Today’s news that he’s rejoining the broadcast team has me straining to recall what he was like during his last tour of duty. I can’t do it. I’m pretty sure he didn’t bother me, though, so I’m happy to welcome him back.

But if you’re out there, Mike, pay attention. There is one commandment above all others that I — and all right-thinking Orioles fans — demand from our color guys: be weird.

Don’t play it straight. Don’t try to bring Gary Thorne back down to earth. Don’t play yin to Palmer‘s yang. The O’s have a grand tradition of weirdness in the booth and part of your job now is to uphold that tradition.

I don’t know if you’re up to the task or not. It’s not an easy thing. But you’ve got the baseball knowledge for sure so I figure you’re starting from a solid foundation.

Reach for the stars, Mike. Reach for the stars.

Hit up 1370 AM on your radio dial or go to fox1370.com to listen to the live stream.

In Why are you so terribly disappointing?, San Francisco Chronicle writer Mark Morford barrels head-first into an issue that sometimes keeps me up at night. To wit: our wonderful and burgeoning New Media conversation is in danger of running off the rails.

The column is quite worth reading, but if you don’t have time the gist is this: there is entirely too much bitching and whining going on.

Not that you needed either me or Morford to tell you that, but I’m impressed with how well he makes the case. Particularly this passage:

Not only are we disappointed, we need to express it. Vent it. Hiss it and spit it and hurl it like fistfuls of mental manure at the great wall of hey, screw you.

As Morford points out, this attitude is everywhere. In blog posts and articles and, particularly, in the comments below them. Part of it can be attributed to the widely-held misconception that attention equals value. The fastest way to create attention is to stoke anger. People slow down to see the accident. The more gruesome it is, the longer their eyes linger.

Another part of it can be attributed to a growing idea that because something can be said, it should be said. That the existence of a forum is itself a reason to speak.

It is time — past time — to call bullshit.

I get frustration. And over a few beers watching a game (or whatever) I’m as likely to talk a little shit as anyone. Maybe even more likely. But those are moments of release, casual good times. It’s nothing to build on.

Not “at least to me” or “in my opinion.” It’s nothing to build on. Full stop.

Criticism is good. Debate is good. But they are only good when they are well-considered. If they aren’t, they obscure and water down the efforts of people who take the time to actually say something.

We’re in the midst of a heavy transition. The means by which people gather and assimilate information are changing rapidly. In the process we’ve lost a lot of filters. In some ways that’s a good thing, but it comes with a price.

Don’t feed the trolls. An idea as old as the internet itself. It’s time to expand that idea and understand that it includes anyone whose sole goal is to aggravate others or draw attention to him/herself. It’s time to pay more attention to becoming curators of our own media experience, and to share what we learn.

That’s the only real way to ensure the survival of quality content and the relegation of sub-par work to a dark corner where, if we do our job well, it will silently, finally, suffocate.

Wishful thinking? Probably. Every little bit helps.

According to the article, the two sides couldn’t come to a contract agreement. She’ll now take a month off to review her options.

I think it’s safe to say that most Baltimore sports fans won’t exactly be sad to see her go. Personally I was never a fan but I did think that the show she put on with Scott Garceau was generally entertaining. I liked their grumpy/ditzy dynamic.

Now that she’s gone I’ll share a story.

Back when the Rangers were considering trading Mark Teixeira and it looked like the O’s might have a shot, I posted a Q&A with a columnist from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I emailed the link to a bunch of local media types — including Anita Marks — in hopes that they might mention it and drive some traffic to the site.

Later that day I hopped in my car and dialed up ESPN 1300 just in time to hear her repeating my questions — practically word-for-word and in the same order as I asked them — to a different columnist from the same newspaper.

Good times.

It’s particularly hard tonight now that Nolan Reimold is on the DL with an achilles injury. He’ll have some surgery and be ready to go for next year, but this would (as noted in the article) seem to put a serious dent in his Rookie of the Year chances.

Reimold was one of my favorite things about the 2009 Orioles. He’s the kind of player I love to watch and he put up very decent numbers. If it were up to me, he’d be the unquestioned starter in left field until he proves he can’t get it done. Felix Pie has come along nicely but still looks like a better fit as the fourth outfielder than anything else.

That appears to be the Orioles’ plan. We are, however, a long way from March. This won’t be the same team by then.

Want something to get excited about in the meantime? Sink your teeth into the trailer for The Band That Wouldn’t Die, Barry Levinson‘s upcoming documentary about the Baltimore Colts Marching Band.

This looks amazing. It’s a very Baltimore thing to do, maintaining the Colts band even as the Colts themselves are gone forever. I’m hard on the sports fans of this city sometimes, and part of that is because I think tradition holds them to a high standard. The Colts Band is a significant part of that tradition and it’s about time they had their moment.

Finally, what do you have going on between 10 and 12 tomorrow morning? Not much, you say? Perfect. You’re invited to tune in to Fox Sports 1370 to listen to me banter with the Fighting Ungers about Baltimore sports and — probably — a lot of other things. Hit up 1370 AM here in the area or head over to this page and click in the upper right to listen online.

The usual offer stands: first person to tune in, call in, and mention The Loss Column wins a prize. It’s true — I actually have a small prize I’ll be happy to send you. Only caveat is that Ryan’s not eligible.

(Photo, which doesn’t directly relate but which I thought was cool, via paultravers.com. Interesting stuff there.)