CHOREOGRAPHERS, C-H-O-R-E-O-G-R-A-P-H-E-R-S: Though it falls neatly into this blog's fixations on academic competition and on musical theatre, I honestly haven't had anything to say about the new musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Yes, it's an audience participation musical about a spelling bee. Well, I suppose it's better than "The I'm Not Dead Yet Song."

THE WAGES OF GREED: I only rarely blog about sports, since I'm not a big fan. Heck, Adam will probably kick me because I could have had free tickets to one of this weekend's Phillies/Mets games at Shea, but passed. However, this story from Sunday's New York Times Magazine is too good to pass up.

5 years ago, Matt Harrington was one of the top picks in the MLB amateur draft, right out of high school. After turning down exceedingly rich deals from the Colorado Rockies, who drafted him, he's been drafted every year (increasingly low in the draft), waiting for the right deal to be offered. Each year, the offer goes down. Now, he has the dubious distinction of being the longest holdout ever. The truly sad part? While he's kept on playing (in independent minor league ball), he seems to be regressing.

The question the article raises--and it's a good one--is this: Did Matt Harrington ruin baseball, or did baseball ruin Matt Harrington? Somehow, I think the answer is between the two. Well worth your time.

THE CONCERT FOOL AND OTHER ARCHETYPES: The WaPo's David Segal attempts a taxonomy of "show-going morons" and others who can ruin one's concert-going experience.

Are there any he missed?  Any particular tales you'd like to share?

(id/pw via bugmenot)

FREE NICK SWISHER: Those of you with long memories may recall my review of Moneyball last year:

Nor does the book have the longitudinal scope I wanted to see. There's a great chapter inside the A's draft room, and a brief epilogue on how two picks have done during their first few months in the minor leagues . . . but I want to see how Beane's picks are three years down the line, because that's where the proof of his methods lie.

Well, according to a recent interview with Michael Lewis, it's going to happen:

Q: Hi Michael, I wanted to interview you for my site because I’d seen some rumors around the Internet that you were working on a follow-up to Moneyball. So is there any truth to that rumor?

A: You know when I sold Moneyball, I sold it in two books. And I decided it was a book after the draft of 2002. So when I decided it was a book, I thought that I would really want to know what happened to these kids. And so I’ve been marinating in minor league baseball for the two years. It’s a different kind of book so I anticipate it taking another two or three seasons before I’m even ready to write it. I’m just gathering string right now. The players really need to work out their fates before I can sit down to write about them.

Tentative publication date is 2007, but here's a sneak peek.

SHE SINGS IN VEGAS...:
...but she doesn't get to stay in Vegas.

Pop songstress Linda Ronstadt's stay at a Las Vegas hotel was cut short over the weekend after she dared to dedicate an encore of the Eagles hit "Desperado" to Michael Moore.

Here's the short version:

Aladdin President Bill Timmins ordered security guards to escort pop diva Linda Ronstadt off the property following a concert Saturday night during which she expressed support for controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore...

Near the close of her performance, Ronstadt dedicated the Eagles hit "Desperado" to Moore, producer of "Fahrenheit 9/11," and the room erupted into equal parts boos and cheers.

She said Moore "is someone who cares about this country deeply and is trying to help."

Ronstadt has been making the dedication at each of her engagements since she began a national tour earlier this summer, but it has never sparked such a reaction.

Hundreds of angry fans streamed from the theater as Ronstadt sang. Some of them reportedly defaced posters of her in the lobby, writing comments and tossing drinks on her pictures.

Timmins later expressed hope that next week's performace by Whoopi Goldberg would go off without a hitch.

WE'VE BEEN ON THE RUN, DRIVING IN THE SUN:  In news from the West Coast: following in the footsteps of Mark Cuban, writer/director/actor/Emmy-snubee Zach Braff has a blog, too.  Honestly, how can you resist a blog that features comments like:

"They showed "Hidalgo" on the plane ride here. I didn't have earphones and I kept dozing in and out, but as far as I can tell it’s a love story between a man and a horse. Since their love is forbidden, they travel the Earth looking for a community that will tolerate their desire to snuggle and receive lower insurance premiums."

Well worth your time and energy. Also in West Coast news, worth noting that the AP notes Gov. Schwarzenegger has officially declared his opponents to be "girlie men." Yes, life has actually become a bad "Saturday Night Live" sketch. Fortuntely, I'm not flying out there to appear this week--just appearing by phone.

AND RALPH NADER ADVERTISES ON "THIS WEEK IN SELF-DELUSION:" Speaking of "Jeopardy!," today's Times has a fascinating article on what sort of programs both presidential campaigns are advertising on. Interesting tidbits? Bush prefers "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!," while Kerry likes to advertise on "Pyramid" and "Family Feud." A more interesting contrast is the fact that Bush advertises heavily on Leno, while Kerry prefers Letterman. But John? Advertising on "Becker?" Gonna have to slap you for that one.

Also interesting in today's paper? This piece, which asks the question "Just how smart is Ken Jennings?" Interesting take on the subject.

And one final point--for raw amusement, it's hard to beat finding the places they had to reloop "Celebrity Poker Showdown" after Cingular withdrew its sponsorship after discovering (gasp!) that people drink and make racy remarks while playing poker. Hosts are talking and then we randomly cut to an overhead shot of the table while they remove the "Cingular" reference. Inadvertent humor is the best.