NOW FREESTYLE, FREESTYLE

Is this getting boring? Too journalism-y? Maybe it's time for something different. Maybe IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

Ah... it's nice to get back to your roots.

C'MON! INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

I'm going to issue a GOB-style "C'MON!" to Investor's Business Daily for pointing out that "ESPN even assigned a reporter, full-time, to The Bonds Beat -- a full-court press that no athlete has ever received, not Ali or Gretzky or Jordan or Tiger."

Now, back when I was in school, my journalism prof would always tell us to be wary of "ever/never" assertions. Never covers a long time. To say that "no athlete has ever received" the scrutiny of having a reporter cover him or her full-time is a bold statement that would require a great amount of research to verify. You'd have to examine the coverage given to every major athlete in at least the past 100 years. But let's not bother with that... let's just look at the the examples given.

To save time, I'll start with Jordan -- largely because I know that, in 2001, the Washington Post assigned a reporter, full-time, to cover The Jordan Beat when he joined the Wizards.

Whoops.

What's so-best is that Investor's Business Daily used the clever term "full-court press" to describe ESPN's unprecedented coverage... a term that CNNSI used to describe the Post's unprecedented coverage. CNNSI also asked (back in 2001) if "this only the beginning? Will the San Francisco Chronicle now assign a reporter to follow Barry Bonds every day, all the time?"

Well, no. Cutbacks and whatnot. But still. Good prediction.

MOTOROLA'S iTUNES PHONE DELAYED

Looks like Cingular and Verizon are putting the brakes on Motorola's iTunes phone. This, of course, means that that telecom companies are fast becoming my Most Hated Industry. Sorry, RIAA, I thought you had a lock for life. Better luck next year.

Anyway... this bidness is a pretty clear explanation of why Apple has not come out with a sweet Mac-syncing cell phone. Steve Jobs is smart. Telecom execs are idiots. Steve Jobs doesn't like dealing with idiots. (Just ask Eisner.)

Now, if any of these telecom execs were smart - and clearly they aren't - they wouldn't be trying to block this thing, they'd be trying to lock up exclusive rights to it. I've been thinking of switching to Sprint PCS for a while just so I could get one of those PalmOS based flip phones. Similarly, I'd switch carriers to get a phone that could sync with iTunes. And with legions of iPod users out there I can only imagine the coup it would be to be the Only Carrier with the iTunes Phone.

People are idiots.

THANK YOU FOR WEARING PANTS

The Daily Show's Rob Corddry teaches us how to be a psuedo-journalist blogger in his video$ecret$ of New Journali$m $ucce$$. Quotes include "I am going to blog the crap out of this" and "let's journalize." Funny stuff.

MEANWHILE: Looks like Slabaugh has started an NPD portfolio.

AND NOW: Kenneymarlatt.com presents, Upcoming Unnecessary Movie Sequels (slated for release in 2006 and 2007):

Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction
Die Hard 4.0
Fahrenheit 9/11½
Fletch Won
The Girls Next Door
The Italian Job II
Jurassic Park IV
Mission: Impossible III
The Net 2.0
Police Academy 8

THIS JUST IN

Kevin/Kenney jokes make it onto Newsdesigner's Flickr site.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'm not about to go to Texas and not ride the mechanical bull. That would be like going to Los Angeles and not sleeping with Paris Hilton."

- From last night's Boston Legal

Googling up that link led me to this little tidbit in the Seattle Times which notes that Heather Locklear will guest star on the show as a woman "dubbed The Black Widow by the media, charged with poisoning her husband."

This is getting out of hand.

ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW, PUT DOWN THE TOP

HIGH ATOP THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS -- Two things I learned about Los Angeles this weekend:
1) The LAT has a cool eagle, above.
2) Cheebo is a great restaurant - and cheap!

KISS ME, I'M CAUCASIAN

HOLLYWOOD -- Hope everybody had a good St. Patrick's Day. If you recall, the Bar Exam took a swipe at green beer last year, but this year MSNBC did a much more thorough job.

Now, despite accusations to the contrary, I'm not trying to be a killjoy. The fact is, green beer just doesn't taste good. Don't get me wrong - there's a time and place for cheap beer. (Old Style, Wrigley Field, 12:05, for example.) But on the one day out of the year where we celebrate the Irish... let's do so with a decent beer. So instead of hoisting a green-tinted High Life, find a bartender than can draw a shamrock in the foam of an expertly pulled Guinness. Mmmm... taste the fun!

TOLD YOU SO

An 8 1/2 pound Tyler Phelps Seitz was born at 9:32pm EST. Now, several of my friends have had children... this isn't the first. But really, all of those friends were guys. Their wives had the babies. This is the first time my friend has actually HAD the baby... and it's creeping me out.

Meanwhile, Dave and Nicole Tieche had a baby boy this week as well. It is, apparently, raining babies.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

Coming today to a hospital near you: Tyler Phelps Seitz

HOUSTON IN 5 PHOTOS OR LESS!

Here are a couple photos from Houston. Not gonna lie: The hotel where the big SND Houston will be held is pretty dang nice.


The Houston Chronicle.


Rooftop patio at the Hilton Americas.


Ballroom at the Hilton Americas.


A lot of Texas pride. (Ha! "Lot" - get it?!)


Minute Maid Park. Four blocks from the Hilton Americas.

HOUSTON I'M ONE STEP CLOSER TO YOU

HOUSTON -- Lots of stuff going on in Houston's Hilton Americas hotel. The vice-president of Taiwan is visiting. Miss Taiwan USA is visiting. And most importantly the SND board is visiting. Yes, Houston is certainly in the spotlight this weekend.

HOUSTON BY THE NUMBERS:
Pizza orders placed with Late Night Pie: 3
Hotel's distance from Minute Maid Park (in blocks): 4
Number of visits made to the Hilton's rooftop patio: 7
Number of men seen wearing cowboy hats: 14
Bottles of Shiner Bock consumed: Countless

JOURNALISM, BLOGS AND APPLE

MINETA SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - Bad news: I'm stuck at the airport for 3 hours. Good news: Free ticket! Thing about the free ticket is, you don't get your miles if you use the free ticket... that's going to wreak havoc on my quest to re-secure United Elite status.

Well, as long as we're going to be here a while...

THE OUTSIDE SCOOP: While I was reading Romenesko yesterday I realized that, perhaps, I should go ahead and check my work e-mail when I get up in the morning. I always hate to find out stuff about work from outside sources. (Regardless, kinda shocking news. You'd think he'd have at least waited around in case he needs to pick up his Pulitzer) (Speaking of, how many Pulitzers do we have to be nominated for before people start calling us the Mercury News? As GOB would say, "COME ON!")

ARE BLOGGERS JOURNALISTS? While we're on the subject of the Merc's opinion section... sorta... our editorial pages sided with the trio of Mac rumor sites that have been sued by Apple for disclosing product information before it has been announced.

Defending their lawsuits, Apple has argued that their "DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success." I couldn't agree more. But the fact is, the protection of those trade secrets is the responsibility of Apple and its employees. It is not the responsibility of Think Secret. Not Apple Insider. And not the PowerPage.

But hey, I guess I can't fault Apple for trying. Certainly they must wish all journalists were like the fawning sycophants over at MacWorld. Editor Jason Snell had an excellent opportunity to stick up for his fellow Mac journalists in that LA Times story I mentioned above. Instead, he chose to kick them while they are down. As well he should. MacWorld sister publications like MacWeek (remember MacWeek? A weekly Mac magazine! Oh, those pre-Internet days... *sigh*) used to report the same kind of information. (I remember reading about the "BlackBird" PowerBook and its mysterious new "trackpad.") But, with the rise of the Internet, MacWorld and its sister publications have largely abdicated their role in reporting upcoming Apple products. They also gave the pink slip to several columnists that could occasionally be critical of Apple in favor of... PR blurbs for Apple accessories. I'm going to guess their readership has suffered as Mac fans have turned to the Internet for more timely and critical information. So, faced with that, why bother sticking up for your profession when you have the opportunity to trash your competitors? I mean, right?

Last month, I let my MacWorld subscription lapse for the first time in over a decade. So far, I haven't missed it.

How did this turn into a rant against MacWorld?

ARE COMMENTERS JOURNALISTS? With all the blogger as journalist stories floating around, TMFTML has a great bit that asserts that "2005 appears to be the year of the commenter."

Speaking of commenters, when did my blog become a Burger King chat room?

SNAPPLE FACT OF THE DAY

"Elephants are capable of swimming 20 miles a day."

I, on the other hand, am capable of swimming 20 minutes a day. But, then again, I don't like to draw comparisons between myself and elephants.

IT SEEMS EVERYBODY LOVES THE TENDER CRISP BACON CHEDDAR RANCH

While I was crowing earlier about my 1,000 unique visitor milestone, that record will likely be shattered this month, as I've already had over 500 unique visitors. Honestly, this is a little out of hand. There's really no explanation for this recent surge in traffic... or so I thought. Then I Googled "tender crisp bacon cheddar ranch lyrics"

Wow. Give the people what they want, I say. And, clearly, the people want the lyrics to commercial jingles sung by Hootie.

FROM LAST NIGHT'S LETTERMAN: Paul is doing Carnac The Magnificent. The answer: "Sideways." The question: "How does Kirstie Alley get through doorways?"

FROM THE MERC: Apple 1, Bloggers 0: Judge says rumor sites must reveal sources.

SELF-PROMOTION

New Bar Exam is up over at MercuryNews.com. This week: an extremely well-researched write-up of Trial's Pub. Drinking: It pays the bills.

FROM THE TRIB

The Cubs and the city of Chicago have forged a deal to allow a hideous expansion of Wrigley Field. And if Macy's takes away my Frango mints I'll never forgive them.

READING MATERIAL

"The Once and Future President Clinton: It’s not as crazy as it seems" from New York Metro and "Trump aspires to new heights:
With a taller spire, tycoon's skyscraper could overtake Sears Tower to become tallest in North America" from the Chicago Tribune