mornings before ESPN

what was sports before ESPN? something you read about in the paper. something you endured the evening news for, waiting for a highlight squeezed between weather and shootings. something you mortgaged your house for just to sit forty stories above the field and hope to catch a glimpse of something while drinking the most expensive water on the planet. but damn, it was worth it.

now, every hour on the hour (except for monday where you have to factor in an extra half of an hour) we get sports served up in ADD-sized increments. only with this type of buffet menu could you get a gem like this.

"I figured, I'm an athlete, I can walk up the stairs, it's not that big a deal," Barmes said in an interview Monday, his left arm hanging in a sling. "Obviously, if I had to go back, I would have waited, or at least been a bit more careful going up."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2077547

...classic.