The infectious values and myths transmitted by bad sportswriters may be the deadliest words in the paper.

It's the climbing that makes the man. Getting to the top is an extra reward.

The biggest journalistic game-changer of our time has been the rise of social media and the overgrowth of faux news sources - league- and team-sponsored blogs, player tweets, fanboy sites, rumor mills - churning bits of information and speculation into a clattering fog storm. Who will cut through the drivel and whim-wham to tell us what's really going on?

Little boys are still playing the game [baseball], more little girls are playing, and it is still the world's most interesting game, a duel, a chess match, a foot race, a gymnastics exhibition, that rare opportunity for individuals to be recognized within a group effort.

Most people quit. If you don't quit, if you rewrite, if you keep publishing in fancier places, you will understand that "What's the secret?" is not the question, which is, "Are you having fun?"

The infectious values and myths transmitted by bad sportswriters may be the deadliest words in the paper.