Press Row

What Are Abbott Lines?
After the legendary Boston Garden closed in 1995, auctioneers looking for salvageable memorabilia found highly valuable pieces in out-of-the-way places: An abandoned darkroom was inches deep in vintage photos of Hall of Famers, while the arena’s original blueprints were stashed in a wooden trunk near the roof. It seems safe to say [...]

What Are Abbott Lines?

So, in tribute to the Entire Internet’s Dedication to Cruelty, I give you the Chicago Tribune’s Fred Mitchell (above), who is here to compare the Cubs’ recent deal for Rich Harden to…the trade of Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio. Because this guy is also speedy, just like Lou Brock. Same/same, seen? [...]

No Abbott Lines yesterday, but I was working on one of those cool new features that I said would land this week.
And, without further ado, I present…the Press Box!
As you can see, things are still under construction and building up. But, the groundwork is there, so I wanted to unveil it.
The purpose of the Press [...]

What Are Abbott Lines?
So here’s what you do, Dolphins: You do what Green Bay isn’t doing. You welcome Favre back to football. You trade lame-duck Jason Taylor (whom the Packers have coveted) to get him. You put McCown up for sale. And then you let Beck and Henne develop for a year under the unhurried [...]

What Are Abbott Lines?
“The most illuminating thing about the book is the fact that, by and large, most football players can’t stand their fucking jobs. … There’s no job security unless you’re an All-Pro, and 99% of guys aren’t that. Most of the players can’t even figure out why they do it. They’re constantly being [...]

What Are Abbott Lines?
“Let’s say that Favre did actually approach Mike McCarthy about coming back and McCarthy (and the Packers) told him “We’re moving in another direction.” Does Brett Favre still have that “itch” then? If you watched yesterday’s NFL Live did you notice how quickly the conversation went from “Favre going back to the [...]

We just learned of some more big-time departures from the newspaper industry from here in the Bay Area.
The Bay Area News Group–controlled by MediaNews Group and responsible for the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune–has let go of Eric Gilmore, Bill Soliday, Dave Del Grande and Warriors beat reporter Geoff Lepper.
Soliday covered pro [...]

What Are Abbott Lines?
“Dallas Cowboys fans might want to wear comfortable shoes to the new stadium in Arlington. The team estimates that some ticket holders will walk nearly a mile from their parking spaces to the stadium, which opens next year. But Cowboys officials also said that shouldn’t be an adjustment because the back-row parking [...]

Theory Post 1: The reports of my death were…actually, right on target (death of the newspaper industry)
I talked last time about the rapid decline of the newspaper industry, along with some interesting numbers to back up just how much hot water the print media is in.
This time, let’s think a little bit about the impact [...]

What Are Abbott Lines?
“’Daunte was a guy who always used his legs. He wasn’t an anticipatory thrower. He had to see the whites of their eyes. And once he got hurt, well, coming back from the injury, he couldn’t play that way.’ … ‘As a franchise quarterback, there’s the matter of the work ethic, putting [...]