Blue Jays sign-stealing story

I'd like to see Mythbusters do a sports edition.

 

Chris Jones and the guys at the Tao of Stieb Jays blog discuss - via email it looks like - the ESPN story:

http://taoofstieb.blogspot.com/2011/08/story-of-bold-venture.html

 

My chief reactions:

* ESPN billed this as an OTL Investigation while doing the legwork of a two paragraph notebook piece. How hard can it possibly be to confirm the presence of this man in white at the games, once you have the tip that he's there? It sounds like the reporter was unable to confirm his presence through game tapes. Um.. how about going to a few games? You know where he's supposedly sitting. I would think a man in white raising his arms every other pitch would be easy to spot over the course of a 9 inning game.

* Having said that, most of the negative reaction I've seen is some hilarious fanboi shit. Any response to it that begins with "Buh buh if it was the Red Sox and Yankees..." cannot possibly be taken seriously.

 

Apropos of nothing, they have in the past. They've done an episode of baseball myths (testing eye black and whether it's faster to slide, among others), and whether helium-filled footballs can be punted farther than air-filled ones (they can't.)

And Kari Byron still hasn't called me back. Yet I stare at the phone constantly.

 

I liked CBC asking Blue Jays fans what they though. Who cares? The fans aren't part of the story.

 

The Blue Jays were accused of something that isn't against the rules, so the biggest thing at stake is their reputation. A team's most important relationship is arguably with the folks who buy tickets and jerseys. A little fan perspective seems warranted.