A Note to All Sportswriters …

Know what the hell you are talking about and more importantly know the rules of the sport you are writing about, especially you, Phil Sheridan.

The Phillies can't play the Braves in the first round of the playoffs:

What's more, the Phillies could have to turn around and play the Braves in the first round. That possibility has become more likely with San Diego's cold snap.

Actually, no, the Phillies won't have to turn around and play the Braves in the first round, and no, that possibility hasn't become more likely … because it's impossible. In Major League Baseball, you can't play a team in your own division in the first round. Everyone knows that. Or should. Shame on you, Phil Sheridan, and double shame on you Philadelphia Inquirer.

It kind of makes you wonder what the sports editors — Jim Cohen, John Quinn, Jim Swan, Oscar Miller, Robin Smith & company — actually do. And the newspaper men wonder why people aren't buying newspapers anymore.