KC Star Sports Editor Lawton resigns

Lost me with the second sentence.

Unless by "incredible talent" you mean, "it's not credible that he is talented."

 

Amen.

And two months without a column from Whitlock!?! Is he still drawing a KC Star check during that time?

 

Seriously guys, it's hard to have this conversation if you don't want to recognize Jason Whitlock's talent and what he has done for that section. Like him or hate him, we all should respect what Whitlock has brought to that section. I will be the first to say I don't agree with all he has done and said over the years, but I worked for the Star before his arrival and I know what it was like pre-Whitlock. Nothing special at all. The writers there didn't create much of a buzz locally much less on a national stage. Whitlock changed that. Next thing you know Kansas City Star and APSE Awards were mentioned in the same sentence. Please don't take this as I am trying to disrespect any of the long time writers there because as a young sports reporter many of those guys embraced me and still do to this day so there is much respect there.

Someone asked if I know what happened to Holly and the honest truth is I don't and I don't care. People come and go all the time in this business. Maybe it was budget cuts and the unrealistic demand of bean counters to do more with less that forced Holly to rethink her career choice. I know a few other sports editors who've made that decision.

 

What is sensationalism selling here?

 

At the risk of asking a silly question . . .

So what has he brought to the section in the past two months?

 

Joe Posnanski, Wright Thompson, Jeff Passan, Jason King, Elizabeth Merrill and a bunch of other superbly talented people also came through KC and had a lot more to do with what a great section the Star was putting out. Whitlock, though he does have his readers, doesn't have a quarter the talent as a writer or reporter.

 

I'll agree with Jake. Whitlock contributed with the others, but was not the sole reason the Star got better.

Scoop, you're reaching in placing him on the highest of highs. He's talented but he's not the end-all, beat-all.

 

Does buzz on a national stage include holding up signs taunting fans outside of a press box window? Because you're right... before Whitlock got there, that never happened.

 

Since Whitlock now creates most of his "national buzz" for employers other than the Star, how does that help the KC paper?

 

and let's not forget some of the others who helped the Star along its way (I won't include myself, a wide-eyed kid out of J School in the early 80s):

SEs Dinn Mann, who began the turnaround and later became Page 1A editor; Rick Vacek; Mike Fannin (Mann's No. 2, at the time).

Writers Tracy Ringolsby, Mike Fish (now an investigative writer at espn.com and before that, AJC), Janis Carr (Lakers, at OC Register), Mike DeArmond (an asst. SE during my time), Bill Richardson, Steve Richardson and the many talented writers who went to KC and stayed there (except for Tiger Richardson, who moved on to bigger things in college football).

And back in the old days, SE and columnist Joe McGuff was one of the nation's best known columnists. Old school. But very big.

The paper has also seen a steady stream of very talented designers change that section's look into what it is today. No, last time I checked, Whitlock never worked on any of those design desks.

 

Those guys were OK, but I still think it was all Whitlock!!

 

I like Whitlock. I think he's talented, he has built his brand, and he's a destination read for many.

That said, any notion that the Kansas City Star sports section was nothing before he arrived is near parody in how ridiculous it is.