Red Sox virtual waiting room blues?

Hey guys.

Yes I know, I've been just awful recently on the blog posting front and I apologize. 

First I tried to make a commitment of compiling a Top 20 list of the best college newspaper websites and pretty much afterwards couldn't really follow through with it. 

I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish, or at least size it down to the Top 10.

Anyways back to Red Sox talk...

So today tickets went on sale at 10AM, which means another meeting with the "Virtual Waiting Room."

As I recall last year some fans were stuck for hours on end and afraid if they refreshed the page that their place would be lost.

Others eventually got through, but then it was deciding between what games to go to, would you be able to find four seats in a row not in the bleacher section, and last but not least, the final tally.

If you have connections, I'd strongly suggest you use them and avoid the frustration. And honestly, if you really want to go to a game, there are other ways besides being trapped in the virtual waiting room.

You can go onto redsox.com in July and still find select single-game tickets, maybe not three-four seats in-a-row until you try Ace Ticket and wait for those season ticket holders to sell their seats because they can't make it to the game.

So those are my thoughts on the whole first day of Red Sox single-game tickets go on-sale.

Not sure exactly how it went today, but am curious to know if any people had problems or issues.

But back to the whole not blogging too much lately...I'm probably just going to have to set aside key days of when I'll post and of what to talk about.

There's really not a whole lot to talk about until spring training actually starts, which is two and a half weeks away, but I'll try my hardest. I'm sure events and topics will pop up between the Boston sports media industry (Pete Shepard?), the newspaper business, and/or Sox.

BUWB Top 20 college newspaper sites countdown

Back in December I announced that I'd be compiling a list of the Top 20 best college newspaper sites in the country. 

The list is solely based on the website, including the layout, content featured, multimedia, and overall appearance and accessibility. 

I have decided not to follow through with the categories and number rankings because that literally would take forever and if there was a tie, well that wouldn't work out too well. So instead I'm just using my judgement and ranking them accordingly. 

I contemplated how to launch the list and decided that each day starting today that I will post backwards the Top 20 sites starting with Honorable Mention and continue on with No. 20 later this week followed by No. 19, etc.

This will continue through February and at the end the complete list will be featured. 

With that said here we go...

Honorable Mention

The Huntington News - Northeastern University

Though not a ridiculous techie 

site, The Huntington News simple, clean cut design is a winner. It's laid out just like a regular newspaper you'd pick up on newsstands with the logo on the front page and all of the sections below and right there at your fingertips.

Navigation couldn't get easier and for those important features and coverage it's smack dab at your eye level of the computer screen. 

The Huntington News does have a Twitter and Facebook page, but they are nowhere to be seen on its website, which is a tech fail. They should really add those graphics somewhere or at least a multimedia tab.

Jeremy Hermida makes a nice fit in Red Sox outfield

Even though this happened over two months ago, now there's more talk about the acquisition of Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins. 

The Red Sox dealt left-handed pitchers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez back on November 5 in exchange for the outfielder, who'll serve in a backup role behind the 1-2-3 combo of Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron, and J.D. Drew.

Hermida played in 129 games for the Marlins and batted .259 with 13 home runs, and 47 runs-batted-in. However he also struck out 101 times in 429 at-bats.

He's pretty solid in outfield and versatile playing in both left and right field and made only one error last season. Hermida had a career high nine errors in 2007, but that number has dropped since each year.

What does Hermida really mean for the Sox?

He brings another left-handed bat to the lineup who can possibly do some damage at the plate and brings more youth to the bench at 25-years-old (he turns 26 on January 30). And if Drew goes down (which seems to occur every season) there won't be a gaping hole.

Also don't forget about 22-year-old Josh Reddick who made his major league debut last July 31 from the Portland Sea Dogs, the Sox AA affiliate and made an immediate impact during his short time in Boston.

The outfield should be pretty much set, but it doesn't mean Theo Epstein is done wheeling and dealing.

Is the bench strong enough?

What about the bullpen?

This 2010 Red Sox club isn't complete yet, not just yet.

Jackie MacMullan fake Twitter account removed

Twitter is known for having fake accounts for athletes and famous movie stars and singers. But now it's reached a new level particular to people who honestly have nothing better else to do.

There was a fake Twitter account for former Boston Globe sports columnist and Around the Horn panelist Jackie MacMullan.

I was one of those roughly 500+ followers who was duped into following the account thinking it was the real Jackie Mac.

This evening there was a suspicious tweet that arose from the account saying, J_MacMullan "Hearing Adrian Gonzalez for Ellsbury, Buchholz, Kelly, and Reddick."

Like a smart person I retweeted it, but then decided to delete it a minute later.

About five minutes afterwards Ian M. Browne of MLB.com tweeted: "A co worker just told me that Jackie MacMullan's fake twitter account said Adrian Gonz for Ellsbury, Buchholz Kelly, and Reddick. Classic!"

Then I went back to check the fake twitter account and the page magically doesn't exist anymore, but if you search for "Jackie MacMullan" you'll see two accounts. One looks legit, but is fake and one that looks fake and probably is another fake one.

What is seriously wrong with people? And the best part is that MacMullan probably has no idea about it.

Are the 2010 Red Sox better than the Yankees?

Is this really for real?

John Lackey?

Mike Cameron?

Marco Scutaro?

Adrian Beltre?

It's almost a dream for Boston Red Sox fans and if Adrian Gonzalez was in the picture we'd be on Cloud 9.

Theo Epstein responded well after the New York Yankees won its 27th World Championship and instead of nickel and dime-ing  like last offseason, he signed big gun Lackey and bolstered the defensive unit in Cameron, Beltre, and Scutaro.

The Red Sox want to be that team in 2010.

Even though they lost their power guy in Jason Bay, it may not be the end of the world. Someone will step up to the plate. There's almost that one surprise guy that no one expects, but who will it be?

That's really the only troubling question mark going into the 2010 season. Will the Sox have enough of power in their lineup? Will David Ortiz still have enough left in his tank? If not, could Mike Lowell be the answer in the designated hitter role?

Epstein could still try to trade off Lowell after his thumb surgery, but in reality shouldn't Boston keep him just in case Ortiz doesn't turn it around? 

Here's a quick glance at what we might see on Opening Day on Easter Sunday at Fenway Park against the Yankees.

Potential starting lineup:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury LF

2. Dustin Pedroia 2B

3. Victor Martinez C

4. Kevin Youkilis 1B

5. David Ortiz/Mike Lowell DH

6. J.D. Drew RF

7. Adrian Beltre 3B

8. Mike Cameron CF

9. Marco Scutaro SS

Potential starting pitching rotation:

1. Josh Beckett/Jon Lester

2. Jon Lester/Beckett

3. John Lackey

4. Dice-K Matsuzaka

5. Clay Buchholz/Tim Wakefield

To be honest, I'm more excited about the pitching rotation. Beckett, Lester, and Lackey in which ever order may very well be the strongest 1-2-3 combo in the league.

But is this team better than the Yankees?

Yankees position breakdown:

Mark Teixeira 1B

Robinson Cano 2B

Derek Jeter SS

Alex Rodriguez 3B

Jorge Posada C

Brett Garnder LF

Curtis Granderson CF

Nick Swisher RF

Nick Johnson DH

Yankees starting rotation breakdown:

1. CC Sabathia

2. AJ Burnett

3. Andy Pettite

4. Javier Vazquez

5. Phil Hughes/Joba Chamerlain

Chamerlain may be moved back to the bullpen, which wouldn't be surprising especially with Vazquez coming back for his second stint.

It'll boil down to the bullpens and bench depth since anything can happen throughout the season.

If no other moves are made this should be a very interesting season in the American League East. April can't get here soon enough.

New year, more layoffs and cuts for newspapers

Yesterday the Minneapolis Star Tribune announced that it would eliminate 35 positions at the newspaper, but not effecting reporters or editors. 

You'd think this would be good news for the reporters and editors. Well guess again because about 18 of those positions are copy editing, a major hit for any paper.

According to David Brauer of MinnPost.com here's the list of potential job cuts:

Copy editors: Up to 18

Photographers: Up to 3

Photo lab technicians: Up to 1

Photo editors: Up to 2

Wire and web editors: Up to 2

Copy desk chiefs: Up to 1

News assistants: Up to 3

Graphics technicians: Up to 3

Graphics artists: Up to 2

Ironically these cuts happened just before the Star Tribune named Michael Klingensmith the new Publisher and CEO.

Out west, the Los Angeles Times will close its plant in Orange County, which will effect 80 jobs.

On top of that the width of the paper will shrink from 48 inches to 44 inches, something that's being scene across the country at many other companies. 

Also beginning Feb. 2, a new section called LATEextra will be published Monday-Saturday for late breaking news.

Before the brink of the new decade The Washington Times published its last Sunday paper on Dec. 27, 2009 and prints editions from Monday-Friday for a $1 a copy, which increased from 50 cents. 

And I thought this to be pretty interesting.

According to a new ranking of 200 jobs in the United States in 2009, (Reporter) Newspaper is #184.

The starting salary is set at $20,000 with a midlevel salary range of $35,000 and top level falling at $77,000.

What's worse? Well we've got: Photojournalist (#189), Firefighter (#188), Taxi driver, (#194), Garbage collector (#195), and Roustabout (#200).

What's similar but ranked higher? 

Technical Writer #13

Web Developer #15

Publication Editor #65

Photographer #126

Why the Web Developer is put into this group is because of the online media frenzy and how that exactly is trying to wipe out the print media age.