The Elder of T Squared strikes again

Mr Hardicourt has this little gem in response to NathanH's comments in his monday blog posting about a Brian Roberts trade rumor that was about as fresh and original as the content on this blog.

"Another example of a non-story concocted by a hack baseball writer trying to manufacture off-day fodder.

In the first place, the rumor is ridiculous on its face. The Orioles know they can get a lot more than Weeks for Roberts. The Brewers aren't about to pay that much money for a marginal upgrade, nor are they about to give up on a guy they took with the No. 1 draft pick only five years ago. The only way a trade like this is even remotely possible is if Weeks' current knee injury turns out to be long-term in nature, and even then the Orioles would demand far more than just Weeks for Roberts. And I wouldn't make the trade in any event, because I still think Weeks will turn out to be better than Roberts ever has been.

Just once, I'd like to see reporters like Haudricourt report the news instead of trying to create it. Just once, I'd like to see baseball writers stop using each other - or the infamous "BadgerBlog" that had Yost out the door a few weeks ago - as their own best sources. Just once, I'd like to see a score in a game story before the sixth or seventh graph. Just once, I'd like to read about how somebody "threw" a ball rather than how somebody "through" it. Just once, I'd like to see these guys get through a story without a perjorative adjective, like "unconscionable" regarding Suppan's walks yesterday. And just once, I'd like to be taught in a story something I didn't already know about baseball and the Brewers.

Yost is obviously quite defensive in his dealings with Haudricourt and his little helper, and I don't blame him in the least. In fact, if I werer Yost, I wouldn't talk to him at all because it's obvious that the overriding story Haudricourt is trying to create is a Yost firing.

This is a knowledgeable baseball town, and it deserves far better than it's getting from these people and this paper. Too bad baseball writers can't be traded as players can, although I doubt we could get much more than a waiver-wire writer than Haudricourt."

Granted this is a bit long winded and quite derailed from the original topic of Hardicourt's post, but all in all I'd say a lot of points are spot on. He has some back and forth with other commenters, basically calling Hardicourt a hack throughout. Finally ole Tommy the Gun jumps into the fray and he actually keeps his composure for the first part of his response.

"To NathanH,
One of the reasons for having a blog is to respond to other blogs about the Brewers, especially if they're from a mainstream web site such as Fox Sports. This is a blog, not a front-page story in the JS. And, as far as my bosses go, they're the ones who encourage me to respond to other blogs and either refute the items or lend credence to them. And they continually tell me I'm doing this blog exactly the way it's supposed to be done. So, you know nothing about my job and what it entails, especially when it comes to blogging. As other posters have suggested, stay off the Brewers Blog if it enfuriates you so much. That way, no one has to bother reading your inane, know-nothing responses. What you know about me, my job and blogging, I could put in a thimble and still have plenty of room for my thumb."

Poor Tom almost made it this time, but he just couldn't resist getting that last, zomg I'm a sports writer for JSOnline and I'm way better than you jab in at the end. You might also notice that he mis-spelled infuriate, nice.

JSOnline Reporters, when the internet goes wrong

Ok, I'm gonna start this up as a weekly, possibly daily item judging from how idiotic the Terrible Twosome really can be. I'm not sure what their nickname should be yet, though with tom, tony, terrible twosome, lots of T's, something good can go with that, but I'm at work and I don't want to waste too much time on this post.

Here is today's excerpt from Anthony Witrado's mailbag.

" Q: Joshua Thompson of Sacramento, CA - THIS IS NOT BEGGING THE QUESTION: "With many fans calling for the Brewers to fire Ned Yost, it BEGS THE QUESTION: Does making a managerial change during the season make a difference? Recent history suggests yes ... and no." This is the second time I've emailed regarding your improper use of the phrase. Well, Tom was first, I don't know who wrote this bit, but this is not begging the question. "Begging the question," is a logical fallacy where the fundamental premise is itself disputed. Please, I love reading about the Crew out here in Cali, but this is so amateurish. What you mean to write is, "raises the question." Aren't you English majors? I apologize for my tone, but please ... please...

A: Anthony Witrado - I'm not an English major. I'm not Tom. I never wrote that phrase. Isn't your ladder waiting for you to get on the horse? (couldn't resist) "

The content of the question notwithstanding, if you were a sportswriter, why the fuck would you ever bother responding to something like this? "Dur just so you guys know I'm not an english major so it's ok for me to fuck up grammatically for the newspaper of the 22nd largest city in America". You are a god damn news reporter man, so if someone calls you out on shit like this, it's probably best to just file it away for future use and leave it at that. No no, not Mr. Witrado, he has to publish it to the world that this guy dare mock his grammatical ability, so he uses his mailbag to talk shit to the guy. If I was his editor I would have rained down on his ass harder than Pacman raining on ho's in seedy Vegas stripclubs and bars(coming soon to a Dallas club near you, only the third time in my life I've been willing to admit the existance of God).


So the hijinx of the Terrible Twosome will be covered by me in regularly alloted items. I've been meaning to do this for some time, so on slow days or on days where these two might have the common sense to shut the fuck up for a whole 24 hours, I'll probably be trolling for old stuff to call their janky asses out on.

No Hockey for Old Men

-I tried really, really hard to make it until the end of the hockey game last night. It was a fantastic game (as far as I could tell). Its just that on a Monday night, when I was up at 6 to go to work in the morning, midnight gets to be pretty late. It fucking sucks fighting with all your might to try to stay up for something, and losing miserably. I was trying to fill my 4 hockey games per year quota, and I made it to the second OT, so counts I guess. What struck me (other than that dude that got hit in the face with the slapshots' face) was how much better Detroit was than Pittsburgh. They were so much faster, and they got off about three times as many shots, and lost. There is nothing better than OT playoff hockey. I just wish it was on earlier.

-I lost a bet yesterday. I had "when velociraptors hatch from my ass" as the date that Prince Fielder would steal third base. I also had "when running my nuts over with a lawn mower sounds like a good idea" as the date that he would steal third and get an infield single in the same game. So congrats.

-In Ned Yost news, he is still a fucking asshole. When questioned on whether he was concerned about Rickie "Windmill" Weeks and Mike "The human auger" Cameron striking out fucking 80 times between them, and batting 1st and 2nd, he responded (paraphrasing): "Russell Branyan fucking struck out 11 out of 22 at bats, so he is striking out fucking 50% of the time, but he's batting fucking .300 so nobody complains about him." Really Ned? Really? A guy could strike out 70% of the time as far as I'm concerned, but if he got a hit the other 30% of the time I would be perfectly fine. He has no argument at all and is fucking stupid. Weeks and Cameron are NOT good hitters.

-HUGE save last night. Despite their best efforts to fuck it up, Torres makes "The Committee" 7-1 v. 11-7 for Gagne. And Gagne TOTALLY would have lost that one last night.

-They call our resident ginger Seth McClung "Chucky". That is funny. He has his first two career hits off of Randy fucking Johnson.

-My wife believes that someone should bring back the term "Janky". I personally believe it is underused.