I was watching the live Webcast for the CBS Evening News earlier this evening and was almost shocked at how bad it was.

Now I hold CBS to some level of respect. I use to work for an affiliate, I still think 60 minutes is one of the most solid news programs out there behind PBS's FRONTLINE, and I think the head of CBS Leslie Moonves is trying to point his company in the right direction.

Saying that I think they could do a better job with a Webcast. What the hell does that mean anyway? Under-produced and not very good? Cause that's what I saw earlier.

Being someone who shoots video exclusively for the web and is aware of the advantages and disadvantages of shooting in this medium it never ceases to amaze me how many people still don't get it.

The web provides some enormous advantages right now. First, the quality of the shot doesn't have to be great but it still needs to be good and generally speaking, close up. After you get through importing, exporting, compressing and uploading the picture gets washed out anyway and it usually appears in a tiny video player although that is changing by the day.

Second, audio is more important than you think. People still seem to think that the camera mic will work just fine. In confined spaces and when there's no other sound coming in then yes it is but 8 times out of 10 having a stick mic will save your butt. Also, double up the audio tracks while editing. It will improve the sound even more.

So CBS and all the other web producers out there take notice. Just because it's on the web doesn't mean that you can slack of completely.

I saw this article today on ESPN.com and just couldn't believe it. I'll let you make your own conclusions but I vote this... let the 9 year old pitch!

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

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AP Photo/Douglas Healey

Officials with the Youth Baseball League of New Haven say they will disband Jericho Scott's team because his coach won't stop him from pitching.

Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.

Jericho instead joined a team sponsored by Will Power Fitness. The team was 8-0 and on its way to the playoffs when Jericho was banned from pitching.

"I think it's discouraging when you're telling a 9-year-old you're too good at something," said his mother, Nicole Scott. "The whole objective in life is to find something you're good at and stick with it. I'd rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner."

League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns.

"Facing that kind of speed" is frightening for beginning players, Noble said.

League officials say they first told Vidro that the boy could not pitch after a game on Aug. 13. Jericho played second base the next game on Aug. 16. But when he took the mound Wednesday, the other team walked off and a forfeit was called.

League officials say Jericho's mother became irate, threatening them and vowing to get the league shut down.

"I have never seen behavior of a parent like the behavior Jericho's mother exhibited Wednesday night," Noble said.

Scott denies threatening any one, but said she did call the police.

League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions, or pitch against older players or in a different league.

Local attorney John Williams was planning to meet with Jericho's parents Monday to discuss legal options.

"You don't have to be learned in the law to know in your heart that it's wrong," he said. "Now you have to be punished because you excel at something?"

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

I heard a story on NPR the other morning that I found interesting. It was about the rising costs of travel for college sports teams.

The story was about the women's soccer team at the University of Wyoming. They were going to charter a plane for their first game of the year, a road trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan to play Western Michigan. We, from last year to this year the price has gone up as you can imagine by some 50%.

The athletic department use to have a travel relationship with Frontier Airlines. But the airline has gone bankrupt. Add on baggage fees with other airlines and that road trip just cost a whole lot more.

Some schools are adapting by cutting road games, taking less players on the road, etc. However, this may not be enough for mid tier schools like Wyoming. They talked in the story about sending the football team off to play some more of those sacrificial lamb games like the one they'll play against Tennessee in November.

Granted those could be useful in recruiting but on the other hand fuel prices are eating into recruiting budgets as well.

It'll be interesting to see how the NCAA reacts. There are already some issues that have come before it such as where do SMS related to actual phone calls and how does IM and web cams apply to rules about contact?

In the aftermath of high gas the NCAA and the conferences are going to have to look closely at how this affects the balance of collegiate athletics. From road games to recruiting this is an issue that isn't going to go away any time soon.

I've been watching and reading a lot more business news lately. It's always fascinated me to some extent. Learning about companies, products, etc.

One thing I've deducted over the last year is that American companies that are successful worldwide do everything the same.

McDonald's is the same tasting food across the nation and if you go to China, it's the same tasting food across that country. Granted it's Chinese skewed but the same tasting.

Caterpillar sells the same heavy machinery around the world. A bulldozer sold in Nashville is just as good as one rented in Abu Dhabi.

So what is America successful at? Innovation? to an extent. Mass production of the familiar? Yeah I would say that that is closer to the truth.

I came across an article the other day on usatoday.com. It was about airlines lifting baggage fees for active military personnel.

Apparently some active duty personnel had been charged as much as $300 for overweight bags. Why were these bags so heavy? Oh I don't know, maybe because they have to carry gear to a war zone.

The real kicker here isn't the fact that it took so long for the airlines to go 'oh, this is dick' but what former Presidential candidate and current US Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton did.

Senator Clinton sent a letter to 6 major airlines and also to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking for the fees to be billed to the Pentagon.

Hey Clinton, don't give the idiots an option! They shouldn't charge them period. Hell if it were up to me every active duty service member would be bumped to first class free of charge.

So the airlines may not get it at first but they seem to be coming around while it appears that members of the US Congress are still retards.

I must say, I'm impressed with NB's online coverage of the Olympics. Limelight and Microsoft are handling a lot of the back-end stuff such as streaming and video and it looks like they're doing a heck of a job.

Granted it's the Olympics and not NFL football or college athletics but in any event I like the video player they have. The quality is fantastic and the picture in picture feature is tight. I could care less about 95% of the sports in it's still cool just to dance around the application and play around with the features.

Minneapolis is not a bad town. rather enjoyed it. probably wouldn't as much in January but hey I got to go during August so the city was just fine.

Jogged along the Mississippi River past old industrial America. Good times.

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It's almost fall which means football. At the very minimum, the English Premier League starts Saturday and I get to watch Liverpool play for the first time since May.

And not a moment too soon.

I was looking for something to eat on Friday and turned into Carl's Jr on W. Sahara. Was it because of the person in the Carl's Jr Star outfit waving at me? Maybe.

I don't know, I felt so bad for whoever was in that outfit. I asked the people at the drive thru if they give that person a break and they just smiled.

I really did feel bad for that person. I should have stopped walked over and offered to pay their full day's salary just to get them back in the air conditioning. I mean, it's Las Vegas in the summer. It had to 120+ degrees in that damn thing. And for what? Me and my $6.00 salad?

I'm a capitalist through and through but even this is hard for me to swallow. Honestly it just makes me sad.