See Dave Cover His Own Ass

It's really hard to figure why Dave van Dyck is covering Mark Buerhle's contract negotiations today, since Dave van Dyck himself reported on Jan. 11 that Mark Buerhle is already gone. Any reporter worth his newsprint would confess to the error of that earlier report and admit that the controversy it caused was his mistake and his responsibility.

Instead, van Dyck and his Tribune colleagues -- now including the "backward thinking" Phil Rogers -- are covering their own asses by covering Buerhle's contract as if it's the only thing on the field, and with a fatalism belied by reality. I seem to remember them doing exactly the same thing with Paul Konerko's contract a couple years back while Paulie quietly led the team to the first World Series victory Chicago had seen in nine decades. Then Paulie re-signed with the White Sox.

Hey, sportswriters, you're in Tucson, it's sunny, why not try covering baseball?