Anonymous commenters free to say as they please

Poor Don Imus.

Imagine if the controversial award-winning radio talk show host’s infamous 2004 comment about the Rutgers’ womens’ basketball team appeared like this:
Talkshowguy533— ‘That’s some nappy-headed hos!’

Listed at the end of a Web article in complete anonymity, the risqué shock jock would still be spewing discourse on Imus in the Morning. On CBS radio at least.

Imus, however, made his racially insensitive remark in an improper (or proper?) forum and paid for it. As an anonymous commenter, he not only would have voiced his right to free speech, but probably would have found others that agree equally with what he said.

Tiger Woods’ relationship with Dr. Anthony Galea being overlooked

With the deft touch of a crooked politician, Tiger Woods has managed to circumnavigate the biggest threat to his golfing legacy: his drug use.
I’m not going to get into the psychobabble regarding sex therapy or infidelity. Everyone from Phil Mickelson to Dr. Phil has weighed in on that. This is about his relationship with another doctor, Dr. Anthony Galea.

The Sports Writer’s Manifesto

There are a few expected outcomes when you shake a man’s hand. Feeling like you’ve just dipped your hand in warm yogurt should not be one of them.
Yet that’s the very predicament I found myself in on September 26, 2009. That’s right; I remember that moment like the night I lost my virginity. The physically intimate feeling still lingers the same also.
Some call it a “dead fish” handshake, but I look on that moment as the day I lost a lot of respect for most sports writers. Or rather, gainfully employed ones like the limp-limbed Chicago Sun-Times prep writer who made my acquaintance that cold and cloudy Saturday morning.

Sacred Heart Monastery in Lisle helps community, struggles to survive

Check out this story on Sacred Heart Monastery in Lisle, Illinois

http://ow.ly/1fMfd #Lisle #monastery #sacred heart

Technology impacting prep sports

November 6, 2010 served up yet another example of how pressure-packed the prep sports environment has become. In case you missed it, 13-year-old David Sills of Wilmington, Delaware verbally committed to the University of Southern California’s football program. New head coach Lane Kiffin, in the news yet again, offered Sills a scholarship after being shown YouTube footage of the middle-school quarterback by private quarterbacks coach Steve Clarkson.

Clarkson, however, had already mentored former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart and current USC quarterback Matt Barkley before working with Sills. On top of the highlight reel Kiffin was able to view and the questionable motives of Clarkson, the ethical dilemma that is permeating prep sports culture is only being amplified by the technology that allows these kids to be covered, gain recognition, and be marketed to the point of exploitation.

Podcast: Middle school quarterback David Sills commits to USC football

I’m flabbergasted from hearing about the news this week that 13-year-old David Sills of Wilmington, Delaware committed to USC despite never having played in high school. But it’s not David’s fault. Listen to my podcast and hear who’s to blame.

Mobile post sent by brianmiller using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

Michael Wolff believes Newser is the top aggregator

Michael Wolff likes to think he’s changing the world. The news aggregator website he founded, Newser, takes long-winded articles and edits them down to Twitter-length pieces. Well, not really that short, but it’s definitely a bullet point type of piece.

While on CNBC, he discussed the new journalism model and how news aggregators are the future of journalism and pointedly said he is trying to put newspapers out of business. (See the video).

FLYPmedia: interactive storytelling at its best

FLYPmedia is unlike any sight I’ve ever seen before. I don’t mean site, but rather visual stimuli. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether that is a good thing or not, especially when media websites, like CNN and others, are grasping at straws for the next big storytelling vehicle. Bells and whistles are great, but if you don’t have wheels then you’re not going very far. I can’t even remember the names of half the sites that have tried that approach.

So, best I can tell and in my sole opinion, FLYPmedia is an 18-wheeled semi-truck. All the necessary components of storytelling are there. Not only is the overall look glossy and pleasing to the eye, but then you start to dig and end up digging the varying links to soundbites, video, or statistics to support the “article’s” theme.

Chicago, Lincoln Park muggings during summer ’09

During the late Chicago summer of 2009, eight robberies occurred. Seven were within a reason distance of each other and could be the result of the same group of individuals responsible for four confirmed robberies/beatings between the days of July 30 and August 1.

For the four muggings believed to be linked, the victims were men in their early 20′s alone during late night hours. In each instance, the individual was confronted from behind by four attackers also in their 20′s. They requested the men’s wallets then beat the individual in the head and face. Two of these attacks required hospitalization.

Later a suspect was identified by the man in the third attack, but the suspect was later released due to lack of evidence.

This map shows the vicinity of the attacks, the progression of two attacks that happened within minutes, and other reported attacks that could be related to confirmed correlations.