RIP Tyler Skaggs

People, of course, will point to the fact that he was proven right at the end, but that Observer story was still poor journalism, in my view. It was presented as a news story, and at the time he had no evidence or sources to the fact, and I doubt the writer had any more knowledge of the situation at the time than any of us did. It was just an instance of a blind squirrel finding a nut.

Staying on the subject, this was a pretty good rundown on the legal ramifications and possibilities as the case moves forward:

https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/10/13/tyler-skaggs-death-investigation-latest

 

I don't click on si links after last week.

Was this written by a 'citizen journalist'?

 

The guy is identified as SI.com's legal analyst. It is actually a good article that answered some questions about what could happen in the future. As I was reading it, I was thinking to myself, "I'd better enjoy this before SI.com goes completely to crap."

 

Michael McGann. They still have all or most of their "starters" - but they've replaced a lot of the second-string/writer-reporter types with the mavens. I will add that some of the team maven sites are staffed by journos who have covered those teams for dailies for years - the Cal site is staffed by Jeff Faurado late of BANG and Jake Curtis, formerly of the Chronicle.

 

I think Farudo and Curtis teamed on a website. Both do string for their former employers. Kind of like Ross McKeon's coverage of the Sharks for the Chronicle.

 

Farudo and Curtis are more than competent. Actually really used to enjoy Curtis when he was with the SF Chronicle (my local fish wrap that still employs some heavy hitters like Ostler, Killion,and my all time fav Mr. Bruce Jenkins).

 

And I wonder where the PR guy got the stuff.

 

I interviewed a heroin addict for a story once - he had started on Oxy, and said that if you just hung around the right aisles at various CVS and Rite Aid stores, someone would approach you. In the bigger cities, it's not hard to figure out where you need to go.

 

From everything I have read/heard, users don't buy Fentanyl. They unknowingly buy drugs adulterated with Fentanyl. The reports of Fentanyl's strength make me believe that using it straight is almost impossible to do safely.

 

Yep. They buy what they are told is black market Oxycontin. Those pills are from Mexico and they are made by a guy putting a drop of Fentanyl on each pill. If he fucks up and puts on two drops, you're dead.

 

And a major source of the Fentanyl is China.

 

I know nothing about Fentanyl except that on the cop and lawyer shows, the mysterious death always seems to be traced to Fentanyl.