In the "you can't make this up" category ...

Wednesday, the Star Tribune went for the web views, posting this hit-getting piece of cheesecake: "Lindsey Vonn barely keeps it on for SI swimsuit edition."

For a while, the scantily clad Olympian dueled with a bewilderingly pro-George-Bush billboard for most-viewed supremacy on startribune.com. (Bush, by the way, won.) But sportswriter Michael Rand says Stribbers who clicked their Vonn story's originating link for the entire Sports Illustrated gallery saw this instead: "This site has been blocked due to the nature of its content. Reason: The ... category 'Lingerie and Swimsuit' is filtered."

One long-time staffer says the nanny state began under Avista Capital Partners' bankruptcy-benighted watch; previous owner McClatchy Co. either trusted professionals more, or was less attentive. It remains to be seen whether the new bosses, who revel in their site's growing page views, will change course and let staffers consume the cheesecake as well as sell it.

[Update: I'm told Strib staffers are now free to click through to Olympic bikinis.]