A week without the AP ...

I don't think Girardi would call it in. Even a big team like the Yankees, they'll find themselves some high school girls, who spent the whole time talking, to give you the stats. They'll giggle the whole time and when you try to ask them something about a name they'll say "ummmm...yeah...whatever."

Then, Steinbrenner will call in and complain about a name being misspelled.
If the coach does call it in, then he'll try and convince you Phil Hughes does deserve the win, even though he started and only went four innings. Since Girardi voluntarily took him out to save him for another game, Hughes "deserves" the win.

If Girardi were like a few coaches I know, he'll knowingly call in each night without the book in his hand with nothing ready, and then sigh in disgust when you ask him for it, as if tonight was the one time that you decided you only wanted the final scores from him.

 

And don't forget what the Yankees' JVs did ...

But to get back on topic somewhat, I'm finding golf and NASCAR coverage to be very hit and miss (no pun intended in either sport) with MCT vs. AP Limited, which only admits those sports exist when they're in state. Fans of those sports do like their agate as well.

 

The Royals lost to the White Sox 15-5.

 

A significant concern I have about MCT pertains to its regional nature. I can get a lot of stuff from some parts of the country, not so much from others. An ass-load of Big 12 stuff, pretty light on the SEC. And SEC is our bread and butter.

 

Two down, five to go.

We had more local content to deal with for Wednesday, so the big issue was whether we'd get the All-Star game.

Matt Gelb of the Philly Inky came through with the timely lede to bail us out.

 

So is this one week only for you? And then back to AP?

 

Yep. We're just experimenting with some other options for informational purposes.

 

Have any readers noticed?

 

Not that I can tell. But we've had three "slow" days as pertains to MLB and I cannot at this moment tell you if we'll have any kind of baseball agate package this weekend. That might get noticed, yes.

 

This brought to mind a murky legal question:

Obviously, cutting and pasting a box score from, say, MLB.com to replace what we usually get from AP is illegal, right? We're not paying for it.

But what about watching the game on TV and keeping running stats yourself, then putting it in the paper? I had an SE who used to do that for Monday Night FB games, because he didn't want to wait for the AP box. Is this legal or does it violate the "retransmissions" of the on-air broadcast?

 

I got an "A" in Mass Comm Law, but that was years ago. I think the intent of the "retransmissions" clause is to keep you from selling copies of the game to others ... writing off the TV or radio may not fall under "fair use," as the law defines it, but would be a fair use nonetheless.

Doing a cut-and-paste on a box score from a non-AP source ... yeah, it's probably illegal on point. It's also too much damned work.

 

I'm now officially bored with the "Week without AP."