Sporting News/AOL Fanhouse

Moddy,

I just PM'd you. Yeah, this was an unexpected hit on my end as well. Oy!

AK

 

The real punch in the gut is the head-swiveling 180. What happened to the patience we were told AOL would exercise with turning itself into a content machine? What happened to the idea that it had to differentiate itself in order to survive in a world in which the entire world uses Google as its search engine?

Not considered at all, of course, is what happens to the writers and editors who left what they thought were endangered jobs for the security of the Internet. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us four billion times...

Just terrible. Not surprising, but terrible.

 

BYH has this nailed. He's a smart guy.

 

This sucks for the industry in general. I feel for you, Moddy. Too many good people working there for this to happen.

 

AOL's history demonstrates that no promise is sacred or safe or even lightly considered when they plot their next step. Not that it sucks any less for those involved, but that alone answers the question of the "head-swiveling 180."

 

http://twitter.com/#!/SPORTSbyBROOKS/status/25749944337965057

 

Broken link, but he said roughly 70 full time freelance positions would be cut.

 

I don't doubt that this sucks for Moddy & the folks at Fanhouse.

But, I will say that Jeff Price is one of the first and the best people I met in the sports business world.

I met his at a conference when he headed up sports marketing at MasterCard and sold him my first big sponsorship deal shortly thereafter.

Best of luck to everyone at Fanhouse.

 

SBB also says 5-6 FT writers out of 26 will be kept. Blackistone is one.

AOL = bunch of whores.

 

Moddy, my thoughts are with you. I hate this for you and all involved.

 

I dealt last year with the AOL sports boss; Ridge? Very unpleasant experience.