Lurker

"Dan Sickles, congressman from New York, was married to the most beautiful woman in Washington" Gulp...

Somewhat OT, but I had a similar experience at the Antietam battlefield. The Park Service guide who led our walk, interpreting what happened, was outstanding. He painted a vivid verbal picture of how the battle played out, all the little details that turned the tide, the amazing logistical feats and errors. It was almost mystical, thinking about what transpired. Walking those battlefields, as well as Gettysburg, is the best way I know to give pause to the current divisiveness the country is experiencing...

...use the ignore feature...

One down, one billion to go...

Henry Lawrence = Henry Tenenbaum

Figures. Back bacon is a wonderful alternative to human flesh...

Sure we will. That TSW's raison d'être. Who knows, it's even possible one-third of this place might actually miss Sully and say it was better "back in the old days..."

Koko the gorilla would have had the best-read column at the BN if she'd had the senior columnist gig in the sports department. It's disingenuous to say Sully was popular ("best read") because of his writing. He was popular because of his subject matter. With only the Buckster as competition, he was essentially a monopoly, given the rabid interest in the Bills and Sabres in this town. People could figuratively "hold their nose" and say how much they hated his column, but read it anyway given the appetite for everything Bills and Sabres. Someone else might be even more "read" (i.e., interesting, entertaining) if given the opportunity--and that's what I'm looking forward. I suspect the BN management are as well...

1962 Renault. Paid $50 for it, sold it for $100. Couldn't pass inspection (no reverse) but I had a blast driving it on the farm roads...

Refresh my memory. When has the BN ever offered buyouts on a one-off basis, not part of a larger downsizing effort related to economic/financial issues? Past Newsroom buyouts have come in waves, much like the current one, not dribs and drabs. Targeting Sully individually, rather than as part of a larger package, would almost surely have been grieved, dragging out the process and costs. Anyway, here's the Guild's take on the whole matter: http://www.buffaloguild.org/2018/06/08/buyouts-result-in-painful-newsroom-losses/ "The Editorial Department of The Buffalo News is expected to lose at least 16 Guild members as a result of targeted and voluntary buyouts that the company made available last month." "Voluntary buyouts were offered in conjunction with one-on-one meetings between management and reporters and columnists to discuss the future of The News and assess each writer’s contributions." "Because of the union’s contract language, The News does not have the ability to unilaterally terminate specific employees. But there were mitigating factors that left some Guild members feeling they needed go. Many were facing reassignments into unknown or dramatically different job duties."

Semantics. Buyout or layoff, certain individuals were going to no longer be on the payroll. The chances of Sully and Buckster taking a reporter role was slim to none, and slim had left the building. Both sides knew it, and management exploited it. It could happen politely (buyout) or not (layoff). But only because of the "economic reasons to remedy the stability of the newspaper" clause...

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-buyout-work-69288.html "If your company is facing the possibility of unpopular layoffs, you may be able to encourage some employees to resign or retire voluntarily by offering a buyout. A buyout typically includes an offer of severance pay for a particular length of time and the continuance of other fringe benefits. You can negotiate the terms so they are favorable to both the company and the employee. Offering buyouts instead of laying off or firing employees can reduce lawsuits and bad press for the company." With regard to the recent BN situation: http://www.buffaloguild.org/2018/06/05/targeted-buyouts-in-editorial-follow-first-quarter-losses-from-the-news/

Some of those pictures are worth +1,000 words. Hang in there, Jimbo...

I'll post this again. Per the Guild contract, the only way staff reductions could occur is if the News was losing money. That's why it happened now, as opposed to "any time in the past." Article 5 – Job Security 1. There will be no discharge or dismissal except for just and sufficient cause Article 6 — Dismissals to Reduce the Force 1. The News is responsible for controlling the size of its working force. Any dismissal to reduce the force will be only for economic reasons to remedy the stability of the newspaper. [i.e., the BN's hands were tied during those previous quarters when they were in the black] 

Sounds like the Sabres tanking to me. Two steps backward to ensure a better future. Brilliant! And BTW, you keep saying "readers like you read 'everything written on every occasion' by Sullivan." That's your opinion, but doubt it. I stopped reading him many years ago and I know a number of friends and colleagues who did the same. It may seem like "TSW is taking about Sully all the time," but that's a small and not very representative subset of the real world (or even the majority of TSW). He was stale, boring and "bad for business" a long time before the latest buyout wave...

Bob DiCesare made that 'widely read' statement. He would hardly be privy to the readership metrics management would have. And even if Sully was indeed widely read, it begs the question, "compared to what" and "is his readership declining." If fewer people were reading him, it may have motivated management to get out in front of that trend. As to point 2, Guild members can only fired for cause in non-economic situations, according to their labor contract. While 'cause' is not spelled out, it very likely does not mean writing style or attitude. Any attempt to drop Sully simply because management didn't like his style or wanted to go in another direction would have been grieved by the Guild. That can be messy and expensive--sort of like firing a tenured public school teacher in New York State. The quarterly loss removed some of that protection, allowing management to nudge him out the door via his opting to take the buyout...

Nope. I buy the Buffalo News to be entertained and informed, just like when I buy a movie ticket, magazine subscription or toilet paper. The more the BN can deliver on that value proposition the better. Getting generic, gas station TP when I know it could potentially be Charmin is something that disappoints me. Or stated another way, knowing that quality columnists like Felser and Kelley once were available for the same price as Sully and Bucky is a downer...

Per the Guild contract. http://www.buffaloguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-Guild-Contract-.pdf Article 6—Dismissals to Reduce the Force 1. The News is responsible for controlling the size of its working force. Any dismissal to reduce the force will be only for economic reasons to remedy the stability of the newspaper. [i.e., the BN's hands were tied during those previous quarters when they were in the black] 2. All dismissals that may be necessary to reduce the force will be made in each job classification in reverse order of bargaining unit seniority. However, any employee dismissed from their classification may use their bargaining unit seniority to displace a less senior employee in another classification or group, which provides an equal or less rate of pay, if they are competent and able to perform the duties of such junior employee and if bumped to a job in the same group they will retain the same rate of pay and, if in a lower rated group, they will receive the maximum salary of that group or their present salary, whichever is less.

Market research surveys generally have samples of 400 to 800 respondents. If 200 said they'd never subscribe to the Buffalo News (not the Blitz, the newspaper itself) because of Sully and the Buckster, that's HUUUUUUUGE.... TV shows get cancelled. Magazines go out of print. Movie sequels bomb. All because they get stale and boring. Columnists who retire in place are no different and the POV that Sully and Gleason were important reasons why people shelled out money for the newspaper is laughable...

Access. Resources. Experience. Talent. Four good reasons to expect more. Should I go on?...

No problem there. Criticism, if done well, is tremendously interesting and entertaining. But don't phone it in and expect the reader to eat it up, regardless of how it tastes. Boring and predictable is boring and predictable, whether its homer-ism (Murph) or angry old man (Sully). The BN appears to have data suggesting that readership was being affected by Sully's continued employment. I have no doubt that was indeed the case...

Lol. No way anyone will top the Boomers for whining their way into old age. The original "you're special" demographic will remain the entitlement champ for a long, long time...

Saw Rosanne Cash in Cooperstown on Saturday. Excellent as always and the Glimmerglass venue was great. I hope they have more one-off concerts there in the future...

Agreed. Jerry has a petty streak a mile wide. If he doesn't like a player personally, then his writing will be skewed to reflect that. Case in point was Mario Williams and Bruce Smith, who he had an epic hard on for for many years. This interview was very telling in that regard: https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2017/11/5/16567966/jerry-sullivan-will-not-be-ignored-buffalo-bills-the-buffalo-news "Mario Williams hands down as the most difficult guy to cover. He was a creep who tried to avoid the media on Wednesdays and had zero to say about anything. No depth to the guy. That gives him the edge over Bruce Smith, who was a self-absorbed !@#$ who kissed the national media's ass, and John Fina, who was condescending and liked to think he was smarter than everyone else." IMO, Sully's greatest failing is that he's just another guy on a bar stool who can write reasonably well. He doesn't have the depth to be interesting or informative so his POV is to simply be another fan. That's way too limited and, ultimately, a dead end for maintaining reader interest. Throw in his vindictive quirks and you get boring pretty fast...