Hal McCoy's run is ending...

The run ain't done, son. The Real McCoy will live and prosper online. Ask Hall will continue to run on Sundays.

And Hal will be around to share a Cuban and a coffee.

The world hasn't ended, just tilted slightly on its axis.

 

I hold Hal in the highest regard and, in a perfect world, he could have gone out on his own terms as a full-time beat guy. But let's remember that Hal is 67 and he's battled some really major health issues with great courage. My hope is that as he makes the transition to a lighter workload, he gets a chance to enjoy life. Maybe sitting on the deck on a summer evening is better than scrambling to make a flight to Houston. Maybe there's a better way to spend a day than trying to get from Miami to Milwaukee in time for a day-night make-up doubleheader. I know it's tough to let go of what's been familiar for so long, but I think Hal will find there are a lot of things he's been missing.

 

McCoy is back ... now covering the Reds for FoxSportsOhio.

http://www.foxsportsohio.com/pages/landing_atlantic10?FOX-Sports-Ohio-to-teach-an-old-dog-new-=1&blockID=188717&feedID=3592

 

Hal is also going to do some work on the pre-game and post-game Reds telecasts. He has been in spring training for a week already and he will be returning for the final couple of weeks, too.

 

Holy shit this is just gold.

 

I can tell you this:

In Wisconsin, the only papers that regularly cover the Packers anymore are the Journal Sentinel and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The Madison papers used to at least send guys to home games a couple years ago, but they're not even doing that anymore.

Just as recently as about 10-12 years ago, almost every paper in Wisconsin sent people to cover the Packers, at least to home games (I was one of them) and many on the road.

And if you've ever lived in Wisconsin, you'd know that the Packers are easily and without parallel the biggest news story (NEWS, not just sports) in the state for about 6 months out of the year.

Now, the press box at Lambeau is about devoid of writers and filled with TV boobs who spend the whole game talking about their new homes and NFL personnel who get paid to photocopy stats every 3 seconds.

 

Not quibbling with your argument, because I think SEs often don't think like businessmen when it comes to making coverage decisions. But "half" of $150 to cover an NFL game? If you're stringing an NFL game for $75, you're either desperate for clips, or a borderline fanboi. You're there 2 hours ahead of time, and probably three hours afterward. That's eight hours minimum for $75.

 

Worst is that the coverage they are receiving from AP is awful.

 

Sorry to disappoint but the Madison paper has a columnist and reporter go to ALL Packers games and have done so for many years. I do not think it sends many to home games as in the past put I believe the Packers beat is only second to Wisconsin football.

 

Said newspaper would spare no expense to send writers to cover the local college basketball team when it goes to Hawaii.

However, this was a veteran reporter who thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the local kid he covered in high school and still had a ton of fans in the area, who was quarterbacking a team that eventually went to the Super Bowl (this was a few years ago).

"Not local."