This is very, very cool.

I thought they meant the Facebook guy. Then I thought Barry Zuchercorn should probably go.

Mark's hit almost half his goal, but we gotta nail it tomorrow or I'm worried momentum will flame out. PLEASE if you care about the Nationals or are inspired at all by the idea of an independent, grassroots sports media, go to Mark's site and kick in a few bucks. And post, repost, tweet, facebook, etc. Here's the link: http://natsinsider.blogspot.com/2010/02/send-mark-to-spring-training_07.html.

I thought this was about Porky Viera.

Well, it's not like the Post won't replace Chico with another full-time Nats beat writer. In fact, they will very soon.

So does Zuckerman simply retain his Wash. Times press credentials, even though he's just an unaffiliated blogger at the moment?

The Post has said they won't hire from outside, which means an intern (or rotation of paid interns). Having a real, professional, full-time, qualified beat reporter is not in the cards.

People who know the industry guess that many if not most daily newspapers will be running AP gamers within a year or two and the concept of local beat writers will go the way of the typewriter. So if you think this is a DC issue, you're wrong.

Given his relationships with the team, Mark's credentialing won't be an issue.