Columnists at the same paper who don't get along

If the News fired Lupica today, and I'm not a hater like some, it would have no, repeat no effect on its bottom line. Newspapers are a team game. Of course, when you're an egomaniacal jackoff like Mort Zuckerman, you don't think so.

 

You know, I read these threads sometimes, and I feel somewhat blessed.

I've worked with columnists with big egos -- it might be part of the territory of being good -- and I've certainly heard complaints from people before on a number of fronts.

But I must have been lucky when I was younger and then, I guess, got old enough that this shit didn't bother me. But in my mind, I've never been saddled with working with a complete diva/asshole.

And I've been around, obviously.

 

As a column newbie at the Phoenix, way, way back when, it did not escape my attention that three persons who could not have been more friendly and gracious to yours truly were Red Smith, Jim Murray, and Roger Angell.
Ego is good. Asshole is bad. They don't have to go together, unless one is a trifle insecure about one's work. Not to call names.

 

One of them definitely needs a copy-edit, but I'm guessing that's not an option.

 

So what? They are completely different kinds of columnists, and on any given day ...

Bondy has loads of talent and a rare gift for humor, but it would be unusual for him to rip someone. He's great at what he does but won't hit to all fields. He probably could, but he won't. So the notion that the columnists are interchangeable and can be evaluated head to head on the basis of one day or one week or one month isn't valid. They are apples and apricots.

As for the Wimbledon "surprise," I'll wait until there's more confirmation since "danews" writes only about Lupica situations. Lupica's been writing from Wimbledon longer than some here have been alive, written for tennis mags, even been on TV talking about tennis. It's not as if he showed up at, say, a hockey game. He gets to decide what he'll write about, and while that's a rare power, it is hardly a unique one. Don't you think Breslin, Hamill and Dick Young had that freedom when they wrote for the News?

 

This is from experience. If I was the paper's only writer at a major sports event, and someone showed up from the paper to help, no matter what the circumstances, no matter how mad I was at that person, I'd be happy to lighten my workload.
Frank is right about Lupica and tennis. It's been one of his things since the '70s.

 

I don't think either one is a big threat for any BASW awards.

 

But would that be help?
Why would I want to turn over the columns from a Grand Slam event unannounced? You think Loopy's going to say, "Hey Filip! You do the columns, I'll write the main bar."?

 

Frank, with all due respect, you are clueless with regard to what happens at the Daily News.
I have no idea what Lupica is doing in London. Maybe he has a book signing, or is on a family vacation. But this has been Bondy's gig for at least a decade -- he even crashes at a friend's house to save the paper money. And the idea that Lupica's presence is lightening the load is just laughable.

 

Gingerbread, I said Lupica has decades of experience writing about Wimbledon and is allowed to write about whatever he wants. You may not like that he's there, but which part is inaccurate?

 

even lupica admitted in one of his recent columns that it's been years since he's done wimbledon. which leads me to believe it's hooked up with something else, like a family trip to london.

as a former longtime daily news colleague of loopy's, i feel safe in assuming there's something going on here. it ain't as if mike was driven by some compelling fresh angle on why he had to end his absence from centre court.

 

I'm just surprised he didn't write the column from home in Connecticut.