'Bloody Monday at Kansas City Star'

NASCAR writers and golf writers are the first cut at almost every paper no matter how good they are.

 

Departures like this are just going to make NASCAR fans turn to the Internet even more.

So not only is this short-sighted and stupid, but it's also going to drive away passionate race fans to ESPN.com and Jayski and other sights like That's Racin and Racing One.

I keep hearing print folks who say "yeah, well, you can't get better information than what we provide." That's increasingly not the case.

 

I know Mike only from long-ago social/apse occasions. Always enjoyed his company. I had a few bosses like him; always appreciated them for who they are.

I'm really running out of things to say on these threads full of awful news. Best of luck to all involved. Pedley, apparently a fellow Badger but who I never met, sounds like my kind of guy.

 

Best of luck.

 

I just saw the list expand to include Mike Fitzgerald, assistant sports editor. Since my move from sports writing to PR, I've freelanced for the Star and Mike was my contact there. Just a fantastic guy, and so appreciative of the work his stringers do, even if the (my) writing wasn't always on par with the rest of the section. And even on his days off, he's always willing to answer a question (even a dumb one). I probably don't know him as well as others on the board, but I feel safe in saying the Star lost another quality editor and person.

David Boyce is also on the list. Don't know him well, but always enjoyed the times we'd end up sitting next to each other in a press box.

 

more names

Eric Palmer, Deputy Business Editor
DeAnn Smith, Investigative Reporter
Rick Alm, Gambling & Tourism Reporter
David Hayes, Technology/Internet Reporter
Malcom Garcia, Reporter
Don Allmon, IT
Greg Peters, Photo Desk
Katie Middleton, Northland Editor
Jim Pedley, Motor Sports Writer
John Mark Eberhart, Books Editor
Ward Triplett, Wire Editor (credit Pitch)
Robert Folsom, Features Copy Editor
David Boyce, Sports Reporter
Mike Fitzgerald, Asst. Sports Editor

 

The link if people want to refresh: http://bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/staremployeesletgo.html

 

Pedley. Goddammit. Guy bled for that newspaper. Can't say enough about the kind of writer and person he is. This makes me feel sick.

 

Boyce. Dammit, why did it have to be Boyce? (For the record, I don't know him.... just a great reporter.)

 

Boyce is a great guy, too. I think he was at the Star 15-20 years.

 

To show how bad it's getting an assistant sports editor got laid off. Now managers are slowly starting to go because basically they have no reporters left that can possibly be let loose. I feel sorry for all of them but it's coming for all of us soon, except those five or 10 folks on major metro sports staffs who will run the internet editions of newspapers. For an auto racing writer an assistant sports editor and another sports writer to get laid off, that's a huge chunk.