Reading the news while pondering whatever happened to Jim Northrup:

If you don’t think that there is a media backlash in this country, then you obviously haven’t been paying attention.  The baseball writer’s association (NBWAA) is demanding that the St. Louis Cardinals retool their press box.

Most people’s first reaction is “These pampered sportswriters have no idea how good they have it.”  But, I can tell you as someone who has covered numerous professional and college sporting events that these guys may have a legitimate complaint.

As much as people may loathe the media, these guys have a right to do their job.  They have a right to clean sight lines and a right to a roof.  They like the players and vendors are there to work.  And as much as many people the coverage of sports freeloading, it is a part of the game.

The first thing that many people say to you when you tell them that you cover games is “what a great job that must be.”  I’ve actually had a station manager demand credentials so that he could sit in the press box.  What most uninitiated don’t get is that it is a work environment.  You get there before the game, you are there anywhere from two to four hours after the game and if you cover all of the games for a Major League baseball team it becomes a huge grind. 

The bottom line is the members of the media have a legitimate place at the games and should be granted adequate facilities for them to perform their jobs.  Bud Selig needs to get involved, even it it means baseball has to mandate to the teams the minimum requirements for what a proper press box should be.  And Bud, it’s about time you and the rest of the league provided wireless internet in your press boxes.

The outgoing and incoming Presidents of Mexico are crying foul because President Bush has signed into law a bill that will add additional fencing to the US-Mexico border.  Felipe Calderon, Mexico’s President-Elect calls the decision “deplorable," and likens it to the Berlin wall. 

Sorry, Felipe.  We’re just closing a few loopholes. Maybe if the US weren’t such a big part of your economic engine, we could avoid all this unpleasantness.  But the fact is, your country practically encourages your citizens to jump the border (not just yours either) to earn money to fuel your, not our economy.  Tell you what, Filipe, you keep your citizens on your side of the boarder and harshly discourage illegal immigration and we’ll consider taking down the fences.  But until you get realistic about what’s going on at the border, we’d just assume take the responsibility on ourselves.

In Germany, four muggers attacked a senior citizen, not realizing that he was a former British SAS officer.  You go, Grandpa!

For those following the elections, here’s a great website.

Good news for parents: My Space is losing steam.

And, in Canada, an auctioneer has won the title of world’s fastest mouth.  Obviously, they have never heard my seventeen year old step-daughter talking on the phone.