Why Jimmie Johnson's surgery is news

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Six-time Nascar champion Jimmie Johnson revealed on Sunday that he underwent offseason surgery to repair three non-sports related hernias, a procedure that he acknowledged affected his preparation for the 2014 season.

New information on a popular public figure? By any measure -- in just about any newsroom in the country -- that would qualify as news. And yet, on Monday there was some dispute among fans, Johnson and even a few members of the media as to whether it should have been viewed that way.

Here's what Johnson told the media after he won the Sprint Cup race at Dover on Sunday: "I didn't realize it was one, a secret, or two, public information. Have you had any surgeries lately? Is there any procedures -- when did you have your teeth cleaned?"

To which I would answer ...

The three things I did not write about Nascar

There has been a lot of reaction to my column from Tuesday on Nascar's silence regarding Jason Collins, some of it supportive and some of it ugly. That's OK. My hope with my blog is to start a discussion. In that regard, I feel as if I succeeded.

As one respected national reporter wrote to me this morning, "it clearly struck a chord, and that's the job of any great columnist, right? If you're not stoking emotions, you're not doing your job." I was also heartened to receive a thumbs up on facebook from Robert Lipsyte, the author and longtime columnist and writer for The New York Times who was recently named the new ombudsman for ESPN.

I am happy to defend my words, but too many people are inserting their own meaning into those words and asking me to defend their interpretation of my column. I can't possibly do that.

So I want to point out three things I did not write:

Don Cherry should be banned from the locker room

I've had my share of battles with coaches and athletes over the years, from Scotty Bowman and Keith Primeau in Detroit to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. If you're a sports reporter long enough, and you ask tough questions or write stories that challenge the status quo, that's going to happen.

But as far as I know, the disagreements have never been about my mere presence in a locker room. Except once.

So when I heard the outrageous-just-to-be-outrageous hockey broadcaster Don Cherry had said on Saturday night that women don't belong in a locker room, I couldn't help but think of the only athlete in all the decades I've been in this business who made the locker room an ugly issue.

This is my f*cking blog!

Count me among the masses relieved to read that the F.C.C. would not come down hard on David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox for that little speech he gave before Saturday's game.

With the lockdown over, the second alleged Boston Marathon bomber captured and the games allowed to go on once again, Ortiz addressed the crowd at Fenway Park and told them, "This jersey that we wear today, it doesn't say 'Red Sox,' it says 'Boston.' We want to thank you Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick, the whole police department for the great job they did this past week. This is our f*cking city."

After all Boston had been through in the last week, Ortiz gave them a reason to finally smile and laugh again.

And maybe, for once, Big Brother understood how important that was to the people there. Because the F.C.C. chairman, Julius Genachowski, actually posted on Twitter Saturday afternoon,

Today's Journalism: Better to be first than right

Wednesday was a bad day for journalism, whether you were covering the Boston explosions or following the news from your computer or mobile phone. Depending on which media outlet you were clicking on, you could have read that a suspect had been arrested. Or was close to being arrested. Or was going to be arraigned in federal court. Or none of the above.

For those who thought we had learned a lesson from the mistakes of Newtown (remember the brother who was reported to be the shooter?), nothing has changed. And it won't change.

Here's why getting it first is always going to matter enough to risk

Brad Keselowski, the N.R.A. and news of the day

I have to admit I was a bit surprised when Brad Keselowski said he didn't believe the National Rifle Association's title sponsorship of a Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway was a story.

Keselowski, the reigning Cup champion and an important voice in the garage, made the assertion in a press conference on Thursday in advance of Saturday's N.R.A. 500. And maybe inside the bubble that is Nascar, it doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal. After all, the N.R.A. has been around racing for a while and is a welcome partner to many.

But outside that bubble and away from the stakeholders who help market the sport, the N.R.A. is a national story right now. The organization's role in lobbying and shaping the gun-control argument in Congress has made it one of the most watched and covered in the country. That's why its sponsorship of a Nascar race at this time matters.

Media outlets from The New York Times to USA Today, the Charlotte Observer and Sporting News, among others, are dutifully covering the story. As they should.

Because unlike race results, Twitter banter and driver spats -- the fodder that make up the bulk of daily Nascar coverage -- this isn't just a story. It's news.

And right now, there isn't a bigger news story involving Nascar than this.

You can follow me on Twitter @viv_bernstein