i didn't even know kepner was off the yankee beat

I'll miss Kepner. I think he was one of the best beat writers anywhere. I've never been impressed with Shpigal, his writing has always seemed like more of the same cliche ridden blather.

I can't agree that Kepner did a great job on the Yankees beat. I thought he was generally good, but last spring he became completely obsessed with the ARod scandal and wrote about nothing else the whole time the Yankees were gettng ready for the season. That was very disappointing (and sadly typical of the modern media) and left me sour on Kepner. Let's hope Shpigel is better able to keep his focus where it belongs.

Interesting little nugget in Klapisch's column from yesterday...

The first is to decide who gets the No. 5 spot in the rotation. The other is deciding who plays left field. There’s no great science behind either of these choices, as the organization has privately designated Phil Hughes as a starter and Joba Chamberlain as the eighth inning setup man.

Sadly these jobs go to those who pay their dues rather than fresh voices like Alex or Cliff or even the River Ave crew. I suppose there are a lot of details that have to be learned about the "beat" but it can't be too difficult. After a few months, I'm sure it's routine. One reason I guess newspapers are becoming less and less relevant. I'd much rather read the coverage here than the Times. The only reason they're even in the picture is that their name leads to wide-spread access.

Anyone see that the Times is now linking to their own stats pages courtesy of Stats Inc? I assume they pay for the privilege. What a dumb use of resources. Hyperlinks are meant to bring lead to new content, not bottle up all of your users in your own. And do they really think that a web user who is looking into stats couldn't read baseballreference or fangraphs for themselves? Sure, they're a bit complicated. But in an era where good journalism is getting cut, they're worried about keeping users on branded stats pages? Lame. At some point exactly replicating the newspaper experience of 20 years ago needs to end.

[4] i hope that is just in bob klapisch;s world

[4] I call bullshit. One, only the manager and the GM will make that call. Two, why even pretend to have a competition and not prepare Joba for the role in the Spring? Moreover, if this source had any power to know they wouldn't be talking to Klap. The only reason to talk to Klap is to feel like you have power. Guess what Nameless Yankee Exec - you don't. You're a well-paid cog in a big machine. That he prints such garbage shows his own faults as a journalist.

While I'm on my media criticism kick, whoever said anonymous quotes were necessary and even legit in reporting sports? I mean talk about a complete undermining of an entire profession for some lame information.

I'm boycotting the entire newsmedia today ... since its all about Tiger.

[8] Agreed. I don't care what that guy does off the golf course.

Tiger should have worn a t-shirt that said "Hug me if you're horny" during his press conference.

[6] I'm guessing that place is more like Dante's Inferno than Wayne's World...

[7] While I agree with you about the questionable resources used by questionable journaists and the veracity of anonymous sources, I might add that GMs are not all that noble about their information or intent as well. Our own Cashman has misled the media on many occasions concerning impending transactions or strategies which may have had noble intent, but were misleading and sometimes questionable nonetheless (no one believed or will forget that he insisted Bubba Crosby would be a starting outfielder).

Before you believe that's always a good idea, also remember that Girardi implemented the same strategy in 2008 to a less than positive response here and other places. Then there's the Knicks... did ANYBODY believe anything they said when Isiah was running the team? The jury sure didn't. Does Walsh make a significant difference in that regard? So the point is, it goes both ways, but neither is excusable in my opinion; the 24/7 news cycle has adversely effected the quality of enjoyment with following sports (one reason why I think so many fans have become their own game reporters by measuring so many stats throughout the season)...

[8] I'm morbidly curious about how the Knicks are bringing themselves closer to being defunct by trying to go all out for LeBron this summer, but if the paper is wall-to-wall Tiger, I may just stick to collecting Piers Anthony books online...

oops, sorry about the fake hyperlink. That was supposed to be italics >;)

I love "The Onion"
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/tiger_woods_announces_return_to