Media Circus (cont.)

STUDS

Richard Deitsch's Mailbag Submit a question or comment for Richard. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Richard Deitsch on Twitter

• Nash has broadcasting star written all over him should he enter the profession following his basketball career. He's long been considered one of the NBA's most thoughtful and his work for Letterman last week was spectacular.

• It remains one of the darker days in sports blogosphere: On Nov. 13, 2008, the television comedy writers behind FireJoeMorgan.com, a Web site dedicated to eradicating bad baseball writing and Joe Morgan from our daily lives, posted for the last time. So imagine my delight upon discovering Ken Tremendous (a.k.a. Michael Schur, the Emmy-nominated writer and producer of The Office and the co-creator of Parks and Recreation, two NBC comedies) had joined Twitter. Below, we catch up with the man who gave the world Mose Schrute.

SI.com: Why did you join Twitter?
Schur: I miss blogging, but it took up too much of my time. One-hundred-and-forty-character nonsense thoughts, however, I can handle right now.

SI.com: Why tweet under the Ken Tremendous handle?
Schur: Ken Tremendous has, for better or worse, become my official on-line identity, so it seemed natural. Plus, I thought it would be a treat for my tens of fans.

SI.com: Will you only Tweet about baseball or will your other life come into play?
Schur: I have no idea. I just signed on and have no idea what any of the symbols mean yet. I think I will do what everyone else seems to do on Twitter, which is waste valuable minutes of my life writing down whatever occurs to me to write down.

SI.com: Why are you following the 10 people you are following?
Schur: They're friends of mine. Except Rainn Wilson. He and I are enemies, and I want to make sure he isn't lying to the public about me.

SI.com: Why do you have more than 3,300 followers?
Schur: That is one of life's great mysteries.

SI.com: Nov. 13, 2008, was the last Fire Joe Morgan post. Will we see another post in 2009?
Schur: [Fellow writers] Dave King, Alan Yang and I have discussed a few different possibilities for new blogs, but they're still nascent. Alan and I are currently hard at work on Season 2 of Parks and Recreation, so blogging will have to wait.

SI.com: Why not once a year (say, Sept. 23), return to the site for some fresh posts? Why Sept. 23? Because Joe Leonard Morgan was born in Bonham, Texas, on this day in 1943.
Schur: If we did anything like that, we wouldn't do it on Joe's birthday. The name of the site was always a regret of ours -- it wasn't just about Morgan. But I like the idea. ... Really what we should do is just start a new blog someday.

SI.com: If Ken Tremendous were running Twitter, how many characters would be allowed per Tweet?
Schur: Five. Just enough to say "Yes" or "No" or "Agree" or "Florp," which is a KT Twitter neologism I made up that means "Hello, friend, I am doing quite well, thank you, and if you want to really find out how I am in six-or-more character detail, we should talk on the phone like normal people."

SI.com: I contend Pittsburgh has replaced Boston as the city of champions. As a Red Sox fan, your response?
Schur: Boston has had a great run, and I hope it continues for the next 275 years, but I'd love to see the Pirates return to glory. I think that with Jason Bay and Nate McClouth, they have the makings of a great young team. (On an unrelated matter, I haven't read any baseball news in 11 months.)

DUDS

• It's certainly fair to criticize Jerod Morris of MidwestSportsFans.com for his post on Raul Ibanez. It was speculative, perhaps reckless, though I'd argue that Morris has every right to express his opinion on a blog that makes no claims to fall under the same journalistic conventions as traditional print sources (and, yes, traditional outlets have also played the speculation-with-steroids game). Reasonable people can disagree on the merits of the post, but Yankees radio announcers John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman mischaracterized the situation brutally last Thursday during their broadcast. Waldman chastised Morris for writing that Ibanez used steroids (he never came to that conclusion) while Sterling followed with a nonsensical summation that bloggers can write anything because they don't put their name to it. This came a little more than 24 hours after J-E-R-O-D M-O-R-R-I-S appeared on Outside the Lines, with his name listed under his face.

• The MLB Network has made few missteps in its initial months and shown a refreshing commitment to journalism with the hiring of Bob Costas and frank coverage of controversial issues. It speaks well of network president Tony Pettitti, who served ably behind Sean McManus at CBS Sports. But last week's MLB draft coverage too often became a celebration of team executives, including praising the woebegone Nationals for the no-brainer selection of the decade: San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Give the producers full marks for getting Strasburg on the phone (and for nabbing highlights of the major picks), but if host Greg Amsinger and analyst Harold Reynolds are simply going to feed Strasberg softballs and not ask him about his signability -- the major story surrounding the talented pitcher -- what exactly are viewers getting with the interview?

UNCLASSIFIED

In what was easily the most interesting minutes of her broadcasting career, Fox NFL Sunday weatherperson and Howard Stern superfan Jillian Reynolds had a raucous interview with the famed Sirius Satellite host last week. Topics included firearms as a sexual turn-on, sex with David Spade and other tidbits you won't find on your average NFL pregame show.

THREE MEMORABLE SPORTS MEDIA TWEETS

"Big Papi gets a Standing o for a long out. Good Lord!"
-- Ken Davidoff, Newsday national baseball writer, June 10, 8:11 p.m.

"Me, Legler, and Adande are about to get on the Aerosmith ride. Broussard's photo on tower of terror will get him clowned for life."
-- Jemele Hill, the well-connected ESPN.com columnist, name-dropping at the speed of Usain Bolt, June 10, 10:54 p.m.

"5:05 pm. Still stuck on the runway. May not make the game in time. In 1st class, and still no food is being served. Damn Shame!!!!!!!
-- Stephen A Smith, unhappy airplane passenger, June 11, 6:02 p.m.