Links

Monday, September 18, 2006

Litter box liner

These days, the above title is really the only decent use for the Globe. Since Dan has disappeared lately, I'd like to point out the following line from today's Nick Cafardo article on David Murphy and the 2003 draft:
The '03 draft produced Rocco Baldelli, Mark Teixeira, Jose Reyes, Joe Mauer, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Morneau, Johan Santana, Travis Haffner, Hanley Ramirez, Rich Harden, Lastings Milledge, Brandon Wood, Nick Markakis, Chad Cordero, and Rickey Weeks."
Does this paper employ editors? I really wonder. Look at that list again. First of all, Travis Hafner and Rickie Weeks' names are spelled wrong. Second of all, the only players on that list that were actually in the 2003 draft were Brandon Wood, Chad Cordero, Rickie Weeks, Lastings Milledge, and Nick Markakis. The remaining names are flat-out wrong (plus they left out Delmon Young and Conor Jackson). Some of those were international free agent signings and were never drafted. Johan Santana? Try 1995, not 2003. The idiocy of that line is mind-boggling. Did anyone bother to look this up? You can get this info on Baseball America in approximately 25 seconds.

I'm really at a loss here. Of course, the current online version of the article has been edited, so people who didn't see it earlier will never know exactly how stupid and careless the Globe was.

With garbage like this, is it any surprise that columns by the likes of Shaughnessy and Ron Borges continue to be front and center with this paper? If the Herald would improve the quality of their other sections, I guarantee they'd be stealing a LOT of Globe customers. This kind of error is inexcusable.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, those mistakes about the draft are as bad as saying "Dan has disappeared lately" when he had a college FB column Saturday and one on auto racing Monday.

"This kind of error is inexcusable."

Anonymous said...

CORREX: Dan's college FB column was pub. Sunday on Saturday's game.

mike_b1 said...

I hear Dan somehow received the wrong directions to the Gillete Stadium press box.

That Mike Reis is such the prankster!

Anonymous said...

And what, exactly, was the purpose of the NASCAR column? People who follow the sport surely don't rely on the Globe for racing coverage, and people who don't give a hoot about NASCAR aren't likely to start just because one race is held in New England.

Even if one is interested in NASCAR, I can't imagine they would have learned much from that "NASCAR 101" column. It's as if Dan had just discovered baseball, and wrote, "The left-field wall at Fenway is taller than most, and closer to the field. It can turn a popup into a home run, and a home run into a loud single."

It wasn't awful (though the constant use of the Royal We was a bit cloying), but why?

Anonymous said...

CHB learned while in Loudon that driving up someone's ass is bad and he learned it from the type of person he has been calling "yahoo" for years. This lesson should go well with the lesson in jaywalking he got two years ago when my friend Theo (no, not THAT Theo) came inches from running him over after a Sox game.

Anonymous said...

One of the most watched sports in the U.S. is held in New England and you don't think it's worth a column????

It might be worthwhile to respond to fadedredsoxhat. If someone would be kind enough to translate his posting into English, it would be appreciated.

Now that the Pride of Rockville is back in school, and obviously doesn't have time to check to see if a column that she can condemn before reading has been published, is it not apparent that this Blog has run its course?

mike_b1 said...

One of the most watched sports in the U.S. is held in New England and you don't think it's worth a column????

No.

Now that the Pride of Rockville is back in school, and obviously doesn't have time to check to see if a column that she can condemn before reading has been published, is it not apparent that this Blog has run its course?

No again. Too many readers visit this site everyday.

dbvader said...

OB you are either disingenuous or an utter moron. Take you pick.

Comparing an oversight on a blog that does not employ multiple levels of editors to a massive mistake of fact in the Leading Sports Section in the Country (or whatever the Globe likes to call that shell of its former self) is silly. A semi-bright 5th grader could realize the distinction.

Nicky's mistake was so massive he should be reamed out by Sullivan, the editor. It displays a deep ignorance of the players. Baldelli was in the majors by 2003. The Joe Mauer draft was closely followed because of Mark Prior. And those Hispanic names should be a clue that there is a good chance that the player was not even drafted. Also, regardless of the factual errors, Nicky's point is meaningless. Milledge, Markakis, and Weeks were drafted before Murphy. (Maybe Nicky thinks they should have traded up.) He also fails to identify failures like Kyle Sleeth. There is no context for the comparison to allow the reader to understand whether a 17th pick not being a star is a draft failure.

And including a mistake in your comment was brilliant. Just more proof that the chief invented you.

dbvader said...

One of the most watched sports in the U.S. is held in New England and you don't think it's worth a column????

The issue was the purpose of the column. As the comment pointed out, the information was so elementary that it offered nothing to anybody with any interest in NASCAR. Only people who didn't care about it would not know those simple facts that Shank listed, and if they didn't care, they wouldn't read the column. Therefore, the column was a waste.