So, our paper isn't going to remake for Bonds' 756th...is yours?

Tomorrow ...

Shottie: Paper gives great head

 

My shop did the * and I have no problem with it. The guy cheated plain and simple. Look at the size of his head when he broke in with with the Bucs and look at it now. No one's melon inflates that much without some artificial help.

 

Plain and simple = no smoking gun.

But that's another thread.

 

You have no proof. You have no actual, legal proof.

 

We have plenty of hearsay and conjecture. Those are kinds of evidence.

 

Look, the lead of the AP story that most of the country ran wonders if Bonds' record is "legitimate or not." It's the first damn sentence.

I have no problem with an *.

 

No, it doesn't "wonder" if the record is legitimate or not, it states very plainly that right now, legitimate or not, it is the record. We can't tell whether it counts yet, and until we can, you're crossing the line by using an asterisk.

 

Isn't the doubt about the new record's legitimacy precisely what the asterisk represents at this point? An asterisk does not have an absolute meaning, and I don't think the presence of one in a headline necessarily convicts the man.

Everyone knows that this story is still playing itself out, and the steroid issue is front and center.

 

And that's just it. Reporting this story straight, isn't reporting it. Most people do feel that Bonds is undeserving (if not for steroids, then for juiced (sorry) baseballs or crappy expansion pitching). King Barry* is a great head that sums up that feeling well.

Editorializing???? We're the sports section for God's sake. Half of what we do is editorializing. I think those that are upset by an * need to relax. It's not like what we are talking about is actually important in any real sense.

 

Ahhh, that's right. What we do doesn't actually matter, and we don't need to have any rules.

 

What we do DOES matter. It matters differently.

The sports section is also an entertainment section. There are areas we have to play it dead straight. There are some where we don't.

The asterisk, again in my opinion, crossed no ethical or professional line.

 

Exactly.

The moral indignation that the anti-* crowd is displaying is a bit much. I'd like to think most of us have enough common sense to know when to keep things straight and when to realize that we are talking about grown men playing games.

To me a headline should reflect the whole story. The whole story includes all the controversy surrounding the record. Putting an * in the head does just that. A lot of people are suggesting that the news side would have stayed away from this kind of so-called editorializing. I don't buy that. Actually, I'd suggest that the news side would be more willing to go that way, and that those that went straight with this are guilty of being a bit too sports writer-ish--focusing just on the scoreboard while ignoring the rest of the world.