Lori

True, although I think you're probably low by a couple of zeros. But. If people enjoy the Times' staff writers enough to make frequent use of the site, if they have (for example) a favorite columnist who isn't syndicated elsewhere, then maybe they WILL dip into their pockets. Worth a shot, because the current model certainly isn't working. Why do I think this one might? Give this story a read: Press Coverage: The Working Model of DIY Media The short-n-sweet: former CincyPost (RIP) Reds beat writer Trent Rosecrans decided to see if the readers of his indie site, cnati.com, would be willing to fund a trip for him to cover spring training. They were. He's already bought his plane ticket, and donations are still coming in. CTR's good at what he does, and his readers are willing to pay to keep him on the beat. And if there is ever an ESPNCincinnati.com (per the linked story), they'd be nuts not to make him their first hire. Another former print guy, Mike Harris (longtime Va. Tech beat guy, then the SE in Richmond), is trying the same do-it-yourself approach to sports coverage in his neck of the woods. All along, as papers slashed-and-burned both their staffs and their coverage, he's been preaching the same mantra: "Give me something to read."

Snark aside, I'm not sure how much TTolbert had to do with the meager development shown by the Bills' young wideouts, and how much is merely a byproduct of the overall ineptitude on offense. Do know that he didn't call the plays, though.

http://twitter.com/daringantt Per Rock Hill Herald beat guy Darin Gantt, Tolbert will take over as the Panthers' WR coach from Richard Williamson, who recently retired.

This. As for the timing of the release, it should be blatantly obvious by now that just like the New Year's Eve-afternoon PC to introduce Nix and the scant advance notice given when Fewell was named the interim HC (Jauron "officially" fired at 3pm, Fewell promotion not announced until almost 7pm for an 8:30pm PC when several of the beat guys have an hour-plus commute to the stadium), someone in the PR dept. is deliberately trying to manipulate coverage. Unless they're either being told to do so by someone further up the chain of command, or merely incompetent. If I had written that blog post re:the midnight massacre, I wouldn't have been nearly as polite.

Tim wouldn't have seen Murph's sportscast (at 11:25, not 11:00), because he's in New Jersey covering the Jets. His timeline is correct on the press release.

No link yet, but John Murphy led the 11pm sportscast with the news that Director of Pro Personnel John Guy has been fired. And now that cryptic post makes sense ...

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/01/14/his-age...is-done-coachi/ http://www.examiner.com/a-1156191~_In_all_...o_be_back_.html Hmmm ... wonder if Armstrong is still Schottenheimer's agent?

Joe Logan, we hardly knew ye ...

If Buddy didn't initiate the discussion, who did? The guy on the other end of the phone. And what was that Buddy said about all the phone calls he got, and how some of the names would "blow your mind"?

Heh. This week's release does list Moore as something called a "senior offensive coordinator," and Reich as the QB coach. Goes back to the whole pension mess, when they were thinking Moore was going to be forced to retire. I thought they settled it by giving him a consultant's title instead; my bad. (Because of that deal, Moore's not even listed with the other coaches in the media guide....)

yup. Base offense stunk, so he put Thigpen in the spread. Glad somebody finally mentioned that. Must be King missed that memo.

Fair enough.

Believe Reich is officially the OC there, even if Moore is still there as a "consultant." Tough sell to make any lateral move in the league, much less one that could easily be argued as a significant downgrade. (Not that I'd mind, just don't see it happening.)

If CG interviews him and decides he's the best choice, I don't have a problem with that.

Except for the word coming out that he supposedly WAS on a couple of other teams' short lists last season, and was also the guy Cowher suggested to the Steelers as his replacement. Not sure how much of that's spin, though. Put it this way, Gailey's was certainly a name I didn't expect to hear.

By "the Oakland fans are better," I think Skip meant to say, "they don't fill up my e-mail inbox/Twitter feed with hate mail like the Bills fans do." Not that there's anything wrong with doing just that, in this particular case ...

But Gailey's still been in the business for all of that time, Todd Haley's "August Surprise" notwithstanding. Billick's spent the last two years in the broadcast booth, and now it sounds like that's not by his own choice. Why?

I'd imagine Gailey has his own candidate in mind.

2003, who's ridiculing the Bills for not interviewing Billick or Martz? Add: well, other than Billick, who did everything short of marching up and down Abbott Road waving a "PLEASE HIRE ME" sign ...

Who's hating? I think I've made it clear that I believe NGU is dialed into One Bills Drive in a way our old friend Soprano only wishes he was. (For the young'uns here, the songstress claimed all sorts of "inside sources" ... but was wrong every time.) I'm just tired of people taking potshots at a friend of mine, who simply passed along what he was told by someone in the Schottenheimer camp. Tim trusts his source, or he wouldn't have written about it. NGU trusts his, or he wouldn't have posted about it. You want to disbelieve Marty -- who, after all, spent the last three months publicly disavowing interest in the job? Fine. But why shoot the messenger? Edit: or precisely what Fan in Chicago said.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=73757 Someone's feelings are bent. But considering that Billick himself seemed to be the only one tying his name to the job, can't say this news shocks me. My reaction? *shrug* Apparently nobody else is calling him, either, despite the ring on his finger. Guessing there might be a reason for that.

Exactly.

If he's wrong, it's because a source he trusts is wrong. That's the only point I'm trying to make -- this isn't Graham's opinion, he's merely reporting something he was told. So there are two different versions of how this played out, depending on which side you listen to? Gee, there's a shock.

Wonder how they got that idea? From the press conference:

Reading comprehension: "But the Bills couldn't consider Schottenheimer a candidate because Wilson wasn't comfortable with him, the sources said. " Tim merely reported what he was told, by someone close enough to Schottenheimer to make him think the story was worth writing. NGU is giving you the story coming from a source inside One Bills Drive. You decide which one you want to believe... or neither.