Register lays off longtime columnist

Randy Youngman, whose column has lived on Page 2 of the Orange County Register for many years, has been let go as part of a wave of layoffs in Santa Ana: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/03/randy_youngman_oc_register.php

 

Thought this was going to be about Marc Hansen.

 

How much was he making? That was probably a factor in his layoff. I would imagine he and Mark Whicker were the highest paid people in sports, possibly among the entire editorial staff.

 

A good columnist -- never saw him have to fake expertise. And a cool guy, too.

 

Dumping longtime columnists takes a lot of the heart and soul out of a paper. I doubt that goes over big with the readers who are left, but I doubt the bean-counters care about that anymore.

 

So sorry to hear this about Randy. I have had some connections with him through the years.

Best of luck to him.

 

This would be pretty much what I would say as well. Hope he lands on his feet.

 

Maybe Whicker can write a column about what he's missed in real life since he's been a columnist at the Register.

 

had a similar situation in Portland where a long-time columnist with the state's biggest paper, left to join another city paper (part of my chain) when it started up about 10 years back. Budget cuts eventually knocked him out there, and he's gone on to a successful role in radio and TV.

 

Sad to learn of this. Randy is a native of Ashtabula, Ohio, and started in the business as a high school kid in the sports department at The Star Beacon. That's where I got my first sport writing job, too.

 

OK, knowing Randy and knowing the dynamic at the OCR, this may sound plaintive. I don't care. This is absolutely disgusting -- especially for a paper that is throwing its eggs in the local basket in waves.

Randy Youngman was one of the few people remaining at that paper who could write intelligently about everything from Cal State Fullerton baseball to the Ducks to local golf. Jettisoning him -- especially with his paper's one and only pro golf tournament (the Champions Tour's Toshiba Classic) looming in two weeks -- is not only ridiculous, but flat-out, fucking stupid.

From Mark Whicker's Facebook page today:

Teemu Selanne, at today's Ducks morning skate: "I'm not talking to the media today because I'm honoring Randy Youngman."

As a longtime Kings fan, I detest the Ducks. But I just became a HUGE Selanne fan.