Laurent Courtines – MeowSplash

From this blog we all know that I am a baseball nerd.  However,  within baseball nerdom we do have discussions of the goings on of the internet.  Over at the Biz of Baseball,  Maury Brown ‘Why Twitter May Be the Greatest Thing Ever For Sportsfans’.

I didn’t read the article but the conversation on the article pulled up this gem of an explaination on twitter for regular people.  Great stuff.

Baseball Think Factory Post of the Article Above

#41 GM Posted: May 04, 2009 at 05:57 PM (#3163551)
I admit that I don’t really “get” how Twitter works. Is it like a mass text or something?

Twitter has three functions, a status update tool (a la Facebook), keeping up on people of interest, and keeping up on topics of interest. To accomplish this, you have access to all of Twitter’s functions through SMS messaging, its website, or an assortment of client applications for practically every platform.

The combination of all three functions basically creates an enormous ad hoc message board/comment section for everything. Topics can be created, and followed, on the fly, allowing for information to perpetuate, important or otherwise, incredibly quickly. The Swine Flu story basically shot through Twitter before anything else, and that’s the difference between it and something like Facebook, which exists in a sort of black box (which, w/r/t things like sharing photos with friends and family, makes perfect sense).

For instance, search for Mets during a Mets game (or obviously any team at search.twitter.com), and you get something awfully similar to a Game Chatter going on, as the results are a constantly updating conversation. Search for Selena Roberts and you’ll find a link to the same Jason Whitlock article Esoteric posted to the Newsblog, the same Duke Lacrosse story brought up in that posts comments section, and the same sort of questions regarding her journalistic integrity.

While that’s not directly what it appears to be, functionally, that’s what it is. If you want to know what people are talking about, or what people think about anything RIGHT NOW, Twitter is a useful tool to that end.

Image via Wikipedia

I figured as I have nothing to say of late I’ll just crank through and see what happens.

Last week a couple of things went on that MAY be construed as exciting-

- Two long Facebook hosted arguments on the suckiness of Derek Jeter.
I completely enjoy hammering on the Yankee captain because well, he’s an icon and gets far too much credit for the Yankees winning and NONE when they lose. (How he does this is beyond me)

- Twitter (I can’t believe I’m writing about it) has jumped the shark in terms of blog posts about it. Enough already! We get it – its important! It’s going to change the world, blah blah. If I read another useless post about it I am going to shut off your internet.

- I love baseball. Ok. We all know that, but its really getting there. The season starts (HOLY SHIT) next weekend. Got my fantasy team, got my MLB Network and I am geared up.

- We’re redesigning Games.com. Its fun and we’re all jazzed up about it. I’m ready to fight for stuff we need.

That’ll do.

Image via Wikipedia

I’d like to do an odds and ends piece that is basically an advanced links post on the stuff that is on my mind.

These items will not always be linked they may just be snippets of thoughts.

Ok- Round 1.

- World Baseball Classic – Awesome!  I love the internatioanl baseball and the players are into it.  If you are a baseball lover you should watch it.  If only just for the Cubans!

- Fantasy or Roto baseball-  This is the least prepared I will ever be for a fantasy baseball season.  I don’t like it and it doesn’t feel good.  I need a have a good year.  Finished out of the top 3 last year.  That can’t happen again.  I blame AOL.

- My head is spinning with online game stuff.  There are a million things going on and a million games.  The battle in my brain over quality verses quantity never stops.

- I want to be more focused in general.  Any and all tips welcome

-  I am getting married in 60 days.  Wow.  Exciting and nerve wracking worrying about everyone one else.  Lisa and I are tight as ever if not more.

- Max Kellerman is off the air.  ESPN 1050 is retarded for trying to make a national radio host out of Colin Cowherd. Colin is a blowhard douche.  You can quote me on that.

- Our content on our sites needs to get more sports like.  Get nasty,  get dirty.  It’s just more fun that way.

Spending the last three days watching baseball has been wonderful.  I want to thank Bud Selig for all these things.  If we going to blame Bud FOR EVERYTHING then we should commend him for whats happened in baseball under his watch.

So many baseball fans have a knee jerk hatred for Bud Selig.  I get it,  the media harps on and on about steriods.  I get it,  Bud was there for the strike. I GET IT,  he tried to contract two teams. OK.  It he tainted the game with crazy new ideas like the WILD CARD- I GET IT.  The fact is he did some good things.

Here is a list of the good things done on Bud’s watch.

1. The wild card. – Ask Red Sox, Marlins and Angels fans about the wild card.

2. MLB.com – You can watch any game online.  He centralized web revenue so everyone’s precisous small market teams could have cash.

3.  Labor Peace. – Yes it’s ironic that he presided over the strike but he has got the owners pulling in the same direction to avoid labor issues.  Baseball has not had a strike or a major labor outage since 1994.  That’s 15 years folks.

4.  Better ball parks and growth of the game overall.  - If you like in a town with an old CRAPPY ballpark you know how much they blow.  When you go to an HOK design park baseball just becomes better.  New Yorkers are going to be in for the shock of their lives.  We’re used to Yankee and Shea and let me tell you,  they both suck.  People will forget about aura and mystique in a heart beat.

Thanks Bud!  If you want to hire me,  I’m available.

If you are a sports fan you probably already heard that Alex Rodriguez has tested positive for steroids. Out-fucking-standing!

Baseball is so good at dragging itself through the mud. From Cocaine, to owners collusion and labor issues baseball continues to try and fuck itself over. Now, it has gone and done it again.  Some asshat leaked the supposed anonymous tests from 2003 that Rodriguez juiced.

Now we’re all stuck with years of listening to knuckle head fans bitch about how the game is tainted and all that jazz.  As a Yankee fan I now have ten more years of Alex Rodriguez on my team.  The 2009 season that had so much promise is now entirely in jeopardy.  It’s just going to suck.  I have to listen to Michael Kay bitch about A-Rod.  I hate him and I hate it.  It’s entirely sucky.  I’m just sick today.

Related Articles

• ESPN: A-Rod admits, regrets use of PEDs (ESPN.com)
• SI: Alex Rodriguez Tested Positive For Steroids [Alex Rodriguez] (deadspin.com)