More Sun-Sentinel cuts?

Ah, yes, very good point on people he brought in out of nowhere and who ended up being way somewhere.

Randall Mell is another one -- hired from the paper in Lake Geneva, Wis.

 

Does Fred have to take the blame for Albom? ;D

 

I'd use a more neutral word, but yes, Albom's entry into daily newspapering was indeed a Turner hire.

 

Albom was great back then. And when he went to Detroit from Fort Laud, he was replacing Mike Downey, who went to L.A. The Downey of 1985 was tremendous. So was the Albom of 1985.

 

Fred hired Wojo, and Plaschke; he also lured Larry Dorman, Gordon Edes and Dave Hyde to his stepping-stone paper, even though those guys had passed that stone long ago. He also hired Huguenin, Cole, Winderman, Berardino and Marvez.

Oh, and by the way, one of his final hires, Michael Cunningham, is quietly becoming a versatile voice as a columnist. His development has been slow but steady. He'll be on TV within 5 years.

And, frankly, and this isn't a huge compliment - but it is meant as one, he has, by far, the most pointed arrow in the sports-columnist quiver down here.

And his desk hires were just as impressive.

 

I don't think Albom started going downhill until he fabricated, I mean wrote, Tuesdays with Morrie.

Another case of an amazing talent whose priorities are somewhere other than his column.

 

That's gigantic news to me. Really good friend of mine. I was one of the guys who got him hired at the S-S. And a fellow Badger to boot, albeit the rival cross-town high school.

 

Fred also hired Geoff Calkins out of nowhere on a gut feeling.

 

I was not familiar with Fred Turner, so I enjoyed the history lesson. Putting in the extra time to research job candidates is the wisest investment any manager can make, as his career proves. Sports editors should be calling him for advice on the art of hiring, if he's still alive (I hope he's alive).

I was curious to know more about him and came across this link:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/12/hall_of_fame_fred.html

P.S. Unfortunately, of course, skill in hiring has become almost irrelevant for papers these days.

 

Jesus, how could I forget his hiring Mike Mayo at 22 years old.

 

In the nid-1980s that group SF wrote about was enjoying the golden age. Plus, they all partied together, played together, chased skirts together and got wasted together, for the most part. SF Forgot a few other all-stars: Mark Kazlowski (now at Dallas), Craig Stanke (now as CBS), Steve McGrath (Lauderdale), Fran LaBelle (NYRA) Y.A. Tietlebam (PR). And Randy Mell is right on that list. Tough choice for him, with two young kids.