Thanks again, AP

So I'm trying to find the Lakers presser with Julius Randle today. Seems like something the AP would cover seeing as it's the Lakers and their first-round pick.

But NNNOOOOOO. They have 3 pics, but no copy. I called the LA office, which referred me to Phoenix (?!?!?!?!?) where the regional sports editor is and he says they didn't cover it. Well, the photog did. What the hell.

 

It's possible they are getting a photo(s) from a member paper. Not sure how often they cover draft pick's press conferences, unless it's a top overall pick or someone really noteworthy.

 

Then there was last night, when the first take MLB capsules didn't move until there were just the two West Coast games remaining. Is there some sort of unwritten AP rule that one can't move the capsules until the Yankees or Mets are done? Or everything is done in the CDT? Yes, I'm probably stressing a little more over this since we went to a centralized desk and deadlines got tighter, but still ...

 

Next up: Associated Robot Press!

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/257245/ap-will-use-robots-to-write-some-business-stories/

 

Yesterday the Detroit Tigers were an NBA team.

 

This is an example of what I'm talking about (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/city-leaders-ready-approve-deal-pacers):

"In exchange for providing $164 million to pay for operating costs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse over the next 10 years, the Pacers agreed to extend a lease agreement that will keep them in Indy for up to 13 more seasons. Board members voted 8-0 in favor of the deal."

The way this is written, the Pacers are providing $164 million for operating costs AND agreeing to extend the lease.

Because I trusted that this story was written by a competent person and edited by a competent person, I struggled over how this was such a good deal for the team. Shame on me for trusting in the competence (and grammar skills) of The Associated Press.

In fact, the arena operating board is on the hook for the $164M. Yes, took me a while to realize that.

As I said, shame on me for thinking AP knew what it was writing. The damn wire service should concentrate more on nuts-and-bolts accuracy, timeliness, clarity and service instead of its self-congratulatory, self-important gimmicks (NFL32 or whatever it's called, their soccer rankings, etc.) that are impotent attempts to convince us that it is a "player" in journalism.

 

Dear AP photogs at World Cup (I can't believe I am complaining about this):

Stop with the multiple photos of hot chicks prayer or reacting to plays. Shoot the fucking game, file the good ones and stop clogging the feed (now at 490 shots for one match today). Seriously...do we REALLY need 200+ fan reaction shots for each match?!

 

I'm looking forward to the stupid five things version of baseball gamers that will be force fed me starting July 28. Couple with the ALL CAPS headers for the MLB roundup, I'm starting to love baseball. Does AP consult anyone on these changes or are they just winging it?

 

We no longer have AP photos so we couldn't do that this time, but in 2006 and 2010 we put those to good use. We ran a daily feature called the "World Cup Fan of the Day."
It was just a one-column picture of the goofiest-looking fan we could find on the wire, along with a snarky one-sentence blurb. Just a fun little item to dig around for that brought some levity to the section for a bit.

 

Good thing you didn't do that this year.
AME-1 might have pooped his panties.

 

Ha! Probably would've reached in and flung the poop at me, too, and then told me I was a bad person for smelling like poop.

 

This has been going on for years, but as someone who has no Sunday edition, I'm still trying to figure it out.

Why is it that the AL and NL Glances that move at 4 a.m. on Friday morning have Sunday's starting pitchers in them and the ones that move at 10 (or 11 or whatever) p.m. on Friday night do not?