Dispatches from the Sportswriting Microeconomy
Today I have something in common with the idle rich. I am manifestly not rich, but I am now quite, quite idle. That’s because yesterday, after nine years of service — service that gave off every appearance of being loyal — FOXSports.com let me go. It was a budgetary decision, which allows me to fall on the less displeasing end of the somewhat blurry laid off/fired continuum. So that’s something. Right?
Anyhow, I’m not going to sit here and meow on and on about my grim circumstances. Plenty of people are much worse off, and I have cabinets full of canned goods, SSRIs and mind-altering spirits. I’ll be fine. Rather, I’d like to reflect upon some positives that have arisen from my new, blighted condition. To be sure, I have some regrets right now — no longer working with some terrific editors over at FOX is chief among them — but some things sustain me …
Above all, I carry with me no hard feelings, and I still, in my own estimation, number among the lucky bastards of this world. And as with all things in life, an Internet meme provides guiding wisdom …
Thank you for listening.
Wow, dude.
tHom Brennaman is the scourge of my Reds fandom. I long for the days of George Grande.
If you stop taking medication that inhibits inhibitors, you might feel happy.
Here’s my idea for your future and it will take off like no one’s business and you will become filthy rich.
IDLE LIFE TO BASEBALL SIMILE AND METAPHOR BLOG.
Haven’t showered in 5 days. Nuts are stuck to my leg like Bourjos stuck to that wall when he robbed Miggy on the 4th. Probably make the same noise as you peel them off.
Wife told me to shave and get a haircut. I called her Derek Jeter ’cause she’s about to get 3000 hits.
Oh domestic abuse… it needs a catchy slogan to slow it down. Something similar to “stamp out smoking” or “put the brakes on speeding”. Perhaps “raise a hand to the face of domestic violence” or “domestic violence is a black eye for everyone”.
Wife wants a second child. You can call me Schierholtz cause I just scored and walked off.
I’ve recently joined the ranks of the unemployed, as well, Dayn. If you’re bored like me, you can come over and help me finally straighten up the mess that is my backyard.
no way, Ken Arneson, unemployed?
Sorry to hear that, Ken. I’d take you up on your offer, but I think I’m going to build a porch swing this weekend.
So now, instead of sitting home all day and doing nothing you’ll be…..sitting at home all day and doing nothing? Guess this means fewer Daisy Cutters and more $2 PBRs from now on, eh?
who pays $2 a pbr when you can get 30 for $15?
Chicago bars tend to charge slightly more than retail liquor stores. Actually, $2 PBRs is a pretty good deal. Good enough to make me drink something as shitty as PBR.
in philly its about that, yeah–my point wasn’t that you’re overpaying but rather that being unemployed is the perfect time to rediscover the drinking in your home on the cheap skills that you honed in high school/college
Dayn, did you get caught hacking into cell phones? No? Then, boo, Fox Sports.com. Boo, I say! The world needs more Dayn.
I think it’s good news for NotGraphs readers, we could use more DP.
hang on there
What I mean is he’s still getting paid here, can write more pieces at FanGraphs and NotGraphs. Obviously he had a great run at FOX Sports and now I’m looking forward to watching him have a great run working here.
I think maybe the ‘stache was just saying “hang on there, be careful with those abbreviations.”
indeed
As someone who cares about your well-being, an SSRI inhibitor would be a drug that would inhibit the effects of SSRI’s – I hope this was merely a typo, because trust me, you want the sweet, sweet mellow of an SSRI.
I’m guessing he pays the copay for that particular drug after making a withdrawal from an ATM machine.
one of those ones that dispenses cash in 5$ increments I hope – not out of necessity per se, but just because…
Here I was thinking he was referencing the girl in college that was so renowned for her willingness to appease a man’s ATM tendencies (err..desires?) that she was deemed…A MACHINE.
We love you, Dayn.
Shitty news (well, besides the positives), but funny article. Wishing you and family the best (more baseball, mostly).
Been reading you for years but I don’t think I’ve ever visited NotGraphs before. My God, your commenters are funny! Gotta be better than Foxsports.com.
Oh, porch swing, great idea. Can’t think of a better way to pass an unemployed summer than sittin’ on a porch swing, fiddlin’ with an iPad.
There were only a few things I enjoy about FOX baseball, there are now less.
Sorry to hear this, Dayn. As someone who is trying to make a dollar in this racket I must say the thought of a major conglomerate casting you aside doesn’t give me much hope.
Anyway, I would wish you luck but you’re obviously too talented and flexible in your interests to stay in the margins for long.
Dayn is one of the best writers across the spectrum no matter the genre