Columnists at the same paper who don't get along

Detroit USED to have a pissing match several years ago -- a good one, actually, in Joe Falls and Jerry Green.
When Falls was at the Freep, I remember Green wrote a trivia contest column. Falls wrote a column in a conversational style giving away all the answers. Of course, they were all wrong.
And when Falls moved to the News, he tried to get Green fired -- something he almost succeeded at until Green took the News to court and won. Not a lot of love there.

 

Heard Bernie speak at a conference about 10 years ago. He made a big point about not taking on extra gigs beyond a radio show and not entering contests.

 

Lupica's at it again.
He shows up to Wimbledon without being assigned to it. Filip Bondy is already there doing columns and gamers. Lupica demands to write. Chaos ensues.
With so many travel budget cuts, how many US papers can afford to have TWO columnists at Wimbledon? And how many Daily News readers want to read TWO columns about tennis?

 

There is not one person at the News who will say "no" to Lupica.
And there is not one bit of proof that he brings readers to the paper. This crap goes on because he is friends with the publisher.
But I hear people on news side are sick of his diva ways and have started voicing concerns to Mort, so maybe change is on the way. How can he justify slashing budgets and then allow this? Unless Lupica paid his own way?

 

Doesn't Lupica have his own travel budget, separate from the department's?

 

The sports editor has to deal with Lupica calling him early in the morning to scream that his column logo wasn't prominent enough.

Here's Lupica's column today. It reads like it was taken from a media guide book. No color, no life, nothing interesting, could have been written from Connecticut.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2008/06/26/2008-06-26_this_is_where_venus_williams_can_eclipse.html?page=0

And here's Bondy's. Tell me how two tennis columns from Wimbledon serve NY tabloid readers?
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2008/06/26/2008-06-26_andy_roddick_ousted_in_2nd_round.html

 

It's not even close as to which column is better.

 

Honestly, two columnists AT Wimbledon? Something tells me Lupica needs the Wimbledon dateline than the dateline needs his byline.

 

I am particularly enthralled by Loopy's 45-word lead. Riveting.
Reading this leads me to one conclusion: Is TSR broadcasting from Wimbledon on Sunday morning?

 

Someone told me Lupica has "first refusal" on all columns... I have no idea if that's true, but given what's happened recently, I wonder if it is...

I know a few places that have that, but it's rarely abused.