TIM BLAIR: Today’s noticeboard is brought to you the enduring mystery of woke sports reporters.

Theory: sports reporters feel ashamed because they’re wasting their lives writing about inconsequential games, so turn political to compensate.

If so, they are mistaken. Sports reporting is an honourable calling. Politics, not so much.

American journalists frequently refer to the sports department as the equivalent of working in a candy or toy store, compared with the hard news sections (or what passes for such things these days). When the late Mike Wallace interviewed Bill Parcells for 60 Minutes in 2004, he even used that metaphor on Parcells. After describing the 14 hour days Parcells put in as a head coach, Parcells told Wallace, “If you want to stay competitive, this is one of the most competitive businesses there is.” Wallace replied with an incredulous tone, “This is the toy department!”, confusing his own profession’s view of sports journalists, with the people they cover. It’s an insulting metaphor to say to a man who had spent nearly his entire adult life coaching college and professional football.