Baseball writer, Orange County Register

Word is a USC football blogger has been hired for this position.

 

o you get your info? I grew up in he Bay Area, and did back-up work on the A's and Giants. Writers all over the Bay Area would miss a couple of home games after a road trip, especially if the paper didn't have a huge staff and they had other responsibilities

 

http://www.ocregister.com/sports/woike-232785-angels-dan.html

 

Is it just me? Or does that guy look like he's about 12 and as if he was dressed up by his parents to go to church, or something?

I feel a little bad, because I'm not familiar with the writer's work. But, honestly, apple-cheeked and boyish is pretty much all that comes to mind when I look at that photo, and read the intro...

 

...and the job opening description as well.

 

Looks like the comment posters picked up on that too.

And what's up with the purple plaid sweater? If I ever wore that, I'd have to kick my own ass.

 

WrIIter,

Be careful not to assume you know who we are, or why we might post something.

I am in a position where virtually nothing is beneath me. Indeed, nothing ever has been. You don't know what I've done, where I've done it, or why -- or why I might still want to do it. Heck, sometimes, I don't even know that, anymore.

I did not think the job description was insulting, stupid, beneath me, or whatever. And you are right. I actually was quite interested in it, and the job. I also am qualified for it and know that I'd do well in it, at least on the basis of my strengths and tendencies, and the description and the type of things it sounded like The Register might be seeking.

It also is, potentially, a good, possibly progressive and forward-thinking opportunity (see, I/we can recognize that) in an industry landscape that provides precious few of those.

I am all for offering readers something they can't get elsewhere, whether that approach applies to a Web site, or a print edition, and, in fact, I've tried to build a career around that, and know that I've often provided just such things throughout the course of my years in the business. I also know that I can still provide such material. Many of us can, and would do so if we got the opportunities.

So, unless you actually were involved in this hiring process and actually know the reason -- really -- that I or anybody else didn't get the job, please don't insinuate that you do, and pretend that it's because we said somebody looks like a kid in a photo in which he actually does.

Kids are who they're hiring, no matter what the reasons why or why not anyone else gets a chance in any particular instance. There is no denying that, so don't even try to do it.

It is not right, and when you reach an age where you are not a kid -- yes, it will happen, someday -- you will feel the same way, and be as sick of it as I am.

You had better hope that there are not hundreds of opportunities out there for which you are qualified, for which you may apply, but for which you have no chance, no matter what you've done, or may be willing to do.

And no, I am not really what you'd call old, except, maybe, apparently, in terms of hiring.

So, back off.

 

So I have to be part of the hiring process to have an opinion that it is ridiculous to complain about a hire based on a person's photo and your guess on how old he is?

The economy and the difficulties finding and keeping a job in journalism don't only apply to one person or one age group, hopefully you recognize that.

I never mentioned age and didn't intend to.

Apparently you are assuming I am a certain age too.

 

Position's been filled. Time to lock.

 

Bravo. Brav-freaking-o.

I mean no disrespect to the person who got the job. I did not happen to apply for this one. If I had, like WriteThinking, I would have felt qualified and open to pursuing all different aspects of the job.
The frustrating thing in this business is watching youth time and again top experience in the hiring process. Most times, I imagine, it's under the guise of a fresh voice and a raw talent and a new approach that all the supposed dinosaurs are no longer capable of providing. There may be some truth to that in certain cases, but too often it appears little more than a cover to bring in cheap labor at the expense of quality.

Again, I am not trying to demean the person who got this specific job. He should be damned proud and happy and go out and do the type of work that makes himself proud. If cost was a factor, it sure as hell isn't his fault. He just happens to have the misfortune of having his exceptionally youthful picture serve as the latest poster boy for this trend. To say that there most likely were plenty of candidates who were as qualified or more qualified is not a knock on his talent as much as it is a testament to the amount that is currently on the market. Unfortunately, the turn the business has taken lately no longer makes such griping seem like sour grapes as much as it does bitter reality.
The process has turned upside down, with experience suddenly viewed as irrelevance and inexperience seen as some type of virtue. It's a ridiculous development of course, because you end up having the students shove out the teachers before the lesson is completed. That's not good for anyone.

Again, to be fair, I only glimpsed at this writer's post and don't know his work. He could very well be the exception to the recent trend and have topped all comers purely on merit. And even if finances did play a part, he certainly should not be blamed for that or unduly scrutinized. I hope he goes out there, works his ass off and kicks someone else's.
We all broke in once and many can probably recall that crusty old bastard who made the experience less pleasurable than it should have been. No one wants to turn into that. But the thing is, we at least recognized that in between all the bitterness and unnecessary rudeness, even that bastard had something he could teach us. So we took some lumps and kept learning and growing, progressing and advancing ... until the day it started turning upside down.
You can't blame the kids who get hired for that, so you wish them well and hope for the best. And you definitely can't blame the folks who don't get hired if they sometimes feel the need to vent and share their thoughts.

 

So hiring inexperienced people because they cost less is some new trend?

I think it's been that way for a long time. Frankly, many of the experienced people on here probably got that experience because they too were once young and cheap.

That's how it works, and has always worked, in all industries, from newspapers to major league baseball (Brett Gardner > Johnny Damon?).

(Speaking generally here, not about this particular guy, who may be awesome and/or well-paid, for all I know.)