More Sun-Sentinel cuts?

[Simon_Cowbell]

Albom was great back then. And when he went to Detroit from Fort Laud, he was replacing Mike Downey, who went to L.A. The Downey of 1985 was tremendous. So was the Albom of 1985.

Fred hired Wojo, and Plaschke; he also lured Larry Dorman, Gordon Edes and Dave Hyde to his stepping-stone paper, even though those guys had passed that stone long ago. He also hired Huguenin, Cole, Winderman, Berardino and Marvez.

Oh, and by the way, one of his final hires, Michael Cunningham, is quietly becoming a versatile voice as a columnist. His development has been slow but steady. He'll be on TV within 5 years.

And, frankly, and this isn't a huge compliment - but it is meant as one, he has, by far, the most pointed arrow in the sports-columnist quiver down here.

And his desk hires were just as impressive.

Fred also hired Geoff Calkins out of nowhere on a gut feeling.

 

[EditingTool]

I was not familiar with Fred Turner, so I enjoyed the history lesson. Putting in the extra time to research job candidates is the wisest investment any manager can make, as his career proves. Sports editors should be calling him for advice on the art of hiring, if he's still alive (I hope he's alive).

I was curious to know more about him and came across this link:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/12/hall_of_fame_fred.html

P.S. Unfortunately, of course, skill in hiring has become almost irrelevant for papers these days.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I was not familiar with Fred Turner, so I enjoyed the history lesson. Putting in the extra time to research job candidates is the wisest investment any manager can make, as his career proves. Sports editors should be calling him for advice on the art of hiring, if he's still alive (I hope he's alive).

I was curious to know more about him and came across this link:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/12/hall_of_fame_fred.html

P.S. Unfortunately, of course, skill in hiring has become almost irrelevant for papers these days.

Jesus, how could I forget his hiring Mike Mayo at 22 years old.

 

[GeorgeScott]

In the nid-1980s that group SF wrote about was enjoying the golden age. Plus, they all partied together, played together, chased skirts together and got wasted together, for the most part. SF Forgot a few other all-stars: Mark Kazlowski (now at Dallas), Craig Stanke (now as CBS), Steve McGrath (Lauderdale), Fran LaBelle (NYRA) Y.A. Tietlebam (PR). And Randy Mell is right on that list. Tough choice for him, with two young kids.

 

[taz]

I had the distinct honor of interning at the Sun-Sentinel in the summer of '85, and learned more from that group than I could have possibly have imagined. I was in awe of the sheer talent and professionalism, and really looked up to guys like Turner, Otto, Leary, Powers, and the desk as a whole (that's where I spent the majority of my time there).

It was an incredible experience, and while places like St. Pete, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville (yes, Jax) seemed to be most highly regarded sections by my college peers, I knew FtL was heads/tails the best section in the state.

 

[Fran Curci]

Too bad Tribune Co. is completely devaluing editors who know how to edit and bring out the best in reporters.

Baltimore ...... Chicago ....... Fort Lauderdale ....... you name it.

 

[get_me_rewrite]

Fred Turner is a hero. He'd hire people who he knew would work well together inside and outside of the office. Stories are legendary of Stanke, Powers, Leary, Andreu, Plaschke, Joseph, Wojo, Kaz and Rosaforte running bar bills through the roof: They'd put out the paper on a Saturday, the writers would meet the desk at a bar afterward. When the local bars closed, the crew would drive to Hollywood where bars were open to 6 a.m., then they'd go play softball after that. Remarkable fun, all while putting out a tremendous paper. I started there taking school scores and that crew made me want to be a journalist. They loved life. It's so sad what has become of the Sentinel.

 

[HorseWhipped]

Wasn't Gordon Edes at the S-S once, or am I mistaken?

 

[GeorgeScott]

Yep! Another great Turner hire. And Turner loved the guy.

 

[BTExpress]

Yep! Another great Turner hire. And Turner loved the guy.

Except for one night, when Fred was working the composing room floor (a rare chance for upper management to see what went on).

A hurried --- and bad--- trim was made on one of Edes' stories that came in 30 minutes late and 10 inches long.

Gordon: "Fred, some idiot made a terrible trim on my story."

Fred: "Ahhh, I was that idiot."

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Yep! Another great Turner hire. And Turner loved the guy.

Except for one night, when Fred was working the composing room floor (a rare chance for upper management to see what went on).

A hurried --- and bad--- trim was made on one of Edes' stories that came in 30 minutes late and 10 inches long.

Gordon: "Fred, some idiot made a terrible trim on my story."

Fred: "Ahhh, I was that idiot."

I believe, if I remember correctly, that piece ended in the middle of a sentence.

Fred was my boss during that time in my career, and I consider myself blessed to have had the experience, along with having taken dictation from Edes on Tom Kelly's quotes from the Metrodome after Game 7 in 1991.

 

[SF_Express]

Today on Bob Norman's Daily Pulp blog, news is out that the Sun-Sentinel has laid off popular Palm Beach columnist Ralph De La Cruz and popular veteran writer/columnist/editor Howard Goodman, with more apparently to come:

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/

 

[Birdscribe]

Not a cut but some S-S news (unless I have my SoFla papers wrong) - Randell Mell to The Golf Channel.

That's gigantic news to me. Really good friend of mine. I was one of the guys who got him hired at the S-S. And a fellow Badger to boot, albeit the rival cross-town high school.

The Pipeline is correct here.

Excellent hire for GC, big-time loss for the golf fans of Broward Co. and elsewhere.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Not a cut but some S-S news (unless I have my SoFla papers wrong) - Randell Mell to The Golf Channel.

That's gigantic news to me. Really good friend of mine. I was one of the guys who got him hired at the S-S. And a fellow Badger to boot, albeit the rival cross-town high school.

The Pipeline is correct here.

Excellent hire for GC, big-time loss for the golf fans of Broward Co. and elsewhere.

The big-time losses for those golf fans were Larry Dorman in the early 1990s and then Mayo in 2002.

No paper did golf better for those 15 years. None.