Media guides, deadlines, and sloppy reporting

I watch racing. I have a passion for it. And now I've begun to blog a bit about it. I don't get paid to write about it.

Those who do have a tough time. Storylines change on the turn of a dime (think anyone in the press booth had Logano winning today?). Deadlines loom. Certain numbers of words or inches are needed. Kyle Busch sometimes doesn't win but still has to be interviewed. Smoke cancels a shock-therapy appointment. And so on.

But sloppy reporting, over-reliance on NASCAR's media guide, and memory lapses are not good excuses for including errors.

I've already read two reports indicating Joey Lagano's win today was the first by a rookie in over 2 years.

From the Associated Press as published at That's Racin:

"Joey Logano is the first rookie to win in Cup in 71 races and the first to win at New Hampshire since Newman in 2002."

And from Ed Hinton at ESPN.com:

"And so the heralded rookie, perhaps under more pressure than any since Dale Earnhardt Jr. arrived in 2000, became the first rookie to win a Cup race since Juan Pablo Montoya -- then a rookie in NASCAR terms only -- in 2007."

Hello? McFly? Anyone remember this rookie's win - just 2 months ago? Just because the hard-copy media guides were published at the end of last season and not updated for the 2009 year-to-date season still doesn't excuse these lapses.


C'mon AP and The Worldwide Leader of Sports, you're better than this, right?

TMC