How Not To Write A Throwaway Point

So the Tigers are skipping over Jarrod Washburn's next turn in the rotation. Says one-time Rocky opponent Knox Bardeen:

The Afflicted: You already know about Street and Rivera, but Jarrod Washburn will also miss his next start. Washburn blames a sore left knee for his poor start to his Detroit career.

When I first read that, I thought to myself "there he goes again, making more excuses," but then I decided to check a few other articles, and it turns out Knox couldn't have used a worse verb. I guess that's the risk you take when you assign your writing obligations to members of the G.I. Joe Adventure Team.

DETROIT -- Tigers left-hander Jarrod Washburn acknowledged the left knee soreness that has been bothering him since well before the July 31 trade that brought him to Detroit, but he gave no indication that it's a major issue.

"I don't think that's new news," said Washburn, who added that it is the same issue he has been dealing with for four months, since his early-season starts with Seattle. (Pravda.Tigers)

Teammate Mike Sweeney told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer back in June that the knee "is killing him," that he could barely walk between starts, but he hasn't shown any trouble like that since he's been here. He has been walking like a normal 35-year-old. And he has no tests or anything else scheduled.

"It's the same knee [as before]," Washburn said at his locker. "Other than that, I'm not talking about it." (Jason Beck's blog)

And if you want to go back a few months:

"I can feel it every pitch I throw," he said. "But you just put it out of your mind and do what you can. It's not ever going to feel 100 percent this year, so I just concentrate on my job. And that's getting guys out." (Greg Johns in late June)

So not only does Jarrod not blame his poor performance on his knee - he's actively trying to avoid any further discussion of the subject so that no one can come away thinking he's making excuses. And yet the Brawny man still found a way to get it completely wrong.

It's interesting, by the way, to see Pravda.Tigers acknowledge that in all likelihood no one would be talking about the knee were it not for Washburn's elevated ERA. When I think honesty and bluntless, I generally don't think Pravda.