[March 2nd] -- I was listening to the XM baseball channel as I drove home from class on Monday. Mark Patrick was trying to read the first paragraph of an article written by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sportswriter Drew Olson, but his laughter made it difficult to understand what he was saying. Patrick finally gave up, and suggested his listeners navigate to the paper's website and read the article there.

And I did.

And it was great. I laughed too. When I finished, I noticed a box in the lower right side of the screen that said "MLB Team Reports. "Cool!" I thought. "I wonder how the paper covers the Nationals?" The problem was, the Washington Nationals weren't listed in the National League East. More than seventeen months after the franchise moved to D.C. the Journal Sentinel still had "Montreal" as one of the five teams in the division.

Huh?

I was indignant. Well, no I wasn't. I was surprised, though. So I sent the following email to Mr. Olson:

Dear Drew, I was listening to "MLB Home Plate" on XM Satellite this morning when Mark Patrick read the first paragraph of your story about Bob Uecker's hazing of Prince Fielder. He couldn't stop laughing as he tried to finish the paragraph. "This is just a wonderful story," said Patrick,adding, "You should head over to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online and read the story. It's great ... just tremendous."

And so I did.

And he was right. The part about Uecker holding court at the breakfast bar was priceless. Thank you for enhancing the joy of spring training for all of us. Oh, I'm not a Brewers fan, mind you. I am a Washingtonian old enough to remember Frank Howard's towering shots and Eddie Brinkman's fanciful fielding. I'm a Nationals fan.

Okay, that was the molasses. Here comes the sulfur. Your paper, more than anyone else's, should understand the pain of losing a professional baseball team. The city of Milwaukee had to wait four years for another team. We waited thirty-four years. It took some time for all of the television stations and newspapers to change out the Expos logos for the Nationals' new look, but they all got it done by mid-season. Everyone, it seems, but your paper. After reading the Fielder article, I saw your "MLB Team Reports" box and decided to see how you are covering the Nationals. Guess what? Right there, next to Atlanta, Philadelphia, Florida and New York, was MONTREAL.

Montreal? C'mon Drew! Next time you see your editor, remind him that Washington has a baseball team. Again. Okay, well, for the third time. But they're really going to stay this time. That is, if we ever get an owner and ....well, you know the rest. It'd be nice to see "Washington" in that team report box, Drew.

See what you can do, huh? Oh by the way, how do you think the "Pilots" will do this year??????

I felt better, but didn't figure that a reporter for a big-time newspaper would write me back. I had my answer within the hour:

Farid - Thanks for the note.

I'll pass along to our web czars the info about the "Expos.'' I agree that it's ridiculous. No credible news outlet should have an Expos logo on its site these days. We should have a picture of Youppi instead!

Once again, thanks for the note and thanks for giving me a click.

Drew.

I checked the sports page this afternoon, and low and behold, "Washington" is now part of the National League East.

Bloggers 1, Mainstream Media 0

Man, you gotta love it.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 10:43 PM