On Yu Darvish and false scoops

Last week it was reported that the Toronto Blue Jays posted the highest posting bid to negotiate with Japanese ace Yu Darvish.  Here's the initial NY Post story, and the sort of follow-up that came about next.

Well, no.

The Texas Rangers posted the highest bid.

This is all well and good for the Rangers, and I harbor them no will.

I do, however, harbor ill will toward all reporters who report wrongly without repercussions.  I don't need something like this, but I do think there needs to be a running tally of media members who get their scoops wrong.  Let us know who's trustworthy, the same way Amazon.com lets us know how reliable their sellers are.

Currently, it's all about the speed of the scoop.  That's not good enough.  We need accuracy.

Comments

Bryan said…
I think part of it also lies with the gray area of "reporting" and "speculation." From a complete outsider without knowledge of what reporting was done, it seemed like the Blue Jays rumor was more speculation that just caught fire, but no one bothered to clarify if true reporting was done or not. Common problem, considering columns get posted/published where fact is preferred, but speculation is accepted and not often clarified. It wasn't until Buster Onley did some reporting on Monday that the Rangers rumor started to get traction.

At least John Heyman had this:

"while speculation has run amok toronto won darvish bid, remember: VERY few people actually know. No guarantees"
Whoa, whoa: Speculation occurring in sports? Thank goodness fans don't get caught up in it at all.

(Blue Jays supporters are right now gung-ho after Prince Fielder, hoping their team does something really big this off-season.)

Olney was the first one I heard talking about the Rangers, as well.

Cautionary tale all around, and quickly forgotten when the next big story comes up.

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