Dear Jacksonville

Damn. Known Bob for years. Once did "point-counterpoint" piece with him on one of state's oldest prep rivalries.

 

i've known bob since he worked at the St. Augustine paper while I was working as the prep editor in Jax... good people, good writer... if you see this Bob, my thoughts are with you.

 

I've known Bob (not well) for years. Class act who deserved better. Fussman handled it better than the fucks in Tampa.

This thread makes me every bit as sick as I was when I learned the news about Scott Carter, Carter Gaddis and Tim Povtak.

Unfuckingbelievable and as we all know, these layoffs aren't ending anytime soon.

 

The problem with both papers is that they know there is a need to staff Tallahassee and to cover FSU and for that matter, FAMU. Unfortunately, when they start trimming their budget, it is also the first place they look to phase out. Their thinking is that AP can do an adequate job and that's true to a certain extent.
No doubt had FSU been kicking ass, Bob's job would've been safer. Not saying that he wouldn't have been a casualty, just saying they might have been prone to look elsewhere.

 

Only problem is, AP's coverage of Florida State is very, very lacking.

 

I was at the T-U as recently as a year ago in the sports department prior to jumping ship to PR and wanted to chime in about Bob, who is one of the good people in the business. He was great to me when I first broke into the business as a snot-nosed correspondent in Tallahassee, helped me get my first job and was always fantastic.
It just boggles the mind that someone like Bob gets the axe while other people (and this meant in general terms because every paper has them) in the newsroom manage to keep their jobs when they do less work and have less passion, but are in a better position relative to cuts because they know how the "work" the system. This makes absolutely no sense.
Thanks Bob for everything. Good luck to you (and the rest of the newspaper business).

 

It always has been.

 

Wonder why AP doesn't notice the difference in what they get out of Mark Long in Gainesville (who's also covering the Jaguars for AP, and goes back and forth, doing a credible job in both instances), and what they get out of their Tallahassee bureau?
Especially since FSU, historically, makes it pretty easy on beat guys, as opposed to the hurdles you have to jump at UF and, to a certain extent, from what I hear the Jaguars can be like sometimes.
Sounds like AP Tallahassee needs some new blood ... like maybe Bob Thomas?

 

I just home the T-U doesn't notice the great job Mark Long does and send its UF beat guy packing as well.

 

This is damn sad to see. I just heard him on Rivals Radio last week too. Bob is a great guy and I hope he hangs in there. He won't be on the waiver wire long that's for sure.

For those who don't know and possible employers who should know, Bob is a past president of the Florida Sports Writers Association and was instrumental in setting up the College Football Media Days and making it a two-day event.

Thought I might one day work with Bob, but alas I had to interview with the now infamous Dean Rock - well I was going to but after driving up there, I interviewed with just anybody BUT him. And certainly an adventure to tell over a beer.

Hang in there Bob.

 

Ah Dean Rock... The guy who makes Garry Howard look like Van McKenzie...

 

Many moons ago, when Bob and I had hair, we sat in a stuffy gym in St. Augustine and covered a bad girls basketball playoff game. At one point in this utter root canal of an event, Bob looked at me and said, "Could be worse. We could be selling insurance."

Bobby T. is good, good people.