Anderson, SC shakeup, part deux

[BigRed]

Sources tell the BigRed pipeline that embattled sports editor John Brasier has worked his last day at the Anderson Independent-Mail.
Mr. Brasier walked out of the AIM this afternoon on his own accord - no two weeks' notice - to take a newly created position at the Suburban Journals, a chain of Upstate South Carolina weeklies.
Godspeed, Mr. Brasier, although some in South Carolina would probably add good riddance.

 

[Willie-Butch]

I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

 

[slappy4428]

And since he left the way he did, I'd be willing to bet he's personna non grata at Scripps.

 

[The Rules of Golf]

The BigRed Pipeline > The Rules of Golf Pipeline.

 

[slappy4428]

The BigRed Pipeline > The Rules of Golf Pipeline > Slappy's stormsewerline (hence the oops)...

Fixed...

 

[boots]

John apparently has a good deal that he would be foolish to pass up on. I'm sure there will be more to come about this one.

 

[BigRed]

The BigRed Pipeline > The Rules of Golf Pipeline > Slappy's stormsewerline (hence the oops)...

Fixed...

I don't use The Pipeline often, but when I do, I try to make sure it's working correctly......... and Slap, wasn't that sewer line giving you problems this time last year? Sounds like a stinky situation.

 

[slappy4428]

The BigRed Pipeline > The Rules of Golf Pipeline > Slappy's stormsewerline (hence the oops)...

Fixed...

I don't use The Pipeline often, but when I do, I try to make sure it's working correctly......... and Slap, wasn't that sewer line giving you problems this time last year? Sounds like a stinky situation.

Had to wear hipwaders...


And John was crazy to leave. He was trumped as SE because he didn't do much. The ESE didn't ask him to do much more than he was doing and yet he left.
He was foolish to leave; he had a cake situation.

 

[doubledown68]

I wish John well, but honestly, as absent-minded as he was when I knew him, I'm sort of surprised he was still there, especially with the recent shakeups that seemed to come from nowhere.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

A day so many of us thought would come so long ago -- yet at the same time thought never would happen.
Hopefully the new gig will be good for John Brasier, his wife and his two children.

 

[JoelHammond]

While I'd be lying if I said John wasn't part of the reason I left Anderson, I'd also be lying if I said I agreed with the way the the executive editor dealt with the situation at the AIM.

John's a good man and a good journalist who was set up to fail in Anderson.

I'm not going to get into a big debate here, I just wanted to pass along my best wishes to John, who I didn't know had had a second child.

But slappy, saying he was crazy to leave just because he got trumped as SE is crazy talk. I know the new SE is your boy, but the all the behind-the-scenes/back conniving in this situation was ludicrous.

 

[slappy4428]

How much of that was the new SE and how much of that was management?

 

[PalmettoStatesport]

I knew John from his days at The Sun News in Myrtle Beach and later at the AIM. He was always a great guy to me and helped me out. I wish him the best in his new position, and as an avid reader of the AIM, we'll see what the new regime brings.

 

[BigRed]

I wish John well, but honestly, as absent-minded as he was when I knew him, I'm sort of surprised he was still there, especially with the recent shakeups that seemed to come from nowhere.

You're right on the money, there.
The biggest mistake wasn't on Don Kausler's part - it was T. Wayne Mitchell, the guy that hired Brasier eight years ago.

 

[Moderator1]

What made Mr. Brasier so, is difficult the right word? How did he fail? I've always liked that newspaper but I don't see it a lot.

 

[Upstatesfinest]

If you've paid much attention to the AIM in the last year, you'll know that Brasier has been involved less and less in the department. When he left, he was barely doing three columns a week, an occasional short feature, and a short golf notebook. So the "new" regime has been in place for just about six months.

 

[Songbird]

I'll take his position and turn it into the best in South Carolina. Anyone here involved at the paper PM me.

 

[BigRed]

What made Mr. Brasier so, is difficult the right word? How did he fail? I've always liked that newspaper but I don't see it a lot.

John had (has?) his share of problems. He's lazy, more interested in golfing (and doing golf stories) than putting out a good section.
He had 3 columns a week, one of which was always a "...." notes column ... the kind of column most decent columnists throw in once every four months. He did one a week.
He tended to take more days off than accounted for (aka, working from home), which everyone in the office knew about.
He wasn't really accountable - the kind of person who too often said one thing and did another, which tended to haunt him.
And his reputation as being, um, absent-minded reflected poorly on the paper.... in short, he was kind of the Homer Simpson of sports editors.
If he could have adapted to his new position with an executive sports editor ahead of him calling the shots, he probably could have stayed around as long as he wanted to.
He didn't want to, and more power to him for that.
John is a decent person, but a bad sports editor. Maybe he'll fit in better at the Journals.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

I'll take his position and turn it into the best in South Carolina.

The folks in Columbia, Charleston, Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach, and yes, Greenville did not ride into town on a truckload of turnips. Are you assuming papers in the South aren't very good?

 

[Songbird]

Not at all, Frank. I bet they're pretty damn solid. I'm just saying I'd like the challenge of taking a good newspaper and making it better. I'm cocksure in many ways. It doesn't mean I'd turn it into the best paper in South Cackalackee, but I'd do my best to try to make it happen.