T.J. Simers on Jeff Kent and an L.A. columnist

The other thread has a horrid title, and that's why it's being ignored.

Simers has long been my favorite writer in the country and I've been told about a thousand times by a thousand different people "If you knew him, you wouldn't like him so much."

I'm glad I don't know if that's true or not. I don't think he was taking a shot at the Daily News, because he took a shot at the LAT as well.

It's an amazing column and I love reading an actual interesting take on a douchebag like Kent retiring.

 

Terrific piece. Parallels were bang-on.

 

I've heard the same thing Mizzou, but I'm also a firm believer that I don't have to like a person to like their work. But, with that said, I can understand people's reasoning for not liking Simers based on the stories I've heard.

With that said, I still thought it was a marvelous piece. Spnited did, too, which still has me stunned.

 

I have posted here in the past that if I ran a paper, Simers couldn't work there. In that case, my paper would have been missing a really good column.

 

I'm in a distinct minority, and in fact even completely understand the reasons behind some people here not liking him at all and I won't quarrel with them. That said, he's on my short list of my favorite people in the biz.

Again, not looking into get into an argument with those who don't share my opinion. This is based on long history and where I came from and where he fit into my career -- and we're not going to change each others' minds anyway.

 

Simers is dead-on about the shirts. But Dilbeck is a classy guy and the sort of thing a second-rate newspaper ought to be proud about, not lay off. This industry is so f'd up that I almost think being laid off means you were too competent and too accomplished, which is both counterintuitive and nonsensical from a business perspective.

It's sad as hell, but many posters are correct in noting that there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands, among us who are just as deserving of such a nice send-off.