Marty McNeal and Scott Howard-Cooper get the axe?

VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Word around the ol' water cooler is that the Bee has released Marty McNeal and Scott Howard-Cooper to pursue other career opportunities.
 
Wow how generous of the Bee to release them so they can explore all the lucrative opportunities available at the moment.
 
I still haven't forgiven the Bee for the cavalier way they treated arguably one of the best sportswriters they ever had - Mark Kreidler. Luckily, Mark had the talent to land on his feet and is doing quite well. I don't think Marty or Scott will be as lucky...

I have never been a fan of Marty's and didn't understand why they gave him the page 2 column so I'm not going to pretend I'm sorry to see him gone. I did think Howard-Cooper was doing some good work, though, and would actually have preferred to see him stay. Of course, that would have meant an end to someone else and while I don't really care for Amick, he appears to be the chosen one at least in the eyes of the sports editor.
 
Yes, Kreidler was the best Sacramento sportswriter I can remember. Since I'm not in the area I'm not familiar with what happened, I thought he had a national deal with ESPN for a while. I know I hadn't seen his name for a few years until your post a while back about his blog.
 
If they had to make cuts, makes sense that these were the two to go. MM's column didn't match up to the others once he left the Kings beat, and Howard-Cooper never really had his own specific beat in the first place. Too bad that the industry is in the state that it is, however. Sites like these, for example, can do almost, if not a better job recapping and previewing grades, talking about the draft, etc. But no one here is getting quotes from the guys in the locker room after the game.
 
LPKingsFan said:
If they had to make cuts, makes sense that these were the two to go. MM's column didn't match up to the others once he left the Kings beat, and Howard-Cooper never really had his own specific beat in the first place. Too bad that the industry is in the state that it is, however. Sites like these, for example, can do almost, if not a better job recapping and previewing grades, talking about the draft, etc. But no one here is getting quotes from the guys in the locker room after the game.
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That is the only drawback. Otherwise, what we have here is superior to anything the Bee puts out.
 
I think they let Marty Mac do his own thing, which is why it was so different from everything else that had preceded it. I liked him and in the capacity that I got to tread on his turf, he was very supportive and respectful which was helpful to me.

As for what he wrote...not sure how it could be anything other than it was given the space in the paper that he got. Cooper's beat seemed to be narrowly focused and as periodic as McNeal's.

They'll get other jobs because as the papers die, the internet sites are scooping these folks up, there's an audience for both their work.

Sports coverage is going to take a hit. Well, not for the Kings and the whole sports staff that they devote to them. Do they reaalllllllllllllllllly need three writers at their games?
 
I hope I never see McNeal again anywhere in Sac or stumble across any column by him ever again. I hated seeing the jive dude always wearing his NY Yankees cap at Kings games with a pronounced East Coast smirk every time - like hey, I'm waayyy more cool than all this giddy Arco college-like atmosphere. I never once saw him having anything like a Kings cap, Kings polo shirt, purple tie, anything remotely favoring of the home team. I never expected him to be a raving homer but neither did I appreciate his (and others like Peaches) constantly shoving support for NY sports teams down Sacramento fans throats. Get out of town and don't come back MM!! GOOD RIDDANCE!!
 
VF21 said:
Word around the ol' water cooler is that the Bee has released Marty McNeal and Scott Howard-Cooper to pursue other career opportunities.
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According to the Newspaper Guild, Local 39521 web site, McNeal's and Howard-Cooper's names were both on the layoff list.
 
LPKingsFan said:
If they had to make cuts, makes sense that these were the two to go. MM's column didn't match up to the others once he left the Kings beat, and Howard-Cooper never really had his own specific beat in the first place. Too bad that the industry is in the state that it is, however. Sites like these, for example, can do almost, if not a better job recapping and previewing grades, talking about the draft, etc. But no one here is getting quotes from the guys in the locker room after the game.
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I never cared for Marty McNeal's style of writing. When I was a journalism student my instructors used to talk about how McNeal didn't write his articles in the Associated Press (AP) style and how his style of writing was horrible.

I always thought I would be the guy to take over McNeal's job as the Bee's Kings staff writer.

I used to write game recaps for my internship at KHTK and my journalism instructors thought I did a much better job than McNeal, although that probably isn't saying much. I also posted them on another Kings forum web site.

I still cannot believe how the Bee let Mark Kreidler go. He was praised for his writing ability in my classes and because of him I am no longer interested in being a sports writer. Long story short I met him in the pressbox at an Oakland A's versus San Francisco Giants game along with Gregg Bell. Kreidler, along with Bell, gave me the best advice, which was if this ever became a "job" to me, it was time to leave.

And sure enough writing about the Kings became a "job" to me and I was no longer happy or enjoying the games (this was the season Webber's knee blew out). I'm a sports fan first and wanted to remain that way.

Just for the fun of it, here's me (dude in the middle) with McNeal as we interviewed Webber.

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VF21 said:
Be sure and check out Kreidler's blog. He's doing great!
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I checked out his blogs thanks to you. Yes, Kreidler is doing great and he's a great guy too.

I'll never forget how he came up to two out of placed college students (my old buddy and I) in a press box and told us where the food was and not to be shy to get as much as we wanted. Bell had left us behind to spend a little quality time with his wife since he just got back from a road trip.

Kreidler was a lot of fun to listen to on KHTK too.
 
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