Rick Cleveland leaving Clarion-Ledger

I hate this for our paper but I'm happy for Rick. He's had a great career at the C-L and will be just as good in his new role.

http://tinyurl.com/6reuhsg

 

Some papers have institutional knowledge. In Jackson, Rick is the institution. Rusty has a crater-sized hole in his paper now. He'll get another columnist, but there is no "replacing" possible. Best wishes to all.

 

Truly one of the best journalists I've ever been around. Guy does it with class, grace and respect for the subject matter.

 

This was the worst-kept secret in Mississippi. I think it was always a foregone conclusion after Michael Rubenstein passed away that Rick was the only person truly capable of filling those shoes. He'll do a great job there. As for the Ledger, losing Rick is a shot to the gut.

 

Rick Cleveland was a pro's pro. I'd have to think this comes as a result of the Gannett buyouts to older, tenured employees. I've heard there may be a few big names leaving even larger Gannett papers, too.

 

Bingo.

 

Rick's brother, outdoors columnist Bobby Cleveland, is also leaving.

The Clevelands are a great sports-writing family. Rick and Bobby's father, Ace, was SID at Southern Miss for years. Rick's son, Tyler, now works for the USM Rivals.com site and the Hattiesburg American.

Outside of Mississippi, Rick is probably best known for writing the column about former East Mississippi Junior College football coach Bull Sullivan, a copy of which Frank Deford found on a plane. It gave Deford the idea to write SportsJournalists.com favorite "The Toughest Coach There Ever Was," one of the greatest — and longest — Sports Illustrated features of all-time.

 

I've heard similar rumblings about big names in Indy and Nashville and maybe a couple other places. But a lot of times these places can get cold feet when it comes to getting rid of a big-name columnist.

I know of one guy whose name comes up every time there is a Gannett layoff coming and he's survived for more than five years.

 

If Kravitz is on the list at Indy... and that's PURE speculation on my part... I gotta believe some other paper would snap him up in a second, especially after the offseason he's just had.

 

Rick has always been a gentleman, a scholar and a helluva a great writer. His insight will be missed in the Magnolia State.

 

It's interesting... It's not the best time to be a national writer, an enterprise writer or a columnist. The writers who are the hottest commodities are the beat writers, because those are the guys who ESPN is targeting for the college and pro sites that it's started and are continuing to build.

 

These are voluntary buyouts, and as I understand it, they're not rejecting anyone who qualifies (at least 55 years old, at least 20 years in the company).