldn't give a damn about them.

Everyone knew Schilling's blog would come under fire by reaction-minded "old media" types. Here's the thing: It's not real fire! Shaughnessy can be a great writer, but, here, he's essentially a bad guy in the WWF. The outrage he's getting is nothing but good for him, and the extra attention (as if he needs it) Schilling is getting is nothing but good for him. The people being angry at Shaughnessy and giving die-hard support to Schilling get nothing, other than a potential coronary.

If you don't like the guy -- the one writing the column, or the one writing the blog -- just stop reading. It's that simple.

Landon 3, Ecuador 1

Landon Donovan just added two more goals against Ecuador.

This isn't from today, but it fits:

Pinstripes!

Some thoughts while watching U.S.-Ecuador men's soccer:

- The USMNT jerseys (royal blue with pinstripes) aren't bad.
- Landon Donovan is actually ... good again. When did this happen?
- Clint Dempsey has had better days. So has DaMarcus Beasley.
- The field looks awful, but that's to be expected in a football stadium.
- Bruce Arena isn't getting any less arrogant.
- When do we start getting these games in HD? Come on, ESPN ...

"The Mandarin equivalent of Rush Limbaugh."

Over on ESPN.com, Jim Caple has a look at China a year and a half before the Olympics. Apparently, traffic is an issue.

You know that opening scene of "Office Space," during which Peter is stuck in traffic and notices he's being passed by an elderly man with a walker? This was worse. In 20 minutes we crawled perhaps one kilometer. And all the while, my driver squirmed in his seat and listened to the Mandarin equivalent of Rush Limbaugh. I have no idea what the broadcaster was saying, but he sounded so angry I can only assume he must have been bitching about the traffic.

"Power"? Yeah ... maybe ...

The transfer fee for Clint Dempsey is a little off and calling Fulham and "English (soccer) power" is borderline funny, but it's nice to see smaller American outlets pick up on the amount of U.S. talent going overseas these days.

Dempsey joined teammates Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra in a contingent of 14 Americans currently playing in the EPL. They are clearly making a statement that the USA is now a prime recruiting market for prestigious clubs in England. One such club is coming to Maryland to do just that.

Just for fun, here's Brian McBride scoring to beat Manchester United (with bonus foreign commentary!):

“Have you heard of O. J. Mayo?” the man asked.

From nyt.com, one of the best college basketball recruiting stories you'll ever read. Naturally, it's about O.J. Mayo:

“Why aren’t you at Arizona or Connecticut?” Floyd recalled asking.

The man explained that Mayo wanted to market himself before going to the N.B.A., and that Los Angeles would give him the best possible platform.

“Then why aren’t you at U.C.L.A.?” Floyd asked.

The man shook his head. U.C.L.A. had already won 11 national championships. It had already produced many N.B.A. stars. Mayo wanted to be a pioneer for a new era.

“Let me call him,” Floyd said.

The man shook his head again. “O. J. doesn’t give out his cell,” he said. “He’ll call you.”

Diving, set to music

The song here is far too catchy to not listen to constantly, even if Cristiano Ronaldo is as big a diver as there is in the Premier League.

Watch closely as he uses step-overs and dribble tricks 90 minutes a match, never once advancing on goal.

Mor(mon) goodness from Slate

Ever wonder what Mormon athletes wear under their uniforms? Explainer to the answer!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints allows athletes to forego the traditional underclothes during games because they're impractical. Mormons are encouraged to wear the temple garments at all times, although they can swap them out if they're playing sports or going for a swim. (Hall of Fame quarterback and devout Mormon Steve Young used to take off his temple garments before each 49ers game.)

Speaking of Steve Young:

Doubt newspapers are in trouble?

Here's a pair of posts on subscribing to the New York Times from sportsjournalists.com that make it clear that even media professionals are doing things the "new" way:

How many of you do? It just seems like the right thing to do if you're in this business - or like to be a well-informed American. So I'm seriously considering it. I wish the Washington Post delivered nationally, too.

Why do you need to subscribe when you can get it free on line?

OK to report "mistakes"?

Last week was a tough one.

When we got word a star basketball player from a local team had been arrested (and subsequently benched) before a key tournament game, we knew the story had to be written. The coach made a tough (correct) decision, and we -- the regional paper -- could tell the story more fairly to the school, the player and the readers than the big ones, who hadn't yet found out about the incident.

Here's what came out of it, and here's a subsequent editorial.

Was reporting it the right thing to do? We think so; there were certainly enough meetings to try to decide. With luck, it's a lesson to schools and coaches everywhere -- not talking to the media only gives us police reports to work with, and police reports don't make for "positive" stories. If something happens, it's best to be honest and up-front. That way, both sides of the story come out as early as possible, which is best for all involved.

Italian soccer has never been less respected

So, what better to do than fight in European play?



Notice two Inter players being unable to tackle the ever-so-brave Valencia player around the 20-second mark. Ever since the World Cup, they can't even fight right. The Curse of Zidane?

Just because it's almost baseball season

Nothing drives ticket sales like a freak of nature.

Slate.com's Josh Levin on Sun Ming Ming, the ABA's 7-foot-8 main attraction.

Sun Ming Ming's Nighthawks debut, which attracted a standing-room-only crowd, proved that even the ABA can't screw up the King Kong marketing strategy. Nothing drives ticket sales like a freak of nature.

How long before he's in the NBA? Uh ... probably a while.

Borges: Wrong, sloppy and not Jayson Blair

(Click here to listen to this entry online.)

The blogosphere (which, up here in Boston, has never been much of a fan of the Globe's Ron Borges) might have claimed his job last week when this site reported immense similarities between a football notes column he authored and that of a Tacoma writer, Mike Sando.

Passages in Borges' piece are unquestionably, damningly similar to bits of Sando's writing, which appeared in print first. A few words have been changed, but it's in the typical style of plagiarism -- no difference in meaning, and only enough in language to potentially throw off a Google search.

Still, is Borges a classic plagiarist? It's touchy.

According to the Globe's March 6 mea culpa, "Borges is a subscriber to an online notes exchange used by NFL writers, who share information with one another in advance of Sunday notebook columns that run in many newspapers." I've talked to someone who makes his living covering the Patriots about this, and he told me that using information from such services, where writers voluntarily post raw information and sometimes entire notes entries, is wide-spread and acceptable. Apparently, the catches are simply:

1. Don't rip off someone else's lede item and use it as your own.

2. Don't use something verbatim, especially if it could make it into print.

So, yes, Borges was painfully sloppy in his writing and reporting. But, at the same time, he didn't simply pop up a browser, search for "Seahawks News" and put what he found into print. Call him a bad reporter, just don't call him a plagiarist.

More hoops mistakes

The Sharon (Mass.) High boys basketball team got a phantom basket in its win over top-seeded Whitman-Hanson in last night's Division 2 South Sectionals game. I was there, and it was ugly -- the story goes into more detail.

Is it me, or are there more catchable mistakes being made in this year's winter tournaments (nation-wide!) than ever before?

"Laurie, I can't find the death warrants!"

Why would you do this to yourself?

Billy Wilson, aka Mr. Mouse (don't ask), started the Tough Guy 22 years ago as a way to spice up cross country runs. Rather than a simple run through the local fields, Wilson added an ever-increasing number of paramilitary obstacles to a course designed to test the competitors' limits of endurance and pain. "In the first three years," he says, "I thought, 'Wow, I'm gonna face a judge that says, "You sent 365 men to their death."'

A few years old now

But, as basketball season ends, this is still a great story.