Michael Silver leaves Sports Illustrated for Yahoo Sports

This is very damaging for SI. There are still a lot of good writers there -- Reilly, Gary Smith, Richard Hoffer, SL Price, etc. -- but it definitely seems like people are looking to jump ship. That's partly because it's tough for any print product to keep up in an increasingly web-driven world, but I think it's also largely because of the recent layoffs at SI. The people who survived the cuts are figuring they should get out now, before the ax falls on them next time. SI might have saved some money with the layoffs, but now it's also costing them people they really value, like Chadiha and Silver. You reap what you sow.

 

The latest started in bumper-to-bumper traffic ... in Miami Beach, of course.

 

They could do a syndicated wire service. I'm assuming that they already don't, but tack on the yahoo sports feed to Times/Post or McClatchy or Scripps and you suddenly have a much wider audience. Or partner with the AP.
I know I'm a dinosaur, but I'm not going to go looking for a online column, but if it was in the paper, I'd be more likely to read it.

 

I'll miss finding out what music a running back is listening to in his Escalade as he heads to a nightclub and finding the obligatory pop-culture reference in his stories.
But I got to think its tough to go from saying "can you tell him Michael Silver from Sports Illustrated called" to "this is Michael Silver from Yahoo Sports."

 

I hate for this to be my first ever post, but I have to ask. What has anyone done since landing at Yahoo? Seriously.

Granted, I know what Dan Wetzel used to do at Sportsline. I know what Jason Cole did at the Miami Herald. I know Adrian Wojnarowski and Charles Robinson both won a bunch of APSE's at different papers. I know Tim Brown and Jeff Passan had distinguished careers in LA and Kansas City.

But seriously, what have any of those guys done at Yahoo? I can't think of a single big story that any of them has done since landing there. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

Cole and -- I think -- Robinson were all over the Reggie Bush benefits story. I've read several places that Cole's been breaking news on the Mike Vick story, though I'm not a regular reader.

The others, I'm not totally sure.

 

I remember I didn't pay a lot of attention at first to the Reggie Bush story because "a web site" was reporting it.
I think Yahoo should either invest in one of the the sports radio syndicates to get their stuff out there or team up with FOX, CBS or NBC to help establish their sports division.

 

I can confirm that Cole has been out in front of the Vick story. The tidbit I liked was his source close to Vick that said Vick didn't understand how big this is, that it would blow over. It ain't blowing over, buddy.

 

This assures I'll read SI.com more often.

 

This is the first reason I thought he was doing it. More West Coast opportunities for MS.