MLB tweets

Major League Baseball has reportedly ordered its MLB.com writers to cease tweeting about all non-baseball topics.¹

Ready for me to blow your mind? I agree with this order. (Sort of.)

MLB.com has a live-streaming Twitter display on its homepage that aggregates the latest tweets from its writers. The display shows two tweets at a time and doesn't provide much value for baseball fans coming to MLB.com if they're both about, say, the latest episode of "Lost."

People who oppose this new rule presumably see Twitter as a medium for frivolous chatter (and certainly there's a place for that - I should know), although that's more a commentary on the people creating the content than the medium itself. After all, we wouldn't blame the telephone itself if we learned that most phone conversations were full of useless observations and poor grammar.

As a result of MLB's new tweeting rules, many writers have created separate Twitter account for their personal musings. That's the right way to go. Showing some personality with a few off-topic observations is fine. But how many is "a few"? MLB is making the right call by setting regulations for its writers - my only complaint is that the baseball talk should be set at 90 percent rather than 100 percent.


¹This guy thinks the baseball-only rules should apply to TV as well as Twitter.

I ♥ Queens

QUEENS, N.Y. — I never made it to the old Shea Stadium. Someday I'll see a game at Citi Field, but for now the flyover will have to do.

I majored in game shows and minored in bug-eating

NEW YORK — Someone handed me a card today for a school here in town that purports to teach people how to be a reality TV star. The school's position is: "If you've ever thought you could be the next reality show superstar if only you had some coaching, then the New York Reality TV School was designed specifically for you."

I'm sharing this with no further comment.

Google on your BlackBerry

Supreme Court justices don't have a reputation for being the most tech-savvy people in D.C., but they provided great advice last week to Florida Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R), who had a legal question. Robert Barnes gives an account of the testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee:

Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.): "Just one last question. Just, I've always -- I've got two bright people in front of me. And when I was reading law cases, one time I read a case and I can't remember the case and I can't remember the justice. But the statement was that versatility of circumstance often mocks the natural desire for definitiveness. And I always -- does that ring a bell with you all, and was that Felix Frankfurter, or -- not that you would know that. But I always wondered who said that. I need to go back and look that up."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer: [Smile.]

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: "Google it."

Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.): "Google it?"

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: "Yeah, you should Google it, yeah. You can Google on your BlackBerry."

Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.): "Well, I'll do that."

eBoarding pass

I'm excited to finally board an airplane without a paper ticket. (It always confused me that "e-tickets" involved just as much paper as so-called paper tickets.) (Do they even do paper tickets anymore?)

Kiss Cam

I discovered last week that the Washington Nationals began the season with the Handshake Cam, rather than the more intimate Kiss Cam.

But the team reversed its decision yesterday at the Nats-Brewers game, during which the scoreboard brought back the Kiss Cam. As ridiculous as it was, I sort of miss the Handshake Cam!

Dugout dancing

Thank you to Josh & Christine for these great seats.

Thoughts from Nationals Park:

• Instead of the "Kiss Cam," the scoreboard featured a "Handshake Cam." It's just like it sounds: a camera pans the stands, and people who see themselves on the scoreboard shake hands with each other. Perhaps the Kiss Cam has become controversial?¹ After all, they don't use it in WNBA to avoid having to show two women kissing.

• The Nat Pack dancers have stepped up their game.² They danced on the dugout in between innings and looked damn good — the men on one dugout and the women on the other. My only complaint is it that didn't happen enough. If it were up to me, they'd be up on the dugouts at every stoppage of play. You can never have enough dugout dancing.
  

• The organ music was more active than previous seasons. Rather than blast Top 40s music in between innings, we got to hear the organist play the hits, including "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. I'm a sucker for inventive versions of otherwise overexposed songs.
  

• One song they did blast through the stadium speakers was "Peaches" by the Presidents of the United States of America. An odd choice, but it did make me regret selling that CD.

• I'd never before seen the stadium's cherry blossoms in bloom. It's a a nice touch.

• Ben's Chili Bowl no longer sells turkey dogs at the stadium. I guess I was the only one who ever bought them.

• I'm not smart enough to understand this ad on Half St. (meaning the answer to its question is "no.")

¹Marnie and I were on the Kiss Cam once, but since we weren't watching the scoreboard we didn't kiss. We didn't shake hands either.
²Sorry, Kelly. It's true. You deserve to be right there with them, of course.

The black tracksuit

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins isn't exactly a fashion plate on game day. While most NCAA coaches wear a suit and tie, Huggins prefers a black tracksuit. (As do readers of the Charleston Daily Mail, 54 percent of whom stated a preference for the tracksuit.)

I'm sharing Eric Stangel's feelings on the matter since I found them amusing:

If that's what Bob Huggins wears when he's working, what does he put on to relax?

Overheard at Bob Huggins' house: "I buy you all these nice clothes and you go with the black tracksuit again???"

West Virginia's season ends. Bob Huggins can get out of those work clothes and put on something comfortable.

What's in your water?

MADISON, Wis. — As someone who feels somewhat hassled by the incessant Capital One No Hassle commercials and direct mailings that tout the credit card's "What's in your wallet?" campaign, I'm not sure how I feel about Hellenbrand Inc. riding on its coat tails. Then again, it did make me laugh.

Rustic Toilet

MADISON, Wis. — It's important to know which direction to walk for a rustic toilet.