Is this the idiot from Around the Horn's paper?? Please say yes...

Nah, Woody Paige works for the Denver Post.

Damn.
If the SF Chronicle goes, then Dean Singleton will have Denver and the Bay Area all to himself.

Good thing Tracy landed on his feet.

Did he? It didn't look like Ringolsby was one of the employees hired by the Denver Post.

I hope Bernie Lincicome lands somewhere. He's funny.

Tom, I rarely disagree with. Unless you mean Lincicome has unintentional comic value.

Bartels held a box of tissues over her head and called out, "This is for everybody."

"Notice me!" she continued, as her soon-to-be former co-workers avoided eye contact.

No, Lincicome is a genuinely terrific writer. He once called Don Zimmer "baseball's pool toy," which is as apt a description of Zimmer as I've ever read.

People around here get all exercised about him because he'll write how Andre Dawson should be in the Hall of Fame but not Tim Raines. Who cares? I don't read Lincicome for player evaluation any more than I'd read Ron Shandler for humor.

Lincicome always struck me as the a chronically cynical writer. He was good when his mood fit the subject. He was fantastic during the Rick Mirer-era Bears, for example. By and large, I didn't think much of him though.

Did he? It didn't look like Ringolsby was one of the employees hired by the Denver Post.

Didn't Tracy land a gig at FOX Sports?

Plus his part-time job here...

I too am happy when hundreds of people lose their jobs so that a columnist I disagree with is briefly without a second job.

I'm running a story here late this evening. Been in touch with Tracy and he's answering some questions for the piece. What his immediate plans are will be part of it.

Just wanted to say, the concerns about the Rocky closing are not about me. I'm far enough along in life, and live a simple enough life, that things will work out fine. The concerns are about a lot of the other people who have families. They have a challenge of making a quality life for their family when they are trained in a business that is shrinking. The real victims are the guys inside the office, who are unknown to the public but save the butt of people like myself with their editing and fact checking. For those who have nice things to say about me, thanks. For those who don't like me, stand in line. I have two ex-wives who couldn't agree with you more. But one thing I would hope all of you do is feel some compassion and concern for those folks who have dependents who need them.
Regards,
Tracy Ringolsby

Thanks for stopping by, Tracy, and good luck. If nothing else, maybe this will give you more time to post here.

Tracy adds more here: Death of a Newspaper: The Rocky Mountain News Folds. Ringolsby Reflects

Why should I care that the industry is dying? I do a little fist pump every time I see one of these headlines.

This is an industry that did everything in their power to destroy people they didn't like. Facts be damned. Maris, Mantle, Aaron, Bonds immediately come to mind, and I am just getting started here, I could probably go on and on just from the sports pages. Repeated lies and deceit, constantly shoving misleading headlines down our throat in order to get us to see penis enlargement ads.

Karma is a mother ######.

Good riddance.

We've got 2 stories tonight - the RM News going under, and Newsday saying they'll start charging for online web content. And both have failed/will fail for the simple reason that people are no longer willing to pay for their news.

Why pay $79 every 12 weeks (which is what my SF Chron subscription is up to now) for the privilege of picking up a wet newspaper in the morning and hoping it dries out while it's still relevant, when the SFGate website has all the same content for free? Or why pay $5/mo (or whatever Newsday wants to charge) to read essentially the same stories that I could get free at about 3000 other sites?

For me, I pay the $79 because I love the feel of reading a newspaper. I like sitting down on a Sunday afternoon with a thick paper and a cold drink, to take 2-3 hours to read through it with a baseball game on in the background. I like folding over the paper to work the crossword and read the bridge column. I like reading Friday movie reviews in the bathroom at work. When I lived in NYC, I never went into a restaurant alone without a fresh copy of the Times under my arm - a leisurely meal spent reading the paper while people-watching over the top of it. They're simple pleasures, and being on a computer or an iPhone simply can't replicate them for me.

I mourn this. There may come a day where I don't get my Sunday paper any more, but it will be because they've pried it out of my cold, dead hands. I'll happily keep paying, just like I'll stop reading before I buy a Kindle.

16. I'm Matt (expletive) Bush Posted: February 27, 2009 at 02:00 AM (#3087748)
Why should I care that the industry is dying? I do a little fist pump every time I see one of these headlines.

Matt, I don't think anybody said you should care. For some it's a celebration. For some it's a wake.
Regards,
Tracy Ringolsby

Is Matt Bush Gambling Rent?

That would explain things.

Sorry about the RMN Tracy. Having spent a dozen years in the industry, I'm not so celebratory about this news. I wish you well going forward.

I'm really sorry to see this happen. I agree with post #17. My wife and I subscribed to a newspaper while I was in college, until we realized exactly how much we were paying. I hated to see it go, but it had to. I love the feeling of reading a newspaper -- especially a long Sunday paper -- but I hate having to pay big bucks for a newspaper already filled with advertisements.

Oh, and #### you #16. Not all reporters are liars who don't do any research. I have family in the industry. Thanks for insulting us.

People still rely a lot on newspapers, just not in the physical print format - rather they rely on them online. I'd be stunned if SFGate.com or Boston.com or NYTimes.com are not among the most visited sites in an area.

It's a shame when people lose their job, particularly when it's completely beyond their control. For every idiot columnist or arrogant editor there are probably, oh, I have no idea, but 10? 15? people, secretaries, janitors, accountants who are getting kicked to the curb and that really sucks.

it's unfortunate for latest death knell of newspapers; the first coincided with the moving of people to the suburbs, but in those circumstances, there were "new" newspapers to take their place.

the internet can't replace all those people, but part of them are being replaced. did louella parsons become perez hilton? maybe.

the hardest part to replace is reporters who have sources and/or dig, NOT the opinionated blowhards. so if (pick a reporter who goes on espn, cnbc, political places, etc. and blabbers opinion, not fact) loses their job, i don't care. they're generally ill-informed and either spouting "their book" or what will generate the most ratings.

but and as tracy said above, the people you'll never hear about are the hardest hit. they're generally not well-paid, don't have a chance at the brass ring, but work long, irregular hours to get the job done right. most editors don't make a fortune, the reporter who covers the crime beat gets put into terrible situations, high school sports might be nice to read about but isn't fun to cover, etc.

and i think the jay mariotti example in chicago was *perfect* - the blowhard is gone, and people working on the more important things stillhave their job.


*** disclosure: on issues where papers are more susceptibl to libel, such as crooked financial affairs, blogs are replacing newspapers/magazines as the place to go BEFORE it breaks.