OFTOT Week In Review...

As I sit here writing this, it is now approximately 11:55 AM on Saturday morning. I've been up since 8:30 and so far all I've done is put together a preliminary draft of an employment agreement. Which is to say that I have yet to contribute anything of any value to the world at large. But let's be honest, that just means that today is no different from any other day in my 20-some odd year existence.

You know what's a good word?

"Fracas." +1 to the Associated Press for this one. It beats the hell out of "Steelers Kicker Jeff Reed Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Charges." Gag me. I stopped reading after "Steelers Kicker..."

Which reminds me - some of you may have heard/read that former SI and now ESPN personality, Rick Reilly has a relatively significant distaste for bloggers. His problem, which places him among a large chorus of traditional journalists, is that blogs don't "follow the rules."

I read somewhere this week that he said he was always taught that you had 800 words and not to waste them on long sentences separated by copious commas, or parens with amusing but unnecessary additional commentary.

Well I say, who gives a shit? Good for you. So you stick to your 800 words and I'll stick to my blatant assault on the traditional English rules of grammar. But that's no reason not to like an entire class of people. I mean, I know 99.9% of what's out there on blogs is unreadable, believe me. But what do you care, Rick? People still respect you (some do, at least) as an award-winning writer; someone who has built quite a career for himself, and someone who gets handsomely compensated for it.

He also said blogs hate everyone. I believe the direct quote included something about Jesus scoring a ridiculous game winning TD (or some other ridiculous premise involving Jesus) and bloggers still hating on him.

Yeah, Rick. You're probably right about that. But you wanna know why that is? Bloggers write because they have a passion (at least real ones do). So usually they're either going to really like something or really hate it. There's limited gray area, but the bulk of what gets written is one individual's gut reaction to whatever the hell is going on in the world. We don't get "assignments." Frankly, I'll be honest, I'd probably have a pretty hard time writing anything I could be proud of about something I couldn't give two shits about. Of course, you know, if you're offering compensation, we can talk.

Anyways, this whole MSM vs. Blogger thing is just ridiculous. I feel like most bloggers, whether they want to admit it or not, respect the so-called "traditional journalists." I know I do. But it gets harder to respect a group of people when they continue to protest the current reality of the "editorial" world and insult those who might otherwise read and enjoy their writing.

It ain't just about you anymore, dudes. Get the net. The people want what you've got AND they want what we've got. And it's not even ALL people, either. So whatev. Just shrug it off. Who cares? After all, you're the one with the nice mansion and hot ass wife, living the good life up in suburban Connecticut. Am I wrong, Rick Reilly?

Someday I'd love it if we could all just get along. But then, I suppose that makes me sound like a friggin' hippy. Gayness.

Where was I headed with this?

Ah yes, the week in review. I knew there was a point to this post.

This week we talked about a number of basically irrelevant things, including...

1. Jeff Reed's St. Valentine's Day Massacre of a paper towel dispenser at the New Alexandria Sheetz...

2. The Pens giving HCMT the proverbial boot...

3. Numerous innocent headlines that I felt needed to be shit on...

4. Some Steeler who apparently thought that Leftwich should have been starting over Ben in December. Alternatively, some Steeler who is clearly smoking drugs...

5. Quite possibly the best picture ever...

6. The continued disregard for my dubious intellectual property rights in "One For The Other Thumb"...

7. A new site feature and some classic Wayne's World moments...Wait, is this a Steelers blog? I forget...

8. Steroids. Kill me.

9. DINOSAURS!

10. Max Starks getting tagged and PAID, which apparently no one besides me cared about...some fans y'all are...

11. The first MPIE of the 2009 offseason...

12. We began the week with news about Jeff Reed, and we ended the week with news about Jeff Reed...not to mention a solid rendition of the "You know how I know you're gay" scene from the 40-year-old Virgin...

And that just about wraps it up for this week at OFTOT.

Other than that, keep your beverages cold, your company warm, and your mind limber. Until Monday, or the next time something interesting happens, whichever comes first, take 'er easy, dudes and dudettes. I know that you will.