The Media Learning Curve: Jan. 22-29

When it comes to incorporating the new iPad thing into my daily life, I'm thinking that I'll be just fine hanging onto my Etch-A-Sketch for a couple more years.

But sports leagues are already bursting out with excitement about this thing.

MLB was bursting at its seems during the announcement by Apple's Steve Jobs in San Francisco, when it was shown how cool it would be to watch a game on MLB.com with its mobile app. More than just those those stick figures moving around the bases. MLB is going to offer up its MLB.TV subscription ($119.59 for top-level, $99.95 for basic) that will be iPhone and iPad ready.

So we can actually take the gadget to a real baseball game and follow along? Amazing.

This could be another of what they call a game-changer.

"We've seen what's happened with the iPhone and a 3-inch screen," said Tom Richardson, president of digital media consulting company Convergence Sports & Media, told the Sports Business Daily. "Can you imagine the possibilities with the larger real estate?"

Does it also mean the iPad can take giant-sized pictures?

More stuff we've been trying to get our peanut-heads around in the media world this week:

== TMZ Sports: Coming in March as "a separate site, but not as tabloid-y as expected" (linked here)

== A man threatened his wife with a knife when she canceled ESPN before the Super Bowl ... does this story really sound real? He knows the game's on CBS, right? And how to you just cancel ESPN? Isn't that part of every package now? And what is "The Hour"? This is getting more play, and less doubt, than any story like it should. (linked here).

== CBS' Super Bowl pregame plans (linked here) include Katie Couric, Dick Enberg and follows up with a new reality series about how your boss could be spying on you. No special "CSI" episode?

== Want to know how to beat a journalist's deadline? Type fast (linked here).

== What Sirius XM will have for the Super Bowl -- a channel in English, Spanish, Russian, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Hungarian, Dutch ... and the Colts and Saints' home team broadcast. We'll take the BBC. It sounds more interesting. (linked here)

== What ESPN and ABC plans to do with the FIFA World Cup (linked here)

== Without Tiger Woods will anyone watch the PGA this year? Sounds like a great story idea from an editor. (linked here).

== Bloomberg's Business News has its Power 100 for athletes (linked here) Top 5: Tiger, LeBron, Lefty, Pujols, Peyton ... Kobe is No. 12, Manny is No. 90 (not No. 99), and Candy Parker is No. 92. More to the media angle, there's also a sidebar predicting a Dallas-Philly NFL game as the one what will traditionally draw the most TV attention (linked here). If only the league can arrange that for a Super Bowl someday.

== There's a theory as to why sports does well on TV (linked here). The secret: Economic downturn. Wow. nuver thunk of that ...

== We're wondering why this screen grab isn't more prevelant on the Internet -- a college basketball student section showing their disapproval by means of hand signals (linked here).

== Media penis envy, Mr. Oden (linked here)

== It matters to someone that Charissa Thompson has opinions about the State of the Union Address ... none very politically astute, just comparing the First Lady to a "tellitubbie" (sic) (linked here).

AND FINALLY:

== LeBron James has enough problems attacking water bottles. According to the Onion sports, he's also steamed about this dunk contest app (linked here)