Portzline leaving the Dispatch

[spintheblackcircle]

Click to read more...

 

[Samkow]

Well, this came out of nowhere.

Sounds like he's starting/joining his own venture. I guess that's the way everyone's heading.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

As far as I know there has not been another round of layoffs or buyouts, so it would appear this is of his own choosing. Best wishes to him on whatever's next.

 

[MAHJ71]

Guessing Tom Reed will takeover his spot on CBJ?

Completely fine with it, if so..

 

[Crede777]

Guess he should have stuck to hockey. /sarcasm

In all seriousness, I hope he continues to write and cover the Jackets. He was one of the best beat writers in the league. Wishing him the best of luck.

 

[MFRONE]

I'm hearing he is on his way to joining The Athletic

 

[Kev22]

I'm hearing he is on his way to joining The Athletic

This is a no brainer.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Terrible news.

I'm hearing he is on his way to joining The Athletic

That sucks. But not surprising. Might have to get a subscription but I likely won't have the cash. Thanks college. Anyway, the CBJ reporting were used to will be totally changed.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Terrible news.

That sucks. But not surprising. Might have to get a subscription but I likely won't have the cash. Thanks college. Anyway, the CBJ reporting were used to will be totally changed.

I would say that for those that can't subscribe, the gist of most of his articles will likely be posted here.

 

[MAHJ71]

Terrible news.



That sucks. But not surprising. Might have to get a subscription but I likely won't have the cash. Thanks college. Anyway, the CBJ reporting were used to will be totally changed.

Meh, I never found Portzline providing much more info than other more reputable league news guys. A lot of times he got beat to the scoop and just regurgitated what they said -- sometimes without even citing them.

Not a huge loss at all IMO.

 

[MFRONE]

Reed has 0 sources and Arace writes editorials. The Dispatch is taking a huge hit with their Jackets coverage.

 

[DarkandStormy]

Meh, I never found Portzline providing much more info than other more reputable league news guys. A lot of times he got beat to the scoop and just regurgitated what they said -- sometimes without even citing them.

Not a huge loss at all IMO.

This has especially been the case since Tyler Wright left. Only thing he "broke" was his detailed piece(s) on Jack Johnson's bankruptcy, if my memory serves.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Meh, I never found Portzline providing much more info than other more reputable league news guys. A lot of times he got beat to the scoop and just regurgitated what they said -- sometimes without even citing them.

Not a huge loss at all IMO.

This is a popular thought around here. But I guarantee you and others who feel that way won't feel the same way when the season starts and progresses. The jackets coverage, at least as we know it, is over. And I will miss it.

 

[DarkandStormy]

Does anyone have the Brandon Gormley screenshot from the '10 draft?

 

[NotWendell]

Reed has 0 sources and Arace writes editorials. The Dispatch is taking a huge hit with their Jackets coverage.

This is how I see it. Some of the haters will be changing their tune around mid-season, although I doubt they'll admit it publicly. They'll just criticize the Dispatch more.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Does anyone have the Brandon Gormley screenshot from the '10 draft?

Remember when Bob McKenzie retweeted Aaron Ward when he reported Iginla to Boston in 2013?

 

[Samkow]

Does anyone have the Brandon Gormley screenshot from the '10 draft?

Gotta contact Skraut. Unfortunately, his link is dead, I went looking for it a little bit ago.

--------------------------------

RE: Portzline. One he cut back on his enforcer rants and stopped bringing up Zenon Konopka every other day, he became fine to me. I'll probably get an Athletic subscription.

I'm excited to have multiple outlets covering the Jackets heavily, although it's probably not going to live up to my expectations. It should cut back on the Dispatch Mind-Control.

 

[Skraut]

 

[IndyDave]

I'm hearing he is on his way to joining The Athletic

That would be nice. They already have the best Cavs beat writer in Jason Lloyd. Adding the best CBJ writer would be great.

I haven't been overwhelmed with their Browns and Indians coverage, but its readable.

When they launched they did a $40 for one year subscription and I joined. Clearly we all wonder what Year 2 will be.

They added CBJ coverage after a few months - Rob Mixer has been writing lately.

They have also added some Ohio State coverage - although I don't give a crap about OSU.

 

[Samkow]

God bless you Skraut.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I had never heard of the Athletic before this thread.

 

[Skraut]

God bless you Skraut.

Thankfully I still had this to remind myself how to post here

 

[blahblah]

I wish him well, but to be honest this won't impact me at all. I haven't paid attention to much of what AP has had to say in about 4 years.

I liked his coverage in the beginning. Seems to me once he started doing the q&a's he started to let it get to his head. At that point I started tuning him out. His off season stuff was kind of painful, where he started giving scouting reports on players and the such. As far as his "sources" from what I've seen people repost here, we aren't really going to miss them.

I'll be curious to see what this means for coverage, but for the most part I get my coverage from TSN.CA and follow their guys on Twitter.

This wasn't an attempt at being a hater or to say that I didn't like him, I had just moved on.

 

[MoeBartoli]

Reed has 0 sources and Arace writes editorials. The Dispatch is taking a huge hit with their Jackets coverage.

Yep, his departure leaves a hole in the coverage. Arace is spread over numerous sports so it's left to Reed unless a new hire appears. Reed's ok but AP is/was a better hockey guy.

 

[Old Guy]

For my money, this is terrible news. I loved what Aaron Portzline delivered from his Dispatch platform.
1. I have always enjoyed his writing style - certainly much moreso than Arace.
2. When they brought up the blog, that gave him an outlet to go more in depth without being limited by page space and competing articles.
3. They then began to use that space for periodic chats. Much of what went on in those chats were being discussed here, but he had access to find things out, answer questions.
4. They also included periodic podcasts. It was usually just the Puck Rakers, but sometimes they would get a guest. Regardless, I subscribed and enjoyed them and they were entertaining as well.
5. Last season, they started doing the video recap after home games. I don't know if was after they filed their story or before, but for tjose guys to sit down and do a recap was great as well.
6. Many times, I have caught Portzline doing a Twitter chat with fans. It was usually when he was stuck waiting for a connecting flight or in between something. Those were good as well.
7. Porty was also really good about fielding ad-hoc twitter questions.

I think about all that guy did from his Dispatch platform, plus the commuting he did. It really made him commit more time after the team changed the policy and would not let the beat reporters on the charter. That guy worked his ass off in that role.

To the people above who have been critical of Aaron and his sources or his timing, I'm not saying you are wrong. I don't know about those things. As a Blue Jacket fan, I want content, and I want it correct. I don't really care about speed. Being first is not important to me, because, I don't watch my twitter feed 24/7. I look at it during certain points of my day.

I've met and talked to him on the road a couple times. Aaron Portzline has always been gracious with his time, willing to engage in a hockey talk, and friendly in doing so. In today's world, that's exactly what I want. I will miss him in the Dispatch. I hope he will still continue to cover the team.