The Martha Burk-ing of the All-Star game

I had to call the AP in New York about the All-Star game advance.

Seventeen grafs about Arizona's immigration law, including quotes from Jesse (not Reggie) Jackson, before we get to the stuff about the dang game.

I had one thought after reading that hot mess: "Martha Burk."

 

I'd like to read it.

 

What the AP does best, ruin an advance with what should have been a sidebar.

 

Someone iron my shirt.

 

Holy shit! You've NEVER done that!

 

And I only called because Ralph Russo was there and he knows me. We had a nice chat, which ended with me praising the hometown leads for MLB.

 

Glad you called, and wish I had. I hadn't seen anything on the immigration law and the All-Star Game since it was passed, until last week when Jim Litke bought it up in a column. Since I rarely use Litke any more (ever since he started urging everyone to read Dan Wetzel), I dismissed it until I saw this thread.

Apparently it didn't do a thing, since the writethru after the Home Run Derby had the same lead. I ended up grabbing a Rick Hummel story from McClatchy Tribune and, while it was heavy on Cardinals elements, was at least about baseball!

I wonder if someone at AP has a burr up their saddle about the immigration issue. Hope I'm wrong, since I still want to think AP is above all this.

 

If it had been an actual issue at the ballpark, I could see it. But all the player quotes seemed to indicate that none of them were taking it seriously as an issue and to pull in Jesse Jackson (not pictured) on a phoner from Washington was over the top for me.

I just wanted to be on the record as not running that and making it clear why I didn't.

 

Technically they're not hometown leads, but losing team leads. The optional ... pardon me, "New Approach" is written from the winner's angle.

 

The lack of a legit advance bothered me, as well. The idea of putting a Jesse Jackson-dominated story on the front, or anywhere in the sports section, makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

 

If anything, the REAL advance was the story on Jeter and the other players sitting out the game ...

 

Fo' sho. Pitching story worked as a secondary, too.