Sucks...I liked his material. He's decided to cover that shiteous sport of Baseball instead- the Jankees to boot. http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/blog/ All good things... This past weekend?s rookie minicamp marked the end of my tenure on the Jets beat for Newsday. Long-time followers of the blog know I?m usually longer winded than that but there?s no sense in burying the lede. Starting May 15, I will be switching to baseball and taking over the Yankees beat as our fine beat writer Kat O?Brien is leaving the paper to pursue her next career at the prestigious Wharton Business School. This was something that came about only in the last two weeks and didn?t become official until the end of last week. It goes without saying the move is bittersweet. Covering the Yankees presents an incredible opportunity, not to mention huge challenges, but the last year on the Jets beat was rewarding beyond words. It was a chance to meet a cross-section of people and, let?s face it, get paid to do something that rarely felt like work. Life is good and continues to be. I enjoyed working with and learning from members of the daily Jets media I held in high regard before coming to the beat and hold in even higher regard as I leave it: Dave Hutchinson (Star Ledger), Rich Cimini (Daily News), J.P. Pelzman (the Record), Jane McManus (Journal News), Dennis Waszak (Associated Press), the recently married Greg Bishop (NY Times), Dan Leberfeld (Jets Confidential), Randy Lange and Eric Allen of newyorkjets.com, and Brian Costello (NY Post). Special mention and continued get-well wishes to the Post?s Mark Cannizzaro. There?s also Larry Hardesty (ESPN Radio) and Jerry Recco (WFAN) who both put up with my humorous-only-to-me barbs in this blog without repercussion. Honorable mention to the Times? NFL columnist, (the Great) Judy Battista. I appreciate the efforts of the Jets PR staff ? led by Bruce Speight, along with David Tratner, Jared Winley and Meghan Gilmore ? a group that unnecessarily presented me with a cake ? a really, really good one, btw ? at the Fort last weekend. And a cap-tip to last year?s Jets intern class ? Christie Upton, Jeanette Owusu, and Matt Hintz, who one day will be evaluating personnel in this league. Most of all I thank the readers and commenters here who made this blog so much fun to update daily (or at least semi-daily) over the last year, allowing me to take the subject matter seriously but never myself. As I said many times, whatever success this blog had was the result of those contributing to it. You entertained me far more than I entertained you. I?m not sure who will be taking my spot here ? one of the people I respect most in the business, Bob Glauber, will be filling in in the short term ? but whomever you end up with, you?ll be in good hands. Newsday has plenty of talented people. For those of you who are Yankees fans, feel free to join me over on that blog when I take over May 15 (though I encourage you to visit there before then), and even those are of you who aren?t Yankees fans, stop by and say hello anyway. And if you absolutely have some pressing Jets question that needs answering in the coming days, I still might be lurking somewhere nearby in the comments section. And with that, feel free to talk some Brett Favre. Seems he?s considering his options... Share: E-mail Facebook Digg Buzz up!Delicious Posted by Erik Boland on May 5, 2009 6:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (72)
What a bummer!!! My favorite jet blog. Newsday and the Times change Jet beat writers every year. As you can see, we are at the bottom of the barrell. Hey. we have Sanchez, the great Messiah, so that should make everything better
Just read this. Sucks. Seems the Jets beat is a job at the bottom of the ladder there. Any other beat is a promotion - Rock to the Giants, Boland to the Yankees. Pity. Hope we get someone good.
Man this sucks, now all I have to read is Cimini and Hutchinson. Hutch isn't too bad but Cimini is a complete tool.
Boland was great. He would personally answer all my e-mails and comments within a very short period of time. He had live chats every week, and was the best "writer". Anyway, that's probably why he will be covering the Yanks
This stinks- Boland did a fantastic job covering the Jets. I doubt we'll get anybody as personable or as talented as him. I guess they're moving him to a team that has a longer season to use his talents more effectively.
Disappointing. Boland did a great job and was clearly the best of the guys covering the Jets. As long as Newsday doesn't let their columnists blog or hire this clown to replace him, we'll be fine. I hope.
Is this why Jets beat writers suck? The Jets are prolly the fifth most popular team in NY behind the Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Giants. So if your any good you get promoted out of this sports writing purgatory.
