Your Media at Work

It’s another Adventure in Journamalism, led by our intrepid friend Paul Sullivan of the hopelessly biased Chicago Tribune...

A bout with pharyngitis in late December led Mark Prior to an emergency room and subsequently delayed his throwing program this spring.

Prior addressed concerns about his health Saturday, saying he had no problems with his elbow or shoulder. “I feel good throwing,” Prior said. “I’m just behind right now. That’s why I haven’t been able to throw [off a mound].”

Prior made only one Cactus League start last year, throwing mostly simulated games, but went 3-0 in April with an 0.95 earned run average. He doesn’t expect to take the same route this spring, but the Cubs are taking it slow with him and that led to speculation Prior is nursing an injury.

It’s a shame that in this day and age we have to rely on speculation and rumor. You know what would be neat? If there were people out there whose job it was to ask other people questions about what’s going on in the world.

And when these people were finished asking questions, wouldn’t it be great if they could tell other people about the answers they found (or didn’t find, for that matter). You know, like when you did a report for school. These people could maybe write a paper of some sort about what they learned. And the people who don’t feel comfortable writing could give an oral report, like on the radio or the TV.

That would be SO COOL! Because then people could learn all sorts of stuff. I mean, this idea would work with any topic, even something boring like politics. People ask other people questions, find out what’s happening, and then prepare a report on that subject so that we all can learn something new.

Boy, if we could come up with some kind of system like that, where reports on all sorts of subjects were readily accessible, then we might be able to make some sense out of what’s happening in this big ol’ goofy world of ours. I think that would be a whole lot better than our current system, which relies on speculation and rumors from a bunch of lazy people who either repeat whatever they’re told to say or just make crap up out of whole cloth.

*sigh* A man can dream. A man can dream.

Meanwhile, here’s a fun compare-and-contrast from that hopelessly biased Chicago Tribune. I offer it with no commentary for your reading pleasure:

Number One: Mark Gonzales, 17 February:

[Ozzie] Guillen insinuated that [Alex] Rodriguez was a hypocrite. “He’s full of it,” Guillen said. “The Dominican team doesn’t need him. It’s the same with [Nomar] Garciaparra playing for Mexico. Garciaparra knows Cancun because he went to visit it.”

This was merely the latest in a series of colorful pronouncements from Guillen. “People say ‘Ozzie Guillen is a big mouth, he’s so controversial,’” Guillen said. “No, people don’t like it when you tell the truth.”

Number Two, Sully, 20 February:

Dusty Baker is hoping for a drama-free season in 2006, which would be a big departure from his first three years in Chicago.

Whether he was inventing phrases like “steroid McCarthyism,” presenting theories on how minorities handle the heat, or revealing that he sprinkles holy water on his players, Baker often found himself involved in a controversy.