It seems as though the St. Petersburg Times — which enjoys glossing itself nearly as much as the yenta cable news channel Bay Sludge 9 — either needs to buy new horses, invest in a telegraph, or simply acknowledge that other mediums break stories or report news before they do.

Before many Times staffers get their panties in a wad, please understand Joe has friends that work there. As Don Corleone would say, it’s nothing personal, it’s business.

On its “Bucs Beat” blog yesterday, April 16, “Times Editor” beats his/her chest about a breaking news element from good guy Rodney Page, who ran into former Bucs stud and future NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks at a golf tournament. In this alleged breaking news item, Page, via “Times Editor,” reveals Brooks said he plans to continue playing in the NFL.

Aren’t we a little bit late on this boys?

Back on March 28, Joe broke the story — which was picked up by popular national blogs, both thebiglead.com and none other than Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com — that the Glazer Boys offered Brooks a job in the front office, but Brooks declined because he was still going to play.

On April 1, Roxanne Wilder of Out House Networks, who likes to Tweet while she shaves her legs, reported that Brooks told her he was not going to retire (yet).

On April 8, Brooks told his hometown newspaper, the Pensacola News-Journal, that he is “convinced I’ll play.”

Admit it St. Petersburg Times, you either need new horses, a new telegraph, or fess up and realize this is the 21st Century and admit and give credit to others for news.

To continue to glaum off of other people’s news and claim it as your own by jumping on the bandwagon makes you guys no better than the frauds at BSPN who steal other people’s work and claim it as their own.

And some people actually wonder why newspapers are dying?