Kornheiser Takes Buyout

In terms of the industry list of bitches hypersensitive to personal criticism . . . he's 'way up there.

 

But even before blogs, such work wasn't everywhere in newspapers/media; that's why it was something special and why Kornheiser was special. There's nothing about blogs that inherently prevent people from doing or appreciating work like this, and there's certainly an audience for such work, considering that a lot of popular, well-run blogs, spanning all topics, often publish pieces that are just as long and require just as much effort to produce. It's just that they are outnumbered by the numerous crappy blogs. Readers still appreciate work like this; you just have to work harder to make them aware that such work exists because there's a lot more competition for their attention.

 

Kornheiser is one of many big-time columnists who is one of the most talented around, but hasn't written anything of substance (which he would be the first to admit) in quite some time...

His books are all brilliant. Pumping Irony is fantastic.

 

When I was in college and for a couple years afterwards, TK was my favorite columnist. His Sunday syndicated column was always outstanding and almost always made me laugh...

 

You mean like First and 10, Four Downs, Around the Horn and every other contrived show/segment with two or more writers arguing that ESPN and other media have tried to force on us since the PTI model was created?

As Buck said, the Wilbon/Kornheiser dynamic is what makes PTI work so well. It's been created over the course of two decades-plus as friends and co-workers, and it can't be replicated just by taking two guys and telling them to argue opposite view points.

 

PTI works as a news vehicle, as commentary, as "entertainment" in the loosest sense.

The other shows you mentioned are shite, more skirt lifting for the tourists and mouth-breathers.

 

When I was working at my first journalism job about a dozen years ago, at a 10K-circ daily in a distant D.C. suburb, I started to read (and enjoy) the Washington Post. I admired Tony's columns. They were the type of thing I wanted to do, the reason I had left a previous career in investment banking. He played for (and got) laughs most of the time, but also had other gears he could tap.

At one point I sent Tony a bunch of my columns. I appended a letter saying much of what I just said above. I'm not sure what I hoped might happen. But I did not think that he would do what he did: Call me at my podunk paper to talk about the art and practice of writing a sports column.

He didn't tell me anything that dramatic or inspirational in our 5-10 minute chat, but that wasn't what stuck with me. (The only specific advice I remember is that he suggested I lay off the "I" for a while, because I was new and *loved* the first-person. I liked that he had the self-awareness to acknowledge that by that point in his career many of his columns were first-person riffs. He said something like, "This might sound strange coming from me, but stop with the 'I.'" And as an exercise, I completely eliminated the first person for six months.)

I was most impressed and thankful for the simple fact that he took the time to call a novice sportswriter from a nothing paper. So I'll always wish Mr. Tony nothing but the best.

 

Did his radio show twice. The first time, one of the producers called me and I was just ecstatic. As it turned out, TK was out that day and I was on with Wingo. To say I was disappointed would be a massive understatement.

The second time they called me, I joked with one of the producers about what happened the first time and I asked if I was going to be on with Tony or someone else. I told them I would do it regardless, but I was curious since I grew up as such a fan of Tony's.

They relayed the story to Tony, who thought it was hilarious and told it on the air. When I told him that I grew up reading him, instead of being flattered, he started ranting about how old he was when writers start saying they read him growing up.

 

TK: (Newspapers) aren't dying, they're dead."

http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/05/kornheiser-newspapers-arent-dying.html

 

When he's right, he's right...

 

Funny how he came to that realization right as he was leaving the business.