So, Trea Turner is a former M.C. State, not N.C. State, shortstop???

Someone editing of sports wire copy at The News & Observer must have the comedic movie 22 Jump Street on the mind. That’s because in today’s paper, the print edition and the online e-edition, we find that Trea Turner is a former M.C. State shortstop, not a former N.C. State shortstop. Obviously, it’s just a typographical error, but it happens way too much for a newspaper the supposed quality of The N&O. 

Sometimes the error is caught and changed from one edition to the other. For instance, there was a prominent misspelling of “Sweden” the other day. In an early edition of the newspaper, the country whose women’s soccer team was playing the United States was “Sweeden.” Sweden is a Scandinavian country; Sweeden is an unincorporated community in Kentucky. Sweeden is also the name of an album by the psychedelic musical group Salems Pot.

Today’s error was not changed for the print edition or the e-edition. The story originated Sunday (June 14) with the Associated Press bureau in Milwaukee which was covering the Washington Nationals baseball series at the Brewers. When the story hit the editing desk of The N&O, someone was sharp enough to remember Turner has a local connection through playing baseball for the Wolfpack. Turner was drafted by San Diego, June 13, 2014, but traded to Washington. Yesterday, June 14, 2015, was the first day he could report to the Nationals organization.

The second paragraph of the AP story begins, The shortstop selected 13th… The person editing the story changed it to read, The former M.C. State shortstop selected 13th… So Trea Turner, through an easy typo since the ‘N” and the “M” are next to each other on the keyboard, is a former M.C. (Metro City) State shortstop. (By the way, typos are easy to make; just ask me.) While the Wolfpack faithful prefer to claim Turner, there’s a chance Turner would have loved to “play” at Metro City State in 22 Jump Street.

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