ESPN "Office Space" Lynn Hoppes

That was worse than awful.

 

Bump.
Where are you, Hoppes?
This is no time for selective browsing.
Please explain whatever you were thinking.

Also, can you get me Berman's autograph?

 

In ESPN's defense, one of the most popular stories we did at my college paper, outside of breaking news stuff, was a yearly one about how the paper was made. Likewise, posts about the day-to-day operations of some of my past jobs on my personal blog were among the most popular. I'm not talking about high-brow stuff either, since my past jobs were reporter, substitute teacher, Dunkin' Donuts and the driving range.

Sure, there are plenty of dumb clods out there, but if someone is reading a paper, I think they have a natural curiosity that is stoked by this sort of stuff. One of my favorite columns at Slate is the Explainer, where they just describe minutiae or other "how the sausage is made" sort of stuff.

That being said, ye gads does this guy come off as a name-dropping ass. You'd think that if they were going to do an in-house production like this, they would 1) pick someone better and 2) vet and edit the whole thing much more carefully. ESPN posting that just reeks of arrogance. "No one will give a shit because we're ESPN, duh, winning."

 

Every time I saw Lynne's name brought up on this board it was always a glowing review.

Then he posted that job for a social media writer, didn't respond to anybody and filled it internally. Then he made this video. Get a fucking haircut. You look like a fucking clown.

 

And most of those were done by people who never worked under him. Fact.

 

Did Lynn refuse to share his Jonas Brothers toys with you?

Hoppes is a mixed bag. If you go by the guys who worked for Hoppes at The Sentinel, the younger writers who he hired would take a bullet for him. The older writers would have happily fired the bullet.

He's very polarizing, but there are a ton of great writers out there who will happily tell you they owe their careers to Hoppes.

 

The editors who worked under him would be unanimous in their opinion of his work. You can guess which way they would go....

 

Left? Was it right? Oh screw it, I'll go with up.

 

Been thinking all day how this guy really reminds me of someone. It just hit me. He is the UPS guy.

 

I don't doubt that there were some who liked working under Hoppes, although I can't say I ever met them.

I do recall that no editor, anywhere prompted such fawning, sycophantic praise as Hoppes did whenever he weighed in on anything. (And if I recall correctly, Mizzou, you were often leading the charge).

Anyone who suggested that perhaps he might be a less than Christ-like figure was immediately shouted down.

 

Nah, Mizzou led the Chris Snow as fucking young stud charge. Let's get things straight here.

 

Mizzou was DEFINITELY No. 1 on the Hoppes BJ train.

That being said, Mizzou is usually No. 1 on anyone's train.