Pen & Pencil softball stars were in the thick of covering the Phillies' championship parade last Friday, particularly those who hadn't been traveling and writing on deadline for the last month.
Take a look at general manager Chris Brennan, for instance, riding atop the media double-decker bus along with a whole bunch of other people who couldn't tell you how many outs in an inning.
But that's actually a touch churlish. Maybe he was live "blogging" or "Twittering" or something else vital to slowing the demise of Philadelphia Newspapers LLC.
(Remind me to tell you the story of being on deadline in St. Petersburg, having immense trouble sending because the wireless went out in that stinking pit of a stadium, and yelling profanely at my sports editor to leave me alone when he called my name. I turned around after finally getting connected and he was standing there with the publisher. Like oops.)
I did see our teammate Chris Yasiejko throughout the playoff run, doing cityside stories for the Wilmington News-Journal, which he told me consisted of looking for Delaware plates in the parking lot and talking to the people who got out of those cars.
Who else? Well, Marcus, of course. I think I drank with him in Pasadena, which didn't put him in exclusive company. And Steve Falk was on the photo trail. And Kathy Matheson, doing stuff for AP from the freezing, rain-soaked auxiliary press box.
Somehow, Kerry O'Connor was allowed to get close to the trophy, apparently. What they didn't know was he broke off the little flag that says, "Boston Red Sox," and put it in his pocketsie. Thieving hobbit.
OK, down to business. There is a wine-tasting at the P&P this Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. with the fabulous Brad Wilson. The wines of Beaujolais is the featured flavor. Matched hors d'oeuvres with the wines. $30 bucks a seat. Cheap. Call the club, 215-731-9909, to reserve. I'll be there, signing my new book, "Newspapers: Medium of the Future."
