Tim Brown Leaving L.A. Times for Yahoo

Quite a lineup they're assembling over there...personally I think it's quite exciting that a new-media company is so willing to find and reward quality writers.

 

You know, old media companies could try and keep pace with the newbies by...ramping...up...their...hiring...

Nah.

 

Hopefully this isn't a remake of what Fox did to some quality writers a few years ago when it claimed it was beefing up its internet and then shut it down as quickly as it built it up.

 

Great hire. I'm not big on baseball, but I used to read Brown religiously when he covered the Lakers. I was bummed when he moved over to the national MLB beat. Huge loss for the LA Times. On the heels of Alan Abrahamson's defection to NBC Sports, the Times finally seems to be dying just like the rest of us.

That said, I'm really excited to see how Yahoo's staff develops. From the standpoint of the five big sports, it's loaded (except for the hockey coverage, which stinks). And didn't someone say in a past thread that they were supposed to be finishing off a redesign over the summer? What ever happened to that? Did they ditch that idea?

I hope they didn't. Because other than the archaic look, this site might be on its way to becoming the best pound-for-pound sports website out there. I hate seeing newspapers decline. But I like the idea that there are still some places that still value - and reward - good journalists.

 

This has been brought up before, but it seems to me that the web has gotten over that. I know this: Fox overpaid for a ton of writers in a 12 month span and didn't seem to have a plan. But a lot of websites are being more selective in their choices while also developing their identity. Yahoo, Sportsline and NBC Sports are adding good talent and building the right way. And now they are starting to add good, old-school investigative journalism to the frills and analysis. Yahoo's stuff on the Reggie Bush thing, and the instant replay fiasco in college are two that come to mind.

A year ago, I thought anyone who left a newspaper job for a place like Yahoo was slipping a noose around their own necks. But as I've seen our own staff shrink and cut travel and space, I don't think that way anymore. I think we're evolving. While newspapers are crashing, sports websites seem to be generating staffs that are heavy in substance.

 

also a good running back with Phillyin the 60's and played Spearchucker Jones in M*A*S*H.......a fine Ball State alum like Whitlock

 

Dave Morgan at Yahoo had a pretty good look at what happened at Fox Sports, as many of their guys came from the Times, and he's not likely to repeat their mistakes.

This is a huge loss for the Times.

 

WTF?? Fred ``The Hammer'' Williamson, Chiefs DB, played Spearchucker.

Just occurred to me ... you meant the TV show.

 

Tim Brown was also in MASH the movie - as Cpl. Judson (answer to the trivia question, along with Gary Burghoff, of the two people to be in both the movie and TV series).

Now back to your regularly scheduled Tim Brown ...