Turns out that the blogger actually has an MSM job, for which his tasks mostly consist of grabbing player quotes following the game. According to him, that's basically all he's paid to do. So, like any good blogger, he decided to keep readers of his personal site updated on what was taking place in the game by live-blogging it while sitting in the press box. And that's when the trouble began.

"All went well until just before the start of the third, when one of the Oiler press guys pulled me aside and informed me that I'd no longer be allowed in the press box, and that if I didn't have a job to do, he would have had someone escort me out of the building right then and there. I was understandably a little confused as to what was going on, and after a little questioning, he told me that I was not allowed to blog in the press box, as I was there on another media pass."

... "A few minutes later, he came back and actually stood over my shoulder and demanded I remove the post entirely, also reminding me that I wouldn't be back."

The kicker in all of this is that despite telling the Covered in Oil guy that he couldn't blog while sitting in the press area, it turns out that at least two other bloggers had "misused" their press pass privileges by getting player reaction and putting it on their blog. He suspects the Oilers had a problem with what he was writing, and he's going to take an extended break from this blogging business to clear his head.

The blogging community, meanwhile, is handling this little fiasco with nothing but grace and class as you might expect.

It ends ... [Covered in Oil]

FUCK YOU EDMONTON OILERS ORGANIZATION [Hot Oil]

Ed's note: This is the first in a blog series by mega-rapper of the moment Lil Wayne. When speaking to him for a package about at-bat music in MLB (a bunch of guys use Lil Wayne), he offered to blog for us. Awesome.

And like Hemingway, Lil' Wayne is a fan of short, declarative sentences:

I grew up playing football. Believe it or not, I was a fullback. When I was nine, ten, eleven, I was a great blocker. I knew how to block real good and the other kids didn't. So there I was. One game when I was ten years old we were on the goal line about to score, and coach called the play for me. I was supposed to go one way, but I ended up sneaking around the other side on a sweep. Everybody thought I was already tackled. The ref was already blowin' his whistle. But I was still up and I stutter stepped one way and beat the last guy trying to get me and scored that touchdown. That's my favorite sports memory for myself.

It's unclear whether Wayne actually typed up this column himself or, like most of ESPN's other celebrity bloggers, simply shouted sports-related nonsense into the phone to a frustrated freelance editor in charge of making it palatable for an audience unfamiliar with "Alphabet Bitches". For the sake of that editor's personal safety, I hope Wayne is happy with the end result.

Aaron Rodgers 'Has Been Wonderful' [ESPN] (via What Balk People Should Do Now)

This policy is clearly ridiculous and sounds positively antediluvian. "Number of blogs allowed during a competition" ranks right up there with your grandparents calling movies "moving pictures." But, to be fair, blogging from a press box doesn't make much sense. Especially not if you've ever read most of the horrible blogs that come from older members of the media. If you've actually been to a press box, you know it's about a tenth as much fun as watching the game from your couch with a couple of friends. But, even still, what does this policy protect, promote or advance? In other words, what is the fear that necessitates this policy in the first place? What's more, if you've already credentialed a member of the media, what's the motive behind restricting what they can say about your product? Because here's the deal, more attention to your product is a good thing. And it's not like anyone is choosing to read a live blog instead of watch or listen to the game themselves. This policy is just stupid on so many levels. Isn't anyone in the Iowa athletic department under the age of 50?

This doesn't even consider the First Amendment issues of a state university restricting commentary by independent reporters. Imagine if the Iowa athletic department limited game articles to five regulation paragraphs and two overtime paragraphs. It would be absurd and ridiculous, right? Why isn't this as well? I love the idea of a blogger actually trying to follow these rules while, you know, live-blogging. How do you decide if a play or observation is worthy of one of your five comments in the first half? What if you use up your second-half comments before a big comeback? This is just incredibly stupid.

So, to reiterate, covering up the sexual assault of one athlete by another at Iowa...permissible. Posting more than five comments a half during a sporting event...impermissible. Good to know where the priorities are.

NCAA and Iowa: You will blog when we tell you to blog [Mike Hlas's blog]
NCAA, newspapers draw blogging battle lines [The Wiz of Odds]

Detroit News sports reporter person Chris McCosky was asked to fill space on the weekend, so he went with the "bloggers are not real reporters because they don't talk to people" story:

A lot of times these bloggers use the work of legitimate reporters. They will lift facts and segments of stories and cut and paste them onto their blog. Rarely, if ever, though, do they bother to credit the source.

...

Bloggers are having a field day speculating on how Joel Zumaya really injured his shoulder. Nobody believes a heavy box fell on him. So the Internet is rife with stories about how he fell off his dirt bike.

But because there is no accountability, because there are no repercussions for being wrong, because they will never have to look Zumaya in the face, who cares? Make up whatever you want.

One day Chris McCosky got piss drunk and stumbled into a day care, punching any children that got in his way. He stole seven vanilla cupcakes and three kids' blankies. He tied the blankies totogether, forming a cape, and pretended to fly out of the day care. Once he reached the sidewalk, he crashed into an unsuspecting Joel Zumaya, who was out walking his Yorkshire terrier. McCosky was unhurt, as Zumaya's right shoulder broke his fall. According to numerous reliable eyewitness accounts, McCosky promptly got up, stole a dirt bike that was parked on the side of the road, and drove to work.

Bloggers Just Aren't Journalists [Detroit News]
From the No Shit Sherlock Files [The Big Lead]
Newsflash: Reporter Hates Bloggers [The Detroit Tiger Weblog]