CC, Blago and the slow death of newspapers

What a week, huh.

CC Sabathia went ahead and signed with the Yankees for a gazillion dollars. Dang, I was sure he had found a home in Milwaukee ...

Newspapers are continuing their slow death ... The Detroit newspapers are cutting deliveries. The Rocky Mountain News appears to be in serious trouble. And the Chicago Tribune is filing for bankruptcy.

Oh, and Rod Blagojevich is the laughing stock of the country ... As I told one of my editors this week -- we've been hearing all the talk of corruption and a possible indictment for months. But of all the things they'd get him for, we never expected it to be for selling the senate seat.

... Good thing I have another D-II National Championship game featuring my ol' Northwest Missouri State Bearcats to cheer me up.

Here's some reads about the Tribune's plight ...
a Tribune Co. Mulling Bankruptcy
a Downturn creates drama at NBC
a Roger Ebert: Trib bankruptcy a Zell of a deal
a Keeping calm about the Tribune's bankruptcy
a Tribune Co.'s crisis has been years in making

And here's some good stuff about Blago ...
a The indictment
a Tuesday was a great day in Illinois, a thrilling day, an exciting, hopeful day; one of the few happy days we've had lately.
a Portrait of a Politician: Vengeful and Profane
a Shakedown plot alleged by feds: U.S.: $50,000 sought from hospital chief
a Happy birthday, Guv — How about a little self-exam?
a Governor Blagojevich, resign
a Chicago Tribune withheld publishing at U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald's request
a Blagojevich sought firing of Chicago Tribune editorial writer in exchange for Wrigley Field deal
Also, it's been super-amusing to watching guys like David Letterman and Jon Stewart make fun of his hair and stumble over the pronunciation of his name. It's not that hard to say, people!

a Jon Stewart: Illinois graft 'nothing new'
a Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show": "Blagojevich is a [parental advisory here]."
a Stephen Colbert on "The Colbert Report": "It's going to take a huge bribe to get him out of this one."
a David Letterman on "The Late Show": "One count of Blagojeviching."

Sunday reading

Some of the reads that caught my eyes during the last week ...

Baseball ...
a Maddon's unorthodox thinking pays off with playoffs for Rays
a To the finish, nothing comes easy for them
a Most valuable half-pint
a Picture quite bright for Rays
a The Dodgers are best in the West, but are they playoff-worthy?
a After Saying Goodbye to Playing, Piazza Returns for Shea’s Farewell
a To Pilots, Shea Is Less Ballpark Than Landmark
a Top 10 immortal years in sports
a Winning slogans sure to inspire baseball's also-rans
a Where Yankees fans thrive
a How Yankees fans survive in Red Sox Nation

TV ...
a Through it all, 'ER' won her heart ... My affection for ER isn't what it used to be, but there's no doubts the show holds a special place.
a 3 Questions about this fall's TV

Politics ...
a Guilty by association
a A father's charm, absence: Friends recall Barack Obama Sr.
a Sarah Palin should bow out ... You know it's bad if a conservative columnist is causing for Palin's resignation.
a Into the wild of Wasilla, Alaska, where Sarah Palin once ruled
a Palin's policies in Alaska weighted toward development
a Sarah, talk. Joe, stop
a McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere
a Steering the McCain Campaign, a Lot of Old Bush Hands
a Thinking About McCain
a Don’t Blame the New Deal
a The Bush Doctrine?
a The Truth About Politicians? It's At Snopes.com ... Ah, Snopes. Great site ... Though when I tried to reference it in a story once, my editor discounted it as a legitimate Web site. The irony.

Internet & media ...
a New Chicago Tribune publisher Hunter called a 'change agent'
a Columnist's 'dream come true' nears the end
a Music Critic vs. Maestro: One Loses His Beat
a Two Stories That Pushed Some Buttons
a Spinning through online entertainment and connected culture
a Some Facebook users aren't fond of website's new face ... Like all changes, it's going to take awhile. I didn't like it initially, either. But I'm learning to like it.
a The Dangers of Auto-Replace

Music ...
a Juliana Hatfield on life after the spotlight fades
a Going Down to Yasgur's Farm, Almost 40 Years Later
a New Kids on the Block soak up love on reunion tour ... Here's a review of their show in Boston on Friday night -- to which Kates and I tried to win tickets. We failed.

Life & other stuff ...
a We’ll Fill This Space, but First a Nap ... Yeah, consider I was up at 5:30 this morning doing "work."

A guide to the new Chicago Tribune

The buzz is buzzing about the the Tribune's new look.

I'm really intrigued.

Remembering

Seven years and this day still weighs heavy on my heart ...

Here's some reads I picked up today ...
a Sacred steel ... this is a neat slideshow of memorials being put up around the world to remember the attacks.
a For air controller, terror still vivid 7 years later
a Sept. 11 memorial park opens at the Pentagon
a Seven Years Later, Ground Zero
a Lost Horizon
a In the Seventh Year
a The Biggest Story: A firsthand look at how the Chicago Tribune geared up to cover the carnage of September 11, 2001
a ... and here's a look back at how The New York Times covered it.
a Sept. 11 cartoons at Cagle's

News Bites

... I caught this interesting post on Chicago Reader this morning about the Tribune’s Daywatch e-mail.

... I’m a big fan of Daywatch and side with the camp that says it’s a good thing to link to other sources and Web site's than your own. It’s the essence of the Internet, I say. I especially like the one reader’s “Miracle on 42nd Street” comment.

Also there was this: Chicago gets its very own HuffPo site

Sunday reading

Here's some the good reads I came across during the last week ...

Sports ...
a What should Oklahoma City's nickname be
a Manny beginning new chapter in Dodger blue
a Take your pick: Manny deal produced winners all around
a Handicapping pennant races after deadline
a Inside the GM's office: Anatomy of a deadline deal
a July trades reshape division races

Politics ...
a Why nothing the press throws at Obama sticks
a Hopium helps you forget several unpleasant facts
a AdWatch: McCain ad casts Obama as empty celebrity ... this one had me laughing out loud when I saw it this week.

Music ...
a Independent Acts Turn To Fans To Help Underwrite New CDs

TV ...
a Dustin Diamond to pen Saved By the Bell tell-all

Media ...
a Internet sites still blocked for Olympic reporters
a Sam Zell's Deal from Hell

The Onion ...
a New Linens-N-Shit Opens
a Favre: I've Always Had A Passion For Stopping Things, Then Starting To Do Things Again

Life & other stuff ...
a Advocates setting stage for Kenosha Theatre revival
a 10 great haunts for seekers of the paranormal
a Adventurer Steve Fossett's widow dismisses faked death claims
a Consenting to be abused
a You've got too much e-mail
a Chicago 2040 ... this is a fun look at Chicago in the future.

Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski quits

Another sign of trouble ...

Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski quits

Updates ...
a Ann Marie's World
a Ann Marie Lipinski resigns
a Former Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski hired at University of Chicago