Role models in this biz

Pat Forde is at the top of my list... Great writer, great guy, almost no ego... That combination is unheard of in this business...

 

I'm afraid I have spent more time compiling a list of reverse role models.

I ask myself, "What would (fill in the blank do)?" And then I do the opposite.

Like Colt 45, it works every time.

 

This question should have been asked: So what do you think of columnists who get in pissing matches with managers, use radio guys to grab controversial quotes for their columns - since the columnist isn't actually at the games - and have little respect within their own industry? What do you think about those type of columnists?

 

Except the part where he was suspended by the Courier Journal back in the mid to late 1990s. Otherwise, great role model.

He is a great writer, I'll give him that. I love his columns. I just hope I never get an ethics lesson from him.

 

details?

 

"Role model" is a little uncomfortable, but how about a couple of guys I admire because of the example they set?

*Rick Hummell: Nobody loves the post-game party more than he does (even now that he doesn't drink), but he never shortchanges the paper on effort, even though there's no competition. It would be easy for him to say, "Aw, that's good enough," and he never does. An hour after everyone else is done, he's transcribing tape for a short on some oddball play that happened. He's incredibly thorough, always keeps the readers' interest in mind, and treats everyone on his beat with respect. I have never heard him grumble about being at the ballpark.

*Hal McCoy: Fate has dealt him a set of challenges that would crush most of us. Hal is still on the beat, still working hard, still getting the stories. Once in a while I'll sneak a peek at him cautiously making his way around and it almost makes me want to tear up. Yet Hal accepts it and does his job better than just about everyone else. He must have moments where he wonders why this has happened, but I've never seen them. He's too busy covering the Reds to give into that.

 

When he was at the Louisville Courier-Journal he was suspended and lost his column for a while. I'd say1997 or 1998, could be iffy on the exact dates. I'm not going to put rumors I've heard why all that happened up on here. But everything I heard was a serious ethics violation. Of course, he got it back and now has his sweet ESPN deal, so more power to him.

Tremendous writer, I just think he has (or had) ethical issues. That's why I wouldn't consider him a role model.

I don't know if I've ever had role models, but I've worked for, and am working for, good people that work hard and do things the right way. That's good enough for me.

 

I second this one. Weidner has been professional and friendly every time I've dealt with him.

 

So it's OK for you to put that out there on a thread about role models, even though you don't know the details.

And it's Forde who has the ethical issues, you say?

 

Bill Higgins who has been the SE at the Cape Cod Times for like 200 years. He was my first mentor in this business.

 

I'm on board with Hummell and McCoy. Perfect examples of what I was talking about. And one of the best remaining things about this business are guys like Bill Higgins, whom I've never met. We need the lifers with all the institutional knowledge, something buyouts don't take into account.