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winterbadgerand then sometimes I *really* feel like Jeremy. I'm working on a report, and I just can't make it shorter.
Casey: I looked over your Cubs/Marlins tape. (hands Jeremy the tape and goes to make a sandwich)
Jeremy: Yes?
Casey: And it's good.
Jeremy: Thank you.
Casey: It's very good.
Jeremy: Thanks.
Casey: Especially for your first time out.
Jeremy: Thank you very much.
Casey: I guess the one note I would have for you would be about length.
Jeremy: Yes?
Casey: Yeah. Usually we get thirty to forty seconds for each game. A little bit more if it's a game chock-full of spectacular plays and/or play-off consequences, and a little less if it goes the other way, but thirty to forty seconds is usually the rule of thumb.
Jeremy: I see. And how long did mine run?
Casey: Eight and a half minutes.
Jeremy: Ah.
Casey: Yeah.
Jeremy: That's long.
Casey: Yeah, it ran a little bit over, yeah.
Jeremy: I don't know what to do.
Casey: You should make it shorter.
Jeremy: I've tried everything.
Casey: You should try making it shorter.
Jeremy: What's the key?
Casey: In this case?
Jeremy: Yeah.
Casey: Making it a lot shorter.
Jeremy: I can't imagine what I'd cut.
Casey: Well, you start off with Cedric, the lead-off batter, in the top of the first inning.
Jeremy: Yes.
Casey: Despite the fact that nobody scored until the fifth inning.
Jeremy: There's action beyond scoring.
Casey: Yeah, but Cedric grounded out to the shortstop and was thrown out at first by quite a large margin.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Casey: Well, that is what is called a routine groundball. In your search for things that are newsworthy, let the word "routine" serve as a danger sign.
Jeremy: There's nothing routine about it. Casey, the guy's hitting .327 since the All-Star break, he's drawn 22 walks in the lead-off position, and he's a threat to steal second every time you put him on. He fouled off seven pitches.
Casey: And you show each and every one of them.
Jeremy: You bet I do.
Casey: We usually just show the pitch that puts the ball into play.
Jeremy: But then you miss the battle.
Casey: The battle?
Jeremy: Yeah. He started him off with a fastball up and in. Then slider away, slider away, comes back with a split finger change, drops the curve off the table, sets him up off-speed, then jambs him high and tight. That's what got him out.
Casey: It was a ground ball to the shortstop.
Jeremy: The inevitable conclusion to a job well-done.
Casey: (frustrated sigh) We have fourteen baseball games to cover.
Jeremy: Yes.
Casey: Thirty seconds a piece.
Jeremy: Right.
Casey: Your tape is eight and a half minutes.
Jeremy: I'm at a loss.
Casey: You gotta make it shorter!
Jeremy: I'm just not seeing it.
Casey: (sigh) All right, come with me. Come on. (both leave)
Casey: I looked over your Cubs/Marlins tape. (hands Jeremy the tape and goes to make a sandwich)
Jeremy: Yes?
Casey: And it's good.
Jeremy: Thank you.
Casey: It's very good.
Jeremy: Thanks.
Casey: Especially for your first time out.
Jeremy: Thank you very much.
Casey: I guess the one note I would have for you would be about length.
Jeremy: Yes?
Casey: Yeah. Usually we get thirty to forty seconds for each game. A little bit more if it's a game chock-full of spectacular plays and/or play-off consequences, and a little less if it goes the other way, but thirty to forty seconds is usually the rule of thumb.
Jeremy: I see. And how long did mine run?
Casey: Eight and a half minutes.
Jeremy: Ah.
Casey: Yeah.
Jeremy: That's long.
Casey: Yeah, it ran a little bit over, yeah.
Jeremy: I don't know what to do.
Casey: You should make it shorter.
Jeremy: I've tried everything.
Casey: You should try making it shorter.
Jeremy: What's the key?
Casey: In this case?
Jeremy: Yeah.
Casey: Making it a lot shorter.
Jeremy: I can't imagine what I'd cut.
Casey: Well, you start off with Cedric, the lead-off batter, in the top of the first inning.
Jeremy: Yes.
Casey: Despite the fact that nobody scored until the fifth inning.
Jeremy: There's action beyond scoring.
Casey: Yeah, but Cedric grounded out to the shortstop and was thrown out at first by quite a large margin.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Casey: Well, that is what is called a routine groundball. In your search for things that are newsworthy, let the word "routine" serve as a danger sign.
Jeremy: There's nothing routine about it. Casey, the guy's hitting .327 since the All-Star break, he's drawn 22 walks in the lead-off position, and he's a threat to steal second every time you put him on. He fouled off seven pitches.
Casey: And you show each and every one of them.
Jeremy: You bet I do.
Casey: We usually just show the pitch that puts the ball into play.
Jeremy: But then you miss the battle.
Casey: The battle?
Jeremy: Yeah. He started him off with a fastball up and in. Then slider away, slider away, comes back with a split finger change, drops the curve off the table, sets him up off-speed, then jambs him high and tight. That's what got him out.
Casey: It was a ground ball to the shortstop.
Jeremy: The inevitable conclusion to a job well-done.
Casey: (frustrated sigh) We have fourteen baseball games to cover.
Jeremy: Yes.
Casey: Thirty seconds a piece.
Jeremy: Right.
Casey: Your tape is eight and a half minutes.
Jeremy: I'm at a loss.
Casey: You gotta make it shorter!
Jeremy: I'm just not seeing it.
Casey: (sigh) All right, come with me. Come on. (both leave)
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Date: 2005-05-06 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-06 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-06 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-06 07:22 pm (UTC)That's OK, when the report comes up for review, I'll just sidle around muttering "I only wish you could have seen it before the life was sucked out of it by forces entirely beyond my control."
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Date: 2005-05-06 07:30 pm (UTC)I'm tempted to watch some of it, but sadly, I think it's a little too above Dave. He's more of a "Whose Line Is It Anyway" kind of person.
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Date: 2005-05-06 07:59 pm (UTC)She's been indoctrinating
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Date: 2005-05-06 09:40 pm (UTC)Chancey St. John, scoring all ten rickets! or was it wickets?
And Jeremy trying unsuccessfully to break up with Natalie.
Yes, well, when it comes down to questions of guile and willpower, there are times that
It strikes me that there's something to be said for being willing to reconsider old schemes of classification and realize that so you can realize that dinosaurs were birds, etc.
Indeed. I was reading a fascinating article in the Wilson Quarterly about how Darwinian evolution is wrong, not because God made everything in six days but because Darwin's system was too *simple*, that in fact what are by all accounts separate species can in fact crossbreed successfully and (in evolutionary terms) productively, and that evolutionary change can take place *much* faster than Darwin supposed.
(Probably wildy simplified and old hat to those really into science, but that's one of the reasons I enjoy WQ and other similar pubs, like the New Yorker--they expose me to things I probably wouldn't read otherwise. So does People, I suppose, but I really don't care that much about Brad Pitt's personal life.)
On the other hand, I did enjoy the day last fall when Kara came home from preschool reciting the names of the planets, a list that ended with "Naptoo, Bluto."
Based on my very limited exposure to the young lady, I think that anything Kara did would probably strike me as charming, but that's particularly sweet for some reason.
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Date: 2005-05-06 09:34 pm (UTC)Natalie was very happy about Pluto retaining its status as a planet, but I'm ambivalent about that decision. It strikes me that there's something to be said for being willing to reconsider old schemes of classification so you can realize that dinosaurs were birds.
On the other hand, I did enjoy the day last fall when Kara came home from preschool reciting the names of the planets, a list that ended with "Naptoo, Bluto."