Strauss did hint that someone on the Cardinal staff might be headed for surgery, and mentioned the name Dr. Andrews who is associated with TJ surgery, but he later tweeted that "for those on the ledge, my information is that Waino is bueno."

Strauss simply stated that it was a "member of the '10 rotation."  For all we know, it could be Penny.

"my information is that Waino is bueno."

Clever. Can I come in from the ledge now?

tkihshbt wrote:

I'll let you know at midnight.

Midnight has passed god damn it.

tkihshbt wrote:

Westbrook had surgery. On his left shoulder. Yes, Strauss was dragging people along for a story about Westbrook having surgery on his left freaking shoulder.

VEB did such a perfect takedown of Strauss the other day that I won't even try.

The write up on VEB was awesome!  Borowsky also did a good job of detailing the issue with the Cardinals on the post.

LARRY BOROWSKY (Founder of Viva El Birdos and editor of “Maple Street Press Cardinals Annual†)

The organizational dysfunction that cost Walt Jocketty his job still hasn’t been resolved. The “statheads† (i.e., Jeff Luhnow’s unit) and the “baseball men† (Tony La Russa, Dave Duncan, and some of the scouting staff) are still arguing over how best to run the franchise, and it sometimes appears they’re trying to win the argument more than they’re trying to win a world championship. This internal competition has contributed to many problems, including roster imbalances, lack of cohesion in the clubhouse, and overall inconsistency (both on the field and in the front office).

Certain questions seem to dog the Cards from year to year – who’s going to play third base? Who’s going to play second? Who’s the leadoff hitter? Can (insert name of Memphis prospect here) play a key role on a contending team? – without ever getting resolved. And the reason they don’t get resolved is because the organization can’t make up its own mind.

artie_fufkin wrote:

"VEB did such a perfect takedown of Strauss the other day that I won't even try."

Link?

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2010/10/11/1738118/st-louis-cardinals-newsbreakers-a-public-service

artie_fufkin wrote:

Well done, except the part about Jose Lopez probably has more validity than anyone realizes.

I don't think anyone that posts here would think of it as farce.

The tweet by Strauss was horrible, as is most everything he does.

Last edited by tkihshbt (10/25/2010 10:20 pm)

Max wrote:

APRTW wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"VEB did such a perfect takedown of Strauss the other day that I won't even try."

Link?

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2010/10/11/1738118/st-louis-cardinals-newsbreakers-a-public-service

I'm not jumping on that bandwagon.  We are very lucky to have Joe Strauss.  Look at the stuff that passes for sports journalism, and we're going to complain because a guy who works in our town does some actual reporting instead of just trying to write inflammatory stories that generate arguments?!?

Max,

I don't have a problem with Strauss, but if you're going to defend him, you may want to come up with another argument.  Pretty much everything Strauss does (particularly anything related to a topic other than baseball) is an inflammatory story designed to generate an argument.

tkihshbt wrote:

Yeah, the sole purpose of having Strauss is to come up with inflammatory stories on Sundays.

Technically, he's a pretty good writer. If you read his chats, he's intelligent and quick-witted. He probably just throws stuff out there to amuse himself.

Max wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

Max wrote:

I'm not jumping on that bandwagon.  We are very lucky to have Joe Strauss.  Look at the stuff that passes for sports journalism, and we're going to complain because a guy who works in our town does some actual reporting instead of just trying to write inflammatory stories that generate arguments?!?

Max,

I don't have a problem with Strauss, but if you're going to defend him, you may want to come up with another argument.  Pretty much everything Strauss does (particularly anything related to a topic other than baseball) is an inflammatory story designed to generate an argument.

[*sigh* here we go again].  Okey-dokey.  Let's start at the top and work systematically.  Below is a link to his most recent article.  Is this one: A) the rule (that "pretty much everything Strauss does . . . is an inflammatory story designed to generate an argument", B) the exception to the rule, or C) does it falsify the rule and prove it wrong?

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/article_318ddf30-e060-11df-9cf2-0017a4a78c22.html

First off Max, this is a baseball story.  If you read what I wrote without editing it to fit your argument, you'd see that I stated that Strauss' inflammatory material is generally material not related to baseball.

Also, much of my bias is based less on his P-D writing and more on other things like his chat or Twitter postings.  For example, some of Strauss' latest tweets include:

"Nebraska has moved from 6 to 7 to 7.5 point favorite over Mizzou. Apparently some agree that Oklahoma was a paper No. 1. #Big12fraudalert"

or in response to a tweet that the Missouri/Texas Tech game has been scheduled for ABC, Strauss replied with "Why??"

Not that there's any reason for you to know this, but Strauss is an SEC football guy who continuously takes shots at the Big 12, and in particular at Mizzou. 

Strauss also does the same with regard to the Blues and Rams.  When people got excited over the Rams winning a couple of games, Strauss would post things like "Where is the start of the parade route?" or "when can I pick up my playoff tickets?"  Coming off of a 1-15 season, no one was suggesting the Rams were headed to the Super Bowl--people were simply excited that the team actually won a game.  For someone like me (a season ticket holder), I was pretty damn happy to see the team win a game at home (they hadn't won a game at home in two seasons).  I wasn't making plans for a Super Bowl party, and Strauss' comments were fairly inappropriate.

Regarding baseball material, again, you'd have to follow his Twitter account to watch the running feud he has with Derrick Goold and Matthew Leach.  Now I'm not saying I disagree with everything Strauss says.  There are many things that he says that I agree with.  And some of the material I don't agree with is still pretty funny.  But Strauss is clearly the most inflammatory poster of the bunch.

Rather than take everything as a personal attack, perhaps you could have simply asked what I base this on.  I'd have been happy to tell you.  As I said in my original comment, I don't have a problem with Strauss.  But if you think Strauss doesn't engage in inflammatory behavior, you're mistaken.

Last edited by forsberg_us (10/26/2010 3:32 pm)

The PD writers are either non-events or egomaniacs but they are pretty much all there is out there.  I think the club and the news paper are as tight as the two can be.

forsberg_us wrote:

perhaps you could have simply asked what I base this on.  I'd have been happy to tell you.

That works two ways.  For example, if we (re?)read what I originally wrote"

"Look at the stuff that passes for sports journalism, and we're going to complain because a guy who works in our town does some actual reporting instead of just trying to write inflammatory stories that generate arguments?!?"

My comment was that there is actual reporting in what he does, and not "just" . . . .  That statement certainly doesn't preclude that "inflammatory stories that generate arguments" are part of what he does.  But some 'sports journalists' seem to be almost entirely about that.

Also, implicit within my statement about sports journalism, is a definition of what it is and what it is not.  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't include twitter as a journalistic medium.  I consider blogs to be a middle ground, currently, somewhere between journalism and shooting the shit, as long as we qualify that with the understanding that there is a transition going on, and no one can quite see what will happen, other than that printed dailies, which has been the mainstay for journalism for a couple of centuries, are on the way out.

Bottom line, Strauss does a better job than most sports journalists working within the strictures of the mainstream media and I don't care what he, or anyone else, tweets.

Last edited by Max (10/26/2010 6:01 pm)