For all you technologically capable folk, PodShots No. 3 is up and ready to be heard from coast to coast. It includes a visit with Greenday and Ozzy. A brief, distant visit.
Go to PodShots or download directly from here.

• You know what? This ornery old bastard – your very own Scott’s Shots – turned 35 this week. Yup. Three-Five. Reggie Lewis’s number (not quite as cool as Bird for 33 years of age was, but infinitely more satisfying than Marcus Camby’s 21). It’s Danny Ainge’s 44 that will really baffle me, I’m sure.

Of course, as Shots body turns the corner towards FourZero (one word), our soul heads up to about 70. We’ve always had an ‘old soul,’ been told that many times in fact. Admittedly, more often than not, it’s been to our detriment. Bridges burned. “Enemies” made. “Principles” stood for. Yada. Freakin’. Yada. It’s led to a life of freelance, fits of anger and failed job-begs.

But for the past two years or so, I’ve had this space. Scott’s Shots. At this site. Boston Sports Media Watch. And it’s been magic to my eyes, my ears and my cranium. It has been a daily birthday present that no caring relative or dear friend could replicate (although, do try, please. . . ) – no this present comes wrapped in different paper. No bows attached, really.

It’s the gift of: VALIDATION.

As recently as last week, Shots heard a potential business partner utter the common words: “I don’t get it. I don’t know where it fits?”

He was talking less about me and more about this column (I hope) – the following its created and the potential it may or may not have. Who reads this stuff? is the refrain I hear. How would it play in the “mainstream”? they want to know.

And I usually tell them something about my heart guiding my brain.

And they usually tell me to keep in touch. “You know how to get out, right?”

Yes. I most certainly do know how to get out.

And I also know that what I present interests people and affects our world (of sports). In fact, this week, two of the things I have harped on consistently for some 300-plus entries came crashing through our local Media Gate:

1. The Boston Globe’s ruthless mommy dearest telling them to get rid of bodies and. . .

2. Glenn Ordway, the biggest Mouth That Roars in these here parts, began to attack the Boston Globe’s sports page with vim and vigor. And his minions picked up on it. (How could they not with a surf story early in the week and a mud story later on? Surf and Mud? What is this, an X Games Guide or the sports section for a major metropolitan sports city?)

The job cuts simply validate what any observer with half a clue has been forecasting for three or more years. It’s not coincidence that the city’s two major dailies have both had substantial layoffs in the past six months. It’s a nationwide trend with major, metropolitan news deliverers and as we’ve also been saying all along: It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

As for Ordway’s attack on the Globe’s story and space choices, the ribbing extends the feud between Morrissey Boulevard and the NB Building and brings into play the notion that a Herald/’EEI alliance might be able to topple a Globe/NESN pairing. If Ordway and his jokesters bury the Globe daily and make its laughable story choices into Whiner Line fodder, they effectively ask all their coveted listeners to: “Read the Herald. Screw the Globe.” That’s a big, powerful message from a big, powerful outlet – if anyone’s smart enough to try and merge the two, similar entities.

A couple of years ago that would have been a laughable scenario – now, I know I’m not alone in thinking ‘EEI is the single most important influence on the local sports scene. That too, we suppose is a pretty large form of validation.

• Knipplegate II, the Sequel?: It’s not quite Janet Jackson (and I’m ready to argue it’s WAAAAAAY better in fact. But I’m still apprehensive about linking this however the fact is, whether on purpose or not, the lovely, exotic, Keira Knightley has a wardrobe malfunction in the pages of October’s Esquire . Knightley’s Knipple is knicely exposed on page 168.

The odd part is that there seems to be a grease pencil mark meant to indicate the nipple should be photo-shopped into the background of the black waistcoat thingy Knightley is wearing (fashion terms escape me, I’m a sports dude). But that could also be the lining of the jacket. It’s very confusing.

Shots took the liberty of contacting the Hearst Corp (publishers of Esquire) and a helpful Esquire spokesperson said in email response: “It is not uncommon for Esquire to show an entire exposed breast on occasion. (See Kate Moss in the July 2005 issue.) But Keira herself says it best in this issue: ‘I’m okay with topless, but I won’t show my bottom.’” (She goes on to tell the story of her Hiney Double – but you should read that yourself.)

So that clears that up – mostly. Shots still has sneaking suspicion the Knightley Knipple was supposed to be hidden. It’s the same Polo jacket she is shot in on the cover (nicely shot, at that, by photog Marc Hom) and can be purchased here – none of the photos at polo.com show the supposed lining of the jacket. (Sports media crit AND shopping tips for the ladies? Someone please call Oprah, would you?)

The Esky spokesperson, however denies the nipplerror: “It is simply the inner lining of her jacket,” the SP wrote.

(By this point, the spokesperson clearly knows that I have spent hours studying the Knipple shot and is almost certainly alerting the authorities of my obsessive manner. I decide to stop to pursuing Knightley’s Knipples and vow not to type that alliterative phrase for the remainder of Shots. But, admit it, you’re impressed that I took the time to match the $129, Arden Polo jacket on-line at all, right?)

And yes, the Esky issue is worth the buy for that and other Knightley shots, if not the Chuck Klosterman submission on its own merits (non-Knipple category, that is).

• Back to the week’s top story:

Just before the summer began, it was the Boston Herald employees that watched a slew of cuts decimate their various desks. Now, it’s the New York Times company – and local interests including the Boston Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and boston.com – that will see their numbers diminished, and, we might add, some dead weight trimmed from the rosters.

But make no mistake – this is not an isolated matter. Newspapers – never cash cows with wild spending habits to begin with – are now watching their entire industry get down-sized into a leaner, slimmer, practically anorexic version of its former self.

Further, make no bones that the papers and their short-sighted ways have brought all these flammables into the current conflagration they are watching burn their empires.

Where Internet leaders like Yahoo! and Google are exploring the next frontier of information delivery – the old paper pushers are “reorganizing,” “re-focusing” and “re-evaluating priorities.” It’s a sickening regurgitation of the same pabulum puked out by the PR hacks and spin controllers this week at Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., at the LA Times previously and any number of major cities’ dailies. The Washington Post (an actual success story in newspaper circles) had this for some good, in-depth assessment and then we’d recommend what one Shots loyalist was good enough to pass along, which was this tremendous analysis from Bob Cauthorn at www.corante.com. And bookmark that site, if you don’t mind. Great stuff throughout. . .

• As for what the layoffs could mean to the Globe sports desk, we’re assuming that some of the, ahem, elder statesmen, might consider the buyout option. And, as was the case at the Herald, there will be some people who are nudged, secretly, out the door. And forget about the cuts affecting the “wine and cheese” crowd-pleasers like talented Tony Chamberlain or multi-tasking photog/scribe Stan Grossfeld. Sullivan – emphatically during this week – has been going with the theory that because it’s on the Globe’s pages, you will read it. That theory hasn’t held water for some time now, but Sullivan is going to continue to ram minor coverage down the throats of major sports consumers’. If that’s the strategy for the future, we fear Sullivan’s regime will be both curtailed and curtained, in the near future. Those who think in old-school ways will be left in the dust (or ink) of the old printing presses and the print-only strategies.

. . . I always hate having to do this, but the fact that we’re talking about people’s lives here is NEVER lost on me. Never.

As I’ve disclaimed before, I was part of two separate (and distinctly different) national magazine shutdowns. Workforce reductions like this are cruel and often unfair. But what Shots also knows is that in order to survive and thrive, media groups need to adjust their entire thought process. These cuts are part of that adjustment – another part will now be what the corporations do in order to make themselves distinct, different and daring.

• Ted Johnson showed great promise during Wednesday’s Big Show appearance to help herald his arrival at CBS 4 WBZ TV for Patriots pre- and post-game commentary. After the Big O asked what he was thinking by coming over to the dark side, Johnson quickly quipped: “I do have a history of head trauma, you know?”

• These Boston Common elitist bastards and their non-updated, crappy website are starting to get under Shots’ skin: Any time one of the (Jason) Binn-sters is quoted about the Boston launch of the chi-chi glossy they feel the need to compare Beantown to the Big Apple. You know what? We’re pretty comfortable around here NOT being New York City. If the only way you can sell your high-end fluff with its high-end items is by trying to turn us into Park Ave prima donnas, well, we’d just assume remain Beacon Street bums. Thanks just the same you Commoners.

• Aside from a copyright infringement on our proud title of Scott’s Shots, the Boston Globe sports section’s QuickShots was a laughable disgrace last Sunday and even Shaughnasty managed to take a swipe at the new, regular feature from Joe Sullivan. Last week’s “hot-button” issue was “which AFC East team could overtake the Patriots?”
Yeah, that was a real hot button. Almost as big as what revolution defenseman would you trust down the stretch to shut down Pele? Knowing how ridiculous the question was, Shaughnasty had the good sense to answer thusly: “Not to insult the bosses, but this is a preposterous question. . .”
When Danny Boy deems you preposterous, it’s time to re-examine how you diagnose the pulse of your readership.

• After an abysmal showing with his regular Tuesday column (as panned in PodShots No. 3), GriffGruff threw in his hand-fed run-down of Tuesday’s busy day in the local media for a Wednesday article. And he couldn’t even get THAT right, with this gaff of GriffGruff proportion:

WEEI (850 AM) — Announced that Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge will appear each Wednesday morning on ”The Big Show,” and that coach Doc Rivers will join the morning ”Dennis & Callahan” show on Thursday

The Big Show’s in the morning now too? Crowded line-up over there, eh GG? What’s even worse is that despite being made fun of on ‘EEI all afternoon on the day it was published, the Boston.com website didn’t even bother to correct the error on-line. And we still don’t know with whom Danny and Doc will be appearing.

Nice work, GG – of course Shots appreciates what a distinct disadvantage you’re saddled with, getting all those announcements emailed, messengerred and faxed into your pretty little hands.

Shots, on the other hand can’t even get responses from the WEEI higher-ups when he contacts them formally, never mind a press release or two from the Entercom folk. Funny how so many other media outlets in New England (and certainly its own talent) now recognize Shots as a “legit” place to pitch stories and feed info, yet Entercom and its divisions can’t seem to find my email address (located conveniently at the bottom of each column). That may sound like a bitter rant about how unfair “status” is in today’s marketplace, but it’s also some backwardass thinking by shortsighted individuals.

We actually get punished (or ignored) because we actually take the effort (and responsibility) of challenging what goes on in Boston sports media instead of just cutting and pasting the announcements, the ratings or the program notes into a column.

Is it because we’re a “blog” and not a printed column? I could fax you a copy every day – then we’d be printed. Would you like that?

Whatever the case, Griff serves as great clearinghouse for the rest of us who would like a little meat on the bones of our media crit. We’ll take your barebones info and add the meat ourselves. Thanks, G-squared – this has the makings of a spectacular relationship. . . Funny how, on that same day, Griff neglected to mention the biggest story from the previous day regarding local media: the fact that his own paper is going to be slashing jobs, likely within the sports department. Maybe that one hit too close too home for a guy who might be considered a prime buyout candidate, eh G Man?

• I hardly think I’ll be the only one tuning into the Foulke Farewell on WEEI at noon today. Gammons had some great stuff on that very topic with the Meat Man on Thursday afternoon. He also had some serious phlegm that was just painful to hear (and caused “aping” galore on the WhineyLiney).

• So, just to clarify: Sheriff Sully will not be doing a co-authored book with Shaughnasty titled, “I Shot the Shaughnasty: By The Sheriff?” If you missed the SS rant on Danny Boy, it’s worth putting in the weekend pile of must-reads. Sully pulls NO punches and at the same time, exposes a little bit of what makes this business of ours so damn infuriating. Nice work by Sully. . . But hardly as stupendous as this week’s informative – nay, I mean entertaining – picks at Dave Doyle’s demented world of football prognostication. Like the good teams, we’re starting to find our stride early in the season. Unlike the great teams that save something for the playoffs. But we live for today in Dave Doyle’s World. What, I’m not Dave Doyle. Or am I?. . .Shaughnasty, by the way, made an OTL appearance on Thursday night to discuss historic collapses - the ChiSox in particular - and he was virtually shutout on words alloted compared to long-winded Rex Hudler.

• I’m surprising myself early this football season: I actually like both of up-state New York’s new uniforms. Both the Buffalo Bills and the Syracuse Orange are taking classic approaches in their sartorial splendor. . . One other Orange note: Stan Kissel is the new director of basketball operations for Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim. Thus allowing me to type in the words “Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.”

• It took the ESPN/ABC folks more than 40 minutes to switch the Scott’s Shots viewing audience (in Hull) to New Orleans/New York on Monday night, after it started out ABC. It’s probably rude to point that out considering the whole thing was a Katrina fundraiser (that brought in some $5 million), but Shots calls ‘em as he sees ‘em, when he sees ‘em. . . And it gives me the opportunity to mention how odd it was for Regis to be sharing studio time with Gale Sayers and Bart Starr. Regis, Gale and Bart? For a second it sounded like a casting call for “Queer Eye.” . . . It’s sort of a long way from that whole Bravo! Performance hullabaloo to what we now find ourselves witnessing. Manny’s gonna be moving to the ‘burbs just like Foulkie – Westchester County, New York ‘burbs. And I sense the tide turning a bit against Tito as well – listen closely on ‘EEI. Listen closely is all I’m sayin’. Theo’s Turtle Wax (everything beads up and rolls off) for another year. But Tito could be a victim.
Right now, I’d guess the top three that could be run out in a WEEI Ricky James truck are: 1. Manny*; 2. Tito, 3. Edgar, 4. Foulkie, 5. Millar, There is a *Meat Factor with Manny – since PeteMeat is the loudest of the loud AND he had the Big Show reins on Thursday, he was able to boast loudly of how fed up he was with Manny being. . . you know what. Or Who. Is the second ‘Manny’ in ‘Manny being manny’ a noun or a verb – has anyone ever figured that out?

• Word from One Herald Square, hard by the Expressway, is that the previously approved Pats Beat hire was rescinded a few days back – even after a few interviews for that very position had taken place. Expect Karen Guregian to remain with the Pats for the full season and possibly beyond.

• Part of the deal with putting your email out there for “accountability” purposes is that you get a lot of random, kooky emails. Perhaps none more so than the one titled “Kornheiser/Wilbon” that landed in the Shots inbox this week: “Went to your internet about bobble heads. . . nothing! In fact they are listed a number of times but no info. Are they out there and how/where do you find them? Thanks, Earl Minnis, Laurel, MD.”

I once mentioned the Korn and Wilby bobbleheads and therefore Mr. Minnis got directed to Scott’s Shots in his search. I’m thinking of asking Basketball Bob Ryan to steal the things off the set next time he goes down DC way for “PTI” and then I could send them along to Mr. Minnis, who clearly is having a tough go on ‘my internet.’ Poor fella. All he wants is his Wilby/Korn replicas. Can somebody help?

• Shots has decided to send Boston Globe rookie, Jerome Solomon to the TV equivalent of Kangaroo Court for his oversight in not turning off the Solly Celly during the taping of “SportsPlus” on NESN that aired last Friday. First rule of TV: wipe the drool off your chin. Second rule of TV: Turn off the cellphone. Third Rule of TV: Don’t listen to Shots for anymore rules of TV.

Fines in court to be determined by Judge Neumie and paid off in pony tips.

• Remember to check out the new BSMW Pulse Taker poll in the right column of your reading experience. Some interesting early numbers and ones that would suggest the Globe’s on-line coverage (namely newly acquired Mike Reiss) bolsters its perceivably paltry print edition. But we’ll wait until the heavy-hitters chime in – Friday’s a big day for Polling, what with all the time wasted waiting for 5 p.m.

• More TV observations from the end of last week: Tough to say which was more entertaining last Friday night at CN8: the guest-studio-hosting of the woefully under-appreciated John Carchedi or the Ed Berliner-wearing-”Little Trees-flame-retardant-pajamas-in-the-pits” at Loudon? Carchedi came back form the final pit report by Easy Ed and said: “And Ed’s hair never really moved.” Tremendous really. When will someone scoop up Carchedi and give him the larger audience and attention he deserves? He’d be hire No. 2 or 3 for ShotsTV. And give Berliner credit as well – he got almost a full hour of NASCAR coverage with unlimited access and extended 1-on-1s. Not my cup of tea, but you can never argue with NASCAR’s appeal. . . The ESPN2 Friday night package is two for two with consecutive fantastic finishes to college football games. Last week it was it was the UTEP/Houston flag and fun fest; the week before it was Pitt falling to Ohio. Both games ended on an OT interception. This week’s offering? Iowa State and Army. We’ll be watching between pitching changes for the Sox.

• Teasing you softly:
Next Friday’s regularly scheduled Scott’s Shots will be pre-empted so that we may bring you (use your E! “True Hollywood Story” voice here, if you have one): The Boston Sports Guy: Revisited, Reinvented and Revealed!

Coinciding with Massachusetts homeboy, Bill Simmons’ book tour to promote his first book, “Now I Can Die in Peace” (NICDIP, forever more), Scott’s Shots will give a lengthy look at the Sports Guy’s career and his book. We’ll examine it from both Simmons’s perspective (through 4,000 words of his candid responses to a Shots/Sim email exchange) and below the surface a bit, to what he has meant for the “industry.”

Some snippets to whet your whistle from Bill Simmons’ on:

The Herald. . . “I never clicked with the new [and now former] sports editor (Mark Torpey) after Bob Sales was fired. In retrospect, I should have gone to JJ Foley’s on Thursday nights and laughed at his jokes like Mike Felger did, but I didn’t know to do that at the time. . . ”

Why he doesn’t live in Boston. . . “I do want to write scripts though - that’s why I’m out here. I wrote a movie last summer that ended up getting buried by the studio that hired me to do it, even though everyone loved the script and Chris Moore and Live Planet were the producers. I wish I could tell you more, but it’s a horrible story. . . ”

The SG Cartoon. . . “And just for the record, I quit the cartoon - everyone else wanted to keep going. . .”

SG’s career path. . . “I’ve had terrible timing, if anything – I came along about five years too early. If the Internet was around in the mid-90’s, my life would have been much easier. As it was, I still had to practically kill myself with the BSG site just to get a break.”

. . . It’s gonna be worth setting aside time for. I assure you of that. And anyway, it has your two favorite Massachusetts-bred dotcommers of the 21st Century (when and if that lists is required by law and lethal injection to include Scott’s Shots as choice A). Tell two friends and we’ll see ya then folks. . .

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shots@bostonsportsmediadotcom