What an unbelievable week -- and that's before I caught a really nasty flu bug.
I went from finishing the proofs on the updated edition of "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," writing nine stories for a preview magazine the University of Alabama will soon publish, and completing two big projects for BamaOnline, to attending two conferences that were as different as can be and clearly demonstrated the state of our industry.
As previously mentioned, last Sunday was the Alabama Sports Writers Association's annual gathering, where the mood, to be kind, was pretty morbid.
Two days later, Advance Publications told 600 employees at the Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, (Mobile) Press-Register and the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, that their services were no longer needed as of Sept. 30.
Among those let go from the News' sports department were Steve Irvine, Mike Perrin and Doug Segrest -- all really good guys, and here's hoping they land on their feet. At Huntsville, 32 of the 45 newsroom positions were eliminated, including everyone in sports except one person. In New Orleans, 84 of the 200 let go were from the newsroom (which had 169).
It felt like a death in the family. Even worse is that the prevailing feeling was "Who's next?"
Later in the week was the 247Sports convention, which could only be described as first-rate. Subscriptions are up, expectations are being exceeded and the outlook is very positive. We even took time to do a team-bulding exercise.
I'm very grateful, but I do wish the same was true for more of the industry.
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