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San Diego Times responds again


Kilmer17

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Tim Sullivan responed to my last email.

Dear Bill:

>

> Thanks for your message. If you can find a single

> factual error in my

> columns, please point it out. If you disagree with

> my opinion or dislike my

> tone, I'll just have to live with that.

>

> Best wishes,

> Tim Sullivan

Not being one to let things be, I responded again.

Dear Tim:

I wasn't speaking about your column. I was pointing directly to your assertion that Marty had won his last 5 games in DC. That's wrong. A quick check on NFL.com would have been enough research to prove it.

Your columns, on the other hand, have ZERO facts to begin with, so finding an error would be impossible. You write, or I should say, regurgitate the same stale Snyder-bashing crap that the other mediots like to spew. You wrote that he's a "poster boy for knee-jerk jerkdom" What does that mean exactly? What has he done to lead you to that conclusion? Is it his youth? Is it that he's a businessman first and not a family money guy who sucks up to the media? Im glad that you're happy with Marty in San Diego. We are pleased to have replaced him with Steve Spurrier. Steve has won everywhere he's been. Not just games Tim, but Championships.

Bill

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Write this back Kilmer,

"One factual error I see is that you are not qualified to call Snyder a boy and a child because you are clearly a mewling baby. When you resort to pernicious name-calling, it is generally a sign of your own limited intelligence. When you wrote Snyder was a twerp, I knew you were a fraud. And, as a journalist, that's not a good thing to be.

Signed,

A better man than you've shown yourself to be."

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Originally posted by Art

Write this back Kilmer,

"One factual error I see is that you are not qualified to call Snyder a boy and a child because you are clearly a mewling baby. When you resort to pernicious name-calling, it is generally a sign of your own limited intelligence. When you wrote Snyder was a twerp, I knew you were a fraud. And, as a journalist, that's not a good thing to be.

Signed,

A better man than you've shown yourself to be."

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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Hey guys I sent this Email to him a while back

This is an article you wrote when the Chargers were 6-1 and you were real proud of Marty. I have no personal dislike for Marty and even think he is a decent guy from meeting him at training camp in Carlisle. Marty's team has crashed and burned again. He has always had the rep for never being able to win the big one. Understandable now, isn't it? In your article you said (and I quote) "Pity. I had hoped to personally thank the little twerp for firing Marty Schottenheimer. I wanted Danny Boy to know just how well the antiquated coach was working out in San Diego, and see if Steve Spurrier might need any Super Bowl tickets" maybe we should inquire for a few extra for Marty also. Also just in case you forgot here is the article you "wrote":

November 3, 2002

Daniel Snyder was unavailable for comment. The owner of the Washington Redskins doesn't do interviews during the season, or so his spokesman said.

Pity. I had hoped to personally thank the little twerp for firing Marty Schottenheimer. I wanted Danny Boy to know just how well the antiquated coach was working out in San Diego, and see if Steve Spurrier might need any Super Bowl tickets.

I wanted to tell the bumptious boor just how badly he has blown it in sacking Schottenheimer after a single 8-8 season. I wanted Snyder to hear my laughter, feel my contempt and understand the epic error of his ways.

The told-you-so task falls to me because Schottenheimer is above that sort of thing. Though he goes to great lengths to avoid mentioning Snyder by name, Schottenheimer eschews gloating because of how quickly fortunes can change in pro football. Besides, revenge, however sweet, is an obstacle to readiness. Marty Schottenheimer is all about readiness.

"I have no ill will," Schottenheimer said. "I'm happy I got an opportunity to coach in a place like San Diego."

Schottenheimer is no happier with his opportunity than is San Diego to have him. The Bolts are 6-1 entering this afternoon's scrimmage with the New York Jets, a record equaled only by the Green Bay Packers. Spurrier's genius notwithstanding, the Redskins stand 3-4.

Schottenheimer, consequently, is the leading candidate for NFL Coach of the Year. Snyder, meanwhile, remains its poster boy for knee-jerk jerkdom.

Snyder is wealth without wisdom, power without prudence, a clumsy, callous child in a game meant for grown-ups. He has employed four head coaches in his four-year reign with the Redskins – at one point, he had employed four in a span of 13 months – and has created a business model based on petty tyranny, reckless spending and dubious expertise. Snyder is like George Steinbrenner without the championships, like Marge Schott without the subtlety. Compared with Daniel Snyder, the irascible Alex Spanos comes off like Cary Grant.

Last week, a Los Angeles sportswriter recalled a chance encounter with Snyder at the Redskins training camp. Having wandered into an area where Snyder was smoking cigars with some of the team's broadcasters, the reporter dared to initiate conversation. He was subsequently harangued by a security guard for having the effrontery to speak to Snyder.

Later, when a publicist pitched a story concerning Snyder's charity work, the reporter declined. Read Snyder's biography in the Redskins media guide and you'd think him a candidate for canonization. Examine his record for making employees miserable, and you'd know him to be a fraud. Daniel Snyder loves mankind; it's people he can't stand.

(Just for the record, Snyder does give interviews during the season when it suits his purpose. He was quoted at some length in The Washington Post on Sept. 24, expressing "complete confidence in our coaching staff," after his team's 1-2 start. He also arranged for a friendly Post columnist to meet the Rolling Stones. It's easy to see that Snyder would be reluctant to discuss Schottenheimer's success. It's hard to see that avoiding the subject is consistent with some in-season interview policy.)

The purpose of my call was to determine if Snyder wanted to retract, amend or clarify his comments deriding Schottenheimer as outdated.

"I made a mistake," Snyder told Newsweek this past summer. "I listened to the media when they told me I needed a traditional football guy, an NFL guy, so I did that, and I got a 1960s football team. And 1960s football teams don't really do well these days."

The fundamentals of football and of leadership have not really changed in the decades since Vince Lombardi. While the passing game has surely grown more sophisticated during Schottenheimer's career, NFL games can still be won with defense and by avoiding turnovers. If this emphasis fails to excite Snyder, it is nonetheless what works. (See Super Bowl XXXVI.)

"This game hasn't changed," Schottenheimer said. "It's still about blocking and tackling. It's still about taking care of the ball, finding out what the players you have do best . . . When you look at our football team, we've got a wonderful running back (LaDainian Tomlinson), people who can block and a quarterback (Drew Brees) who can manage the game and not make errors."

Snyder prefers flash. (See Sanders, Deion.) When Snyder lured Spurrier with a five-year contract worth $25 million, Snyder cited (redundantly) the Florida coach's "supercharged, exciting and dynamic brand of football."

Spurrier, accustomed to looking deep on every down in the Southeastern Conference, has only lately realized the value of the 4-yard gain. Willing to accept narrow personnel input at the time of his hiring, Spurrier now sees a need for more sweeping authority. Come to think of it, he's getting more like Marty Schottenheimer by the minute.

"I don't know anything about Washington, and I don't know Daniel Snyder," said John Butler, the Chargers general manager. "All I know is there was a heck of a football coach available when we needed one."

Also "The Bolts are 6-1 entering this afternoon's scrimmage with the New York Jets", some scrimmage 44-13 Jets. That's ok though as everyone is allowed to make mistakes, unless you are Dan Synder

Thank you for your time

Hope to get a respnse from you

Here is the response I got back.. avoiding the question is what he did nicely here

Dear Jeff:

Thanks for your message. I have a vague memory of the column you chose to remind me about. The troubling thing about the internet is that stories end up with a much longer shelf life and it is easier for readers to remind you of those that don't look so smart in retrospect.

Last year I received an angry E-mail from a reader who had just read a column I wrote in 1998 about Olympic curling. I can't imagine that would have happened before computers. No one could afford to save so much paper.

Best wishes,

Tim Sullivan

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Originally posted by Skins57

Here is the response I got back.. avoiding the question is what he did nicely here

Dear Jeff:

Thanks for your message. I have a vague memory of the column you chose to remind me about. The troubling thing about the internet is that stories end up with a much longer shelf life and it is easier for readers to remind you of those that don't look so smart in retrospect.

Last year I received an angry E-mail from a reader who had just read a column I wrote in 1998 about Olympic curling. I can't imagine that would have happened before computers. No one could afford to save so much paper.

Best wishes,

Tim Sullivan

Her can't remember a story he did 2 months ago? :rolleyes:

Plausible denialability. Yeah right.

Its not like this guy is cranking out 30 stories a month.

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it is easier for readers to remind you of those that don't look so smart in retrospect

In retrospect? I expect these words looked pretty foolish on people's doorsteps that morning. The marginal talent used terms like "twerp", "Danny Boy", "boor", "poster boy for knee-jerk jerkdom", "a clumsy, callous child" who should "feel my contempt". This is journalism?

I would hope he would remember this column vividly as one of his more misguided and sophomoric efforts. But I dunno, maybe its simply representative of all his writing and he really doesn't remember it.

In one of his other responses he referred to Marty's record of strong finishes, something Redskin fans hooted about. Curious, I did a little research on Marty's record. Can't vouch for the precision of these numbers but its pretty close.

Marty in September: 40-22 Oct: 36-26 Nov: 45-25 Dec: 40-28. Didn't count the postseason, his failures there are well-known.

Along the way he was 9-7 in season openers, an amazing 14-3 in closers (one year he took over midseason so no opener).

What's it all mean? Well, he's not the December failure I expected, at least until recently. But there is a marked falloff from his blistering November pace, and it sure ain't because he's saving it for the playoffs. Its weird, he's almost exactly .500 for December except for the final game at which he excels. And then even in his best years there's not quite enough gas left for the playoffs.

Make of this what you will. ;) . I don't hate Marty but I'm glad to be rid of him, and that "reporter" is glad to have him. Bon appetite, Tim.

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I thought his reply was really funny. Paraphrased it basically read, "It's unreasonable for me to be held accountable for my words and work. That people would archive my work and hold me responsible for it is outrageous!" That's really funny. If his article hadn't been so vitriolic in the first place, I could respect his stance that in retrospect he may have said things that now don't look as wise... still, few of us are immune from criticism at our jobs based on the products we produce.

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umma,

i don't hate em. hell, i'd love to get paid to watch sports and do interviews and the like. i hate em when they show obvious bias and use poor stats to try to prove their homerism. it's okay to be a homer on a board, but not when you're writing for a main rag in a city.

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Originally posted by ummagumma

This is why I hate sportwriters....imagine getting paid to follow sports...and then acting like they're doing us some great service.

Sportswriting is harder than it sounds. Sure, who wouldn't love to be Tony Kornheiser, but there's a lot of $hit you have to deal with as well.

I majored in journalism at Syracuse and wrote for the university newspaper. I was a sophomore during SU's run to the final four in '87, and it was absolute hell getting an interview with any of the players.

If college kids have egos that big, I can't imagine what it's like dealing with pros.

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