It's a new age

If you want proof that we are in an entirely new era when it comes to information-gathering, here's another example:

On Friday night, I covered the Subaru Buffalo Four Mile Chase, one of the area's most prestigious road races. I got back to the house at 8:45, and dashed off a story in nearly record time despite the fact that the men's winner was nowhere to be found after the race. (I have a suspicion he showed up for the check ceremony.)

I e-mailed my story to the office around 9:30 p.m. When I did so, I looked in the inbox and noticed I had gotten a Facebook message from someone I didn't know. Hmmm.

The message said, "Luke Wiles!"

Hmmm. Luke Wiles is an indoor lacrosse player. He was with Washington last season. In fact, I interviewed him after the All-Star Game at Turning Stone. Good guy. But what was the connection?

I did a quick Google search, and sure enough, there was news on a couple of websites that Wiles had been traded to the Buffalo Bandits for two draft choices. There were quotes from the Stealth general manager, which sure sounded official. But nothing from the Bandits.

I typed up a few paragraphs and sent it into the paper for inclusion in Saturday's paper. Then I sent a note to my new friend, saying I liked the deal a lot. Thanks, pal.

Oh, the Bandits released the story the next afternoon.

There are all sorts of ways to stay on top of things.

The day's links

A few stories worth noting, particularly for those who like books and newspapers (there must be a few of you out there):

* Glenn Locke passed along this blog on the joys of publishing. The author has some very interesting sales figures for e-books vs. printed books. Obviously, "Rayzor's Edge" came out a little late to capitalize on this development part of the business. Then again, since my publisher went out of business, it wouldn't have mattered.

Most of the books I read won't be available electronically for years, but I can see it coming.

* Speaking of Glenn, he also sent a link to this site on really odd books. Nice to see "Rayzor's Edge" not appear here. I'm ready to read "A Cow Is Too Much Trouble in Los Angeles."

* Dave Kindred is always worth writing, and he compiled a list of dos and donts about sports journalism. There's some good advice there.

* Kindred mentioned the demise of the Washington Times sports section. I was late to the party when it came to hearing about that. Dan Daly has a nice tribute to the good work the paper did. I knew the late Dave Fay from the Times from my hockey days; he was one of the good guys.

A quick note for now...

I was poking around www.sportsjournalists.com when I saw a thread about a Web site called Sports Media Guide (www.sportsmediaguide.com). So far it contains interviews with several top sports reporters and columnists from around the country.

I have only read a handful of the interviews so far -- gotta check out the people I know or who have met first -- but the questions are really good and so are the answers. For those in the business, or for those who merely like to read those in the business, this is definitely worth your time.

Besides, there may be a subject or six prompted by the remarks that could lead to a column here. And that's always worthwhile.