Blood in the streets of Hartford and Baltimore

Everything's bad about this, no doubt. But there's no "good" way to lay off a bunch of people, with the possible exception of giving them five year's severance on the way out the door.

The one thing that struck me about this: For those who repeat the whole "Nobody's laying off any managers" mantra, well, here's the exception to that. Now there is a newsroom that is not only symbolically devoid of leadership, it is literally so.

 

Recently departed top editor Tim Franklin seems to have a lot of common sense. Maybe he would have handled a bad situation more deftly than "Monty."

 

Right, this isn't a managers vs. non-managers situation, it's a Tribune vs. The Sun situation.

 

The really big picture is, it's working stiffs paying with their careers for a billionaire's ego trip that went haywire....

 

For what it's worth, I heard the Sun reporters KNEW the layoffs were coming down, didn't want to be in office, and so there were 6 or 8 of them sitting there in the Camden Yards press box, with not all of them necessarily "working the game." So that's why they got called "during the game."

 

That must have been an amazing scene. One by one, their phones are ringing. That's the stuff of Hollywood.

Did they go to the park purposely to take a final bow? Did the park immediately revoke their credential? Did they walk out or watch the rest of the game?

This would be hilarious if it weren't so sad.

 

Maybe the Grim Reaper was wise enough to their whereabouts that he asked them to keep passing around the same phone so he wouldn't have to dial up each one separately.

 

Prediction: Maese will be at ESPN.com within the next month.

 

ESPN doesn't have enough $$ to hire EVERYONE, do they?

Maese working for Hoppes, maybe?

 

I might bet on David Steele landing at ESPN before Maese..........

 

From a stockholder point of view, ESPN needn't feel a rush to hire any ex-newspaper people at least until their severance runs out and they can squeeze 'em on pay. What's the rush? They're going to lose all that talent to some other place bidding up the price of out-of-work sportswriters?

They're like buses -- miss one, there's another one coming along. More like another dozen these days. Got to be honest about it.

 

Hoppes and Maese, sitting in a tree...