Good Read on a Giant of Sports, and a Giant of Sports Journalism

Here's a column by T.J. Simers that's a little different from what he usually does, but that still adheres to his style and shtick.

The line I loved the most:

"There are gymnasiums and schools named for Wooden. Most folks misspell Dwrye."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers14-2008dec14,0,3452736,full.column

 

Sam Gilbert!

(ducking)

 

Bill Dwyre can light his own head on fire and jump into a vat of elephant dung for all I care. When The National folded, he did everything but fly to NYC and spike the ball in the end zone. Couple hundred people lose their jobs, and this knob celebrates with an I-told-you-so dance in front of anyone who asked. Fuckabuncha that empty suit.

 

Yeah, well, he's going to do the same thing when the Internet proves to be a fad.

Be honest, too: People who took a chance on working at The National knew it was a high-risk, high-reward proposition. They got the latter for a while, then the former. I applauded their attempt and envied them their opportunity, though I was grateful for my stupid old job at the back end.

 

And did you celebrate - and I mean full-on public gloating -- when it folded?
No, you didn't.
That's because you are a human being with some decency.

 

I hear ya. Of course, some on this board would disagree with the above sentiment.


By design.

 

Damn, I forgot about that guy.

 

Fenian, I don't remember that particular move by Mr. Dwyre, but I do recall a quote from one of the APSE newsletters to the effect that "once the internet millionaires are back flipping burgers" that all will return to normalcy.

 

For a variety of personal reasons, I remain a Dwyre guy -- I know he's not everybody's cup of tea -- but it has been 11 years, and I'm still flipping Internet pages.

 

SportsJournalists.com: Where no compliment goes uncontested.

 

Goddamn right.

 

I recall hearing the same thing happening -- by the sports editor of the L.A. Daily News -- back when the L.A. Times closed its regional bureaus, something that has since been called maybe the worst, most damaging thing, business-wise, that the LAT has done in the past 10 years.

Sometimes, that's just the nature of serious, heated competition, and had more to do with the paper, as a competitive entity, than the people.

I'd guess the same applied when it came to The Times and The National.