THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The dirty side of sports journalism — believe it or not

Yep, we’re doing another “Notes and Quotes” session today, right on the heels of a N&Q column on Wednesday.

Why?

Well, there are a couple of items that I just have to share with you — everything from a hilarious spring training exchange a few years back to, unfortunately …

A truly grubby story that makes sports journalism look fairly awful.

I wish that one would just get tossed aboard one of those pay-as-you-go public passenger rockets — and then get left in space forever.

The toughest thing today is deciding that age-old question: “Do you want the good news or bad news first?”

Let’s go with the ugly stuff now, so maybe I can leave you laughing at the end of the show.

So, let’s do this …

ITEM: There seems to be some dispute over whether Sean Payton was the Broncos’ first choice to be their next coach (and Russell Wilson’s savior).

On Tuesday, you’ll recall, Denver agreed to send some draft choices to New Orleans for the right to hire Payton.

That same day, Houston filled its own coaching vacancy with 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.

An explosion occurred later that day when Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network posted the following tweet …

The Broncos last few weeks:

— Zeroed in on DeMeco Ryans.

— Secretly tried to lure Jim Harbaugh from Michigan.

— Negotiated a Sean Payton deal.

— Tried to hire Ryans again.

— Finalized the hire of Payton as their new coach.

Needless to say, if Rapoport’s sources gave him correct information (and the guy is generally plugged in), the Broncos look stupid, silly, underhanded and, well, fill in the unpleasant adjective of your choice.

But …

Just 10 minutes after Rapoport’s tweet, another fellow tight with the NFL to an unhealthy degree — Adam Schefter — fired out a different version of events.

Schefter called the proximity of the stories a “coincidence,” and set about insisting that the Broncos were set on Payton all along, and DEFINITELY did not contact Ryans right before hiring Payton.

There is no objective view of this spat in which a supposed “NFL insider” didn’t either get terrible information or fiddle with facts to help out a team.

Next up, journalist Brandon Contes put some context to the fight.

“The problem for Schefter,” he wrote, “is a history of controversial career moves that include writing a puff piece to help boost the image of Deshaun Watson, and admitting to sending a complete draft of an ESPN story to an NFL team for approval.”

Contes pointed out that Schefter previously had been a reporter for The Denver Post — which isn’t quite a killer (I used to work there, too), but adds another odd whiff to things.

Contes concluded with this indictment …

“While Schefter is great at breaking news, he’s proven himself to be a shill for the NFL enough times that when it smells like he might be trying to help a team by squashing a potentially embarrassing story, he probably is.”

Sadly, one possible outcome here is that Rapoport believed a bunch of crap because it made a sensational story, while Schefter denied it because he was in the Broncos’ pocket — thus tarnishing everybody.

Beautiful.

(Yes, that was sarcasm.)

As you’re thinking badly of the media while reading this, at least amuse yourself with yet another angle to the Payton hiring, courtesy of freelance reporter Jordan Loupe …

“I'm told Broncos ownership ‘begged’ New Orleans to take Russell Wilson as part of the trade compensation, but the Saints prefer Taysom Hill.”

Lol.

Let’s see, that just about covers everything that could be true, false or somewhere in between — depending on whether or not you’re a Broncos fan.

ITEM: OK, shall we get to a more enjoyable exchange so everyone can, you know, feel like they’ve had a nice soapy shower?

Good.

Let’s go back to Mariners spring training in 2017.

Here’s the version from USA Today …

“One morning, Ichiro was in the coaches' room looking at his cell phone text messages.

Ichiro told the coaches about one message he had just received from a number he didn't recognize.

“The guy said he'd gotten Ichiro's number from Alex Rodriguez, and that he wanted to come meet him and study his stretching system.

"‘What's the guy's name?’" asked one of the coaches.

Ichiro scrolled to the end of the text.

"‘Some guy named Tom Brady. Who the f* is Tom Brady?’"

ITEM: Are you familiar with LinkedIn, a site connecting folks in or around the professional communication world?

It’s now a massive thing, where anyone remotely connected with this business — journalists, marketing people, vendors, IA designers, yada, yada — can stay in touch, and/or …

Exchange information about open positions, HR contacts if you want a job, etc.

Despite several attempts on my end to prevent it, LinkedIn insists on sending me four or five updates a day.

These are mostly things like: “Congratulate Joe Schmoe for his 35-year anniversary at the Chicken Crossing News!”

If you happen to know that Mr. Schmoe is now a whale skinner in Point Barrow, Alaska, you just laugh and ignore it.

On Thursday, however, I noticed yet another LinkedIn item had hit my inbox.

It said: “Steve, Find Your Next Job.”

Nooooooo …

Seriously, Boss, you know that the joke about Groundhog Day was all in fun, right?

Right?

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”