Sports columnist, Sun Sentinel

Not to go all hyperbole, but this hire will say a lot about the direction of the SS, Tribune and perhaps my former industry. It's a great job in a great sports market. This shouldn't be a draft-and-develop hire. Curious to see whether they go for a Cliff Lee, take another chance on a less expensive prospect or settle for a Ted Lilly.

 

Ted Lilly has already been re-signed by the Dodgers. I believe "Jorge de la Rosa" must be the fill-in for this metaphor.

 

Miami is one of the worst big sports cities in the country. Few are from there, the baseball team has subpar attendance even when they're winning -- didn't I see the Heat were having a problem selling out? And you'd be working for a chain that has screwed over its people more than most in the past few years.

 

Other than that, it's pretty good, though, right?

 

Having lived there for more than 15 years before moving away in 2008, I must agree with everything about this statement sans the "working for a chain that has screwed over its people more than most in the past few years."

 

Why not move Mike Berardino into the job and hire someone to cover the Dolphins?

Berardino, besides being the Dolphins writer, was a baseball columnist. He also covered other big-time events, including the Olympics, Final Four, BCS title game as a columnist/writer for the newspaper.

 

Sun-Sentinel will not hire a big-name columnist (unless it's a free transfer within Tribune Co.). It will not spend a lot of money. The paper is not looking to make a statement about how great it is. It's mainly looking to get through every day. Consider what morale must be like: Both of the main assignment editors in Fort Lauderdale have been demoted from sports editor in the last two or three years.

 

Umm, DK...I picked Ted Lilly <begin ital> because <end ital> the Dodgers settled for him.
As for Berardino, good dude and my fellow BAGrad, isn't that another case of been there, read that?
As for Miami...this gig isn't about the fans. The fans are spoiled yacht clubbers and bandwagon jumpers. They care; they just don't go until it becomes fashionable to be seen there.
But the writing opportunities are primo. All four major sports, big time college football, PGA, ATP. Never a dull day.

 

Correct. A team with a waiting line for season tickets does not a great sports town make.

Four major sports, major colleges, major golf, tennis and auto racing and more Super Bowls than any other locale is what makes a great sports town.

 

And that is the definition of a great sports town.

 

Not every city can be Boston, Chicago or New York.