Itzkoff's promise to "consider the torturous path that any piece of copy had to follow before it ever appeared in print" might well mark the all-time low-water mark for the quest narrative...
Torturous describes the infliction of torture or pain. The word for winding and circuitous is tortuous.
Meanwhile, over at Salon.com, King Kaufman is dissing Craig Kilborn's appearance on ESPN:
As if he were ever anything other than just one more guy in a suit doing his version of Keith Olbermann's shtick. He was as original as the Monkeys, as fresh and new as the latest "Family Feud."
As someone who has actually schmoozed backstage with Davy Jones, I can tell you that the name of the band was the Monkees.
