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Jenn Sterger is a Better Writer Than Me And What It Has To Do With Buddy Bell

As Adam Sandler once sang, "someone kill me please". Your humble blogger does his best to write about the Royals twice a day for the entire 162 game season; which isn't easy considering the Royals are the worst team in baseball and on many nights aren't even half-way interesting. Most of the time Royals Review isn't very good and is often repetitive (or is it the Royals that are?). Still, we've had some moments around here, but I doubt I'll ever get "the call" from any major news source/site, or even from someone out in Scott City, KS for that matter.

Meanwhile, Jenn Sterger now writes for Sports Illustrated's dot.com site. You may remember the stir Sterger caused last fall, rising to internet celebrity status after a) appearing on the camera during an FSU football game, followed by Brent Musberger quipping something to the effect of "many red-blooded American men just applied to Florida State", this subsequently led to b) the Deadspin linkage to her facebook page, which included numerous pictures of her and her friends. Pictures like this:

Obviously, this is someone who needs a job in journalism. This is someone who needs a regular column. I'm frankly surprised SI snatched her up before Atlantic Monthly or The New Yorker or The New Republic did. To say nothing of ESPN.com or FOXSPORTS.com.

The saddest thing of all is (well, beyond the fact that I care) that she's probably not even "writing" these responses in any sustained sense, as they're likely ghost written from telephone or email correspondences by some intern at SI.com. Hey, if thats the way it rolls for Supreme Court justices, do you really doubt it for Sterger? Then again, do exchanges such as these really need to be faked?:

My girlfriend is pretty hot, but the other day a friend of mine who makes less money than me and is not much to look at showed up with a babe totally hotter than mine. Is it time for an upgrade, or am I just being immature? -- Mike, Seattle

It never ceases to amaze me how guys use women and money as a means of validating their existence and their place in society to one another. Sheesh. Sometimes men remind me of dogs -- they feel the need to constantly mark their territory to show dominance over one another. (I guess women are fortunate that men don't do it the same way.) Honestly, did you ever think that maybe there is more to women than their looks? Sure, your friend's date could have been hotter than yours, but was said girl the least bit intelligent, or was she strictly a piece of arm candy to elevate his status among the fellas in the group? Your girl may not be as hot, but there had to be something that attracted you to her in the first place, like intelligence, sense of humor, personality? So consider yourself the lucky one, because at least your date can form complete sentences and not spend the entire night contemplating the difference between chicken and fish.

Then again, God could simply think he did you a good enough favor giving you the better job, so the less hot girl is simply a trade-off. You can't have it all, my friend.

Right. Thank God SI is giving this discussion column space.

In other news, the Joey Gathright Era began with a bang last night, as All-Star Candidate Mark Teahen blasted a game-winning two run homer in the bottom of the 8th to propel the Royals to victory. Teahen redeemed himself after an earlier night of miscues in the field and on the basepaths.

To honor Teahen, I shall post this picture of him homering last season:

The beloved Gathright (sounds like the villian in a Jane Austen or P.G. Woodhouse novel) managed two singles, including one of the bunt-variety. This prompted numerous mentions of the horrifying effect his speed has on all pitchers, infielders and small children. Probably in our lifetime 100 pitchers will commit suicide or go insane due to the emotional stress caused by the mere existence of Gathright. Most importantly, after beginning the day at .201, his two singles raised his average to .210, meaning the Royals are spared of having a sub .200 hitter in the lineup for at least three more days.

Most importantly, the Royals insured themselves of a series victory, and go for the rare Sweep! tonight at the K. With the win, Buddy Bell raised his career managerial record to 409-579, and raised the Royal winning percentage this season to a salty .300.

Well done Buddisimo, we shall honor you with a career retrospective in two weeks when you manage your 1,000th game. In your long and distinguished career, you have earned every one of those games in the manager's seat, and every single penny you've been paid. Those lifers managing away in the Minor Leagues, all those guys who never got a break, were never given a shot, never even given a chance. You prove every day that you've earned it and they haven't. You are an example of the supreme justice and fairness bestowed upon life by our benevolent Creator.

And sincerest congrats to Buddy on another 100% correct job on the lineup card last night! He's got a streak going!!

Buddy Bell: Managing::Jenn Sterger:Writing

Jenn thinks:"My next column will reexamine Voros McCracken's controversial DIPS Study -- Defense Independent Pitching Statistics -- using a different regression formula and additional data concerning park factors. The second-half of the column will ponder: who is the hottest Royal?"

... As thoughts of Buddy asking DeJesus and Grudz to bunt threatens to send me over the edge.

0 recs | Comment 19 comments

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if thats true
and Buddy is the Jenn of baseball, then the Royals should be winning more

by LeoBloom on Jun 22, 2006 12:48 PM EDT   0 recs

Focus on what matters
Mark Teahen for All-Star!

by FlintHillsRoyal on Jun 22, 2006 1:19 PM EDT   0 recs

Best
best
post
on Royals Review
ever

by DyeFan187 on Jun 22, 2006 2:11 PM EDT   0 recs

wow..An. Hero...
that was a little harsh...

Sports Ill.  has sank into the depths of People Magazine and any real sportsfan would not go there to get any kind of in depth information.

Fluff it is and it looks like the have found the perfect columnist to handle the fluff stuff.

I agree with Flint...lets get back to the important stuff and Mark Teahen for President.  Hey, at least he can find his balls.

by grudz69 on Jun 22, 2006 3:02 PM EDT   0 recs

Enjoy the ride
Dear Will, your columns lately have been more negative and cynical.  Let's have some fun living through this Royals experience and not get so caught up in each specific injustice and idiocy.  We may never see a baseball team as bad as this again and we should enjoy the ride while we can. Each and every Royals fan is very possibly taking part in a historic season this year.  Think of the pride of the '62 Mets fans who actually stayed with the club throughout the long hard campaign. I'm sure they look back on their time of suffering with a smile on their face today.

Think about it, the Royals have a lunatic owner creating a whinny blog to combat the media conspiracy against his historical awful team.  My God, it is like Nixon is running this team.

We have a youth movement in full swing, but a line up which often features only a single player younger than 28.

We have an interchangeably ridiculous pitching staff.  Roles are not won on this staff, they are simply handed over with a sigh of resignation.  We have a baby faced closer constantly straddling between cocky and terrified.  We raid bad teams AAA castoffs with a sincere sense of gratitude.

We have a pair of corner infielders likely to end up with fewer than 20 homeruns and 120 RBIs between them.  An outfield patrolled by "old," "insecure," and "scrappy;" to which we have now added, "look how fast I am."  Our best bench player has a body that even a graduate student can identify with (I, like you, am one).

What's not to love?  And heck, let me go out on a limb.  This team will actually be better the second half!  Yes, I said it.  With Grenke and McDougal coming back, and say 150 - 200 Sweeny plate appearances, the Royals might actually avoid the infamy that seems to be knocking at their door.  Let's have a little fun and, God Willing, raise a toast in August when the Royals win #63.  Dare to dream!

Love you blog, love your wit, love your reductionist analysis.  Find the joy again. - James

by James Quinn on Jun 22, 2006 3:09 PM EDT   0 recs

good post....
and I agree...  Amen to that...

by grudz69 on Jun 22, 2006 3:14 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

great line...
An outfield patrolled by "old," "insecure," and "scrappy;" to which we have now added, "look how fast I am."  

Great line... I hope you will post more often.  That line will have me smiling all day.  Sounds like the beginning of the Seven Dwarfs to me.

by grudz69 on Jun 22, 2006 3:18 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

another great line by James
"We have an interchangeably ridiculous pitching staff.  Roles are not won on this staff, they are simply handed over with a sigh of resignation.  We have a baby faced closer constantly straddling between cocky and terrified.  We raid bad teams AAA castoffs with a sincere sense of gratitude."

JQ we need to see more comments and posts from you bro!!

by LeoBloom on Jun 22, 2006 3:34 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Hey, R&R...
Have you ever talked to Blez of the A's Nation Blog?  He seems to have a lot of credibility with the Oakland organization and even got Billy Beane to do an interview on the blog.

If you really want a job in the sports industry...then turn this blog into something that they would look twice at.  

Oakland's Blog is not perfect ...but, we could take some lessons.  Moore on the blog could be a start...some better advertisement...and maybe some actual baseball stories.  

I wonder if Teahen would do an interview with you? or maybe get the new guy Joey "Gator"

The last game thread on the Oakland site had 288 posts.  We had 54.  If you want to be taken seriously then this site needs to improve.  Or, do you want to be like Steger and write fluff stuff?

by grudz69 on Jun 22, 2006 3:12 PM EDT   0 recs

agreed 100%
It needs to get better, I need to do better. I'm working on Tshirts, and new ways to make the site better.

I know Blez fairly well -- in an internet sense at least -- he signed me to write for the site.

I don't want to be like Sterger.

by royalsreview on Jun 22, 2006 3:52 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

I don't think you would...
look the same in a bikini...smirk...

by grudz69 on Jun 22, 2006 4:28 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

well...
Possibly the Oakland blog is so popular because the team is actually good, plus the publication of Moneyball brought them many fans from outside the Bay Area.  Blez also does a terrific job there, of course.  

The problem with asking the Royals front office to participate here is that, given their sensitivity to questions regarding the owner's finances and other such turned-over rocks RR would have to become a homer - and hell, you can find that kind of crap in the Royals groovy new "official" no-response allowed blog.  This is a problem that Blez doesn't have with Beane - that's a well-run club, this one isn't.

I do like the idea of a Teahen interview - it's possible he might have a sense of humor about the All Star campaign.

I think this is an exceptionally well-done blog, especially since he covers such a dreadful, drecky, truly awful team.  I mean, how much can you really say about Emil Brown?

by Neecy on Jun 22, 2006 5:58 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

yes, your right...
the Royals leave a lot to be desired.  If you can't get to the owners.  That seems to be the only thing people want to talk about anymore.  How about another sportswriter.  Urban has been on the Oakland blog several times.  Murphy of WHB comes to mind, or lets go nuts and ask George Brett for an interview.  Several Oakland players have even admitted to having checked it out.  I wonder how many of our players know we even exist.

It won't happen overnight, as the improvement of the Royals won't either.  But, setting around writing daily diatribes about the Walmart boys won't do any good.  They don't listen and they don't care.

So, how about talking baseball and writing about the players that are in the organization.  James' comments to R&R were good ones and I think that R... will improve the blog in time.  I like his writing and I check out the blog on a daily basis.

Just as a side comment... I don't see you posting during any of the games.  Why not?

by grudz69 on Jun 22, 2006 11:51 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

I have to admit...
I'm not good at game threads.  I have the MLB Extra Innings package on my satellite and I'm generally flipping around different (and more interesting, usually) games while the Royals are playing.  I just moved here from the Bay Area and I need my daily fix of the A's.

You know who I'd like to see interviewed?  One of the two journos who were recently deprived of their press passes.  Now THAT would be fun reading!

As for the Wal-Mart boys, I agree that they don't listen and don't care.  Still, I think it's a valid topic because they are the direct cause of the Royals many problems.  I think they're a gross insult to this city and our fans.  And, as a Jackson county resident it infuriates me that they're pocketing revenue sharing dollars while I'm paying the freight.  I actually think RR is harder on the players and the front office - GM, scouts, etc - than he is on la familia Glass.  

by Neecy on Jun 23, 2006 10:54 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Then quit blogging
and run for public office.  If you care that much about Jackson County... then put your mouth where your money is going.  Or, are you all blog and no action?????

by grudz69 on Jun 23, 2006 9:25 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Take pity on her, Sterger's life is harder than
you think

per her website

"[and] more of the things she goes through because of her ever growing popularity can be seen as more tedious than tantalizing. She receives about 40-50 pokes and receives about 50-75 messages a day on facebook."

My lords, the agony!!

by visiting on Jun 25, 2006 12:45 AM EDT   0 recs

so...
she gets poked alot?

by royalsreview on Jun 26, 2006 10:01 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

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