davidjcampbell

Some of the same points brought up in the article could be said of our little hamlet on the prairie. At TwinsFest this weekend there was (for the first time in at least many years) a panel of beat writers, Mason (FSN), Bollinger (MLB.com) Neal (Strib), and Mackey (1500ESPN). Their general story was that the medium and the audience dictate what they can write and how they write it. Neal said basically "I'd love to print a slash line" (avg/obp/slg) but he can't because so many readers don't know what that is, so he has to stick to avg, hr, and rbi. I think he and others in the "mainstream" media could do more to educate their readers and get them on board with more "advanced" statistics. Mackey gets more into advanced stats principally because he is on the web (according to him). Mackey also described using the stats to ask more informed questions of those in the know including coaches and players. The stats he uses to ask the question don't necessarily end up in the column but I think this is what is not being done in this market (and probably others). Neal and Mackey dominated the comments of the panel, however Bollinger and Mason echoed the line of not being able to because they wanted to keep the columns availabile for all audiences.

Pretty interesting article. The Fellowship of the Miserable: How Boston Sportswriters Got So Awful

On my one trip to Hammond Stadium a couple years ago (in the go-go days of 2010) I sat in section 207. I thought the seats were great, and I also thought the price of $23 wasn't too bad either considering I saw two and a half games that day. Parking was around $5 to park on the lawn in the complex. Keep in mind that this is a minor league stadium, there aern't too many seats far from the action. Also, I think the seats were bleachers, but I could be mis-remembering.

slightly off topic. I looked up some of Worley's 2012 starts and decided to watch one from July 25 when the Phillies hosted the Brewers. Some of you may remember Carlos Gomez hitting a long strike and trotting around the bases this summer... Worley was the pitcher during that humorous at bat. video here spoiler alert: Gomez strikes out looking on the very next pitch.

Getting rid of the banner ads that support this free site would be better than a Q&A with a beat writer?

I recently signed up for a Nationals forum since I am certain I will need a distraction from the 2013 Twins. In reviewing their forums and threads I noticed an interesting Guest Chat folder. Back in 2010, the WNFF guys convinced one of the Nats beat reporters (Ben Goessling) to come online and participate for an evening. http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=16780.0 Now, Ben is over at the Pioneer Press and I know Ben and Howard Sinker have both participated in the podcast as a guest of Aaron and John. During the long offseason, would it be possible to try to get something like this going on Twins Daily with any of the many beat reporters here locally? I can think of a couple reasons this might be a non starter for them or their parent organizations, but I think the community here could be welcoming... Thoughts?

Great entries - thank you for sharing.

I'm voting non-tendered like many of the rest of you however I would not be surprised if he is back and the scholarship program continues.

Interesting idea. These two lines terrify me most. All offense and no D has not gotten the Tigers anywhere this year and they have a couple of dependable pitchers. How can the Twins pull this off?

Depends on what their format will be. They were ghetto rap at once time, not sure what format that are in right now. I think Perkins was/is on the morning show... Sorry Brent - are you able to fit a few more qualifiers into that post? When the Polads bought the station they played "urban" music which competed with KDWB playing mainstream rap and R&B. Since the purchase in 2007, they have changed formats twice landing on "modern adult contemporary" - basically they play a little of everything now. They have also moved their transmitter to New Hope in 2009 to increase the metro reach. The Perkins you are referring to is Eric Perkins (also KARE-11 Sports Director).

David Brauer has more - http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2012/08/twins-jump-ktwn-expected-1500-espn-committed-sports-format

Impressive.... I think it was definitely too early to annoint him as our 3B savior. It certainly is too early to anoint him anything but he's earned the starting job for at least the first half of 2013. Definitely too early to sign him up for long term reps at 3b, I agree with giving him the nod for 2013 and seeing where it takes him. There are bigger issues for the team to focus on and its nice to have some level of competence and a bat in that corner.

I was at the game last night and in the top of the first when he walked Jackson and Fielder with not a hint of the strike zone or anything worth swinging at I thought the he was going to get rocked. Fortunately, the Tigers were not able to figure him out until the fourth time through the order and by then he was at ~90 pitches thrown he was going to get pulled soon no matter what happened. I also agree with the sentiment that the Twins should ride this wave as long as possible. The alternatives are not all that attractive.

I saw the movie last night - I thought it was great. I particularly liked the English class scene and I am picturing Sano living in Southern Wisconsin. I have looked but cannot find any information about the soundtrack - I also really enjoyed the music. Any info on the track listing out there?

As soon as I saw it advertised on AG.com I knew I needed to check this out. I'll probably be at St Anthony Main tomorrow night as well. Looking forward to it!