FanPost

JS Online Silliness

If you go to the Brewers section on the JS Online, you would be greeted with the following headline:

Injured Gwynn isn't hitting panic button - yet

followed by a big picture on Tony Gwynn shagging flies in centerfield.

At this point, you'd expect to find a couple sentences beneath the picture to lead you to the story --- presumably about how Tony Gwynn isn't panicking that Chris Duffy might beat him out of a job. Because, as we know from the big type, Gwynn isn't hitting the panic button.

But what if I told you that Anthony Witrado wrote the article?  Would that change your opinion of what the next two sentences might say?  Might they read, oh, I dunno:

Tony Gwynn Jr. made the kind of admission you rarely hear a professional athlete cop to. "I'm starting to panic," the Milwaukee Brewers centerfielder said. »Read Full Article

I love it.   Two sentences in, and you're offering a simple, direct quote that completely refutes your big headline.  I wonder if the next line from Tony wasn't "At least I'm not injured."

(To be fair, if you click the link and read the article, TG backs off of panicking to say that he's "extremely concerned."  Still, that's some pretty inane reporting/headline writing.)