-Playoffs Over for Chiefs- After watching wins by Oklahoma and MU the last two night, I was hoping the Chiefs would make it three in a row today. Great game- lousy result. Joe Montana and Marcus Allen are getting further and further in the rear view mirror.
-Marty Schottenheimer Got a Raw Deal- Speaking of the Montana/Allen Chiefs, over the past few days after Washington fired head coach Mike Shanahan, the pundits have talked about all of Redskins owner Dan Snyder's poor coaching hires, one of whom was former Chiefs Coach Marty Schottenheimer. Setting the record straight, Schottenheimer did not do a bad coaching job for Washington. He took a team that did not have much ability and after losing the first five or six games of the year, guided it to an 8-8 record and got fired for his efforts. Schottenheimer also got a raw deal in San Diego where he posted a 14-2 record, lost in the first round of the playoffs and got fired. He was replaced by Norv Turner, who came nowhere near that kind of record but hung around for years. Schottenheimer never received the credit he deserves.
-Why is Debby Woodin Writing About Downton Abbey?-I thought there was nothing the Joplin Globe could do that would shock me any more, but today's page one is a head scratcher. One of the few remaining journalistic assets the Globe has is veteran reporter Debby Woodin. Her reporting on former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter is the last solid investigative reporting that has graced the Globe's page. So why in the world do the Globe editors have her doing a story on local people who watch the PBS show Downton Abbey? When you have a whole group of smug, self-important people who write about entertainment, why waste one of the newspaper's real assets?
-Missing the Civil Rights Research Project- I am going to miss teaching for the next few weeks more than I have at any time since I was removed from the classroom nine months ago. Monday would have marked the beginning of the annual third quarter research project on the Civil Rights Movement. That was always my favorite part of the school year.
- Sale Set for Small Town News E-Books- A couple of advertisements to end today's musings. Beginning Jan. 7 for two days, the e-book version of my first novel, Small Town News, will be available for 99 cents. It normally sells for $2.99. That book, fiction based on a real-life occurrence, the 2001 disappearance of Diamond Superintendent Greg Smith and the robbery of the Bank of Diamond, was originally published in 2005.
-No Child Left Alive- If you would like to see what can happen when a superintendent is willing to cut any corners to bring up a high school's graduation rate, including gift grades, ignoring criminal activity, and undercutting teachers, you might check my novel No Child Left Alive, available in both paperback and e-book.
1 comment:
Randy I rarely agree or even see eye to eye with you on much, but finally there is one subject. When I pick up my Globe in the morning, I scan bylines looking for the usual solid contributions from Redden, Kennedy, Woodin, history has proven they report both sides and make an effort in their work. Pound, Meeker, Hadsdall, McKinney, pass. Zero credibility. Fluff and circumstance. Saw Woodin and start reading the story this morning before reading the headline and had a what the hell moment. Is this the Globe finally waving the white flag and mailing it in? How does the city government beat writer pen that crap and maintain credibility? "So, Ms. Mayor, how will the citizens respond to the council's decision?" Ms. Mayor, "I don't know Debby, same way they did to your preview story about a PBS program with zero local pertinence."
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