Lori

Maybe I shouldn't jump in here, but ... If someone else puts words in his mouth, and other people start believing he actually said something he didn't, then yeah, that IS something to care about. Look at the hue and cry here over something Mike Schopp may or may not have said on WGR a couple of days ago. JMO, and your results may vary ...

Wow ... that IS this weekend, isn't it? Tempus fugit ...

Good grief. Ten pages on this? Well, as long as it's semi-transmogrifyinging into a general sportstalk thread, I thought I'd throw in some insight from Paul Daugherty, a pretty good columnist in Cincinnati who also had a show on WLW ... at least until yesterday morning. Boo, Clear Channel:

I've thought about that myself, but obviously haven't done anything. Probably be a good thing to ask the host how he wants to play it. Your thoughts, Tim?

As usual, your opinion is anything BUT meaningless, Rich. Good stuff, and I'm sorry I didn't get to hear your insight first-hand.

Texas suspends all interscholastic activities through May 11: http://www.uil.utexas.edu/db/press_release...p;-KeyValue=312

You missed the "away from his job" qualifier in the post I was responding to? (This is going to sound like shameless name-dropping. Apologies in advance.) Just saw him a week ago yesterday at a sportswriting symposium -- chatted for a few minutes before lunch, then sat right behind him for an hour and a half during the keynote speech/panel discussion, and the guy was fine the whole time. Funny thing, though: while we're standing there talking, waiting for lunch to start, Mark Kriegel (the guest speaker) comes over, points to Jerry, and says to me, "Let me tell you about this guy: miserable. Just miserable." And then they both laughed, and I found out they were old friends from when they worked in NYC ...

I don't know what tone of voice he was using at the time; obviously, it was enough to not sit well with either you or the original poster. Just sayin' ... any beat writer in the country should agree with all three of those points, if s/he wants to be able to cover the team objectively. Is the dividing line different for hometown radio sportstalkers than journalists? Yeah, maybe. On the other hand, I would expect a sportstalk station in an NFL town -- much less one without MLB or NBA teams, and whose NHL club is already on the golf course -- to spend at least a little time on the local team's draft the first day after it ends, without one of the hosts apparently feeling the need to express his overall apathy/disillusionment/what have you. Again, though, I'll reserve judgment, simply because I didn't hear the segment in question.

The Donahoe thing WAS personal ... from his side, anyway. I know I've written about it here before, but following the Losman/Vincent training camp incident in 2004, TD made it almost impossible for anyone on GR -- even Simon, who didn't sign on over there until three months after it happened -- to get Bills players/coaches on the air. (I believe Ruben Brown still had a show, but I'm pretty sure those were paid appearances. Andy R. can correct me on that if I'm wrong.) I could understand his grievance against those specific hosts, but freezing out Simon, who's covered the team since the Super Bowl era, is one of the nicest guys in the business, and had absolutely nothing to do with the incident in question? Petty, a word which could also be applied to some of his dealings with the print media. Should the GR guys have ramped up their criticism in return? Yeah, maybe not, but there was plenty of blame to go around on that deal. Here's Chuck Pollock's take on the TD/WGR situation: http://www.oleantimesherald.com/articles/2...057-archive.txt

Based on past experience, even though I haven't discussed this thread with Andy, I'm positive he already knows about it.

Agreed. That's stuff I'd expect to see from a high school team. No, wait, that's insulting some of the better high school teams I've seen.

That's right, I forgot about your b-i-l being pretty well-established in the business. My condolences to him on the loss of his friend. Like I said, I didn't really know Poole other than my online interaction with him, but the people who did share newsrooms and press boxes with him are telling the rest of us what we missed. Using words like "legend" and "giant" and "irreplaceable." Here's one: http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/04/28...poetic-goodbye/

Mort's kid was a QB at Arkansas. This guy played LB at Kansas. No bonus points for the similarity of the school or player name ...

Uh-huh. Sure you are ... (Nicely played. )

Boo, wine in a box. [/third-generation glassworker]

Might find a few opinions here: http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=88222 http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=88154 http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=88116 http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=88026 http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=88061

Indulge me for a moment, if you will. Thanks. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,5874229.story Bob Oates, who began writing about football in Los Angeles years before the Rams showed up in 1946, covered each of the first 39 Super Bowls, and was the last surviving member of the original Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, died yesterday at 93. The 1974 McCann Award recipient was still freelancing columns for the L.A. Times past his 90th birthday; would that we could all live such a long and productive life ... http://www.thatsracin.com/140/story/7989.html http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-reme...ng-david-poole/ David Poole, one of NASCAR's best-known writers, was just 50 years young when he died of a heart attack this morning. The news has stunned the racing world; ESPN dedicated much of today's "NASCAR Now" broadcast to the untimely death of the National Motorsports Press Association's four-time Writer of the Year, who also hosted a show on Sirius. "The NASCAR community is stunned and saddened by the loss of David Poole. David was as passionate about NASCAR as anyone and had very definitive opinions about the sport. He served the industry, and most importantly the fans, through his reporting and commentary in the Charlotte Observer and Sirius Satellite Radio. Our thoughts and prayers go out to David’s family and friends. He will be missed," NASCAR chairman/CEO Brian France said in a statement released this afternoon. Never met either man, but swapped a few stories with Dave on a sportswriting board over the past couple of years, and have several mutual friends who are devastated by the news out of Charlotte. My thoughts are with them, and with Dave's family.

Nope, pretty sure he's from NYC.

He is. I have no problem confirming that.

I really like working with one of the coaches at the local school. Heck of a nice guy, always willing to get me whatever stats I need for that week's story, don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about him. Just a super guy. Too bad his team's 1-8.

Mike (SBU '89). Lead sports columnist for the New York Post, and by all accounts, a good guy. You related?

Gordio, I will not defend Schopp. Think I've made it clear that I'm not a fan. That said, I can understand (and sympathize a little) with the idea that the Bills aren't much fun to talk (or write) about sometimes. Of course, I also don't get PAID to talk or write about them. So if he's really having that much of a problem ... what's that they say about certain players needing a "change of scenery"? P.S.: Peevo, careful with the "more than anyone else here" generalization. I know Brad, Jeremy, and Nick haven't posted lately -- and I tend to believe threads like this one have a lot to do with that -- but they are still members here.

Covering the Dolphins does not = being a Dolphins fan, or at least it shouldn't. Lest we forget that Tim Graham's only NFL beat before joining ESPN was at the Palm Beach Post ... So, let's see if I've got my scorecard straight, from this thread and a few others here: the Bills beat guys who don't love the draft are stupid and/or know nothing about football, and everyone else is a homer for a different team. Oh yeah, and according to someone in the pinned thread, Graham is now a "Bills hater." That about cover it?

Thanks for posting that, and to Andy for responding. And if that's the quote, then believe me, I understand that sentiment completely. It got tougher and tougher to write as last season limped to its painful conclusion, and I have it on good authority that a couple of the beat guys (jokingly) campaigned for alcohol to be served in the press box. At least, I think they were joking.

You don't like seeing George Wilson score a touchdown on a comically bad play by a (now former) Fish QB?