Speculation: Is John Weisbrod Sneaking his Way to Becoming the Head of Hockey Operations in the Summer of 2020

[Melvin]

Clearly how much Botchford makes then and now is unknown. However, there is a recent Slate article that delves into this startup.

How Long Can the Athletic Grow Like a Tech Disruptor if It Reads Like Every Other Sports Page?



In my experience start ups have always paid more than the standard because they need to attract people away from more secure employers.

This is exactly right.

We can debate all day about their business model and whether or not they are going to survive, but we know what kind of money they have from their VCs and there is no doubt they are paying big bucks to get guys like Ken Rosenthal and Joe Posnanski.

 

[krutovsdonut]

That you continue to make things up to support your own opinion is laughable. Check out the Patcast Episode 1 of this season. This entire thing played out publicly, yet you think you can just make things up to suit your own narrative? Get out of here with that bs.

that you think throwing a hyperbolic word like laughable into every post is somehow a persuasive and decisive way to win arguments on the interweb is laughable.

 

[absolute garbage]

. i remain skeptical that an internet startup company offered botchford enough money and security to leave the province voluntarily after many years without a push.

That's because you, once again, have no f***ing clue what you are talking about.

Athletic is funded by Silicon Valley. They have basically unlimited money.

 

[krutovsdonut]

In my experience start ups have always paid more than the standard because they need to attract people away from more secure employers.

not in a dying industry that is looking to move expensive talent out the door without losing credibility they don't.

it suits the athletic and the newspaper industry and the journalists involved to paint a picture of lavish overpayments to lure away valued writers against the will of the paper to save face for the paper and journalist, and to generate positive hype and excitement for the athletic. it's a win win story.

but that goes against everything we know to be going on in the newspaper industry right now, including the province owners who are constantly cutting back. there is literally nowhere else that newspaper writers are being paid big bucks to leave and go write on the internet. literally everywhere folks are being packaged.

so colour me a skeptic.

 

[PM]

I work in the publisher/media business. Born online sites like the Athletic are the future of sports news outside of some very major renowned independent publishers like the Globe and Mail and New York Times. The newspaper conglomerates expanded too fast, have way too much dead weight, have homogenized their content, and are influenced too much by ownership and corporate bias. Not to mention that most are losing money hand over fist. Postmedia is probably the worst in all of North America in this regard. It’s a shame because they are taking down local government coverage with them that absolutely needs to be localized rather than driven by a corporate office in a big city. Sports coverage will survive through other means but unbiased local political coverage is in serious trouble.

 

[krutovsdonut]

That's because you, once again, have no ****ing clue what you are talking about.

Athletic is funded by Silicon Valley. They have basically unlimited money.

sure. unlimited money. rainbows and a free unicorn for every writer they lure away. absolutely.

 

[Melvin]

not in a dying industry that is looking to move expensive talent out the door without losing credibility they don't.

it suits the athletic and the newspaper industry and the journalists involved to paint a picture of lavish overpayments to lure away valued writers against the will of the paper to save face for the paper and journalist, and to generate positive hype and excitement for the athletic. it's a win win story.

but that goes against everything we know to be going on in the newspaper industry right now, including the province owners who are constantly cutting back. there is literally nowhere else that newspaper writers are being paid big bucks to leave and go write on the internet. literally everywhere folks are being packaged.

so colour me a skeptic.

Could you post something Botchford has said that indicates a departure in tone from the things he used to write at the province? Anything to support the supposition that his change in jobs has affected his writing will suffice. Without anything to back your speculation you come off as someone who simply dislikes the man and is therefore inventing reasons to discredit what he reports.

I am going to guess you haven't even read a word that he has written.

 

[Jyrki21]

I love how most of us were able to piece together what happened re: Weisbrod, Benning and Linden based on pretty much mere intuition, and it appears to be right.

Early this Morning. Jason Botchford in the his new Athletties

On a side note, if you hate this name (and that is plenty fair), I'm pretty sure you can blame me (this is from Sept. 6):

 

[Melvin]

there is literally nowhere else that newspaper writers are being paid big bucks to leave and go write on the internet.

What are you talking about dude? Look at the athletics lineup. It's happening everywhere.

 

[tantalum]

not in a dying industry that is looking to move expensive talent out the door without losing credibility they don't.

it suits the athletic and the newspaper industry and the journalists involved to paint a picture of lavish overpayments to lure away valued writers against the will of the paper to save face for the paper and journalist, and to generate positive hype and excitement for the athletic. it's a win win story.

but that goes against everything we know to be going on in the newspaper industry right now, including the province owners who are constantly cutting back. there is literally nowhere else that newspaper writers are being paid big bucks to leave and go write on the internet. literally everywhere folks are being packaged.

so colour me a skeptic.

Right...the people are lying about the money they make and changed jobs to jump from one sinking ship to another to make less money instead of, I don't know, looking for a career that isn't a dead end. I'm not sure how having a story in Slate saying they get paid more (unnamed) creates excitement to the consumer. You're perspective is what doesn't make sense.

NEwspapers are losing subscribers. You know what isn't? The Athletic. It's growing. That doesn't mean they will survive but it's clear they have found some sort of niche and have to figure a way to continue to execute. They have profitable markets...remains to be seen how many they can make profitable. BUt I highly doubt this is some sort of mass conspiracy to make it seem like they are paying more when they aren't.

 

[y2kcanucks]

that you think throwing a hyperbolic word like laughable into every post is somehow a persuasive and decisive way to win arguments on the interweb is laughable.

I don't think it's a decisive way to win an argument at all. I think it's a good adjective to use in describing the merits of your post.

 

[Jyrki21]

I haven't gone through this whole thing (4 long threads), but it seems damn interesting: