Sharon Pannozzo is out

End of thread.

 

And among the press corps, sweet, sweet sounds will fill the air. They will sing for the day, sing for the moment...

 

Hey, the first one is the tough one.. .the next 22,105 are easy...

 

Phew. Wasn't referring to me.

 

I know the feeling we're trying to forget, if only for a while.

 

Here's my brief Sharon story ...
I was at the White Sox-Cubs series a couple years ago when I put my laptop down in an unmarked spot in the press box, figuring it was open. It was the same place I would usually sit on the occasions when I was at the games.
I went off to go to the bathroom. When I came back, Sharon has my laptop in her hands and nearly drops it into my arms, saying they needed the space for White Sox PR. I trudged off to the cafeteria muttering under my breath.

The fake bake will be missed. Those shiny gold/silver heels will be tough shoes to fill. [/sarcasm]

 

No, no. Don't Let it End.

 

Sorry. She's just a poor soul in the unemployment line. My God, she's hardly alive.

 

I have dealt with Sharon Pannozzo for many, many years and had a grand total of one problem. What PR person (especially in super-sensitive MLB?) has not had conflict with nearly every media person at some point? This woman has been with the cubs for, what 25 years? Conflict is inevitable. Face it, people, the media has a sense of entitlement and distrust born of the Kremlin-like behavior of most sports teams.

If she was so terrible, why did she outlast five General Managers, five Chairmen/President/Trib Tower Overseers...and numerous other execs there? Why, also, was she asked to work the World Series every year? Because she is good at her job. I agree she could be brusque too often, but never mean, hurtful or out to impede our ability to do our jobs. She simply did not suffer fools well--but we in the media don't like to admit when we or our brethren behave like fools. A PERFECT pr or marketing type (such as the Cubs John McDonough) smiles and schmoozes even when he/she is legitimately ticked off. Pannozzo was not as perfect and she abhorred unprofessional behavior among the media.

According to the Cubs media guide, Pannozzo has an MBA from Northwestern. Why she didn't quit long ago and make real money (MLB PR jobs are notoriously low paying; two friends of mine are similar MLB PR execs) has long been a mystery to me and also to people in her industry. Anyway, now that she's gone, be sure you whiners and complainers enjoy the new PR person, who will be more marketing/corporate in his/her approach. Pannozzo was a baseball exec, reporting to Hendry. We all benefitted, even if we didn't always realize it.

 

Wrong. Being in a media relations/PR role means you have to have some people skills - no one's expecting her to be Clintonian, but being reasonably approachable was not too much to ask. She simply wasn't.

The relations between the media and the Cubs have been poor for the last few years, and that falls on one person, and McDonough realized that. She let LaTroy Hawkins happen. She let Sammy Sosa happen. She let the Cubs continue to hold post game press conferences in that embarrassing closet that they call an interview room.

She didn't suffer fools well? What constitutes a "fool"? Not being one of the favored four or five Cubs newspaper beat writers? Because those were the only people she seemed to treat with any respect. If you were from a visiting team, forget about it. You were dirt. Scum. You couldn't ask her a simple question about availability or the like without her treating it like a loaded question and giving what amounted to a scolding. She assumed you were trying to ask for more, when in reality all you wanted to know was when Dusty was going to speak, not for a two-hour one-on-one.

The anecdote earlier on the thread about her guarding the Cubs media guides with her life illustrates well the life the rest of us led when we treaded lightly into that abomination you call a ballpark.

Good riddance, Sharon. And if the Cubs were smart, they'd go after Bob Beghtol or Pat O'Connell across town. Those guys get it.

 

You're kidding, right?

If you confuse longetivity and the ability to bumble at the World Series with competence, you must adore Jay Horwitz.

In fact, I look forward to your second post, the one extolling his virtues after he's finally booted for decades of ineptitude.

 

Goober?....Why would George Lindsey be posting here?