Opening in Knoxville

Their gameday sections were pretty amazing. It was a bit homerish, but that had more to do with cartoons they ran and gamecards that were there than anything the staff wrote.

I would say that of the hometown papers in the SEC, it was close between Knoxville and The State for best football coverage.

 

Wish somehow they could bring back the Dyergram (artist is dead, but as I kid I would just be mesmerized every Sunday morning).

http://olive.knoxnews.com/olive/ODE/Knoxville/server/GetContent.asp?contentsrc=primitive&dochref=KNS%2F2008%2F09%2F28&entityid=Pc03602&pageno=36&chunkid=Pc03602&repformat=1.0&primid=Pc0360200&imgext=jpg&type=Content&for=primitive

 

That's the craziest infographic I've ever seen.

 

Agreed. I am a UNC grad and I criticized my alma mater in column when Butch Davis got an extension with a big raise after going 4-8 in his first season. Got some hate mail from one Tar Heel fan who accused me of being anti-Carolina, which kind of made me chuckle. I wrote him back, pointed out my alumni status and told him I reserved the right to criticize my university if I felt it made a bad decision.

 

And I just shake my head in disgust when I see what papers try to pass off as a "drive chart" for big games today.

Dyergrams gave you every play, every penalty, every punt, every fumble and told you who made key plays. And did it with personality (and a little homerism, too).

But I guess they're just not practical in a sports era with so many night games. But stuff like that is why I dreamed of working at newspapers as a kid. Imagine, being at a place where that cool stuff is produced.

Today, we're trained monkeys sourcing up modules from Chicago.

 

This one is down to the final 3.

 

After a search that started in mid-July, I'm happy to announce that Andrew Gribble, who covers Auburn for the Opelika-Auburn News, will join the staff of the News Sentinel at the end of the month.
He will be covering Tennessee football and recruiting.

 

Opelika-Auburn News opening to be posted in 5, 4, 3 .....

 

My position at the Opelika-Auburn News will be filled from within the sports department. David Morrison, who has been doing one hell of a job on the preps beat, will take over the Auburn beat. Morrison's spot will be filled by another staff member, Stuart Lieberman, whose position will not be replaced.

 

Lieberman has some big shoes to fill... the guy who is in charge of football for the state sports writers association is a demanding prick...
As for the Auburn beat, Morrison can't carry Gribble's jock

 

And I'll bet neither Gribble nor Morrison while whine about working on scheduled days off because they know it's part of the job...