Source: Five out at Baltimore Sun

Stopped covering the Redskins and Wizards? Readers are going to love that. [blue]Cutting back sports coverage, great idea.[/blue]

 

Not staffing Redskins and Wizards makes loads of sense for the Sun. Now that Ravens are there, Redskins are irrelevant to Sun readers except perhaps a few who live closer to the District. And many of those have become Ravens fans because it was impossible to buy Redskins season tickets unless your family had had them for 20 years. As for the Wizards, even when they played in the Cap Center it was the drug dealers' team. Tickets were expensive and taking your kids to a Bullets game was hardly a wholesome family experience. Besides, Balto had long before forgotten about the Bullets. Sun readers care about the Orioles, Ravens, the Terps and high school sports. The paper will miss Eisenberg. Great wordsmith (that's why he was hired). Baker has been around forever and has covered everything. But unfortunately it's the utility players who are losing out in this madness.

 

Some banker on the fucking BOD didn't get his quarterly bonus and his $10 million home upgrade is delayed. Sorry. No more Redskins. Fuck relevancy. Fuck it with vengeance. It isn't about relevancy when you water down your product and people are choosing between gas to get to work and a product whose owner tells you, "Buy me even though I keep taking away what you like."

 

In an ideal world, no beats or jobs would be cut.

But to say that the Wizards and Caps are relevant is a stretch. Last time Baltimore cared that much about the Caps probably was when their farm team, the Skipjacks, was there. And the Redskins clearly are not important to most of The Sun's readers.

 

This is a bummer. Some of the names mentioned are real cool-cats in this biz. Baker is a blast, telling his stories of covering the Os. I think he covered damn-near everything for the Sun. McMullen is a swell guy, and best of luck to him and his son, who was seriously injured in a car wreck not long ago.

 

As they say on the Eastern Shore, printdust, "You're not from around here, are you?"

Wicked and Flying Headbutt are right: Sun readers don't give a rat's ass about the Redskins. The Sun covered the 'Skins, and did a hell of a job, between Balto NFL teams. But mostly it just reminded the Colt diehards how much they hated the Redskins and the NFL. I suspect there was little response when the paper dropped full coverage.

 

I'll retract, Hack. But there are other similar examples where my case holds up.

 

I don't really recall a time when Michael Phelps worked at our paper. I DO, however, recall quite fondly the seven years I spend working with Mike Reeb, a fine copy editor and finer person who gave the Sun more than 30 years of his life.

Why don't we get that one corrected, if not here, then for out front for sure, Webby.

Kevin Van Valkenburg

 

Thanks, KVV. I'll fix it.

 

McMullen and Eisenberg are two of the finest writers I had the honor of reading growing up in Maryland. Here's hoping McMullen will keep writing on the ACC wherever he goes.

 

Mike Reeb is one of nature's noble men.

 

If it means more resources can be devoted to Orioles, Ravens and other big beats in Baltimore, I'll take losing the Skins. Besides, Dan Snyder's a prick and the WaPo is available at many places around the city.