A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

CITY OF BIG SHOULDERS, MEET FACE OF BROKEN NOSES: Forget your Bill O'Reilly-Terry Gross-Al Franken dustup. Forget your Geraldo troop-movement disclosures, your dancing around the identity of Kobe Bryant's accuser, and your unmasking CIA operatives. In my opinion, the most gratuitously irresponsible piece of journalism I've seen this year is the Chicago Sun Times's naming (followed by the inevitable pickup by other organizations, including ESPN.com) of the Cubs fan who took the foul ball away from Alou last night. We've all had momentary lapses where we commit seemingly small acts that have large repercussions -- poor choices of words, mis-addressed emails, the decision to try to get a free soda by rocking the machine back and forth. Most of us, though, don't have them in ways that interfere at critical times with the success of teams synonymous in the sports world with "long-suffering" and in places where even predictably happy events (Bulls championships, New Year's Eves) cause gleefully violent riots. Just deplorable.