Breaking news: I have TJ Simers' official response....

Remember this when you vote for poster of the year.....TJ dropped me an email asking to post his response to his critics. I guess TJ didn't want to register. And I sure don't mind breaking a little news, especially if it will land me poster of the year votes.

TJ's rebuttal:

I noticed your name on sportsjournalists.com after being directed there by
someone who said I should take a look. I would appreciate it if you would
pass on my response.

I worked in New Jersey 25 to 28 years ago and from I'm reading some people
just can't seem to let go. If only they knew what a jerk I was in DeKalb 30
years ago. Maybe those folks are all dead.
Anyway, I noticed some people think they have all the facts, and while I can
understand they would believe things they have heard, to suggest someone is
lying is going too far.

Mark Blaudschun, a very talented writer, spelled out Fuck You TJ in a
column, the first letter of every paragraph perfectly aligned, and it was
pretty clever. But he was fired along with Bruce Johnson, the assistant
sports editor at the time who knew about the column.

I found out about the column when I received it in the mail unsigned---the
first letter of each paragraph circle.

I don't recall the story about changing Blaudschun's column, or inserting
something into the column, which got him into trouble. That was 25 to 28
years ago, and I was a young turk who thought I could change the way
everyone did newspapering. Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't, but I know
this---I would never have changed it without Blaudschun's knowledge and
without some sort of compromise in reaching that conclusion with him. As for
calling him out in front of the newsroom, I've always been loud, but would
not call someone out for a mistake that I made. I've been in a number of
ticklish situations in my career, but I've never had difficulty taking the
heat for my ownm actions.

As for Joe Sullivan, he was a great guy. I wonder, as sports editor of the
Globe, if he had a great guy whowas always making silly mistakes, what he
would do? I got tough with Joe, and keeping in mind I was a young sports
editor who thought he knew everything, I wasn't much on sweet talk. I took
Joe off the Giants' beat, not to replace him with a friend, but because he
was told don't get us beat...and a few days later he was unaware of a
Giants' press conference. If memory serves, and I've already indicated it's
not a good memory, I gave him a letter of reprimand for not being on top of
things...I don't recall taking him off the beat, but might very well have
done it...That's a long time ago, and I remain puzzled and surprised that
some people would get so angry and so worked up about things that took place
a lifetime ago.

I've read a number of the responses here and find it fascinating that some
people are so bent out of shape over a sports column. I can
relate--sometimes I feel the same way about things that you write.

Thanks--if you can help pass this on for me.
tj

 

????

 

This is some great stuff.

 

Not sure what's funnier: that he cares enough (though he'd deny it) to take the time to send this, the post itself, or the fact that he's probably pretty amused that people get themselves in a froth over stuff he did before many of his fans were born?

Great stuff, either way. I read him daily, seeking entertainment and something different from a guy who, say what you will about him, I respect largely because he goes to the clubhouse. Plenty of columnists don't, instead preferring to fire thunderbolts from castles on high. Yes, it's something that should be a normal part of the job. And unfortunately, most guys who rip as much as TJ does never show up.

And if anyone can find a copy of the famous Fuck You column, that would get my vote for Post of the year.

 

"As for Joe Sullivan, he was a great guy. I wonder, as sports editor of the
Globe, if he had a great guy whowas always making silly mistakes, what he
would do? I got tough with Joe, and keeping in mind I was a young sports
editor who thought he knew everything, I wasn't much on sweet talk. I took
Joe off the Giants' beat, not to replace him with a friend, but because he
was told don't get us beat...and a few days later he was unaware of a
Giants' press conference. If memory serves, and I've already indicated it's
not a good memory, I gave him a letter of reprimand for not being on top of
things...I don't recall taking him off the beat, but might very well have
done it.."

Oh, please.
You remember exactly WHY you would have taken someone off the beat, but you don't remember IF you did.
I'm dialing 1-800- BULLSHIT on that one.

 

TJ, if you are reading this ... I really, and I do mean really, enjoyed your Sunday column about John Wooden visiting with the Angels and Yankees players. Seriously.

 

TJ - I'll give you credit for being consistent... You were a jerk then, and you're a jerk now. You weren't a Young Turk, you were a young jerk. We all did stupid things when we were young, but the things you did showed your lack of character, much like your column in 2006 shows your lack of character.

You were self-centered then, and you're column shows that, if anything, you're more self-centered now.

Hey, people remember stuff from 25 or 30 years ago. When I moved out here, I missed not hearing Phil Rizzuto. I remember thinking that what Dick Young wrote during the 1970s was crap. I remembered liking Murray Chass. I remember reading Red Smith saying talking about a conflict between the players and owners which favored the players and saying this quote... "When the rich gather to discuss the problems of the poor, they call it charity. When the poor gather to discuss the problems of the rich, they call it anarchy."

With your comments to Jason Whitlock, I am only to assume that if you were 10 or 15 years older, you might have fit in well in the Nixon White House. "I don't recall" Your memory seems rather convenient. Moreover, you seem upset that people would remember this. Well, people's careers were affected. And, as John Lennon would say, "All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth."

You told Joe Sullivan don't get beat. For crying out loud, the Daily Record was a rinky-dink daily paper with lousy management from the owner to the sports editor and was one of the smaller papers on the beat. The Daily Record, and I'm pretty confident about my memory, didn't break the story of Billy Martin getting fired. Did you or whomever covered the Yankees get beat on that, or is that something else you don't remember? And you did replace Joe with a friend you had brought in. Saying "that wasn't your intent" insults the intelligence of journalists - but then your condescending attitude shows through these days when you rip Scott Wolf and other journalists at smaller papers. But maybe that's my fault because "I don't get it."

It's not hard to register to the board, and I welcome you. In this community, the logic of the argument will win the day. You shouldn't get Whitlock to post for you - do it yourself.

Or are you afraid that the logic you sent through Whitlock will get picked apart for the BS that it is. You're nothing but a BS artist, but thanks for stopping by and we have some lovely consolation prizes for you.

 

blaudschun had it right. 8) 8) 8)

 

If you know the Jersey market at all, you know that the guy covering the Giants for the Morristown Daily Record is going to get beat.

No matter how good he is.

Because the Daily Record just never mattered that much in the big picture (and matters less now that Gannett has bought it and all the pro and college coverage comes from elsewhere). It's a small county paper. It's amazing that it ever had a staff with Don Skwar, Joe Sullivan, Blaudshun and Simers on it. It would be like Fairleigh Dickinson fielding a lineup with four future NBA players, just not supposed to happen.

And T.J., if 25 years was so long ago, why are you obviously still so interested in knocking Joe Sullivan down? You may be a better writer, but the more you talk about this, the smaller you look.

(edited to add Skwar, whom I originally forgot)

 

I'll just say it again: This is some great stuff.

 

And will say again about TJ (does that stand for Total Jerk?):
Once an asshole, always an asshole.

 

These are the points I would like to add to this discussion.

1) Don't know TJ, but I do know spnited, and I'm going to take spnited's word one hundred percent of the time, no matter who the other guy is.

2) I've done dumb things in my life, but I've never done anything I'm ashamed of, especially to get where I'm at, and there's a big difference between the two. You can't blow off shame the way you can blow off stupidity, no matter how long ago it happened.

3) Gems like this make SportsJournalists.com worth the price of admission, even if that price is often my dignity.

4) The Big Lead recently called one of my stories "occasionally riveting," which is more than wife says about me ("occasionally dribbling," more like it), so the kid gets a free pass from me on the TJ interview. There are probably better, more noble reasons to give him the free pass, but hey, I'm shallow. And if nothing else, he sparked this little tempest, which is pretty damn sweet.

5) I wish for this thread, or the original one, to get at least as long as the Charlie Brown monster.

That is all. Thank you for your time.