Frightening Grant Wahl news

Didn’t he resign/get fired from SI after telling their shithole new owners to go fuck themselves?

That makes for a hero in my book. I tracked down his podcast to subscribe last week and didn’t listen to as much as wanted to.

It felt like before he left he was one of the last links to a much better time at SI, and he was an example of the best of that publication: a fierce, passionate storyteller and journalist in the style anyone in the industry would want to emulate. What a shocking loss.

 

A coincidence is when a co-worker and I happen to wear the same shirt we have both been given by our employer on the same day.
A 48-year-old foreign journalist who has been critical of an authoritarian government dying in that country hours after really calling them out is not a coincidence.

 

There is no way to tell what happened right now based on such little information; even as I have never been less inclined to give a nation the benefit of the doubt.

I sure as hell would not want to be the f’ing suit at a mammoth news org having to make the call on whether or not to pull out my people right now.

 

From the AP story (Soccer writer Grant Wahl dies at World Cup match in Qatar):

“U.S. media seated near him said Wahl fell back in his seat in the media tribune at Lusail Iconic Stadium during extra time and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance. Emergency services workers responded very quickly, the reporters said, and the reporters later were told that Wahl had died.

“Wahl tweeted on Wednesday that he had celebrated his birthday that day. American reporters who knew Wahl said he was 49.

“Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday on his website that he had visited a medical clinic while in Qatar.

“‘My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,’ Wahl wrote. ‘What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.’

“Wahl wrote that he tested negative for COVID-19 and sought treatment for his symptoms.

“‘I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno,’ he wrote.”

 

I’m sure there’s no traces of poison in his body.

 

So here we go. It was at the match. Surprised more wasn't said by now if it was public. I guess us journalists are respectful to each other.

That said, it still happened where it happened and it is tough not to wonder.

 

I've had bronchitis and that sounds like a routine treatment. It's also been known to kick my ass for a few days. But given the situation, as Shakespeare would say, alarums.

 

Yeah, as noted earlier in the thread, let's see that autopsy. He's been there a long time as the most watched journalist at the Cup. It is not difficult to imagine him consuming a specially prepared meal or meals at some point.

At least we have a President who isn't looking to play grab ass with murderous dictators, which means if there's something nefarious about Wahl's death, there's a chance of getting to the bottom of it.

 

I'd make it easy on the suits. I'd be on the next plane out.

 

Not to be that guy, but hope someone is watching his body so he won't get Khassiogied.

 

If there are any traces of poison, they won't be disclosed.

 

I’m the same age as Mr. Wahl. Had chest pains yesterday while doing the news and my job is about .3% as stressful as what he covered the last three weeks.

Add in a foreign nation for three weeks, likely no more than 3 hours of sleep a night i imagine.

Sports/news journalists are notorious for pushing themselves way past the limit.