Topic: Sports reporter to undergo sex change

[Mr. X]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-oldmike26apr26,1,6474659,full.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

[buckweaver]

Damn. Good for her.

[GB-Hack]

This just got thrown on the random thoughts thread.

[blondebomber]

Whatever. I don't care one way or another. But why did she have to dread writing this story for so long? Why would it enter her mind we gave a damn? Just another example of a writer thinking a personal story is so important the readers MUST know.

My wife had a miscarriage last year. How dare my editor not let me write about that ...

[sportschick]

You're a world-class asshole. That is all.

[SoCalDude]

Penner is/was married to Lisa Dillman, another Times staffer. No mention in the story about her.

[Birdscribe]

Penner is/was married to Lisa Dillman, another Times staffer. No mention in the story about her.

Wow. Didn't see this coming.

I noticed that too, SoCalDude. Interesting to see/hear what comes out of that variable to the equation.

As a wordsmith and turner of phrase, Penner is one of the best on that staff, although I could really do without his/her lecturing me about why soccer is the greatest sport and if I don't think it is, than I'm one notch above plankton on the evolutionary scale.

Glad to see that Penner is finally finding inner peace, however.

[Piotr Rasputin]

Took me a second to remember that tidbit about Lisa Dillman . . . . . .

Penner is a very good writer, a dude who really embraced soccer after being part of the 1994 coverage. And a good guy. He should do what he feelss best for himself and for his own psyche.

Good for him, and good luck to him.

[blondebomber]

You're a world-class asshole. That is all.

If I don't give a fuck about a transvestite sportswriter who writes under his byline, what makes you think I give a fuck what you think anonymously?

Your opinion means less to me than Penner's self-important column. If he wants to unburden himself, the sports pages of the LA Times isn't the place to do it.

[Oz]

Your opinion means less to me than Penner's self-important column. If he wants to unburden himself, the sports pages of the LA Times isn't the place to do it.

Apparently, the LA Times editors thought otherwise.

[blondebomber]

You're a world-class asshole. That is all.

If I don't give a fuck about a transvestite sportswriter who writes under his byline, what makes you think I give a fuck what you think anonymously?

Your opinion means less to me than Penner's self-important column. If he wants to unburden himself, the sports pages of the LA Times isn't the place to do it.

You stay classy, bomber.

I have nothing against the guy's personal beliefs or decisions. Sorry if I don't think this has a place in sports. If the features section wanted to do a story on him, fine. But a first-person spiritual catharsis? Not appropriate in the sports section.

[blondebomber]

Your opinion means less to me than Penner's self-important column. If he wants to unburden himself, the sports pages of the LA Times isn't the place to do it.

Apparently, the LA Times editors thought otherwise.

No, not "apparently." The editors clearly thought otherwise.

[sportschick]

You're a world-class asshole. That is all.

If I don't give a fuck about a transvestite sportswriter who writes under his byline, what makes you think I give a fuck what you think anonymously?

Your opinion means less to me than Penner's self-important column. If he wants to unburden himself, the sports pages of the LA Times isn't the place to do it.

You don't care what I think, yet you spent time typing a fuck-off post.

Interesting.

[gingerbread]

Blondebomber,
Can you at least understand that many LA Times readers might wonder what happened to Mike Penner? That he's been writing about a lot of different subjects and sports for more than two decades and then suddenly disappeared?
Or that some might even think, "hmm, this new writer Christine has a similar writing style to that guy Mike. Wonder where he went?"
Or that gossips would soon hear about Mike transitioning and the news would eventually appear somewhere, and maybe this was him taking control of his own story?
Or that doing it this way was easier than explaining to his hundreds of sources that Christine would now be calling them about articles, and not Mike?
Can you give him that?

[blondebomber]

You're a world-class asshole. That is all.

If I don't give a fuck about a transvestite sportswriter who writes under his byline, what makes you think I give a fuck what you think anonymously?

Your opinion means less to me than Penner's self-important column. If he wants to unburden himself, the sports pages of the LA Times isn't the place to do it.

You don't care what I think, yet you spent time typing a fuck-off post.

Interesting.

A fine retort from Message Board 101.

[blondebomber]

Blondebomber,
Can you at least understand that many LA Times readers might wonder what happened to Mike Penner? That he's been writing about a lot of different subjects and sports for more than two decades and then suddenly disappeared?
Or that some might even think, "hmm, this new writer Christine has a similar writing style to that guy Mike. Wonder what where he went?"
Or that gossips would soon hear about Mike transitioning and the news would eventually appear somewhere, and maybe this was a way of him taking control of his own story?
Or that doing it this way was easier than explaining to his hundreds of sources that Christine would now be calling them about articles, and not Mike?
Can you give him that?

Yes, I can. As stated above: In the features section or even the front page, have a reporter do a story on the guy and flesh it out with medical background and support. That way it's educational and enlightening. A first-person piece in the sports section comes off as nothing more than a guy using the paper to unburden himself. If the paper wanted to acknowledge the situation, it could have done so much more effectively and * gasp * informatively.

[gingerbread]

I'm not sure sports readers -- Mike's readers -- would necessarily see the story in features or news, especially if it didn't have his byline.
More than anything, I think this is how Mike has total control of his own story.

[blondebomber]

I stand by my opinion regrarding the topic, but on a side note for those who might think the LA Times owes it to its readers to explain the new byline: Whenever the LA Times has changed out its Dodgers or Lakers writers or even altered its columnists, do the editors have to publish a story on what went into their decisions? When a female reporter gets married and starts writing under her new surname, do we need a breakout box to alert the readers?

So the guy is changing his byline. Sorry to say, but we as writers overestimate the worth of our bylines. So few people notice. To think they do is arrogance.

[sportschick]

All of those things you mentioned are normal. Someone having a sex change isn't.

And most papers do a little something when they hire a new writer, least every place I've worked at has.

[blondebomber]

All of those things you mentioned are normal. Someone having a sex change isn't.

And most papers do a little something when they hire a new writer, least every place I've worked at has.

Uh, she's not a new hire.

And the LA Times doesn't welcome each new writer with a story. A top two or three columnist might get a "Hello, how are you," but that's about it at a paper like that.

[Johnny Dangerously]

It will be the most talked-about story in the paper today.

[Meat Loaf]

To hell with political correctness, that shit is just weird.

[blondebomber]

To clarify: I'm happy for Penner. She seems very happy and at peace with her decision based on the story I read. It's the LA Times' decision on how to handle the piece that I question.

[Football_Bat]

I'm confused about this.

I thought before they did the ol' sausagectomy, one was required to live in a woman's persona for a year. Since he is still writing as Mike, that hasn't happened yet apparently.

Anyone privy to his situation who can clarify?

[Simon_Cowbell]

Whatever. I don't care one way or another. But why did she have to dread writing this story for so long? Why would it enter her mind we gave a damn? Just another example of a writer thinking a personal story is so important the readers MUST know.

My wife had a miscarriage last year. How dare my editor not let me write about that ...

If the paper didn't have such diverse, deep personal stories, it would have nothing.

Sportswriters are personalities to the readers.

This notion that readers don't care about their paper's writers is really antiquated. Second Amendment style.

And, when you have such a rare life occurrence that such a writer is willing to talk about in public, you jump on it.

Who knows how many people in his readership he unburdened at least a little bit with his words.

You can choose not to read it.