End of the year

First of all, a Happy New Year to everybody.

My resolution as it pertains to this page is to keep it more up to date and relevant in 2007. I now have all the tools needed at home to do so, and I'm going to make the effort. I promise. Hopefully, even when we're between new posts, the links are helpful. And keep those coming; I haven't said no to anybody yet.

Anyway, Carl Bialik and Jason Fry of the blog The Daily Fix at the Wall Street Journal give their Top 10 columns of 2006. It's an eclectic mix.

Tribune's Adee leaving sports

Bill Adee, who has a long career in sports at both the Chicago Sun-Times and then the Tribune is going to become the new "associated managing editor for innovation" there.

Don't know Bill well, but have always heard good things about him. Should be a pretty interesting job as newspapers continue to try to catch up on the Internet.

To vote or not to vote

In Friday's Chicago Sun-Times, Jay Mariotti says it's time sportswriters stopped voting for awards of any kind -- MVP, Hall of Fame, anything. In Newsday on Sunday, Jim Baumbach writes about writers and editors on both sides of the debate.

Jemele Hill debuts

Old and bitter vs. young and open-minded lightning rod Jemele Hill has written her debut column for ESPN.com.

Predictably, a thread was been started on sportsjournalists.com, and it's expanding with record-breaking speed. And predictably, it not only addresses the merits of her first column but takes more shots at her personally.

UPDATE: Subsequently, it was not even locked with record-breaking speed. It was taken down altogether. So the link I had above is gone.

I think we need more Jemele Hills stirring things up in this business, but of course that's not going to fly with with the increasingly grumpy sportswriting establishment, many of whom are simply jealous over the opportunity she has gotten and the money she's making but who, of course, would never admit that.

Their denial doesn't make it less so.

More fun in Chicago

Some people don't like it when columnists and rival papers -- or, God forbid, columnists at the same paper -- take shots at each other.

Me, I love it.

Latest out of Chicago, where the Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti and Rick Telander have been known to go at it, is a print dustup between the Tribune's Rick Morrissey and Telander.

Morrissey doesn't like the fact that the Sun-Times has replaced the 'o' in Chicago in its nameplate with a Bears helmet and palm tree (the unbeaten Bears are trying to get to Miami for the Super Bowl, get it?)

Telander doesn't like the fact that Morrissey doesn't like the fact.

Some pretty good sniping. Of course, Tribune Co.'s ownership of the Cubs doesn't come up at all.

Oregonian hires somebody to investigate -- itself

The Oregonian has hired former Mercury News sports editor Craig Lancaster to investigate its relationship with the Trail Blazers. He's going to report it independently, and it will be edited by somebody outside of sports (maybe the paper), and they'll print it and let the chips fall where they may. Read all about it here at truehoop.com.

Paper protests UT ban of reporter

The Dave Hooker saga continues. Tennessee banned the Knoxville News-Sentinel reporter until Oct. 23 for doing an unauthorized interview with a player. Today, the paper formally protested. As you might expect, there's quite a lively thread about this on SJ.com.

Baseball and steroids, again

And now the self-flagellation has begun. In this piece by Joe Strupp of Editor & Publisher, a number of baseball writers and sports editors said they should have explored and presumably uncovered the use of steroids in baseball much sooner.

OK. But I'm going to continue to be of the opinion that unless they physically saw steroids being used or, as in the BALCO/Bonds case, got ahold of some kind of legal document (like grand jury testimony) or got people on the record saying that they knew of steroid use (or had used themselves) or ran the risk (ethical and otherwise) of using unnamed sources, that it wasn't going to be that easy of a story to write.

Yeah, they could have tried harder, I suppose. But I think it's possible all it would have meant is that they'd feel better about the effort in hindsight, not that things would have come to light sooner.

Slate on Albom

Bryan Curtis of Slate writes about the Freep's Mitch Albom here. It's really more about his novel writing, but it does touch on his sports writing, too -- actually, this article connects the two.

T.O a day later

Lots of looking back at the T.O.-Story-That-Apparently-Wasn't yesterday. Jay Hart in the Allentown Morning Call basically says it was mostly the media's fault. Gregg Doyel on CBS SportsLine says there's no way that was the case, that you had a famous athlete and a police report saying a suicide attempt was involved.

In the Miami Herald, Dan Le Batard leans in the "blame the media" direction, but he says he's "explaining" not "condemning." I read the column twice, and Dan never mentions from what I can see that he does a radio show with T.O.

In the Boston Globe, Dan Shaughnessy is in the "media made it a circus" camp as well.

And this is Jason Whitlock in the Kansas City Star, saying that when you've been a look-at-me guy for as long as T.O. has been, you've got to expect this sort of thing.

Interesting new site

Steve Marantz sent me a link to an interesting new site, which is called Sports Media Guide. From home page intro: "SMG is a website for fans, media professionals and media students. SMG's mission is to humanize sports media while exploring the art and craft of sports coverage. SMG is a teaching resource for high school, college and graduate school curricula."

It's a series of interviews with people in the business, and the firstwas Aug. 17. Helene Elliott was the latest.

Important note on press freedom

Something extremely important to all of us in the business is happening Thursday in San Francisco. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams will find out of they will be doing jail time for refusing to name their source(s) in the BALCO grand jury testimony case.

I'm going to cheat and let sj.com do the compilation for me, but want to cross-link it. There's a growing thread on the whole thing here. A show of solidarity is scheduled for those who can make it at 1:30 p.m. PT on Thurday. All the details are on the thread.

Whitlock on Kornheiser

Jason Whitlock writes column about Tony Kornheiser in today's Kansas City Star. It's a nice read and I have no problems with it -- but I note nonjudgmentally how much this business has changed in 20 years. It might have happened after a death or a retirement, but can you imagine, in the regular course of things, Jimmy Cannon writing a column about Red Smith, for example?

Simers on Simers

T.J. Simers does a Q&A with a blogger on this, The Big Lead.

Not surprisingly, given the reactions he usually provokes, this led to not one but two threads on sj.com.

On the second, Simers himself speaks, through Jason Whitlock.

Visser to the Hall

In yesterday's Sun-Sentinel, Patrick Dorsey did a really nice story on CBS' Leslie Visser, who's entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. Visser comes across in the feature as exactly as she has always been thought of -- a class act.

Whitlock on diversity

Jason Whitlock writes an interesting column on who's responsible for the lack of diversity in newspaper sports sections in today's Kansas City Star. He says that would-be minority sports writers have to shoulder part of the blame.

As you'd expect, this prompted a thread and debate on the sj.com board, and a good point was made: Just because a prominent black sportswriter says that the lack of diversity isn't all newspapers' fault, that doesn't mean they should assume they can be comfortable with their makeup. There has to be a strong commitment to diversity from all sides.

L.A. Times scales back hockey coverage

Randy Harvey confirms for LA Observed that the Los Angeles Times will cease to travel with the Kings and Ducks for the most part, and that Hockey Hall of Famer Helene Elliott will no longer write a weekly NHL column, becoming a general columnist who sometimes writes about hockey.

I know times (lowercase) are tough, and Harvey is obviously facing tough decisions. But when the major metro of record in a city like Los Angeles isn't granted the resources that allow it to travel with all of its pro sports franchises -- at least early in the season when they remain in contention -- something is really wrong.

We've seen it coming in increments, but this news, coupled with the expected vast cutbacks at the Dallas Morning News, is extremely depressing for anybody who saw how good sports sections were not that long ago.

A golden age is ending, if it hasn't ended already.

Chad on diversity

Norman Chad weighs in, predictably irreverently, on the lack of diversity in the leadership of newspaper sports departments.

Wilstein and steroids

Steve Wilstein, the AP reporter who found the bottle of andro in Mark McGwire's locker and subsequently ended up writing "hundreds" of steroid stories as they became an integral part of the sports scene, discusses his retirement at 57 with Joe Strupp of E&P. Wilstein says one reason for his retirement was his father's ongoing fight with cancer, but he says the fact that he simply tired of writing about the abuse of performance enhancing drugs was a major factor, too.

'To hell with them'

I'm running out of energy/interest on the Mariotti front, but he talks about all the heat and criticism he's taking, so I pass the Chicago Reader story on to you with little comment beyond that.

More on ... you guessed it ...

Well, this Guillen/Mariotti thing isn't going away anytime soon, obviously.

Rick Telander weighs in on his Sun-Times colleague in this column, which Jason Whitlock describes on sj.com as "Telander knocks out Mariotti." As you'd expect, a lively debate is ensuing on several threads on that site.

Meanwhile, Mariotti's father rather eloquently comes to his defense in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review -- whether you agree or not is another matter, particularly since he never addresses the key point about whether Jay should at least show up at the ballpark now and then.

After vacation and then not generally having much to post about for most of June, things have certainly livened up.

By the way, with DSL/cable finally going to go into my condo sometime soon, I'm hoping to keep this site more relevant on a daily basis. We shall see, of course.

Morrissey on Mariotti/Guillen

Rick Morrissey writes in the Chicago Tribune about the Jay Mariotti-Ozzie Guillen business. He correctly notes that if you're going to rip somebody, you have a professional obligation to show up in that clubhouse or locker room now and then, preferably sooner than later.

One man's view

'Sports journalism critic' and Ball State journalism professor Scott Reinardy discusses the state of the business in this Minneapolis Star-Tribune Q&A. Not a lot new, really -- not enough reporting, sports writers should be good news reporters first, those in our business 'ignored' the steroids-in-baseball issue for a long time. I've said enough about the latter.

Ozzie vs. Mariotti

Ozzie Guillen apologizes, kind of, for calling columnist Jay Mariotti a "fag," in this Sun-Times story. This is Mariotti's take on the whole thing. Neither Guillen nor Mariotti is backing down -- and Mariotti shouldn't, although I'm not sure I agree completely with his stance on not having to visit the locker rooms of those you criticize (but he makes the point that he's subject to excess abuse when he does).

Simers profile

L.A. Magazine's RJ Smith writes about T.J. Simers in a profile that's finally online here. Not a great deal of groundbreaking for those who know him/about him, but an interesting profile of where he is in his career right now.

More Monday morning quarterbacking

In Jon Friedman's MarketWatch column, Robert Lipsyte is the latest to say sports writers and editors should have dug deeper into Barry Bonds/steroids when the signals were so obvious.

For the 1,000th time, the same question: Absent the leaked grand jury testimony -- or Bonds talking on the record -- just how was this story to be reported? A paper trail? Probably not. Sources (like a wronged girlfriend)? How can we be sure about the credibility there. Observing? Observing what?

I obviously respect Lipsyte, but nobody has given me a good answer as to what reporters were supposed to be doing on this front until illegally leaked grand jury testimony dropped in somebody's lap.

Talese on sports writing

Writer Gay Talese, who once was a sports writer for the New York Times talks about the business with Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch.

Moran goes to college

In today's Chicago Tribune, Teddy Greenstein writes about USA Today's Malcolm Moran leaving his writing job to take over as director of the Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. Moran, who once worked for the Tribune, has covered countless big events in his 52 years and will bring a non-textbook wealth of experience to his new position.

Rapoport's farewell

Ron Rapoport, who I believe I met a couple of times and whose geographic path around the country I (very loosely) followed for a bit, writes his farewell column in today's Chicago Sun-Times. A very solid writer and newspaper professional who covered a lot of things over the years.

Assault on the Internet?

The "First Amendment of the Internet" -- Net Neutrality -- is apparently in jeopardy in legislation being considered by Congress. The issues are a bit beyond my range to weigh in heavily on, but here is an (admittedly partisan) huffingtonpost.com explanation of the issues involved by Adam Green. My understanding is that big internet providers are seeking the ability to set up a system in which the more you pay, the more accessible and faster your Website will be for the general public. From one wired.com article explaining this: "Broadband providers such as AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon Communications want to expand from flat pricing and also sell tiers of service based on the speed, reliability and security of the bandwidth used. While those providers have said they would not block access to the open internet, companies that sell products or services online want Congress to adopt stricter safeguards to ensure they are not pushed into a slower lane of the internet if they do not pay more for dedicated network service." Green's post has all sorts of links of interest, to petitions and other things.

'Sports as Soap Opera'

Mark Galli, in Christianity Today, of all places, laments the fact that in many papers, the game story is no longer about the game. It's an interesting take, since "conventional wisdom" in 2006 is that readers already know about the game when they get to their morning papers, so we need to go beyond the on-field action to give them something new. Galli argues the opposite.

LA Weekly on Simers

Bruce Bauman writes about L.A. Times Page 2 columnist T.J. Simers in an LA People 2006 feature. Captures him pretty well, although I'm trying to figure out why all these stories are dated Wednesday, December 31, 1969.

Updated: The fixed the date problem mentioned above.

Blogger wants baseball credentials

Gabe Stein of DenverSportsZone.com has started a movement called MLB Fair Press saying that baseball should open its credentialing process to 'legitimate blogging.' As blogs gain stature, it will be interesting to see how MLB handles this can of worms; press boxes have fixed seating, so where do you cut off which blogs can get access and which can't? I have a feeling they'll keep the door closed for now, petitions and letters and e-mails not withstanding.

And, of course, sj.com has weighed in.

Uh-oh ...

The Sports Journalism Summit, which I'm really now regretting not attending, is producing a running blog, and this is one of the entries, by Poynter's Meg Martin:

"I ran into this blog as I searched for old-school sports stories yesterday. I don't know who the blogger is -- he or she is identified only as "SWE_Blogger," but it's called Sports Writing and Editing, and looks to be a great resource for -- yes -- sports writers and editors."

With a link, of course.

This is a good "uh-oh," actually. I'm not nearly as diligent about updating this blog as I probably should be; when something hits me over the head, I'll take five minutes during a break at work to link to it, but that's about it. I hope those postings are helpful, as well as the links down the right side (speaking of which, feel free to use the e-mail address on the right if you have a sports journalism, or simply sports, site you'd like me to link to).

But when I get through with an expected technological upgrade at home, I intend to be a little more involved on a daily basis, and this notice will help to jumpstart me.

I'll also start checking the swe_blogger@yahoo.com address a little more regularly -- daily? -- to see thoughtful responses like the one I got concerning the Krieger item just below this one.

So keep items coming, and I'll be a little more responsive as well. And thanks for the interest.

And Meg, for the record, I'm a "he" and have been in the news business in one form or another since 1977.

Wheatley new Sun AME/sports

Tim Wheatley, who I had the pleasure of working with at one of my many tour stops, is the new AME/sports at the Baltimore Sun. Memo is courtesy of Romenesko.

Tim replaces Randy Harvey, who recently took over for Bill Dwyre at the Los Angeles Times. Lots of big moves in sports section management this year.

RMN's Dave Krieger on sports writing

Apparently, even though he's a four-times-a-week sports columnist, he doesn't think much of it.

Look, the point a lot of people continue to miss is this: No other section of the paper has to approach daily coverage from so many different directions.

Sure, perhaps interested in steroid use should have been ratcheted up a few notches a lot earlier. (I still maintain that little that was reportable was "uncovered" until a grand jury got involved.)

But let's say we unleashed armies of investigative reporters uncovering scandal and impropriety all over the sports world. Would sports sections' readers be better served?

Business sections report news with some features sprinkled in. Same with local/metro sections.

The sports section is one that that includes what amounts to entertainment news, plus features, "reviews" (game coverage, if you will) and, yes, hard news.

Abandoning the sports section's core readers to focus on "uncovering" scandal isn't the answer. Most come to sports sections to be entertained, and to escape.

Some find this as apologism for maintaining the "toy department" philosphy; I don't see how it can be denied.

There's room for hard news in the sports section, obviously; and Dave's right, it's not the sports media's job to help cover up scandal.

But there are a lot of things that need to be done to put out a good sports section. "Sports journalism" is not an oxymoron. It's just a different kind of journalism.

Deford on sports journalism

Frank Deford talks about the state of sports journalism in a speech at DeSales University, and some of his thoughts are recounted by the Morning Call's Gordie Jones in this piece published April 6. Paul Sokoloski of the Express-Times also writes about Deford's appearance.

'Where is the journalism?'

In the Phoenix, Mark Jurkowitz takes sports writers and editors to task for not doing more groundbreaking reporting that would unearth stories like the use of steroids in baseball. It's a good read; as usual, kind of left unsaid -- amid the usual talk that sports writers simply aren't interested in serious stories and are more fans than reporters -- is what "journalists trained and skilled in collecting information from numerous sources" would or could have learned about steroid use without the existence of grand jury testimony, as in the Bonds case. Simply noting "quick and massive muscle growth, pimple-strewn backs" isn't going to cut it for publication.

Sports writing has issues -- but assembling investigate teams that are going to go out and break a lot of huge stories isn't as simple as this story makes it sound.

Bonds and ESPN

Many ESPN staffers are upset with the network's decision to run a reality series on Barry Bonds (Bonds on Bonds) with Bonds sharing in the marketing revenue. Phil Mushnick and Richard Sandomir weigh in on what Mushnick says is "the closest thing to a palace revolt ever conducted against ESPN."

On baseball writers and Bonds

Jon Friedman takes the media to task for not investigating Barry Bonds sooner than the two Chronicle reporters whose book is about to come out. And in a letter to Romensko, author Evan Weiner says "baseball writers are baseball apologists first, baseball lovers second and journalists third." I'm sure there's some validity in both opinions, but my same question remains: Without the grand jury testimony, what were newspapers and other media going to do about Barry Bonds -- say he looked like he was on steroids? Rely on the word of other -- disgruntled exes, friends and hangers-on -- that he was doing them? With everybody looking at themselves these days -- and others like Friedman and Weiner doing it for us -- I still wonder where the Chronicle investigation (wonderful work, no doubt) would be if BALCO and the grand jury hadn't come along. What reportable information would have led us to connect Barry Bonds and steroids sooner? Nobody seems to have a good answer to that.

RPC on sportswriting

In advance of Poynter's Sports Journalism Summit, senior scholar Roy Peter Clark writes about sportswriting in Passing the Torch: Don't Let Great Sportswriting Flame Out, which was posted on the site yesterday. Good stuff.

A day in Turin

Frank Fitzpatrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes about the life of a scribe at the Winter Olympics. For outsiders and up-and-comers who think sports writers ought to simply shut up and be grateful for having a wonderful job, it might be an eye-opener. Certainly didn't strike me as an appealing 17 days.

AP-LPGA dispute resolved

You figured it wouldn't go on for very long; the LPGA had too much to lose. Here's the statement:

LPGA/AP joint statement regarding revisions to photo media credential regulations and coverage of this week’s Fields Open in Hawaii Feb. 24, 2006

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and The Associated Press (AP) have resolved today the most significant issues arising from revised media credential regulations for coverage of the LPGA Fields Open tournament in Kapolei, Hawaii. Beginning today, AP will provide normal coverage of the event.

The LPGA has always intended for its credentials to provide media companies with the same rights to use news and information obtained at LPGA events that are available from other mainstream sports leagues and governing bodies. AP is satisfied with assurances from the LPGA that its regulations were never intended to and don’t limit access or editorial use of information and photos obtained at their events.

The LPGA confirmed today that the following language applies to its events and will be included in future editions of its credential regulations:

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the LPGA Photographer and Journalist Media Credential Regulations, media outlets may make unrestricted editorial use of any images or articles they create pursuant to their access to any LPGA event.

AP also confirmed on Thursday that it had no objections to limits on commercial use of its coverage in the LPGA media credentials, which is a standard provision of most major event credentialing policies.

Rosenbush leaving SI

Veteran newspaper and magazine editor Sandy Rosenbush is leaving her job at Sports Illustrated, her managing editor has announced. In Sandy's immediate future is devoting even more time to her great work with the Sports Journalism Institute. There also might be some additional teaching in her future. Those who have worked with her consider one of the best in the biz.

Stupidity, thou art spelled 'L-P-G-A'

This just in from the AP through an advisory e-mail:

"The Ladies Professional Golf Association has introduced new media regulations to which news organizations must agree before being admitted to cover LPGA events. AP considers some of the changes to be unacceptable. They impose unusually strict limits on permitted use of stories and photos produced by journalists, and give the LPGA broad rights to use those stories and photos for their own purposes at no charge.AP journalists have been denied admission to the Fields Open unless they sign these terms without modification.

"AP is in discussion with the LPGA, but until our differences are resolved we are unable to cover LPGA events."

Just what the LPGA, with a lot of young stars just arriving and a chance for a huge spike in interest, wants to do: Alienate the people who cover them.

Without specifics, pretty dumb on its face. But I don't know that it's going to look any less dumb WITH specifics.

AP on ESPN's Solomon

David Bauder, AP's TV writer, checks out ESPN's experiment with ombudsman George Solomon after six months on the job. Vimce Doria, ESPN's news director, says Solomon's observations haven't reversed any decisions or changed policies. I suppose at that juncture, I kind of wonder: What's the point then?

Got it wrong, but all right

Veteran, admired baseball write Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says he was wrong about Jim Beattie being the next GM of the Reds ("I was misled by a couple of outside sources, who believed Beattie was the choice. They were wrong and I was submarined.") but says he's happy with choice Wayne Krivsky. I think Hal will probably survive this career misstep.

More award mania

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel becomes the latest paper to announce it will no longer vote for sports awards. This is a news story by Charles Bricker. In the print edition, a column was written by relatively new sports editor Brian White.

Janet Weaver on Lee

The Tampa Tribune editor writes about her decision last week to fire high school reporter Rozel Lee for tweaking her vote for an award, rating one player lower than she would have so another won.

The spin on Deadspin

The New York Times has a story today talking about the increasing relevance of deadspin.com. Will Leitch, who started the site, once covered the Cardinals for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "My hope is that every single person who visits the site comes away with something that no one else is telling them," he told the Times.

Kornheiser vs. Wise?

Harry Jaffe writes about the supposed feud between Washington Post sports columnists Tony Kornheiser, the beloved veteran, and relative newcomer Mike Wise. But it comes off as being more show biz than showdown.

And the NFL wanted to go back?

Joe Strupp of Editor and Publisher talks with sports writers to chronicle the horror of covering the 1982 Super Bowl, the last one played in Detroit. Among the problems: bad weather, late or broken down transportation and an ill-timed arrival and departure by Vice President Bush. They're hoping for better this time around.

Also rans

The Washington City Paper writes about the Washington Post's decision to drop charts and entries from Laurel Park and Pimlico. Writer Dave McKenna wonders how long they'll be able to get away with it; the Baltimore Sun did something similar a while back but wound up putting them back in after reader complaints. Certainly, this wouldn't have worked 25 years ago, but with the Internet, horse players now have plenty of places to find results. I'm guessing they're gone for good. Also, veteran turf writer Joe Kelly notes that the Sun used to have a rule against giving results over the phone and said most papers probably did. He's right; every place I ever worked, we told callers it was illegal to give them over the phone -- whether it was really true or not.

Hard to imagine

The Palm Beach Daily News writes about sports editor Mike Strauss, and with good reason -- he's been working in newspapers for 75 years. And at 93, he's not ready to retire yet.

Slate on the Redskins, others

Jack Shafer at Slate weighs in on the efforts of Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder (and others) to control the information disseminated about their teams by purchasing or running media outlets like radio stations and fan sites. His take on the modern sports writer is, in most cases, about 30 years out of date. I do, however (and always have) agree that entertaining readers is an extremely important part of sports writing and separates it from the work of reporters in other sections.

East Coast bias?

Dave Doyle of foxsports.com looks into whether this is fact or myth in this story posted today. The case is made by those on both sides of the debate. I tend to agree with the notion that it might have been the case somewhat when the only way to get information was in East Coast dailies that couldn't get West Coast scores into the paper, but that the situation has changed drastically with 24-hour sports news on TV and radio and, of course, the Internet.

Where I work, our writers get accused of it all the time -- we get a lot of "biased New Yorkers," too. Of course, that ignores the fact that those writers are based in Ohio, Kansas, Florida, California and yes, one in New York -- and that they come from completely disparate backgrounds.

Um, never mind

Good sports sections have good planning and preparation, and the Indianapolis Star was certainly ready for the Colts winning the Super Bowl. The downside, of course, is when the thing you planned for fails to materialize. Editor & Publisher writes about the Star's best-laid plans -- including special sections, victory editions, 20 staffers at the Big Game and a book -- that went down the tubes when the Colts lost in the divisional playoffs to the Steelers. "It is a big letdown," said Tim Wheatley, the paper's assistant managing editor/sports. "But we are on to the next thing. At least now we've got a great plan for next year."

Campaigns against writers

Part of me doesn't even want to dignify it by noting, but it is being discussed in the sports media, and I'm certainly not worried about the Globe listening, so what the heck. A site called bostonsportsmedia.com is trying to drum up a campaign to get veteran scribe Ron Borges fired. It will fail, of course. When those things start actually being taken seriously, this business has devolved into a place I don't particularly want to be.