Albom re-runs 22-year-old column

It seems our dreams of reading a current, original column by Mitch about the Lions were, sadly, tragically, deferred.

 

I've noticed the Freep doing a lot of this lately, digging up old stories and re-running them (at least online) under the "FLASHBACK" header.

They've done it twice with the Rodriguez stuff, even flashing all the way back ONE WEEK!

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/SPORTS06/80116008/1054

 

Outing alert: silentbob is Carole Leigh Hutton.

 

Ahhh yes, "Fab Five," a great work of fiction and comedy, on the greatest basketball team to never win a goddamn thing (and in addition, what nothing it did win was erased from the record books later anyway).

MITCH ALBOM'S INVESTIGATION INTO THE ED MARTIN SCANDAL:

MITCH: What can you tell me about Ed Martin, Chris?

WEBBER: Awwww come on, what do you want to talk about that for?

END OF INVESTIGATION

 

We go thru this every year.
Bunch of posters alleging Mitch makes things up in books, in columns, to women he hit on in college ("I WAS THERE!") A few posters wondering how Mitch could possibly live with himself for making all that money off poor little, helpless Morrie. "What? He's a good piano player, too? He's not really playing. He can't be! That piano is programmed!"
And yet, despite claims that begin "I know for a fact ..." no one offers proof. Just the same ol' tired posts. ("My friend talked to C-Webb and he said Mitch made up the entire 13th and 17th chapters! Well, it wasn't really my friend. I just know OF him.")
We are in the gotcha era of journalism. If you could prove Mitch was a fraud, you'd probably wind up on Oprah. But instead, you choose to live silently behind the scenes, throwing stones from afar. How noble of you all, sacrificing the spotlight, standing behind your morals and ethics.
The man deserved to take a hit over the Michigan State column. He did. If I remember right, sportsjournalists.com could've published a book with all the posts demanding his dismissal. Let it go.

 

Some of what you bring up is debatable.

The fact that "Fab Five" is an epic puff piece . . . is not.

 

Randy Harvey, now of LA Times, and several other respected professionals believed that Albom would be fired over his transgression, which was way more than a mistake -- it was deceit and fraud, not a little slip-up or boo-boo. And once again, it was the cover-up, or the circling of wagons, by his bosses that made the situation stink to high heaven. In ways they never would have done for some poor schmoe in their newsroom, they plowed under any sense of ethics to hang onto someone they believed delivered $$$ to them.

If Mitch's worst punishment is taking heat on this board -- and it sure seems that it has been -- he and his backers ought to shut up and let him take it.

 

At this rate, you're going to make Carole Leigh Hutton almost appear journalistic.

Almost.

Almost as damning, silentbob, was the fact that Mitch Albom tried to throw editors in front of the train after the crap hit the fan. The same editors that probably would have been canned had any of them changed stuff without little Mitchie's blessing.

Albom's true colors showed up in his attempt to absolve himself of responsibility in the aftermath of his fabrication. I look forward to your defending that, too.

 

Granted,Mitchie probably has the final say,but I would imagine that its the Freeps idea not Mitchies to put out these old columns..At least they are only on the web...I think out of all his books,the one on Schembechler was the best by far

 

The fabrication was bad, but what sent most here over the edge was his easy dismissal of the issue, as if it was no big deal. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming into admitting he fucked up and even then it was a half-assed mea culpa -- as if he was above it all because it was no big deal.

 

I've gotta admit I'm not too familiar with anything Albom did re:The Fab Five following the book. I know all about the Ed Martin scandal but beyond that I dunno. I was 16 or 17 when I read the book.