Rick Reilly leaves Sports Illustrated - now confirmed by NYT

I used to be a huge Reilly fan, but like others, have noticed he's just not up to par like he used to be. He's written some memorable columns -- for some silly reason, I always <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/rick_reilly/04/25/reilly0501/index.html">think about this one</a> -- but quite a few of the well-written columns of late have been recycled from old news he chose to re-write a column on.

For as much as I'll miss reading Reilly, I am anxious to see a new face on the back page.

 

Not sure about that last . . .

And am certain that SI doesn't have a stable of abject apologists at hand.

DLB's a good writer. But the "But he's good to his mother" pieces are a load of crap.

 

Perhaps I went too far with my final point. Verducci, Dr. Z, Phil Taylor are a triad of regular writers I would put up against anyone. And Silver's departure may have made SI a bit more readable. And of course, Farber is excellent on a sport I simply don't read about. Gary Smith, etc. Great writers at SI.

I do think ESPN the magazine is doing a better job of plucking the next generation for great writers.

Taken as a whole package, though, SI.com has many more throwaway writers and glorified former bloggers than espn.com.

 

I stopped reading both when I stepped away from the business awhile ago. I got back in the game this wummer and tried to get back into the habit of reading both. But I honest-to-God cannot do it.

They're both miserable pieces of work.

I can't help but think of that bumper sticker you run across once in awhile: "No, I'm not old. Your music really does suck."

 

What is this in reference to?

 

RR's paycheck.

 

I believe that's a little high.

 

If they'll pay $800K for Bayless, I guess I could believe that they'll go to $2 mil for Reilly...

Personally, I wouldn't hire the guy at all...

 

I thought you were referring to what he takes home in his Time Inc. pay envelope now.

As much money as ESPN has, and as freely as they spend it, two million might be low.

 

I've heard he makes between $1.2-$1.3 million at SI now...

 

Look forward to reading books from Rushin, if that's direction he's headed. Terrific talent, but the last couple of years, it seemed like half of his columns were either about his wife or his family, and the other half were the direct result of anagram software or Google searches.

 

Ballpark.

But what a nice ballpark.