How much do you think these guys make to be so well off financially that they have nothing to worry about if they lose their jobs? I really don't think they are that well paid. Not being a dick I am really asking. I can't see these guys making more than $200 - $250k annually. Am I way off?
If NYC is ESPN's flagship, why did it get rid of the two veteran guys who used to cover the Yankees (Matthews and Marchand)? If NYC is so important, how come ESPN cut Cimini's space? He used to have several full-length articles every day. No more. The Daily News is in deep financial trouble. How many people did it let go in the last year? Have you seen what that paper, especially its sports section, has become? It's a shadow of what it was even a few years ago. Mehta and Raissman are practically the only recognizable names left.
No, that's in the ballpark...probably a combination of seniority and how many hours they work. Mike Lupica was the highest-paid sportwriter in New York a few years ago and I believe he made about $500,000 a year. Young beat writer without a following probably makes $50-$75K. Veterans $125K or so. Big Names and/or columnists probably closer to $200K. Give or take, of course. Variables include who you work for (NYP can absorb losses, NYDN can't), other income/jobs, pension, etc.
ESPN did major cutbacks. I think Cimini is their best-known name since Adam whatshisname stopped covering the Mets. Yeah, I have been reading the NYDN for 50 years. Sad what has happened. They are lucky Bill Madden is well-off that he does per-diem pieces for them (probably got a very nice payout from the pension plan). Personally, I hope Murdoch and The Post hire all the NYDN folks and package them online into a per-monthly subscription piece. I'll pay for that (I'm subscribing to The Athletic) to get premium commentaries from Mehta, Madden, Harper, Myers, etc. What was insane at the sports section is that they turned it into some sort of social-justice crusade with guys who don't even know sports but write on all matters political/racial including Kapernick. They dumped Lupica, Madden, and Harper and we got Saun King and the Looney Bin.
Cimini is a better beat writer than Mehta without a doubt. If only he could cut out the snarkiness and SOJ comments. It would be difficult though .It's part of him. We had a friend in common. He's a bit of a strange guy. Kind of shy and polite, but also insecure and a little paranoid. I always thought it was a funny how he would go after some player's character when he was always "working late in the city" or on the road in his own production of the Scarlett Letter.
Asking who is the most effective Jets beat writer is like asking which 400 pound the quickest forty time. For me, the most loathsome is Costello. His prose is banal; and he's way too much of a homer. His lips also seem permanently affixed to Maccagnan's buttocks.
That last sentence made me think of that disgusting movie 'The Human Centipide'. Who the F voted for Serby?! I want names!
I did.... I already said above I would give him 1 vote....and I also noted he is NOT a beat writer and hasn't been since 1980.
To ascribe those characteristics to a guy when 99.9% of his commentary is not like that is totally unfair and wrong. Again, I had the pleasure of having dinner with Rich a few weeks ago. I'm hoping he does a Pre-Draft thing and many of you "critics" show up. You might be surprised.
99% of Cimini's commentary is completely snide and snarky. Did you ask him about the K Ellis "druggy" commentary he had in 2011? It's time for new blood covering this team. People who actually like their jobs, and like to talk football rather than push sensational narratives.
I read him every day or every other day. It isn't snide or snarky -- it's a way of writing that gives juice to otherwise bland stories. It's what taught in journalism school. Again, if you want UPI or AP or NY Times bland stuff, fine. Not my cup of tea, Don't recall this at all -- care to refresh ? Why don't you ask him in person ? Sure, we need people with no knowledge of the team and no contacts and no ability go give inside information. No, those people in the Sports Section usually cover high school sports. If Rich didn't like covering the team, he wouldn't be commuting from Eastern Long Island to Florham Park every day of the week (100 miles each way) for 6 months of the year.
Is this what you consider adding 'juice' to a story? I'd consider that being an unprofessional dbag. It's beyond time for a change. We deserve to have real beat writers, not sensationalist hacks.
I like Connor Hughes the best regarding the Jets. He seems to have some good sources within the organization
Did Ellis have any connections to drugs or PEDs ? If not....then Rich was wrong and I hope he apologized for calling him a "druggie". If Ellis did use drugs/PEDs, then Rich gave accurate information. You simply don't appreciate the information or don't like the way he presented it. That IS your right -- but Rich isn't in the wrong in that case.
He doesn't give you big fake scoops every day like other guys, but when he mentions something regarding what the Jets org is thinking or planning to do...he's usually right
First time I ever met Rich was in the early-1990's right after he almost got attacked by 2 of the Jets. Rich isn't a small guy, but you're talking 6-5" and 300 pounds for the Jets who got in his face. Takes guts to go back into that locker room.
I'll have to Google it but as I recall OTTOMH.......it was Dave Cadigan and/or Jeff Criswell. Not sure if Jeff Lageman was also involved. Rich was one of the newer beat writers on the Jets but as they were in Hofstra he spent more time there (didn't have to commute back to NJ or NYC). As I recall, he wrote an article critical of the OL play and they really hammered him on it and got in his face. A few Jets thought they were going to attack him and I recall that Boomer Essaison intervened to calm things down. I'll see if I can find a NYT piece on the incident, doubt one of the tabloids has an archived net piece.
Here you go: https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/10/...&gwh=CD650AA9A5CF4BB2B02BD10D21723922&gwt=pay Talk about double misses: we got Coslet instead of Mike Holmgren and got Browning Nagle instead of Brette Favre. I think the original article in Newsday called Criswell and Cadigan....The Penalty Pals. Hmmmm....maybe that IS a bit snarky. More like Serby stuff ! Or Paul Zimmerman ripping Namath (now, THAT was nasty !!!).
