Twitter and the Blogosphere

Back in April I joined Twitter. Honestly, at the time I had no idea why. I planned on throwing a few links out there and not much else. But then a funny thing happened ... I figured out the power of Twitter.

I figured it out so well, I've even been talking about it on other sites.

For example, today I commented on Daniel Drezner's blog over at Foreign Affairs.com. Drezner's post is about a post by fellow long-time blogger Laura McKenna in which she discusses the state of the blogosphere.

McKenna lists nine reasons the blogosphere is no longer in blossoming community mode. She claims it has become professionalized and niche-based. (By the way, this definitely applies to the sports blogosphere as well, especially since Deadspin changed it's format.)

Although he doesn't come out and agree with all of her points, Drezner does state that "professionalization, partisanship and speciaization have hit the blogosphere pretty hard." He also states most niche bloggers are now professionals who add their valued insight to the discussion.

Because Drezner doesn't address the use of social media, I added to the discussion of linking and blogrolls by talking about the effect of Twitter on the blogosphere:

"As a blogger, I've found it easier to post interesting links on twitter immediately than to wrap up a bunch of links in a post. Since my twitter followers consist of my blog fans as well as many others, I have more reach there than if I just posted a link dump or included sites in a blogroll.

What this means however is that I push specific data instead of a whole web site reading experience. I am pushing other blogger's information instead of their communities. It is somewhat selfish, honestly. But communities have moved from web sites to social networking platforms.

The love isn't gone, it's just moved."

I think my opinion on Twitter either makes me a genius or a fool. I'm not sure which.

By the way, follow me on Twitter at JordiScrubbings.

Keep politics out of baseball stadiums

July 4th would have been a great day to kick back, go to Space Coast Stadium in Melbourne, FL, watch the Brevard County Manatees play the Daytona Cubs, buy a beer and a hot dog, and enjoy some firework festivities.

Unfortunately, Space Coast Stadium was hijacked by "tea party" protesters. According to Florida Today.com,

About 3,000 opponents collectively criticized the current administration as a free-spending government that is leading the nation with a socialist agenda. They banded together Saturday at Space Coast Stadium for a Fourth of July "tea party."

Long before the 4 p.m. start of the event, crowds gathered to purchase $5 tickets that included a voucher for admission to the Brevard County Manatees-Daytona Cubs baseball game and fireworks show to follow.

Pictures on FloridaToday.com and in the print version of the Florida Today also show "tea party" members inside Space Coast Stadium rallying for their cause.

Hijacking public events cannot become a growing trend. Stadiums across the country have to put the kibosh on this real quick and tell these people that they can not protest inside our sporting events. Of course, we all know the first stadium to take away fans' political signs as they enter the stadium will be accused of violating the fans' 1st amendment rights. What these fans must understand is freedom of expression inside a venue is guided by the rules and regulations of the venue.

Whether or not I agree with these protesters is irrelevant. I just want to make that perfectly clear. But I do think that by allowing a political rally to be held inside the stadium, the powers that be at Space Coast Stadium opened a pandora's box that should not have been opened. By allowing the "tea party" protest to continue in a public area, Space Coast Stadium now has to provide space in the same venue for any and all other gatherings, to include extremists such as the Ku Klux Klan. To not do so would be to exhibit favoritism of expression and to associate Space Coast Stadium with a specific political view.

I seriously doubt Space Coast Stadium will want to be known as a "protester friendly stadium". What the stadium personnel did on July 4th was a mistake. Nothing good can come from it, especially from an economic perspective. Allowing the "tea party" protest to continue through the gates put the stadium on a slippery slope that will do nothing but discourage non-partisan baseball fans from enjoying a day at the ballpark.

If I were a Brevard County Manatee season ticket holder or other frequent visitor to Space Coast Stadium, I would demand an apology from the organization and not attend another game until I had a guarantee that political rallies will no longer be allowed to infringe on the baseball watching experience.

Jimi Hendrix and a family tradition

When I was young and had no sense, I used to wake up on the 4th with contempt. For the first umpteen years of my life, my dad would begin Independence Day by playing the sounds of Jimi Hendrix wailing his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. It was like Dad's revenge for waking him up early on Christmas morning.

Unfortunately, when I was younger, for whatever unpatriotic, uncounterculture reason, I didn't really like the song. I think I said once it sounded like "a guitar and a bulldozer". But I don't think it bothered the Old Man, he kept on playing it anyway.

Somewhere along the way, my musical tastes started evolving. I went from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to George Clinton to James Brown to the blues and wouldn't you know, back to Jimi. By the time I was in my early 20s, I understood the significance of taking a national standard like the Star Spangled Banner and turning it inside-out in the name of counterculture. I could relate to Jimi's frustration at the establishment yet his belief that America was still the best country in the world.

So given that I don't have kids of my own to wake up, I decided to post Jimi Hendrix's "guitar and bulldozer" song, his amazing rendition of Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner". Hopefully you'll watch, appreciate, and crank it up for the neighbors to hear.

Happy Independence Day.

Another Great Fourth of July reference

Two years ago, I quoted the amazing Fourth of July dialog from the movie "The Sandlot". Today, in honor of America's 133rd birthday, here is another great Fouth of July reference, the lyrics to Soundgarden's aptly named "Fourth of July". Enjoy.

Shower in the dark day
Clean sparks driving down
Cool in the waterway
Where the baptized drown
Naked in the cold sun
Breathing life like fire
Thought I was the only one
But that was just a lie

Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Pale in the flare light
The scared light cracks & disappears
And leads the scorched ones here
And everywhere no one cares
The fire is spreading
And no one wants to speak about it
Down in the hole
Jesus tries to crack a smile
Beneath another shovel load

And I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Now I'm in control
Now I'm in the fall out
Once asleep but now I stand
And I still remember
Your sweet everything
Light a Roman candle
And hold it in your hand

Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July

Quick Random Baseball Thought: The unique hitting styles of Lau and Hriniak

I have been watching a lot of baseball and going to a lot of games, so here is a (not-so random) thought about baseball:

Back in the 70s, 80s, and even early 90s, many major league hitters subscribed to the hitting philosophies of hitting coaches Walt Hriniak and Charlie Lau. These coaches espoused a more contact driven, line drive approach. Their style was unique, and you could easily point out the hitters who followed it.* Players who subscribed to their theories included two Hall of Famers (George Brett and Wade Boggs), one future Hall of Famer (Frank Thomas), one all-star caliber player (Robin Ventura), and several other solid major leaguers such as former Boston catcher Rich Gedman.

(That was something unique to Lau and Hriniak. There aren't too many other coaches whose students are easily distinguishable. For example, Rudy Jamarillo of the Texas Rangers is the premier batting coach in today's game, but how many batters can I identify as Jamarillo followers? None.)

With such a famous line of Lau/Hriniak disciples, you would think their style would carry on past their respective retirements. Yet the line stops there. As far as I know there no longer any subscribers to Hriniak and Lau's theories currently in the majors. No hitters, no coaches, nothing.

Maybe the hitting philosophies of Lau and Hriniak died with the emergence of the steroid era. Hitting line drives became passe when hitters were more concerned with trying to out-homer their peers. If hitting with an uppercut would equate to millions more in the next contract, who can blame players for shunning a mantra of line drives and contact?

Yet now with the steroid era hopefully behind us, is it possible that we could see a return to the Hriniak/Lau style of hitting? Currently Lau's son, Charlie Lau Jr., runs a hitting school in Fort Lauderdale. Maybe he is the future of major league hitting.

Kudos to the People of Rhode Island

Although I have never lived there, I've always had an affinity for Rhode Island. For some reason, I picture Rhode Island as the most underdog of all the states, constantly fighting for its survival amongst states that would like nothing more than to annex it into their territory. Although I might be wrong, I imagine Rhode Island as a remnant of state-creating policies of way-back; that if we were to re-create the states and re-draw the lines, Rhode Island would cease to exist.

Many moons ago, back in my early days of journalistic integrity, I wrote a piece for the FSU newspaper advocating independence for Rhode Island. I wrote about a plan to conquer Rhode Island and lead its inhabitants to a life free of tyranny and without the shackles of oppression.

In my article, entitled "Operation C.O.R.I.: Conquerors of Rhode Island", one of my biggest points on why the people of the state would join my efforts and cooperate with my revolution was that "it is neither a road nor an island. The inhabitants have to call themselves “Islanders” and they don’t even live on an island." I of course blamed The Man for this deception.

So it was with great joy that I read my idea to change the state's name, which I at most considered a far-fetched fantasy, had grown closer to reality. Last Thursday, the Rhode Island House of Representative voted 70-3 to let residents decide whether or not to change the official name of the state. This is fantastic news. Finally, the people are being given an opportunity to fix a centuries-old problem of misidentity.

CORRECTION: Upon actually reading the article, it says the proposed referendum actually only amends the last part of the official title of the state, the mention of "Providence Plantations". The referendum would make the official title the "State of Rhode Island".

Looks like The Man will still have his way with the people of Rhode Island.

One day, I will rescue you, people of Rhode Island. One day, I will come before you and chant "You’re not a road! You’re not an island! You’re not sheep! Stand Defiant!". Then we will march the streets together to chants of "Hey Providence! We are Anti-Dominance!" Then you will be known as "Land Formerly Known as Rhode Island".

It will be a glorious day indeed.

Talkin' About The Man

(I don't feel like writing anything original tonight, so I'm dusting off a post I did for the old Afro-Squad website sometime last year. There is of course a reason for this.)

I've been a big fan of the Afro-Squad since way back in the day. And on that horrible morning when The Man swooped in and stopped their flow for while, I cried. Who was going to teach me how to be funkier than Dolemite wearing sweaty gym socks?

But now, of course, the Afro-Squad is back and better than ever. Much to my surprise, shortly after I found them doing their thing, they asked me if I wanted to contribute. Of course. Would you say no if Bootsy Collins invited you on tour? I think not. So as the Afro-Squad keeps things funky with the ladies and the leglocks, I'm going to drop a little knowledge about what The Man is up to. Damn the Man.

As Socrates once said, The Man is everywhere, in everything, and completely full of it. You know, to be honest, I don't know if Socrates actually said that. Maybe I just made it up. But I like it.

Anyway, if you didn't know already, The Man controls most of the system that is our lives. He makes things cost money so you have to work, he makes you work at work so you have only a few precious hours at the house to sit down and watch some movies or listen to some tunes. Then The Man charges you for the electricity you use so you have to go back to work to pay off the bills. See, it's never ending. That's alright though, I'll go to work. To paraphrase the rapper Paris, don't let The Man know you understand his plan.

But you know what really makes me mad? You know what really tweaks my melon? Ever see people get pulled over by The Man on their way to work? What sort of trickery is this? Yeah, The Man even gave me a ticket when I was trying to get to work on time. Totally not cool.

Say you have to go work for The Man way early in the A.M. You wake up, clean yourself, grab some grub, and damn, you forgot your ride is on "E". Can't get to work with no gas. So you swing by the gas station for a quick fill-up. Now you are running late. The Man will not be happy.

After you throw some gas in the ride, you try speeding a bit to make up some time. But who pulls out behind you? Those flashing lights. The fuzz, the coppers, the po-lease. Damn The Man again. Now not only are you even more late, but because of the ticket he was kind enough give you, now you have to pay The Man some of your hard-earned cash, which means you can't take your honey out on a date unless you work a few more hours. And that's if she's not finding another guy to spend time with while you are spending all your hours at the j-o-b. Which of course, you are lucky to still have; because you know The Man doesn't take kindly to being late.

UPDATE: Follow The Man's company on Twitter: The Man Incorporated.