Why the 'mainstream media' is indispensable

Sure, a decent percentage of what turns into actual articles on newspaper and other sports media sites first appears on message boards and the like.

But the problem is the trustworthiness of message board postings as anonymity rules in that domain and it so hard to determine the veracity of both a poster and the message(s).

So yes, newspapers may be struggling to some degree -- although earnings sure seem to be fairly healthy -- but where would we bloggers be without the material provided by beat reporters and the like? It's a symbiotic relationship -- they report and we link.

Something becomes official under the masthead of a newspaper which is not the process for an item on a message board.

Take the situation with NMSU freshman Johnny Higgins.

His 'situation' first came to light on a message board and it was up in the air as to the validity. But now, Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News has posted something and now we can rest assured that Higgins indeed gotten himself in some proverbial hot water in Las Cruces,

On Thursday, Groves posted this about walk-on tryouts for men's basketball at NMSU:

"This is interesting

I don't know if this is to promote some interest in the team on campus or perhaps it's a common occurance all over the country, or is evidence that the Johnny Higgins was dismissed rumor to be true. My understanding is that his fate at NMSU is yet to be determined. Stay tuned."