LOS ANGELES - Is selection to the baseball all-star game news?
Apparently not, based on the way Major League Baseball handled the selections Sunday.
Apparently, it's merely another sellable promotional tie-in, another product role-out.
If it was news, media outlets wouldn't be told they couldn't announce it until after a TV show was over, as was the case at Dodger Stadium, and all over baseball. TBS earned exclusive rights to this “news� as part of its rights fee for a new broadcast package including some postseason coverage.
This sort of thing happens - the announcement of the NCAA tournament bracket, which belongs exclusively to CBS, is probably the best example - but the way things progressed Sunday did a nice job of showing just how ridiculous such managed events can be.
Because TBS was carrying its selection show after a Braves game, and that Braves game went extra inning, the scheduled announcement time was pushed back by about two hours.
For the Dodgers, playing a quick game (for once) with San Diego, this meant the selections were not going to be announced before the game ended, denying All-Stars Russell Martin, Brad Penny and Takashi Saito an ovation from the home fans.
So, the Dodgers announced the all-star team anyway, over the public-address system and on the scoreboards.
Media outlets, though, were told this information was for use in the stadium only, and that the selections were still embargoed until after the TV show was over. No writing, blogging, calling, broadcasting, skywriting or any other transmission, etc.
Which meant, for a while there, that any Dodger fan with a cell phone was in a position to “scoop� the news media and spread the information.
Information. Not, apparently, news. News isn't announced according to the need to generate ovations, but because it is, you know, news.
Since I was in the press box, I don't know the answer, but I'm certainly wondering: How did Vin Scully feel about having this information and not being able to tell his audience?
Hopefully, he was as unhappy about the rest of us. Because there's at least a small chance his opinion matters.