Beat Shuffling at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Couple writers have been shuffled around in the Post-Gazette's sports department.

Dejan Kovacevic, who has covered the Pirates for the last several years, has voluntarily left the beat to begin a new role with the paper.
http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports-town/pbc-blog/107292-a-new-role-for-me

Says he'll be a combo columnist/project reporter/blogger + web presence/jack-of-all-trades. Seems to be similar to the role (plus the web duties) that Robert Dvorchak had for a while with the paper.

Meanwhile, Colin Dunlap, who had been the WVU football writer and Duquesne basketball writer, will take over the Pirates beat.
http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/eers-to-the-ground/24262-a-new-role-for-me-just-wanted-to-say-thanks

I would imagine a few other people will be shuffled, including something to cover the WVU/Duquesne beat.

 

Sounds like the move Joe Rutter made at the Tribune-Review a few years back. Maybe Dejan just got burned out on covering baseball. Never had that beat, but my understanding is that it is a tremendous grind.

Interesting to see Dunlap on the Pirates. If I remember correctly, before he became a reporter, he used to work for the team as a clubhouse attendant. Good for Colin. He is a tough, sharp reporter who has worked his butt off to get there.

 

Looking forward to seeing Colin in the role. Will miss Dejan as just the Pirates reporter, because he kicked major ass in that beat. He had a bad team to follow, but Dejan made the most of it and the PG gave him plenty of space to work with in print.

That said... Colin, welcome aboard and Dejan, look forward to seeing you in your new role!!

 

Colin did well, esp. as of late. He was ahead of the pack on Ollie Luck's backdoor move on Uncle Billy and the hiring of a Dana Holgorsen.
Why the hell ANYONE would volunteer to cover the Pirates is beyond me though.

 

Don't most Pirate beat writers eventually jump off one of the many bridges outside of the ballpark?

 

I was amazed at the amount of enterprise work Dejan did. Staggering for a beat writer. The guy I really miss seeing when they were on the road, however, is Paul Meyer. What a guy.

 

Quick clarification --- while in grad school, I interned for a summer in the PR office.
No doubt the clubbies made about 1,000 times more money, though.

 

Paul is a unique human being. He's doing some work for Robert Morris University's athletics web site, covering hoops.

 

My apologies. Heard the story a long time ago.

 

For the record, footballscoop.com first reported Dana Holgorsen to West Virginia. They had the coach in waiting part, all of it correct. The rumor got red hot on message boards and a day or two later, Colin Dunlap reported an anonymous source had leaked him the news.

And no, I do not work for footballscoop or have any stake with them or the Post-Gazette. Dunlap is a fine reporter. That shake-up largely affected WVU in its pathetic bowl showing.