The best headline ever

During the strike the longtime News wire editor got to write the headline he wanted to write his whole life when Cambodian despot Pol Pot died

Head Red said dead

My best was after the Bad Boys clinched their second straight title when Vinnie Johnson hit a buzzer beater to win Game 5

Vinnie, Vidi, Vici

 

I lived this in my early editing days with Pete Peeters getting traded.

The one that ran was Caps grab Peeters.

After taking the obligatory abuse, I thought about it and figured I could hardly win.

Caps acquire Peeters?

Peeters to Caps?

Bruins' Peeters gone?

 

Can’t win. Use the name and get accused of being offensive and juvenile. Use the player’s position and get blamed for being vague.

 

The writer ends two lines with prepositions. That wouldn't have flown in my old shop!

One memorable radio teaser was from WOKY-AM's David "Burnt Toast and Coffee Time" Haines in about 1972. A girl in Milwaukee was fatally shot by stray bullet, which Haines led with "Lead in the head and now she is dead." Public outcry ensued.

Just checking google and found Haines' obit. He went on to anchor morning newscasts in the DC area.

 

in college, during one of Mark Prior's many injuries, I went with: Without Prior, Cubs staff still has Wood

 

This is a dumb story, but at the time in the early era of bringing our Podunk daily in NC to the interwebs, the paper's all-time most-clicked story had the headline, "Boy sick; turtle blamed."

Still proud of our ME for that one.

 

The baseball page (remember those?) was always a good place for fun headlines, especially in the roundups.

When a Florida infielder had a four hit night, I busted out “Marlins beat Reds with Uggla stick”

 

My best one in that vein was when R.J. Reynolds hit a single to drive in the winning run against Atlanta.

Reynolds' Rap Foils Braves

 

Writing a one-column headline that you feel good about was never easy.

Many years ago there was a filly owned by Joe Pesci running at Gulfstream Park that he called a monster. This was a few months after Goodfellas was released. I came up with ...
Pesci's
monster:
She's a
Goodfilly

 

I had one on a Randy Galloway column in which he said the Cowboys had set back football to the days of Pudge Heffelfinger (the first professional player in football history), much to their fans' dismay.

My headline: Cowboys Give Fans the Heffelfinger

 

We had a high school softball player named Cocoa, who had a one-syllable last name. After she had a great game once, I used "Cuckoo for Cocoa (name)"

 

The night Ian Happ got the win for the Phillies: "Happ-y days are here again for Phils."

College basketball roundup on the night Hasheem Thabeet had a big game for UConn: "Thabeet goes off." That got a couple of groans from prepress. But it ran.