Matthew Fairburn off to cover the Pats (update - he’s back)

[wjag]

2 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

I hit that unfollow button faster than dareus hits the buffet at the Mongolian bbq 

 

eww

[Just Joshin']

41 minutes ago, bigK14094 said:

Yes, the Athletic is looking for a "partner"...allegedly talked to the NY Times (their sports is weak) I read.  But, I disagree they will keep two reporters on Buffalo.  Joe B does a great job, and is the reason I subscribed to the A in the first place.  I never accepted the dual coverage although I admit Fairburn was doing acceptable journalistic work.  I am good with just Joe B covering the Bills for that outlet.

I was waiting to renew to see if the times was the buyer.  If so, no renew.  My sub starts at a bad time - when camp starts.  I did not want a lapse so I paid the full boat.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Don Otreply said:

Proof that some people will do anything for money, 

This isn't "anything."  This is a better assignment (better because he will have a broader audience), with better prospects for advancement in his chosen profession.   

[Thurman#1]

1 hour ago, First Round Bust said:

enjoyed his work, kind of second opinion to Joe B, likely to be replaced and certainly un-followed in move to the evil empire of the east..

 

 

He was very good. Smart and a good writer. 

 

Good luck to him. It's kind of the opposite of Rodak, the difference being that the Pats fans won't care that he came from Buffalo, whereas Bills fans were so owned by the Pats for so long they never forgot where he came from. 

[Kelly the Dog]

Easily replaced. 
 

Good for him. Kind of refreshing that I never knew he was from that neck of the woods, and it never showed. I just thought he was bland. 

[stevewin]

That sucks - he is one of the best IMO.  I've always respected the effort and thought he puts into a lot of his stories.  Even when he was a beat reporter, instead of just regurgitating press conference comments like the majority of reporters do - a lot of times he makes the effort to look for an angle - and actually does the legwork to track down people in the orbit of a story (an old coach, teammate, relative etc) and get their perspective and put it together with different insight/viewpoints.

Edited September 9, 2021 by stevewin

[Dkollidas]

Idk. He wasn’t bad. And Buscaglia isn’t terrible either. But their pods were so dry. 
 

Personally I would take:

 

Joe Marino @ Locked on Bills

Greg Tompsett & the Cover 1 Team

Capaccio @ WGR

Parino & Talbot
The Rockpile Report Guys

Nate Geary

Bruce Nolan

 

all above Fairburn Or Buscaglia for that matter. And with those above each producing about 14-16 hours of weekly listening content each week, aside from what any of them write. I just don’t really have time for them. 
 

* Again, not saying Fairburn or Buscaglia are terrible by any means but we have a wealth of talent in Bills coverage. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Dkollidas

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

This one doesn't sting like MLJ. I never liked Fairburn.

[JDubya76]

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

I wonder why the NE Athletic job pays so much more than the Buffalo one. (Referencing his comment that only this job could pull him away from Buffalo.)

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I wonder why the NE Athletic job pays so much more than the Buffalo one. (Referencing his comment that only this job could pull him away from Buffalo.)

I think he meant because he was going (sort of) home and not referencing money. 

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

1 minute ago, Kelly the Dog said:

I think he meant because he was going (sort of) home and not referencing money. 

Oh, but he also said Buffalo is home. I didn't see that he was from NE

[Kelly the Dog]

3 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

Oh, but he also said Buffalo is home. I didn't see that he was from NE

Yeah. In the article he explains he grew up in Haverhill, Mass until he was 18. Buffalo became his home because he spent a lot of time there and met his wife, started a family, loved it, etc. But going back to Mass was only job that could take him away. 

[Mrbojanglezs]

 

[Chandler#81]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

I hit that unfollow button faster than dareus hits the buffet at the Mongolian bbq 

Ditto. He’s the enemy know.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

I liked Fairburn, he is one of the few Buffalo media that doesn't ask about feelings/softball/waste of time questions. 

[Punching Bag]

So we lost a journalist to P*ts and Phish.  

 

Who will go cover the NJ JEST?

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

This isn't "anything."  This is a better assignment (better because he will have a broader audience), with better prospects for advancement in his chosen profession.   

It was a pats joke 😁👍

[DJB]

Won't miss Fairburn at all. Wasn't a fan of his coverage and the Bills 

[Shaw66]

5 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

It was a pats joke 😁👍

I thought it might be, but I was too dense to get it! 

 

Thanks

[Big Turk]

I'd rather drink turpentine and piss in a brush fire. If that was the last job on earth I'd be unemployed and broke.

[Don Otreply]

4 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I thought it might be, but I was too dense to get it! 

 

Thanks

👍

[ndirish1978]

1 hour ago, Limeaid said:

So we lost a journalist to P*ts and Phish.  

 

Who will go cover the NJ JEST?

 

You can only hope it's Sully

[Success]

But I don't like the Patriots...

 

[Punching Bag]

22 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

 

You can only hope it's Sully

 

You read my mind.  He might actually become positive on that team and become best friends with Billicheat.

[JohnNord]

6 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

It's simple.  Print journalism is either dying or being substantially reinvented.   The floodwaters are rising, and plenty of small-market hubs for journalistic activity have drowned.   The journalists are looking for higher ground, and in this case higher ground means larger markets.  The opportunity to cover a Boston-based team is simply a better chance for him to keep his career alive.   

In the cases of Marcel and Fairburn I think there some truth to this, but for both it seemed to more about leaving for better market/destination.

 

Marcel likely wanted to work  in South Florida over Buffalo and it sounds like Fairburn wanted to move back to the area he grew up and cover his hometown team

4 hours ago, Dkollidas said:

Idk. He wasn’t bad. And Buscaglia isn’t terrible either. But their pods were so dry. 
 

Personally I would take:

 

Joe Marino @ Locked on Bills

Greg Tompsett & the Cover 1 Team

Capaccio @ WGR

Parino & Talbot
The Rockpile Report Guys

Nate Geary

Bruce Nolan

 

all above Fairburn Or Buscaglia for that matter. And with those above each producing about 14-16 hours of weekly listening content each week, aside from what any of them write. I just don’t really have time for them. 
 

* Again, not saying Fairburn or Buscaglia are terrible by any means but we have a wealth of talent in Bills coverage. 

Bruce Nolan is criminally underrated.  He’s so much better than anyone on Buffalo Rumblings.  Hope he gets a bigger platform 

1 hour ago, ndirish1978 said:

 

You can only hope it's Sully

That’s his hometown.  I’m sure he’d love it, but he’s too old.

[HOUSE]

I am not paying to read any of that 😬

[LEBills]

Matt Parino is the better ginger Bills reporter anyway

[purple haze]

12 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

I also feel like the timing of these moves are weird. You would think these outlets would want them in place with covering  the new teams at least by TC to have the overall familiarity of the players, coaches etc 

He might be the new Ernie Adams!

I’m sure the fact both are already very familiar with the AFC East had something to do with their new assignments.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

12 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

I hit that unfollow button faster than dareus hits the buffet at the Mongolian bbq 

 

thats like going from Hiroshima to Nagasaki.

 

all our bad years and now becoming elite, going to NE who were great but will now be in decline.

 

 

[atlbillsfan1975]

12 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

What terrible timing by him.  He joins the Patriots as the dynasty has already ended.  He's leaving the Bills when their dynasty is starting.

 

Marino from Locked On Bills does it solo and does a good job.

Marino is great. Concise, objective ( is a fan, but doesn’t look at things with rose colored glasses on), and descriptive of how is evaluating a player or situation.  Honestly his shows during the season are a must listen, usually all are around 40 mins give or take.

[purple haze]

11 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

It's simple.  Print journalism is either dying or being substantially reinvented.   The floodwaters are rising, and plenty of small-market hubs for journalistic activity have drowned.   The journalists are looking for higher ground, and in this case higher ground means larger markets.  The opportunity to cover a Boston-based team is simply a better chance for him to keep his career alive.   

I don’t know.  Newspapers are dying, but MLJ and Fairburn work for digital platforms which is the present and future of journalism and seemingly everything else.

 

Keeping careers alive in that environment would mean diversification in skills, not necessarily market.   And you see both on podcasts, MLJ doing TV spots, etc.  covering other sports will be the next thing to add to their portfolio.  
 

Fairburn went home.  Being from Cali, MLJ was probably looking to get away from winter.  

[billsfan1959]

I enjoyed his articles and I wish him well.

[freddyjj]

+   

[transplantbillsfan]

Gross

[GunnerBill]

18 hours ago, Rico said:

I’d sign up for Sully at the Athletic.

 

I think they generally prefer people who can write. 

16 hours ago, Dkollidas said:

Idk. He wasn’t bad. And Buscaglia isn’t terrible either. But their pods were so dry. 
 

Personally I would take:

 

Joe Marino @ Locked on Bills

Greg Tompsett & the Cover 1 Team

Capaccio @ WGR

Parino & Talbot
The Rockpile Report Guys

Nate Geary

Bruce Nolan

 

all above Fairburn Or Buscaglia for that matter. And with those above each producing about 14-16 hours of weekly listening content each week, aside from what any of them write. I just don’t really have time for them. 
 

* Again, not saying Fairburn or Buscaglia are terrible by any means but we have a wealth of talent in Bills coverage. 

 

I agree their pods are dry as hell and Joe irritates me. He always has. He gets these pet ideas in his head and then just bangs on about them. Isaiah Hodgins is his latest. He goes on about a PS level wide receiver more than anyone should. 

 

That said, Fairburn is an excellent writer. And I really mean excellent. The Athletic suits him because it allows journalists to write longer articles and that suits Matt's style because he is a methodical and analytical reporter. He manages to write at length without his writing becoming dry. 

 

I won't miss him on the podcast though haha.

[machine gun kelly]

18 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

So...who did Fairburn piss off in 'The Athletic' management?  After covering the Patriots, he'll be back as:

Resistance is futile!

[NI Bills Fan]

Matthew Bové will be replacing Fairburn on the next Buffalo Beat podcast with Joe B... not sure if that is a permanent replacement or just for the Steelers game reaction episode.

 

EDIT: Bové is in for the post game reaction shows only going forward according to Joe B on the latest pod.

Edited September 10, 2021 by NI Bills Fan

[Arkady Renko]

2 hours ago, NI Bills Fan said:

Matthew Bové will be replacing Fairburn on the next Buffalo Beat podcast with Joe B... not sure if that is a permanent replacement or just for the Steelers game reaction episode.

 

EDIT: Bové is in for the post game reaction shows only going forward according to Joe B on the latest pod.

So will he be going solo otherwise?

[JohnNord]

4 minutes ago, Arkady Renko said:

So will he be going solo otherwise?

Yeah two podcasts a week…and my guess is that unless he brings in guests, Joe is doing the podcast solo