• Have something to say? Register Now! and be posting in minutes!

Biggest deal in Sports History

sychmd

Active Member
1,145
0
36
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
doylestown, pa
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
saw this quote on MLB.com page


Houston made a 10-team deal with Toronto on Friday and received seven players in return, including four Minor Leaugers and a player to be named later.

had to tell someone!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

magnumo

ESPN Refugee
883
0
16
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Thanks for the chuckle.

Actually, the number of such errors in printed text, whether hard copy (e.g., newspapers, books, magazines) or online (e.g., web pages, articles, advertising, whatever)..... seems to have increased dramatically over the past several years. Such mistakes used to be caught by editors, who were paid to read stuff before it was published.

A while back, I speculated that many editors (at least those who focus on the text, spelling, and usage, rather than content, organization, and logic) have been eliminated for cost-cutting purposes..... with publishers relying more on word-processing spell-checkers instead. Obviously, a spell-checker will approve the wrong word as long as it's spelled correctly.

Several "publishers" I've checked with over the past few years have confirmed the validity of that speculation. Seems that they are increasingly dependent upon the conscientiousness of the author/typist (and anyone who "proof-reads" for the author/typist) to avoid "wrong" words, such as the "10-team deal" you described.

The good news is that most authors and publishers appreciate having readers point out such errors, and will make corrections in future iterations of their stuff, if the publishing process allows them to do so.
 

sychmd

Active Member
1,145
0
36
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
doylestown, pa
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
thanks,

you seem enlightened about the press, so let me ask you this.

one of my incredible pet peeves is the ever present anonymous person who is an insider to every sports team who tells the conditions of a trade, signings, or dirt of a situation, but won't be named.
it looks so poor. either 1. this is a poor employee leaking info and showing what a poor organization that always has a leak, or 2. the club is purposely leaking information but saying it is an anonymous person even though they know exactly who it is.

either way, or some variation of it is all so duplicitous and it is such a blatant game that the media continues to play in the game without pushing it to more healthy/truthful character and conduct.

maybe you or one of your contacts can shed some light on what i am missing about this bizarre process that all seem to proudly perpetrate.
 

magnumo

ESPN Refugee
883
0
16
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
thanks,

you seem enlightened about the press, so let me ask you this.

one of my incredible pet peeves is the ever present anonymous person who is an insider to every sports team who tells the conditions of a trade, signings, or dirt of a situation, but won't be named.
it looks so poor. either 1. this is a poor employee leaking info and showing what a poor organization that always has a leak, or 2. the club is purposely leaking information but saying it is an anonymous person even though they know exactly who it is.

either way, or some variation of it is all so duplicitous and it is such a blatant game that the media continues to play in the game without pushing it to more healthy/truthful character and conduct.

maybe you or one of your contacts can shed some light on what i am missing about this bizarre process that all seem to proudly perpetrate.

First, let me clarify something. I MAY be a bit "enlightened" about the press (I like to think so, anyway)..... but in no way am I an insider, nor do I have ongoing contacts in the media.

I HAVE exchanged emails on occasion with sports pundits (e.g., Dejan Kovacevic, John Perrotto, Matt Eddy of Baseball America) as well as news journalists and magazine editors. It's gratifying that many will take the time to answer a thoughtful inquiry. In fact, one primary gripe I had with Jenifer Langosch (when she was the beat writer on the Pirates' page at MLB.com..... the role now filled by Tom Singer) was that, as far as I know, she either would not or could not respond to questions from her readers. During her tenure with the Bucs, I wrote emails to her 3 or 4 times, but never received any kind of reply, not even an acknowledgement. A couple other fans I know (who also endeavor to be thoughtful and respectful) told me that they had similar experiences.

To address your question directly: I share your pet peeve, but I do NOT have facts which would shed any specific light on the subject of anonymous sources, leaks, and the "why's" behind them. I have never inquired about that subject. Best I can do is share a series of perceptions and opinions of my own:

- The same phenomena (duplicity, apparent lack of integrity, anonymous sources, leaks, etc.) seem to pervade the media BEYOND sports, as well. In fact, the situation seems to be worse in politics and the entertainment industry. It often seems to involve one person or entity trying to "get ahead" at someone else's expense, by applying a massive amount of "spin" to the facts. The motive for such behavior frequently involves ego and money (in the political world, someone else's money, i.e., the taxpayer's money)..... but that's a subject for a different discussion in a different venue.

- As far as anonymous sources go, my guess is that at least part of the blame lies with lawyers in general and our litigious society. (My view is that lawyers and lawsuits in general burden our society with a tremendous drag against productivity and value-adding..... but that's the subject for yet ANOTHER different discussion in a different venue.)

- And much of the media is clearly complicit in the problem, seeking the sensational over the factual. Journalism (in general) is not what it used to be. Journalists (whether they focus on sports or some other subject area) used to set a high standard for accuracy in reporting..... cross-checking and corroborating facts from multiple sources (usually named) and scrupulously avoided injecting their own opinions into their reporting..... leaving opinion writing to editorial writers.

- IMO, for many journalists, that paradigm has shifted substantially away from reporting the facts toward "selling" their work. Apparently, juicy stories (purporting to provide inside info) from anonymous sources (which frequently don't exist) sell newspapers or attract traffic on the internet.

- The result of all this is that I have high value for folks (whether sportswriters or discussion board posters) who provide accurate facts, information, and references, whether or not they share an opinion as well..... and such low value for those who spout opinions while providing no facts, references, or logic to back them up..... or worse yet, those who provide false, inaccurate, misleading, or intentionally incomplete information.

- Anonymous sources are kind of like the guy on the internet who posts something like "my cousin has a friend who's husband works in the front office, and he says....." I view such claims with a healthy amount of skepticism (unless I KNOW the person making the post is truthful and reliable). My experience is that such claims MIGHT be true..... but usually aren't.

- For me, specific attribution is golden. Give me the facts and the source(s) and I can draw my own conclusions and form my own opinions.

If you want to discuss any of this further, it might be more appropriate for us to do that by email. I can be reached at magnumo43 at yahoo dot com (translated into normal email address format).
 
35,086
2,054
173
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Location
Tucson, AZ
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
saw this quote on MLB.com page


Houston made a 10-player deal with Toronto on Friday and received seven players in return, including four Minor Leaugers and a player to be named later.

had to tell someone!

I got it for you. :)
 
35,086
2,054
173
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Location
Tucson, AZ
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
FWIW, Darkstone..... I think you should restore sychmd's original post. His whole point was in sharing the error ("10-team deal"), and that was the point of our subsequent discussion, as well.

Got it. :)
 

ramburgh

Member
154
21
18
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Love the timing of the Dempster deal. The Pirates don't have to face him on Wednesday. The Cubs will be more worried about who's next than who they are facing this week.

Also, this sets the bar for what teams will be expecting in return for trades this week.
 
7,911
4,428
293
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Location
ohio
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Love the timing of the Dempster deal. The Pirates don't have to face him on Wednesday. The Cubs will be more worried about who's next than who they are facing this week.

Also, this sets the bar for what teams will be expecting in return for trades this week.

Yep that is good news, now the new rumor is Garza to the Dodgers. Keep busy Theo!
 

thecrow124

Active Member
1,240
3
38
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Location
Kenosha
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Does anyone else find it weird that for the last week of June and the first 2 weeks of July, all we heard was NH and Hurdle discussing how hard it was to find trade partners, but now, when poeces are starting to be moved, all we hear is crickets?

Could mean something, could mean nothing.
 

magnumo

ESPN Refugee
883
0
16
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Top