Whither the Black Book?

[da man]

OK, so I call the NFL office because my Fact and Record Book arrived in the mail weeks ago, but I still haven't received my Black Book. I get a PR flunky -- I didn't catch his name, but it wasn't Aiello or any of the bigger shots -- who tells me that the league is no longer producing a Black Book. He said apparently someone decided that the Black Book has strayed too far from its original purpose as a directory for league personnel, and the NFL no longer wants to waste its time, effort and money in producing something to aid us lowly media. OK, so he didn't use those words exactly, but that was the gist.

So, has anyone else heard this? Has anyone received a Black Book, or is this legit? And if so, is anyone interested in doing anything about it (or can they)? I for one use the Black Book constantly, and I'm not happy to hear it might be going away. Do any of you care, and if so, what do you think?

 

[JBHawkEye]

I was called a few months ago from the team we cover to update our listing in the Black Book. As far as I know, it still exists.

I've never received the Black Book. I was never quite sure what it was.

 

[da man]

Apparently, at least some of the team PR people know nothing about this. When an editor for a major metro recently asked the local team's PR guy why none of his people had received their Black Books yet, the PR guy told him that the team hadn't gotten them from the league office yet. That might be because they aren't going to get any from the league office. So the team might have asked for Black Book info not realizing that there is no Black Book anymore.

 

[FootballScribe]

According to the PR people of the team I cover, they are running behind on the printing of them, but they are still going to be produced.