Random notes: February 17, 2010.

Since I have been critical of the NYT in the past, it seems only fair to note when they’ve done something right (in my humble opinion):

The Times has no intention of changing its approach: report results as soon as it can, as prominently as they deserve. “Our job is to report the news,” said Tom Jolly, the sports editor. He said NBC “has made a business decision to show the highlights on a taped basis. We’re not beholden to presenting the news the way NBC does.”

I think the question of “Do the results of sporting events count as ‘news’?” is perhaps worth discussing in more detail, but I still praise the NYT for taking this stand.

Obit watch: Jim Bibby, former pitcher for various teams including the Texas Rangers in those great early days. Bibby actually pitched the first no-hitter in Rangers history; he’s also one of the many memorable characters in Seasons in Hell. (What can I say? I love that book.)

Adult content after the jump…

Jim Bibby, who for reasons known only to himself went by the “stage name” of Fontay O’Rooney, was by no means a complete major league pitcher. But he threw a vicious fastball—”serious heat…severe gas”—that would scare the bejesus out of most American League batters. Parenthetically, Bibby could also lay claim to owning the biggest apparatus of manhood in baseball—an appendage of near-equine proportions—and it was to Bob Short’s eternal frustration that he could never harness that particular novelty into a gate attraction at Arlington Stadium.

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